SUMATRA PONIES. 



637 



plains and high mountains. As the Battaks are constantly 

 in pecuniary difficulties, in consequence of their love of 

 gambling and opium, they generally sell the colts, when 

 these animals are from two to two and a half years of age. 

 Those which fall into the hands of drivers of carts for hire, 

 are usually of an inferior class, and therefore cheap. They 

 are put immediately to work, and as a rule become ruined 



Fig. 606. — Japanese pack puny, with straw sandals on its feet. 



before they are fully developed. The senseless jerking of 

 the reins spoils their mouths, the numberless blows they 

 receive make them stubborn, and the merciless insistence 

 on speed causes their gait to become uneven, so that they 

 keep changing into the canter, when they ought to be 

 trotting. 



" Until a few years ago the Battaks sold only stallions, 

 because the mares bring them a large profit, without putting 



