they are found in much greater abundance; for it is a rule that obtains through Nature that the smallest animals multiply the fastest. The goat imported from Europe to South America soon begins to degenerate; but as it grows less it becomes more prolific; and, in stead of one kid at a time, or two at the most, it generally produces five, and sometimes more. What there is in the food or the climate that produces this change we have not been able to learn; we might be apt to ascribe it to the heat, but on the African coast, where it is still hotter, this rule does not obtain; for the goat, instead of degenerating there, seems rather to improve.

However, the rule is general among all quadrupeds, that those which are large and formidable produce but a few at a time; while such as are mean and contemptible are extremely prolific. The lion or tiger have seldom above two cubs at a litter; while the cat, which is of a similar nature, is usually seen to have five or six. In this manner the lower tribes become extremely numerous, and but for this surprising fecundity, from their natural weakness, they would quickly be extirpated. The breed of mice, for instance, would have long since been blotted from the earth, were the mouse as slow in production as the elephant. But it has been wisely provided that such animals as can make but little resistance should at least have a means of repairing the destruction which they must often suffer by their quick reproduction-that they should increase even among enemies, and multiply under the hand of the destroyer. On the other hand, it has as wisely been ordered by Providence that the larger kinds should produce but slowly; otherwise, as they require proportional supplies from Nature, they would quickly consume their own store; and, of consequence, many of them would soon perish through want so that life would thus be given without the necessary means of subsistence. In a word, Providence has most wisely balanced the strength of the great against the weakness of the little. Since it was necessary that some should be great and others mean-since it was expedient that some should live upon others, it has assisted the weakness of one by granting it fruitfulness, and diminished the number of the other by infecundity.

In consequence of this provision the larger creatures, which bring forth few at a time, seldom begin to degenerate till they have nearly acquired their full growth. On the contrary, those which bring many reproduce before they have arrived at half their natural size. Thus the horse and the bull are nearly at their best before they begin to breed; the hog and the rabbit scarce leave the teat before they become parents in turn. Almost all animals likewise continue the time of their pregnancy in proportion to their size. The mare continues eleven months with foal, the cow nine, the wolf five, and the bitch nine weeks. In all the intermediate litters are the most fruitful-the first and the last generally producing the fewest in number and the worst of the kind.

Whatever be the natural disposition of animals at other times, they all acquire new courage when they consider themselves as defending their young. No terrors can then drive them from the part of duty; the mildest begin to exert their little force, and resist the most formidable enemy. Where resistance is hopeless, they then incur every danger in order to rescue their young by flight, and retard their own expedition by providing for their little ones. When the female opossum, an animal of America, is pursued, she instantly takes her young into a false belly with which Nature has supplied her, and carries them off or dies in the endeavour. I have been lately assured of a she-fox which, when hunted, took her cub in her mouth, and run for several miles without quitting it, until at last she was forced to leave it behind upon the approach of a mastiff, as she ran through a farmer's yard. But if at this period the mildest animals acquire new fierceness, how formidable must those be that subsist by rapine! At such times

no obstacles can stop their ravage, nor no threats can terrify; the lioness then seems more hardy than even the lion himself. She attacks men and beasts indis criminately, and carries all she can overcome reeking to her cubs, whom she thus early accustoms to slaughter. Milk in the carnivorous animals is much more sparing than in others; and it may be for this reason that all such carry home their prey alive, that, in feeding their young, its blood may supply the deficiences of Natur, and serve instead of that milk with which they are so sparingly supplied.

Nature, that has thus given them courage to defend their young, has given them instinct to choose the proper times of copulation, so as to bring forth when the provision suited to each kind is to be found in the greatest plenty. The wolf, for instance, couples in December, so that, the time of pregnancy continuing five months, it may have its young in April. The mare, who goes eleven mouths, admits the horse in summer in order to foal about the beginning of May. On the contrary, those animals which lay up provisions for the winter, such as the beaver and the marmotte, couple in the latter end of autumn, so as to have their young about January, against which season they have provided a very comfortable store. These seasons for coupling, however, among some of the domestic kinds are generally in consequence of the quantity of provisions with which they are at any time supplied. Thus we may, by feeding any of these animals and keeping off the rigour of the climate, make them breed whenever we please. In this manner those contrive who produce lambs all the year round.

