Discovery of Horse-heads. By Dr. E. C. Robertson. 513 



" The wanton courser, thus with reins unbound, 



" Breaks from his stall and beats the trembling ground ; 



" Pamper 'd and proud he seeks the wonted tides, 



" And waves, in height of blood, his shining sides. 



" His head now freed, he tosses to the skies, 



" His mane, dishevell'd on his shoulders flies ; 



" He snuffs the females on the distant plain, 



" And springs exulting to his fields again." 



This is a picture of strengtli, power, activity, and beauty, and the 

 horse, the noble symbol of these natural qualities, was in the 

 far East taken as the pre-eminent sacrifice or offering. In India 

 the great rite of horse-sacrifice — the Assamhedha, long since 

 disappeared from Indian life — is the most impressive ceremony of 

 sacrifice, of which we have any account. This great solemnity 

 is thus defined in Dowson's Hindoo Mythology, "Eajah-Surya 

 — a Eoyal Sacrifice, a sacrifice performed at the installation of a 

 king. It implied that he was a supreme lord, or King over Kings. ' ' 

 It seems to have been performed three thousand years ago — 

 at any rate in the great Indian poem " Eamayana," written 

 several centuries before our era, the great horse-sacrifice with 

 all its intricate ceremonies is portrayed. Let me quote a de- 

 scription of it from " Wheelboy's History." " When Yudhish- 

 thira was firmly established in the kingdom, he resolved to 

 celebrate the great sacrifice, known as the Aswamhedha or 

 sacrifice of a horse. It was an assertion of the Eajah's supre- 

 macy over the whole world. A horse of a particular colour was 

 let loose a year to wander at its will. At the end of the year it 

 was brought back triumphantly to his own city, when the animal 

 was sacrificed and there was a grand feast, at which the roasted 

 flesh of the horse would be eaten as an imperial dish." Another 

 interesting account of the same sacrificial ceremony is given in 

 " WiUiam's Indian "Wisdom." " The horse for sacrifice was 

 allowed to roam about for a year. If no one was able to seize 

 it during that period, it was deemed fit for sacrifice, but the 

 seizure was sometimes effected by the god Indra. Another year was 

 consumed in preparations for the sacrifice." Again, " Dasaratha 

 not having a son, resolved to perform the horse sacrifice and so 

 propitiate the gods to give him one." The following is a curious 

 description of the ceremony. " Twenty one Yupas or sacrificial 

 posts were erected, to which were tied various animals and the 

 horse. Near the horse the Queens of Dasaratha watched for a 

 whole night. The marrow of the horse was taken out and 



