454 THE HOUSE. 



vicious and intractable, still lingers in the less accessible 

 mountains. But with the progress of population and settle- 

 ment in Europe, the Wild Horses, like the ancient Uri, were 

 subdued, dispersed, and exterminated ; and they are now to 

 be found only on the Asiatic side of the Volga, but stretching 

 thence, over the boundless wilds of the interior, to the East- 

 ern Ocean. But they are chiefly known to us as they are 

 found in the Tartar dominions of Russia, where they are 

 familiar to all the nomadic tribes. As they are presented to 

 us in a state of nature in these countries, they are far infe- 

 rior in beauty and nobleness of form to the domesticated races. 

 Their heads are large, thick, and very convex above the eyes. 

 Their ears are long, habitually carried low, and hanging 

 backwards. Their limbs are long, but stout ; the muzzle is 

 thick, and garnished with bristles ; and long hairs grow be- 

 neath the jaws and under part of the neck. The mane is 

 thick and bushy. The hair of the body is long and shaggy, 

 and sometimes frizzled. It is usually brownish-dun, ap- 

 proaching to a muddy cream-colour. These horses are gre- 

 garious ; they are often observed in numbers of several hun- 

 dreds together ; but, for the most part, they are in little 

 bands, under the guidance of a stallion. Their senses of 

 smell and sight are acute. They are vigilant in a high de- 

 gree, the stallions guarding the troop from surprise. They 

 shun the presence of man ; and, when alarmed, set off at 

 speed, and are quickly lost in the distance, availing them- 

 selves of the inequalities of the surface to conceal themselves 

 in their flight. They are hunted by the people of the desert 

 for their flesh and skins, and sometimes they are captured 

 alive, chiefly in winter, when the snows arrest their progress, 

 and allow them to be driven into hollows and ravines. In the 

 neighbourhood of the Sea of Asoph are horses in the state of 

 liberty, which Pallas supposes to be the descendants of Rus- 

 sian horses employed at the siege of Asoph in 1697, and turned 

 adrift for want of forage ; but, although emancipated horses 

 are doubtless to be found here, as well as in the remoter de- 



