606 
VERTEBRATA. 
CIRCASSIANS. 
of constitution, it everywliere maiiitairis certain general characteristics, such as a straight or even 
depressed frontal line,^' square nostrils, stout limbs, robust constitution, and great powers of en- 
durance. In China and Japan, where, indeed, few horses are in use, it is dwindled almost into a 
j)ony. 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 Asia, 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 
race. Many of them which are bred Avith 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 Tartars 
are excellent 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. 
Tartary or Scythia we conceive to have been the birth-place of this noble brute ; the Tartar 
Horse we regard as the progenitor of the species. Extended into Persia, Arabia, and Egypt, and 
bred 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- 
ences, it became the wild rover of the Don, the heavy but irresistible charger of Flanders, the 
vigorous wagoner of Normandy, the ponderous cart-horse of Belgium, the shaggy but hardy pony 
of Norway, Sweden, and Iceland. In Spain, crossed by the Barb, it produced the light, graceful 
Genet; in England, blent with the Arabian, it reached the climax of the species in the Race- 
horse. 
This animal — the Tartar breed — is found in a wild state in various parts of Western Asia. 
Along the borders of the Caspian, among the Kirghis tribe, there are droves of many hundreds 
* "The Tartar horse is remarkable for the straightness of the frontal line, the squareness of the nose, the wideness 
of the nostrils, the beard along the under jaw, the general shagginess of the coat, and the length and quantity of hair 
in the tail. This appears to be the original horse of Eastern Europe, as well as of Western Asia northward of the 
central mountains ; for if the figure of its head is compared with those of the horses on the Elgin marbles, or any 
other Grecian scvdptures of undoubted authenticity, there will be found to be a wonderful coincidence; nor are these 
characters entirely lost in the Shetland pony, which there is erery reason to beliere fotind its way to the Shetland 
Islands through Russia and Scandinavia." — British OyclojaeMa of Natural JEstory. 
