OTHER ASIATIC HORSES. 43 



Arabians. Sir Alexander Burns attributes to them, on the other 

 hand, a very high crest, and large and bony though somewhat 

 long bodies. He says, also, that in Bokhara there is a breed of 

 Kuzzak horses, sturdy and small, with shaggy coats and very long 

 manes and tails, much and deservedly admired. 



The Tartar Horses are small and narrow, with long necks, 

 weak legs, large heads, and light middles. Nevertheless they are 

 described as fast and untiring, and of the most hardy nature, so 

 that they can support themselves on a quantity and quality of food 

 upon which even our donkeys would starve. 



In various parts of Tartary horses are found in a wild 

 state, and present a rough inelegant form not unlike that of our 

 New Forest ponies. In them the characteristics of the domesti- 

 cated Tartar horse already described are exhibited in a marked 

 manner, and there is every reason to believe that the two breeds 

 are identical, and that the ranks of the latter are recruited from 

 the enormous herds of wild horses which are found in countless 

 thousands on the edges of the vast deserts of the country. They 

 are generally of a red color, with a black stripe along the back, 

 and manes and tails of the latter color, but almost always reddish 

 at the roots of the dock and edges of the mane. The Tartars eat 

 the flesh both of the v/ild and domesticated horse, and are said to 

 cook the meat under their saddles. They also manufacture a drink 

 called koumiss from the milk obtained from the mare, which is 

 fermented and distilled into an intoxicating beverage. 



In so vast a country as India, it might be expected that 

 numerous breeds of horses would be found, varying almost as much 

 as the climates and soils of Bengal and Cabool. In the immediate 

 neighborhood of the three presidencies imported and country-bred 

 Arab, as well as Persian and Turkooman horses, are common 

 enough, as also are importations from the Cape of Good Hope, 

 Australia, and Van Dieman's Land. English horses are not nearly 

 so numerous, the expense and risk of the voyage deterring most 

 people from the speculation, the doubtful nature of which may be 

 estimated from the fact that the insurance is twenty-four to twenty- 

 five per cent., and this only insures the landing of the animal alive; 

 for if it is so wasted and worn as to die an hour afterwards, the pol- 

 icy is of no value to the insured. Williamson, in his Wild Sports 

 of the East, describes the native Bengal breeds in the following 

 terms : — " They have generally Roman noses, and sharp, narrow 

 foreheads, much white in their eyes, ill-shaped ears, square heads, 

 thin necks, narrow chests, shallow girths, lank bellies, cat hams, 

 goose rumps, and switch tails ! Some occasionally may be found 

 in every respect well shaped. They are hardy and fleet, but inca- 

 pable of carrying great weights. Their vice is proverbial; yet 

 until they arriva at four or five years they are often very docile 



