i6 



Finally, Captain Burnaby sums up the 

 performance of this fourteen-hand pony : 



"We had ridden 371 miles in exactly nine days 

 and two hours, thus averaging more than 40 miles a 

 day ! At the same time it must be remembered that, 

 with an interval of in all not more than nine days' 

 rest, my horse had previously carried me 500 miles. 

 In London, judging by his size, he would have been 

 put down as a polo pony. In spite of the twenty 

 stone he carried, he had never been either sick or 

 lame during the journey, and had galloped the last 

 17 miles through the snow to Kasala in one hour 

 and twenty-five minutes." 



The same author describes a remarkable 

 forced march made in the summer of 1870 

 by Count Borkh in Russian Tartary. The 

 Count's mission was to test the possibility 

 of taking artillery over the steep and diffi- 

 cult passes in a certain district, and his force 

 consisted of 150 cossacks, and 60 mounted 

 riflemen and a gun. The troops accom- 

 plished their journey out and back, 266 

 miles, in six days ; the heat was excessive, 

 the thermometer marking sometimes as 

 much as 117 Fahr. during the day; yet 

 the ponies were none the worse of their 

 exertions, the " sick list " at the end com- 

 prising only twelve, all of which suffered 

 from sore backs caused by careless saddling. 

 Other expeditions under similar conditions 

 are mentioned ; these go to prove that the 



