106 THE HORSE AND HIS RIDER. 



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 re- 

 ceive 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 

 leather, fastened together by a leathern girdle, to 

 which the whole veterinary apparatus, and a variety 

 of little fanciful ornaments, are usually appended. 

 His head is protected by a high cylindrical Tartar cap, 

 of black lambskin ; and over the whole he throws his 

 sreeta, a large, brown, woollen cloak, with a hood to 

 cover his head. This hood, in fine weather, hangs 

 behind, and often serves its master at once for pocket 

 and larder. 



The tabunshick has a variety of other trappings, of 

 which he never divests himself. Among these, his 

 harabnick holds not the least important place. This is 

 a whip, with a thick short stem, but with a thong often 

 fifteen or eighteen feet in length. It is to him a 