The choice of situation in bringing forth is also very remarkable. In most of the rapacious kinds the female takes the utmost precautions to hide the place of her retreat from the male, who otherwise, when pressed by hunger, would be apt to devour her cubs. She seldom, therefore, strays far from her den, and never approaches while he is in view, nor visits him again till her young are capable of providing for themselves. Such animals as are of tender constitutions take the utmost care to provide a place of warmth as well as safety for their young; the rapacious kinds bring forth in the thickest woods; those that chew the cud, with the various tribes of the vermin kind, choose some hiding place in the neighbourhood of man. Some dig holes in the ground, some choose the hollow of a tree, and all the amphibious kinds bring up their young near the water, and accustom them betimes to their proper element.

Thus Nature seems kindly careful for the protection of the meanest of her creatures: but there is one class of quadrupeds that seems entirely left to chance, that no parent stands forth to protect, nor no instructor leads to teach the arts of subsistence. These are the quadrupeds that are brought forth from the egg, such as the lizard, the tortoise, and the crocodile. The fecundity of all other animals compared with these is sterility itself. These bring forth above two hundred at a time; but as the offspring is more numerous the parental care is less exerted. Thus the numerous broods of eggs are, without farther solicitude, buried in the warm sands of the shore, and the heat of the sun alone is left to bring them to perfection. To this perfection they arrive almost as soon as disengaged from the shell. Most of them, without any other guide than instinct, immediately make to the water. In their passage thither they have numberless enemies to fear. The birds of prey that haunt the shore, the beasts that accidently come that way, and even the animals that give them birth, are known, with a strange rapacity, to thin their numbers as well as the rest.

But it is kindly ordered by Providence that those animals which are mostly obnoxious should thus have many destroyers; were it not for this, by their extreme fecundity they would soon over-run the earth, and cumber all our plains with deformity.

BOOK I.-CHAP. I.

OF THE HORSE.

Animals of the horse kind deserve a place next to man in a History of Nature. Their activity, their strength, their usefulness, and their beauty, all contribute to render them the principal objects of our curiosity and care-a race of creatures in whose welfare we are interested next to our own.

Of all the quadruped animals the horse seems the most beautiful; the noble largeness of his form, the glossy smoothness of his skin, the graceful ease of his motions, and the exact symmetry of his shape, have taught us to regard him as the first and the most perfectly formed; and yet, what is extraordinary enough, if we examine him internally, his structure will be found the most different from that of man of all other quadrupeds whatsoever. As the ape approaches us the nearest in internal conformation, so the horse is the most remote a striking proof that there may be oppositions of beauty, and that all grace is not to be referred to one standard.

To have an idea of this noble animal in his native simplicity, we are not to look for him in the pastures or the stables, to which he has been consigned by man, but in those wild and extensive plains where he has been originally produced-where he ranges without control, and riots in all the variety of luxurious Nature. In this state of happy independence he disdains the assistance of man, which only tends to servitude. In those boundless tracts, whether of Africa or New Spain, where he runs at liberty, he seems no way incommoded with the inconveniences to which he is subject in Europe. The continual verdure of the fields supplies his wants; and the climate, that never knows a winter, suits his constitution, which naturally seems adapted to heat. His enemies of the forest are but few-for none but greater kinds will venture to attack him; any one of these he is singly able to overcome; while, at the same time, he is content to find safety in society; for the wild horses of those countries always herd together. In these countries, therefore, the horses are often seen feeding in droves of five or six hundred. As they do not carry on war against any other race of animals, they are satisfied to remain entirely upon the defensive. The pastures on which they live satisfy all their appetites, and all other precautions are purely for their security in case of a surprise. As they are never attacked but at a disadvantage, whenever they sleep in the forests they have always one among their number that stands as centinel, to give notice of any approaching danger; and this office they take by turns. If a man approaches them while they are feeding by day their centinel walks

