THE HORSE, DIFFERENT BREEDS, ETC. 73 



(nan or South Tartary horse are worthy to be rated among the better class 

 of animals. He is famous for purity of blood, for good speed, and for 

 wonderful powers of endurance. It is related that one of them has been 

 known to travel nine hundred miles, bearing a rider, in eleven successive 

 days. He is not really a graceful animal, however, as his head is rather 

 large, and his legs are long in proportion to liis height, which is from 

 fifteen to sixteen hands. 



Other domesticated horses among Tlic T rtai-s are evidently of the 

 same breed as the wild horses which are found in various parts of the 

 coulitry and in immense numbers, as the characteristics of the wild are 

 exhibited in a marked manner in the domesticated. Indeed, it is known 

 that these wild herds are often drawn upon for recruits when necessity 

 drives the inhabitants to add to their stock of serviceable animals. 



All these inferior creatures are small and narrow ; they have long necks, 

 apparently weak legs, large heads, and light barrels. The prevailing 

 color is a reddish sorrel, with a black stripe along the back. Their 

 manes and tails are black, except at the roots, where th,e hairs preserve 

 this reddish cast. Their general appearance is rough and inelegant : but 

 they are of the most hardy nature ; and, contrary to appearance, they 

 are rapid travelers. They live and even perform long and arduous 

 journeys upon the sparsest and poorest food. 



IX. The Egyptian. 



It is represented by some who have devoted more than ordinary cai'e 

 to the study of the origin of breeds, and to the horse in his relations to 

 various peoples and countries, that the horse of the ancient Egyptians 

 was identical with an inferior race that afterward existed among the 

 Assyrians. Some sculptures, found among the ruins of Nineveh, care- 

 fvilly executed and well preserved, portray a horse wholly different from 

 that nobler animal carved in other bas-reliefs found in the same ruins. 

 He is said to have been the Egyptian horse ; and as thus conveyed to us, 

 he was a large and heavy animal, having a coarse and ill-proportioned 

 head, but a high crest. 



The modern Egyptian is also of unpleasing aspect. From wheresoever 

 derived, he is rough and ugly. Frequently his legs, knees and neck 

 become positive defects ; but a good head is occasionally found. Hd 

 would scarcely be deserving of mention were it not that he is spirited 

 and impetuous ; and this, together with his weight, renders him valuable 

 for heavy cavalry, in which capacity he has won some celebrity. His 

 powers of endurance are not gi-eat. 



X. The Dongola. 



This horse is also entitled to consideration chiefly upon the ground of 



