16 THE HORSE AND HIS RIDER. 



sheep, the hog, and the horse. The constitution of 

 these useful allies is endowed with a capacity for 

 adapting itself, more or less, to external circum- 

 stances; above all, their respective hulk undergoes 

 notable variations proportioned to the ordinary supply 

 of food within their reach. In the rich pastures of 

 Flanders and of Lincolnshire the horse expands to its 

 largest dimensions, whilst in mountainous regions and 

 in northern islands it becomes a pony. 



There is an East Indian pony called the Tattoo, 

 commonly from ten to twelve hands high (a hand is 

 four inches) ; they are sometimes much smaller. 

 Tavernier describes one which he saw ridden by a 

 young Mogul prince, which was not much larger 

 than a greyhound. In 1765, one not more than seven 

 hands, or twenty-eight inches high, was sent to Eng- 

 land as a present to the Queen of George III. It 

 was taken from the ship to the palace in a hackney- 

 coach. It was of a dun colour, and its hair resembled 

 that of a young fawn. It was four years old, well 

 proportioned, had fine ears, a quick eye, with a hand- 

 some long tail, and was thoroughly good-natured and 

 manageable. 



Hurdwar, in Upper India, is the site of a great cattle 

 fair; Colonel Davidson, describing his visit to this 

 busy scene, says, that among the greatest curiosities 