ap boldly near him, as if to examine his strength, or to intimidate him from proceeding; but if the man ap proaches within pistol-shot, the centinel then thinks it high time to alarm his fellows; this he does by a loud kind of snorting, upon which they all take the signal, and fly off with the speed of the wind-their faithful centinel bringing up the rear.

It is not easy to say from what country the horse came originally. It should seem that the colder climates do not agree with his constitution; for although he is found almost in them all, yet his form is altered there, and he is found at once diminutive and ill shaped. We have the testimony of the ancients that there were wild horses once in Europe; at present, however, they are totally brought under subjection; and even those which are found in America are of a Spanish breed, which, being sent thither upon its first discovery, have since become wild, and have spread over all the south of that vast continent almost to the straits of Magellan. These in general are a small breed, of about fourteen hands high. They have thick jaws and clumsy joints; their ears and neck, also, are long; they are easily tamedfor the horse by nature is a gentle, complying creature, and resists rather from fear than obstinacy. They are caught by a kind of noose, and then held fast by the legs and tied to a tree, where they are left for two days without food or drink. By that time they begin to grow manageable; and in some weeks they become as tame as if they had never been in a state of wildness. If by any accident they are once more set at liberty they never become wild again, but know their masters, and come to their call. Some of the buccaneers have often been agreeably surprised, after a long absence, to see their faithful horses once more present themselves with their usual assiduity, and come up with a fond submission to receive the rein.

These American horses, however, cannot properly be ranked among the wild races, since they were originally bred from such as were tame. It is not in the new, but in the old world that we are to look for this animal in a true state of nature-in the extensive deserts of Africa, in Arabia, and those wide-spread countries that separate Tartary from the more southern nations. Vast droves of these animals are seen wild among the Tartars: they are of a small breed, extremely swift, and very readily evade their pursuers. As they go together, they will not admit of any strange animals among them, though even of their own kind. Whenever they find a tame horse attempting to associate with them they instantly gather round him, and soon oblige him to seek safety by flight. There are vast numbers also of wild horses to the north of China, but they are of a weak, timid breed-small of stature and useless in war.

At the Cape of Good Hope there are numbers of horses

in a state of nature, but they are small, vicious, and untameable. They are found wild, also, in several other parts of Africa; but the wretched inhabitants of that country either want the art to tame them or seem ignorant of their uses. It is common with the Negroes, who are carried over from thence to America, when they first see a horse to testify both terror and surprise. These poor men seem not to have any knowledge of such a creature; and, though the horse is probably a native of their own country, they have let all the rest of mankind enjoy the benefit of his services without turning them to any advantage at home. In some parts of Africa, therefore, where the horse runs wild, the natives seem to consider it rather in the light of a dainty food than an useful creature capable of assisting them either in war or labour: riding seems a refinement that the natives of Angola or Caffraria have not as yet acquired; and when they catch a horse it is with an intent to eat him. But of all countries in the world where the horse runs wild Arabia produces the most beautiful breed-the most generous, swift, and persevering. They are found, though not in great numbers, in the deserts of that country; and the natives use every stratagem to take them. Although they are active and beautiful, yet they are not so large as those that are bred up tame; they are of a brown colour, their mane and tail very short, and the hair black and tufted. Their swiftness is incredible; the attempt to pursue them in the usual manner of the chase with dogs would be entirely fruitless. Such is the rapidity of their flight that they are instantly out of view, and the dogs themselves give up the vain pursuit. The only method, therefore, of taking them is by traps hidden in the sand, which, entangling their feet, the hunter at length comes up, and either kills them or carries them home alive. If the horse be young he is considered among the Arabians as a great delicacy, and they feast upon him while any part is found remaining; but if, from his shape or vigour, he promises to be serviceable in his more noble capacity, they take the usual methods of taming him by fatigue and hunger, and he soon becomes an useful domestic animal

