Among Horses in India. 85 



in Afghanistan. This mortality was chiefly attributable to the 

 following causes : 



1. Want of sufficient food. 



2. Employment of camels reared in the southern parts of 

 India, which were therefore unable to bear the cold of 

 Afghanistan in the winter. 



3. Employment of camels before they were full-grown. 

 Large numbers of animals were ruined by galls and sore 



backs, caused by ill-fitting saddles, or by being kept standing 

 too long after being loaded. Injuries of this kind could rarely 

 be properly treated, owing to want of a sufficient number of 

 veterinary surgeons. 



Oxen. 



Oxen in India vary so much in size that it is difficult to 

 lay down any rule as to the loads which they can draw. 



Some are smaller than the very smallest Welsh mountain 

 cattle, while others are larger and more powerful than Here- 

 ford oxen. 



A veterinary surgeon who has had experience in cattle 

 practice can, of course, treat their diseases more successfully 

 than natives ; but the latter have nothing to learn from us 

 about the best methods of feeding, working, and general 

 management. 



When journeying for any length of time upon stony roads, 

 oxen require shoeing. They have to be cast before the shoes 

 can be applied, and all this is better done by the native shoe- 

 ing-smith than by the English. 



The average oxen of India do not travel more than two 

 miles an hour when drawing loaded carts. They are there- 

 fore not well suited for baggage purposes in an enemy's 

 country, where it might be necessary for them to march with 

 camels, mules, or elephants, all of which walk much faster. 



Pack Oxen. 



In parts of India where there are no made roads or tracks 

 level enough for carts, oxen are used by natives as pack 

 animals. There are certain castes called Brinjari who make 



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