and the native guides started apparently 

 satisfied that it would break down under its 

 heavy rider clad to resist the penetrating 

 cold. 



After his second march, Captain Burnaby 

 began to acquire a certain measure of respect 

 for this pony : 



" What had surprised me most during our morning's 

 march was the extreme endurance of our horses. 

 The guide frequently had been obliged to dismount 

 and to clean out their nostrils, which were entirely 

 stuffed with icicles; but the little animals had ploughed 

 their way steadily through the snow. . . . The 

 one I rode, which in England would not have been 

 considered able to carry my boots, was as fresh as 

 possible after his march of seventeen miles. In spite 

 of the weight on his back quite twenty stone he 

 had never shown the least sign of fatigue." 



Again, a few days later, the conditions of 

 the journey having been, no less trying : 



" From Jana Darya we rode forty miles without 

 a halt. I must say that I was astonished to see 

 how well the Kirghiz horses stood the long jour- 

 neys. We had now gone 300 miles ; and my little 

 animal, in spite of his skeleton-like appearance, 

 carried me quite as well as the day he left Kasala, 

 this probably being owing to the change in his 

 food from grass to barley. We are apt to think 

 very highly of English horses, and deservedly as far 

 as pace is concerned ; but if it came to a question of 

 endurance, I much doubt whether our large and well 

 fed horses could compete with the little half-starved 

 Kirghiz animals. This is a subject which must be 



