32 FOREIGN BREEDS OF HORSES. 



which the horse may be occasionally reminded of his duty. The horsemau 

 has neither whip, switch, nor spur, but the horse is controlled, if he is disposed 

 to rebel, by the cruel argument of the bit.. 



The breast of the Mahratta horse is more splendidly ornamented than any 

 other part. Numerous coins, of different size and value— rupees and double 

 rupees— are formed into plates more or less highly ornamented, and which in time 

 of war form a rich booty for the conqueror. The mane, too, is generally plaited 

 with silk-braids, and silver knobs attached to them, with a beautiful top-knot 

 between the ears. If the rider has distinguished himself in war, some curious 

 tails, said to be taken from the wild cow, dangle on either side*. 



THE BIRMAN AND CHINESE HORSE. 



The Birman horses are small, but spirited and strong. There is one at 

 present (1842) in the menagerie belonging to the Zoological Society of London. 

 It does not stand more than twelve hands high ; but he is a beautiful little 

 fellow, and a picture of strength. 



In Siam the horses are few, and inferior to those of the Birman empire. 



In Cochin-China, on the eastern coast of the peninsula, the horses are still 

 small ; but they are better formed, and more active and strong, than they are 

 in Siam. In Sumatra and Java the horses have not increased in size ; but in 

 form and usefulness they scarcely yield to any in the south-west of Asia. In 

 Borneo they are few, and scarcely deserving of notice. The horses of China 

 are, generally speaking, small, ill-formed, weak, and without spirit ; indeed 

 they have little occasion for the horse in the greater part of that immense 

 empire. 



THE AUSTRALIAN HORSE. 



The new colonies of the British in Australia and its dependencies will present 

 something more satisfactory. The greater part of the horses in New South 

 Wales — the eastern coast of Australia, were derived from the Cape of Good 

 Hope and from India. Very little judgment was employed in the selection, 

 and indeed very few horses of good quality could have been procured from 

 either place. The consequence was, that a writer so late as 1824says of them, 

 that "they are principally of the nag kind, and bred without much care. 

 They are not very sightly in appearance, being narrow-chested and sharp- 

 backed, and sadly deficient in the quarters. They have an incurable habit of 

 shying, and they are not very sure-footed." The New South Wales horses 

 are seldom stabled ; but are supposed to be healthier, and better able to endure 

 fatigue, when kept in the open air. This, however, is probably only an excuse 

 for neglectf. 



The sheep, however, prospering so well, and the cattle rapidly increasing and 

 improving, the colonist began to be a little ashamed of his horses. Several of a 

 better kind, cart and blood, were consequently imported from the mother-country 

 — an Arabian was procured from India — and the Australian horse soon began 

 to be a very different sort of animal. A writer of a few years' later date says : 

 " We have few thorough-bred cart-horses, almost all of them having a spice of 

 blood about them, which makes them unsteady at draught, restive, and given to 

 jibbing when put to a hard pull." This was a very erroneous charge, and the 

 writer seems to be aware of it ; for he adds, " This may arise in a great measure 

 from their being badly broken in." It was the faulty management and edu- 

 cation of the horse, and not the portion of pure blood which he had acquired, 

 that produced vices like these. The writer proceeds: " We have many fine 



* The Sportsman, vol. iv. p. 174. f Atkinson's New South Wales, p. 61. 



