84 THE HORSE AND ITS RELATIVES 



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 

 in 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, the ears far 

 back, either long or short, the eyes small and 

 malignant, the chin and muzzle beset with bristles, 

 the neck rather thin, crested with a thick rugged 

 mane, which, like the tail, is black, as also the 

 pasterns, which are long : the hoofs are narrow, 

 high, and rather pointed ; the tail, descending only 

 to the hocks, is furnished with coarse and rather 

 curly or wavy hairs right up to the crupper ; the 

 croup as high as the withers : the voice of the 

 tarpan is loud, and shriller than that of a domestic 

 horse ; and their action, standing, and general 

 appearance resemble somewhat those of vicious 

 mules." 



It is added that the genuine wild tarpans are 

 migratory, wandering northward in summer, and 

 returning south in autumn ; in this respect they 

 differ markedly from the hybrid muzin. 



The above description, it is important to repeat, 

 was drawn up after the Peace of Paris in 1814 

 by Colonel Smith from Cossack reports, and it is 



