192 HISTORY OF 



prudent in the rider to give them their way, and 

 at the same time to let them feel the spur, to carry 

 him over the precipices. These horses are back- 

 ed and exercised to this method of hunting ; and 

 their usual pace is trotting. 



There are said to be very good horses in the 

 islands of the Archipelago. Those of Crete were 

 in great reputation among the ancients for their 

 swiftness and force ; however, at present they are 

 but little used, even in the country itself, because 

 of the unevenness of the ground, which is there 

 very rocky and mountainous. The original horses 

 of Morocco are much smaller than the Arabian 

 breed ; however, they are very swift and vigor- 

 ous. In Turkey there are to be found horses of 

 almost all races, Arabians, Tartars, Hungarians, 

 and those natural to the place. The latter are 

 very beautiful and elegant ; they have a great 

 deal of fire, swiftness, and management ; but they 

 are not able to support fatigue : they eat little ; 

 they are easily heated ; and they have skins so 

 sensible, that they can scarcely bear the rubbing 

 of the stirrup. The Persian horses are, in gene- 

 ral, the most beautiful and most valuable of all 

 the East. The pastures in the plains of Media, 

 Persepolis, Ardebil, and Derbent, are excellent 

 for the purpose of rearing them ; and there were 

 bred in those places vast numbers, by order of 

 the government of Persia, while that country was 

 under any government. Pietro della Valle pre- 

 fers the horses of Persia to those of Italy j and 

 informs us, that they are in general of a middle 

 size ; and although some are found even of the 



