8o THE HORSE AND ITS RELATIVES 



from the space between the eyes [apparently 

 a misprint for ears] to the shoulder-blades ; it is 

 moderately long, and half upright. In winter the 

 coat is rough, long, and waved on the back ; the tail 

 is of moderate length. Young foals can be very 

 easily tamed, but the adults are untamable. They 

 gallop with wonderful speed, and scent human 

 beings from a great distance, especially when they 

 get their wind. . . . They frequent open undulating 

 steppes, and avoid forests and mountainous locali- 

 ties." 



If, as is almost certainly the case, the word 

 eyes {augeii) is a misprint for ears (ohren) — 

 for the author mentions the presence of a whorl 

 of hair between the eyes — and if we except the 

 absence of mention of the scanty hairing of the 

 tail, the foregoing description might serve very 

 well for that of the modern Mongolian tarpan. 



Other evidence was collected at an earlier date 

 (1766) by S. G. Gmelin,^ who states that the 

 Russian tarpan was a small, clumsy-headed, mouse- 

 coloured horse, with a short wavy mane, and the 

 fronts of the legs black from the knees and hocks 

 downwards. In some examples the ears were 

 short and horse-like, but in others longer and more 

 ass-like. The tail was in some cases bushy, and in 

 others scantily haired, but always shorter than 

 in domesticated horses. This account appears to 



^ Reise durch Russland, St. Petersburg (1770-84). 



