112 THE HORSE AND HIS RIDER. 



carry their houses with them. Their large wagons, 

 that always accompany them on their wanderings, 

 afford shelter from the weather, and a warm nest at 

 night ; but these are luxuries the tabunshick must not 

 even dream of. His charges are much too lively to be 

 left to their own guidance. His thousand horses are 

 not kept together in as orderly and disciplined a 

 fashion as those of a regiment of dragoons ; and it may 

 be doubted, whether an adjutant of cavalry has to 

 ride about as much, and to give as many orders, on a 

 day of battle, as a tabunshick on the quietest day 

 that he spends in the Steppe. When on duty, a 

 tabunshick, scarcely ever quits the back of his steed. 

 He eats there, and even sleeps there : but he must 

 beware of sleeping at the hours when other men sleep ; 

 for while grazing at night, the horses are most apt to 

 wander away from the herd, and at no time is it more 

 necessary for him to be on his guard against wolves, 

 and against those adventurous dealers in horseflesh, 

 who usually contrive that the money which they receive 

 at a fair, shall consist exclusively of profit. During 

 a snow-storm, the poor tabunshick must not think of 

 turning his back to the tempest ; this his horses are 

 too apt to do, and it is his business to see that they do 

 not take flight, and run scouring before the wind. 

 The dress of a tabunshick is chiefly composed of 



