THE HORSE. 19-3 



may be said, that the Tartar horses were properly 

 the conquerors of China. These, indeed, are 

 very serviceable in war ; and although but of a 

 middle size, yet they are surprisingly patient, 

 vigorous, swift, and bold : their hoofs are ex- 

 tremely hard, though rather too narrow ; their 

 heads are fine, but rather too little ; the neck is 

 long and stiff; the legs of the longest ; and yet, 

 with all these faults, they are found to be an ex- 

 cellent breed. The Tartars live with their horses 

 pretty much in the same manner as the Arabians 

 do ; they begin to back them at the age of seven 

 or eight months, placing their children upon 

 them, who manage them even at that early age. 

 By these means they break them, by little and 

 little, till at last, about the age of six or seven 

 years, they are capable of enduring amazing hard- 

 ships. Thus they have been known to march two 

 or three days without once stopping ; to continue 

 five or six without eating any thing except a hand- 

 ful of grass at every eight hours ; and, besides, 

 to remain without drinking for four-and-twenty 

 hours. These horses, which are so vigorous in 

 their own country, lose all their strength when 

 they are brought into China or the Indies ; but 

 they thrive pretty well in Persia and Turkey. 

 The race of little Tartars towards the north have 

 also a breed of little horses, which they set such 

 a value upon, that it is forbidden to sell them to 

 strangers : these horses have the very same quali- 

 ties with those of the larger kind, which they pro- 

 bably derive from a similar treatment. There are 

 also very fine horses in Circassia and Mingrelia. 



