90 THE HORSE AND HIS RIDER. 



defeated party driven from the herd in exile. These 

 animals ar3 found in the greatest purity in the Kara 

 Koom, south of the lake Aral, and the Syrdaria, near 

 Kusneh, on the banks of the river Tom, in the terri- 

 tory of the Kalkas, the Mongolian deserts, and the 

 solitudes of the Gobi. Within the Russian frontier 

 there are, however, some adulterated herds, in the 

 vicinity of the fixed settlements, distinguishable by 

 the variety of their colours, and a selection of resi- 

 dence less remote from human habitations. Real 

 tarpans are not larger than ordinary mules ; their 

 colour is invariably tan, Isabella, or mouse, being all 

 shades of the same livery, and only varying in depth 

 by the growth or decrease of a whitish surcoat, longer 

 than the hair, increasing from Midsummer, and 

 shedding in May ; during the cold season it is long, 

 heavy, and soft, lying so close as to feel like a bear's 

 fur, and then is entirely grizzled ; in summer much 

 falls away, leaving only a certain quantity on the back 

 and loins : the head is small ; the forehead greatly 

 arched ; and the ears far back, either long or short ; 

 the eyes small and malignant; the chin and muzzle 

 beset with bristles ; the neck rather thin, and crested 

 with a thick rugged mane, which, like the tail, is 

 black, as are also the pasterns, which are long ; the 

 hoofs are narrow, high, and rather pointed ; the tail, 



