SOME HORSES OF MYTHOLOGY 97 



That the horse should have been almost wor- 

 shipped by the very tribes who offered up living 

 horses as sacrifices to their gods has been pro- 

 nounced paradoxical by some writers ; yet there 



s nothing inconsistent about this, for in all 



o 



times when sacrifices have been common those 

 offering sacrifice have given what they most 

 cherished or esteemed. 



What is remarkable is the fact that, of all 

 animals known to have existed in the different 

 countries and in the different regions of those 

 countries to which reference has been made, the 

 horse stands alone as man's direct assistant, one 

 might say ally ; and. in addition, the horse is the 

 one animal with a history traceable through the 

 early centuries, owing to the almost unbroken line 

 of references made to it in the story of the human 

 race and progress towards civilisation. 



How far advanced the world would have been 

 at the time of the Conqueror's landing, how far 

 advanced it would be to-day, had the horse not 

 played so prominent a part in its developm-: 

 none can say. There can be no doubt, however, 

 but that the human race would have advanced far 

 more slowly had the employment of horses been 

 withheld. 



Of mythical horses that have "existed," the 

 name is legion. To deal at length with these 

 strange creatures would need a volume half as 

 large as this is. I have mentioned that few save 



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