The usual manner of trying their swiftness is by hunt ing the ostrich: the horse is the only animal whose speed is comparable to that of this creature, which is found in the sandy plains, with which those countries abound. The instant the ostrich perceives itself aimed at it makes to the mountains, while the horseman pursues with all the swiftness possible, and endeavours to out off its retreat. The chase then continues along the plain, while the ostrich makes use of both legs and wings to assist its motion. However, a horse of the first speed is able to out-run it; so that the poor animal is then obliged to have recourse to art to elude the hunter, by frequently turning: at length, finding all escape hopeless, it hides its head wherever it can, and suffers itself tamely to be taken. If the horse in a trial of this kind shows great speed and is not readily tired, his price becomes proportionably great, and their are some horses valued at a thousand ducats.

But the horses thus caught, or trained in this manner, at present are but very few; the value of Arabian horses over all the world has in a great measure thinned the deserts of the wild breed; and there are few to be found in those countries except such as are tame. The Arabians, as we are told by historians, first began the management of horses in the time of Sheque Ismael. Before that they wandered wild along the face of the country, neglected and useless; but the natives then first began to tame their fierceness and to improve their beauty; so that at present they possess a race of the most beautiful horses in the world, with which they drive a trade, and furnish the stables of princes at immense prices.

There is scarce an Arabian, how poor soever, but is provided with his horse. They in general make use of

mares in their ordinary excursions-experience having taught them that they support fatigue, thirst, and hunger better than the horses are found to do. They are also less vicious, of a gentler nature, and are not so apt to neigh. They are more harmless, also, among themselves-not so apt to kick or hurt each other. but remain whole days together without the least mischief. The Turks, on the contrary, are not partial to mares; and the Arabians sell them such horses as they do not choose to keep for stallions at home. They preserve the pedigree of their horses with great care, and for several ages back. They know their alliances and all their genealogy; they distinguish the races by different names, and divide them into three classes. The first is that of the nobles, the ancient breed, and unadulterated on either side; the second is that of the horses of the ancient race, but adulterated; and the third is that of the common and inferior kind. The last they sell at a low price; but those of the first class, and even of the second (amongst which are found horses of equal value to the former), are sold extremely dear. They know by long experience the race of a horse by his appearance; they can tell the name, the surname, the colour, and the marks properly belonging to each. When they are not possessed of stallious of the noble race themselves for their mares they borrow from their neighbours, paying a reasonable price, as with us, and receive a written attestation of the whole. In this attestation is contained the name of the horse as well as the mare, and their respective genealogies. When the mare has produced her foal new witnesses are called, and a new attestation signed, in which are described the marks of the foal, and the day noted when it was brought forth. These attestations increase the value of a horse, and they are given to the person who buys him. The most ordinary mare of this race sells for five hundred crowns; there are many that sell for a thousand, and some of the very finest kinds for fourteen or fifteen hundred pounds. As the Arabians have no other house but a tent to live in, this also serves them for a stable-so that the mare, the foal, the husband, the wife, and the children, lie all together indiscriminately: the little children are often seen upon the body or neck of the mare, while these continue inoffensive and harmless, permitting them thus to play with and caress them without any injury. The Arabians never beat their horses: they treat them gently; they speak to them, and seem to hold a discourse; they use them as friends; they never attempt to increase their speed by the whip, nor spur them but in cases of necessity. However, when this happens, they set off with amazing swiftness: they leap over obstacles with as much agility as a buck; and if the rider happens to fall, they are so manageable that they stand still in the midst of their most rapid career. The Arabian horses are of a middle size, easy in their motions, and rather inclined to leanness than fat. They are regularly dressed every morning and evening, and with such care that the smallest roughness is not left upon their skins. They wash their legs, the mane, and the tail, which they never cut, and which they seldom comb, lest they should thin the hair. They give them nothing to eat during the day; they only give them to drink once or twice; and at sunset they hang a bag to their heads, in which there is about half a bushel of clean barley. They continue eating the whole night, and the bag is again taken away the next morning. They are turned out to pasture in the beginning of March, when the grass is pretty high, and at which time the mares are given to the stallion. When the spring is past they take them again from pasture, and they get neither grass nor hay during the rest of the year; barley is their only food, except now and then a little straw. The mane of the foal is always clipped when about a year or eighteen months old, in order to make it stronger and thicker. They begin to break them at two years old, or two years and a half at

