66 HISTORY OF THE 



only at sunrise and sunset, when they are 

 cleaned. Their usual provender is barley and 

 chopped straw, which, if the animals are pi- 

 queted, is put into a nose-bag, and hung from 

 their heads ; but, if stabled, it is thrown into a 

 lozenge-shaped hole, left in the thickness of the 

 mud wall for that purpose, but much higher up 

 than the line of our mangers, and there the ani- 

 mal eats at his leisure. Hay is a kind of food 

 not known here. The bedding of the horse 

 consists of his dung. After being exposed to 

 the drying influence of the sun during the day, 

 it becomes pulverized, and, in that state, is 

 nightly spread under him. Little of it touches 

 his body, that being covered by his clothing, a 

 large mimmud, from the head to the tail, and 

 bound firmly round his body by a very long 

 surcingle. But this apparel is only for cold 

 weather ; in the warmer season the night clothes 

 are of a lighter substance, and during the heat 

 of the day the animal is kept entirely under 

 shade. 



'' At night he is tied in the courtyard. The 

 horses' heads are attached to the place of secu- 

 rity by double ropes from their halters, and the 

 heels of their hinder legs are confined by cords 

 of twisted hair, fastened to iron rings and pegs 

 driven into the earth. The same custom pre- 



