34 THE EXISTING EQUIDAE [CH. 



that given by Smith of the true wild Tarpans which nearly 

 a century ago were declared " not to be found unmixed except 

 towards the borders of China," and which were then found 

 in their greatest purity on the lake Karakoum, south of the 

 Sea of Aral and the Syrdaria near Kusneh and in the Gobi 

 desert, whilst those within the Russian frontiers of that time 

 were adulterated and distinguished by the variety of their 

 colour from the pure herds further east. The true Tarpans 

 " are not larger than ordinary mules, their colour invariably 

 tan, Isabella, or mouse, being all shades of the same livery." 

 Now this would describe very well Mr Hagenbeck's foals from 

 the two most easterly districts, but does not agree with the 

 red heads, necks, backs, and croups of those from the western 

 area. Again, the true Tarpan had a small head, the forehead 

 greatly arched (which we shall soon see to be a characteristic 

 of at least some of the Prejvalsky horses), "the neck crested 

 with a thick, rugged mane, which like the tail is black, as also 

 the pasterns." Now this description does not at all agree with 

 the Prejvalsky foals from the west, for the mane is a light red- 

 brown, and the curled hairs of the tail are light red-brown, 

 white and black, whilst the legs are white, but it tallies 

 quite well with the foals from the second district, which 

 are light ashy-brown coloured instead of red on the head 

 and back, have black fetlocks and the outside of the legs 

 slightly tinted, and have the mane aod spine of a deep 

 brownish colour, and the beard also, thus coming much closer 

 to the description of the pure Tarpan, with its black fetlocks 

 and legs; while the foals from the eastern district, i.e., closest 

 to China, which have a coat of a full yellowish-brown colour, 

 and have not only black fetlocks, but also distinct black bands 

 on the outside of the legs to above the hock, exactly correspond 

 with the picture given us of the unadulterated Tarpan. 



From these considerations it would appear that (1) Prej- 

 valsky's horse is nothing more than the Tarpan of the older 

 writers ; (2) that if pure Tarpans still survive they are those 

 of the Zagan-norr Lake, and (3) that the divergence in colour 

 of these animals which characterizes those found in the middle 

 district, and in a still greater degree those of the most westerly 



