FAMILY EQUID.E ; HORSE, ASS, DZIGGUETAI. 335 



and chariots. Hence we have no power of ascertaining what was 

 the original country of the Horse. The races that are now run- 

 ning wild through the plains of Tartary, are almost certainly 

 descendants of animals that have been in a state of subjugation ; 

 for their habits closely correspond with those of the wild horses 

 which now abound in the Pampas of South America, and which 

 have descended from the domesticated individuals introduced into 

 that continent by the Spaniards, at the time of their invasion of 

 it. They live in troops, which are led by an old male; and 

 when attacked, they put the females and colts in the rear, and 

 make a vigorous resistance by kicking with the hind legs. They 

 are fleet and hardy; but by no means remarkable for beauty. The 

 influence of domestication in modifying the habits of the Horse, 

 is remarkably shown by the fact which rests on good authority, 

 that it may be brought to eat meat, though naturally as 

 exclusively herbivorous as any animal ; and this diet is said to 

 excite an unusual degree of spirit and mettle, and to enable it 

 better to sustain fatigue. 



301. The Ass appears to have been domesticated before the 

 Horse ; and it was, as it still is in many parts of the East, the 

 beast usually ridden in civil life ; the Horse being employed 

 almost exclusively for war. When treated with care, attention, 

 and kindness, its appearance and manners are very different from 

 those of the serviceable, but undervalued and neglected beast of 

 our own country. It is in Arabia, Persia, and Syria, that the 

 finest breeds of the Ass are found ; those of "Western Europe are 

 quite degenerate. A fine race is bred in Malta. Several species 

 of Wild Ass have been described as natives of Central Asia and 

 Africa ; but there is much uncertainty regarding them ; and it is 

 not known to which the Domesticated stock is to be referred, or 

 whether it is derived from any of them. It seems to differ from 

 them all in the mark which is constantly observed on it, the 

 cross over its shoulders. The Dzigguetai is one of these species, 

 inhabiting the greater part of Central Asia, and distinguished for 

 its fleetness, which equals that of a very swift Arabian ; but it 

 is not easily tamed, being vicious in temper, and kicking violently 

 on the most trifling provocation. Of the Zebra, which is a 



