THE WILD HORSE. 163 



to retain the chief authority for more than one sea- 

 son, without opposition from others, rising in the 

 confidence of youthful strength, to try by battle whe- 

 ther the leadership should not be confided to them,- 

 and the defeated party is driven from the herd in 

 exile. 



*' These animals are found in the greatest purfty 

 on the Karakoum, south of the lake of Aral, and 

 the Syrdaria, near Kusneh, and on the banks of the 

 river Tom, in the territory of the Kalkas, the Mon- 

 golian deserts, and the solitudes of the Gobi : within 

 the Russian frontier, there are, however, some adul- 

 terated herds in the vicinity of the fixed settlements, 

 distinguishable by the variety of their colours and a 

 selection of residence less remote from human habi- 

 tations. 



" Real Tai-pans are not larger than ordinary 

 mules, their colour invariably tan, Isabella, or mouse, 

 being all shades of the same livery, and only vary- 

 ing in depth by the growth or decrease of a whitish 

 surcoat, longer than the hair, increasing from mid- 

 summer and shedding in May : during the cold 

 season it is long, heavy, and soft, lying so close as 

 to feel like a bear's fur, and then is entirely griz- 

 zled; in summer much falls away, leaving only a 

 certain quantity on the back and loins : the head 

 is small, the forehead greatly arched, the ears far 

 back, either long or short, the eyes small and ma- 



them with the comaund (the antique lazzo), and then made 

 them their chargers. The breed of Raksh, say the poets, was 

 long traced in the herds of Masenderan. 



