INDIAN HOUSES.] MODERN VETERINARY PRACTICE. [indian horses. 



symmetry greatly eulianced her value. The breed from 



envoy said, ' I will give you fifty tomaiia,' a 

 coin nearly of the value of a pound sterling. 

 'A little more, if you please,' said the fellow, 

 apparently entertained. * Eighty — a hundred.' 

 He shook his head and smiled. The offer at 

 Jasfc came to 200 tomans! 'AVell,' said the 

 Arab, 'you need not tempt me further; it is 

 of no use. Tou are a rich e/c/^ee (nobleman). 

 You have fine horses, camels, and mules ; and 

 I am told you have loads of silver and gold. 

 Now,' added he, 'you want my mare, but you 

 shall not have her for all you have got.' " 



Who can help admiring the disinterestedaffec- 

 tion of this semi-savage for his animal! Again — 

 "An Arab sheik or chief, who lived within 

 fifty miles of Bussora, had a favourite breed of 

 horses. He lost one of his best mares, and 

 could not for a long while discover whether 

 she was stolen or had strayed. Some time 

 after, a young man of a different tribe, who 

 had long wished to marry his daughter, but 

 had always been rejected by the sheik, ob- 

 tained the lady's consent, and eloped with her. 

 The sheik and his followers pursued; but the 

 lover and his mistress, mounted on one horse, 

 made a wonderful march, and escaped. The 

 old chief swore that the fellow was either 

 mounted upon the devil, or the favourite mare 

 he had lost. After his return he found the 

 latter was the case; that the lover was the 

 thief of his mare as well as of his daughter ; 

 and that he stole the one to carry off the other. 

 The chief was quite gratified to think he had 

 not been beaten by a mare of another breed ; 

 and was easily reconciled to the young man, 

 in order that he might recover his mare, which 

 •appeared an object about which he was more 

 solicitous than about his daughter." 



HORSES OF INDIA AND THE EASTERN 

 ARCHIPELAGO. 



In India there seems to be a considerable 

 variety of breeds of horses. The performances 

 of a few of the races, whether in the point of 

 speed or bottom, are very far from being con- 

 temptible, even when compared with some of 

 our own. In such a climate, where every 

 European must of necessity be mounted, it 

 becomes of importance, for the army as well 

 as civilians, that proper attention should be 

 paid to the selection of the best horses to. 



r 

 the 



Although they are, in general, 

 small, they exhibit ail the evidences of having 

 descended from a good stock. 



The editor of The Horse, published undo 

 the superintendence of the Society for 

 Diffusion of Useful Knowledge, says— 



" The Toorky, originally frona aToorkoman 

 and a Persian, is beautiful in his form, graceful 

 in his action, and docile in his temper. It is 

 said that, when skilfully managed, the grandeur 

 and stateliness of his carriage are equal to 

 what the warmest imagination can conceive of 

 the horse ; his spirit rising as his exertions are 

 required, he exhibits to his beholders an appear- 

 ance of fury in the performance of his task, yet 

 preserving to his rider the utmost grace, play 

 fulness, and gentleness. 



"Next comes the Iranee, well limbed, and 

 his joints closely knit, and particularly powerful 

 in the quarters, but with scarcely sufficient 

 spirit, and his ears large and loose. 



" The patient and docile Cozakee is deep in 

 the girth, powerful in the fore-arm, but with 

 large head, and sadly cat-hammed ; hardy, and 

 calculated for long journeys and severe service. 

 "The Mojinniss have spirit, beauty, speed, 

 and perseverance. 



"The Tazsee is slight, hollow-backed, and, 

 for that reason perhaps, although deficient in 

 strength, and leaving as it were his hind legs 

 behind him, and likewise irritable in temper, 

 yet sought after on account of the peculiar 

 easiness of his pace." 



A sale of horses, near the Company's stud, 

 at Hissar, is thus described by an excellent 

 judge: — '"'Not less than 1,000 horses were 

 shown. They were all above fourteen hands 

 and a-half in height, high-crested, and showy- 

 looking horses. The great defect seemed a 

 want of bone below the knee, which is, indeed, 

 general to all the native horses throughout 

 India ; and also so great a tendency to fulness 

 in the hocks, that, in England, it would be 

 thought half of them had blood spavins." 



A writer in the Sportsman s Magazine, ex- 

 presses himself indifierently upon the qualities 

 of the horses in the East Indies : — 



"The small Mahratta horse," he says, "is 

 an active, serviceable little beast; but, in ten 

 cases out of twenty, extremely vicious, but will 

 often make a capital hunter, in fact, being the 

 only horse in India worth his keep ; the larger 



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