180 NATURAL HISTORY OF 



because by that time Man had learned to subdue the 

 horse for his convenience, whereas, until that moment, 

 the ox alone appears to have been used for the saddle.* 

 This conquest over brute power again commenced in 

 high Asia, perhaps about Samarkand, but more cer- 

 tainly on the great plains north and west of the central 

 table land ; and with the aid of this valuable acquisition, 

 began the era of invasion for dominion's sake ; at first, 

 in a more cumbrous manner, by charioteering; but, 

 soon after, riders, on the backs of their horses, passing 

 rapidly over immense distances, and almost entirely 

 from east to west, carrying few or no wives or children, 

 obtained both by the sword, and even spared the van- 

 quished male sex, in order to enslave it.f 



From conquests by military invasion, there thus 

 arose privileged families and tribes, a master class, in 

 nearly every nation, marked even at present, in many 

 instances, by a distinct exterior, notwithstanding, that 

 with scarcely an exception, it is issued from a cognate 

 stem. Only time softened the bonds by gradual inter- 

 unions, and by new conquerors again subduing both 

 master and slave. In Europe, where the history of 

 foreign subjugation is best preserved, there are in- 

 stances of three or more having passed over the same 



* This was certainly a practice of Hindoo princes, before 

 the horse appears, and even long after. It is still in use 

 among the Caffres, who ride their Bakeley oxen in war ; 

 and by mendicant fakeers in India. 



t Yet there are examples, down to the ninth century, 

 when Christian kings (Franks) could direct the slaughter 

 of every male whose height surpassed the length of the con- 

 queror's sword 



