452 THE HORSE. 



voracity of the vultures, which hung about us like specks in 

 the firmament, and descended with the velocity of lightning, 

 as each discharge of our artillery gave token of prey." 



Turning from these scenes of life to the elevated deserts 

 of Central Asia, we find another great region of the Horse, 

 consisting of mighty chains of wild mountains, and boundless 

 plains, often without a tree or a bush for hundreds of miles, 

 where various species of Equidse have been able to preserve 

 themselves in the state of liberty from age to age. Of the 

 species which inhabit this vast wilderness, now mostly com- 

 prehended in the empires of Russia and China, one, known 

 from early times, is the Wild or Cappadocian Mule of the 

 Greeks, the Dziggithai of certain Tartar tribes, the EQUUS 

 HEMIONUS of modern naturalists. This creature was known 

 to the Greeks, from his inhabiting the deserts of Asia Minor ; 

 but the Greeks scarcely distinguished it from the Common 

 Mule, terming both 'TJ/^/OVOJ, or Half-Ass, although some of 

 them knew that the Wild Mule was fruitful, while the hybrid 

 progeny of the Horse and Ass was barren. The Hemionus, 

 intermediate, as it were, between the Asinine and Equine 

 groups, has a wide range of place, but prevails in the more 

 temperate parts of Central Asia, whence he extends westward 

 towards the confines of Europe, eastward to China Proper, 

 and southward into Caubul, Beloochistan, and the deserts 

 beyond the Indus. His stature is that of the Mule, but he 

 is more graceful and swift. His fur is of a bay or fawn 

 colour, long in winter, but smooth and glossy in summer. 

 He has a bushy mane, which extends from the nape to the 

 withers, and his tail is terminated by a tuft of hairs about a 

 foot in length. Like the Horse in the wild state, he lives in 

 troops, migrating from place to place, mainly in the open 

 plains, and rarely approaching the forest. The animals are 

 hunted by the people of the desert for their skins and flesh. 

 They have the senses of sight and smell in exquisite perfec- 

 tion, and, when put to flight, they dart along with the swift- 

 ness of the antelope. They can be tamed when taken young, 



