

VERTEBRATA. 



CIRCASSIANS. 



mstitution, it everywhere maintains certain general characteristics, such as a straight or even 

 depressed frontal line,* square nostrils, stunt limbs, robust constitution, and great powers of en- 

 durance. [n China and Japan, where, indeed, few horses are in use, it is dwindled almost into a 

 pony. In Siberia and the contiguous regions of European Russia, that is, among the Baschirs, 

 it is still a small, shaggy, but vigorous species. Among the Tartars proper, whether Usbeks, 

 Turcomans, Kirghis of A-ia, or Cossacks, of Europe, it is an animal of moderate size and some- 

 what coarse appearance, but possessed of the sterling qualities which we have ascribed to the 

 . Many of them which are bred with care are among the most enduring and powerful horses 

 in the world, and by no means deficient in beauty. The Circassians cultivate this breed, and it 

 appears that they are alike distinguished for elegance and vigor. As before stated, the Tartar- 

 lent horsemen. They bestow upon their favorites the same care and affection which the 

 Arabs lavish on theirs. From early childhood both sexes are accustomed to mount the horse, 

 and thus they become skilled in its management. 



I tary oi Scythia we conceive to have been the birth-place of this noble brute; the Tartan 

 //"/• I gard a< the progenitor of the species. Extended into Persia, Arabia, and Egypt, and 



with care for centuries in a pure and elastic atmosphere, it produced the elegant and beau- 

 tiful Arabian; spread westward through Northern Europe, and subjected to a variety of influ- 

 ence s, il became the wild rover of the Don, the heavy but irresistible charger of Flanders, the 

 vigorous wagom r of Normandy, the ponderous cart-horse of Belgium, the shaggy but hardy pony 

 of Norway, Sweden, and [celand. In Spain, crossed by the Barb, it produced the light, graceful 

 in England, blent with the Arabian, it reached the climax of the species in the Racc- 

 oon 



This animal — the Tartar breed — is found in a wild state in various parts of Western Asia. 

 Along tin- border- of the Caspian, among the Kirghis tribe, there are droves of man)- hundreds 



markable For the Btraightness of the frontal line, the squareness of the nose, the wide 

 the under jaw, the general shagginess of the coat, and the length and quantity of hair 



in the tail. Tin-* appears t" be the original horse of Eastern Europe, as well as of Western Asia northward of fl»e 

 ral mountains; for if the figure of its head is compared with those of the horses on the Elgin marbles, or any 

 ian sculptures of undoubted authenticity, there will be found to be a wonderful coincidence; nor are these 

 tirely lost in the Shetland pony, which there i- every reason to believe found its way to the Shetland . 

 1 Scandinavia." i of Natural History. 



