Ill] AND HISTORIC TIMES 141 



The so-called China pony is commonly bred in and sent 

 from Mongolia (including Manchuria) to China vid Tientsin 1 , 

 and Darwin 2 has pointed out that to the "eastward of the Bay 

 of Bengal over an enormous and humid area, in Ava, Pegu, 

 Siam, the Malay Archipelago, the Loo Choo Islands, v and a 

 large part of China, no full -sized horse is found." 



Passing down into Further India, we meet the Burmese 

 or rather Shan ponies, for these useful animals are almost 

 exclusively bred by the Shan tribes of the hills, since in the 

 wide region extending from Rangoon to Mandalay there are 

 no good native ponies. The Shan pony (sometimes also known 

 as the Pegu pony) is about the same height as the Mongolian, 

 from which he is certainly derived, though modified by other 

 blood. He is a great weight carrier, and jumps well, but is 

 slow. 



Closely akin to the Shan pony are those of Manipur, but 

 they " are smaller and smarter for their size." " These two kinds 

 of ponies," says Captain Hayes, " appear to belong to a distinct 

 breed, which seems to have no relationship with ponies of any 

 other country except, possibly, those of Sumatra and Java." 

 The reason for the probable connection between the last two 

 and the first two breeds will shortly be made clear. 



The Sumatra ponies (also called Battak or Deli ponies) are 

 bred in the Battak range of hills in Sumatra, and are commonly 

 exported to Singapore from the port of Deli. " They have 

 handsome heads, set on to high -crested necks, are full of spirit, 

 and are simply balls of muscle 3 ." *The Battak ponies have 

 almost entirely lost their original type from frequent crossing 

 with imported Arabs. The majority of them are brown, but 

 many are skewbald, and their average height is about 11*3 

 hands, the best measuring from 12*1 to 12*2. One of the latter 

 height, probably the fastest racing pony in Sumatra, was of 

 a chestnut roan. 



The Gayoe ponies come from the hills which stretch from 

 the Battak mountains to the north end of Sumatra, and " are 



1 Hayes, op. cit., p. 599 (ed. 3). 



2 Variation of Animals and Plants, 1868, Vol. i. p. 53. 



3 Hayes, op. cit., pp. 632-3. 



