170 THE HORSE AND HIS RIDER. 



real Lylee. In the course of the negotiations, Yar 

 Mohammad died, and was succeeded by his brother 

 Jooltan Mohammad Khan, who also prevaricated as 

 long as he could. But at last, General Ventura, an 

 , Italian in Runjeet's service, ended the matter by a 

 bold stroke. Entering the reception room one day, he 

 once more formally demanded Lylee, and when Jool- 

 tan Mohammad began to quibble as usual, Ventura 

 called up his soldiers, whom he had posted in the 

 courtyard of the palace, and pronounced the Khan a 

 prisoner in his own capital. This so astounded the 

 Khan, that he ordered the horse to be brought forth- 

 with, and Ventura quitted Peshawur with his costly 

 booty. 



Lylee was full sixteen hands high, and was magni- 

 ficently apparelled. His bridle and saddle were 

 splendid, and round his knees he had gold bangles. 

 He was ridden by Lieut. Barr's party in 1839, when he 

 was old, and disappointed their expectations. He was 

 then a speckled grey, overloaded with fat, filthily dirty, 

 and his heels, for want of paring and exercise, were so 

 high that he limped along with much difficulty. A 

 Dakhini, for which the Maharajah had given about 

 1000, in their opinion far exceeded Lylee in beauty. 

 Runjeet Singh's passion for horses has passed into a 

 proverb in the East : it amounted almost to insanity. He 

 was never weary of talking to and caressing his favorite 

 steeds ; they were continually in his thoughts, and 