farthest; they never saddle or bridle them till at that age, and then they are always kept ready saddled at the door of the tent from morning till sunset, in order to be prepared against any surprise. They at present seem sensible of the great advantage their horses are to the country; there is a law, therefore, that prohibits the exportation of the mares, and such stallions as are brought into England are generally purchased on the Eastern shores of Africa, and come round to us by the Cape of Good Hope. They are in general less in stature than our own, being not above fourteen or fourteen hands and a half high; their motions are much more graceful and swifter than that of our own horses; but nevertheless their speed is far from being equal; they run higher from the ground; their stroke is not so long and close; and they are far inferior in bottom. Still, however, they must be considered as the first and finest breed in the world, and that from which all others have derived their principal qualifications. It is even probable that Arabia is the original country of horses; since there, instead of crossing the breed, they take every precaution to keep it entire. In other countries they must continually change the races, or their horses would soon degenerate; but there the same blood has past down through a long succession, without any diminution either of force or beauty.

The race of Arabian horses has spread itself into Barbary, among the Moors, and has even extended across that extensive continent to the western shores of Africa. Among the Negroes of Gambia and Senegal the chiefs of the country are possessed of horses which, though little, are very beautiful and extremely manageable. Instead of barley, they are fed in those countries with maize, bruised and reduced into meal, and mixed up with milk when they design to fatten them. These are considered as next to the Arabian horses both for swiftness and beauty; but they are rather still smaller than the former. The Italians have a peculiar sport, in which horses of this breed run against each other. They have no riders, but saddles so formed as to flap against the horses' sides as they move, and thus to spur them forward. They are set to run in a kind of railed walk, about a mile long, out of which they never attempt to escape; but, when they once set forward, they never stop, although the walk from one end to the other is covered with a crowd of spectators, which opens and gives way as the horses approach. Our horses would scarcely in this manner face a crowd, and continue their speed without a rider through the midst of a multitude; and, indeed, it is a little surprising how in such a place the horses find their own way. However, what our English horses may want in sagacity they make up by their swiftness; and it has been found upon computation that their speed is nearly one-fourth greater, even carrying a rider, than that of the swiftest Barb without one.

The Arabian breed has been diffused into Egypt as well as Barbary, and into Persia also-where, as we are told by Marcus Paulus, there are studs of ten thousand white mares altogether, very fleet, and with the hoof so hard that shoeing is unnecessary. In these countries they in general give their horses the same treatment that they give in Arabia, except that they litter them upon a bed of their own dung, dried in the sun, and then reduced to powder. When this, which is spread under the horse about five inches thick, is moistened, they dry it again, and spread it as before The horses of these countries a good deal resemble each other. They are usually of a slender make; their legs fine, bony, and far apart; a thin mane and fine crest; a beautiful head; the ear small and well pointed; the shoulder thin; the side rounded, without any unsightly prominence; the croup is a little of the longest, and the tail is generally set high. The race of horses, however, is much degenerated in Numidia--the natives having been discouraged from keeping up the breed by the Turks, who seize upon all

the good horses, without paying the owners the smallest gratuity for their care in bringing them up. The Tingitanians and Egyptians have now, therefore, the fame of rearing the finest horses, both for size and beauty. The smallest of these last are usually sixteen hands high; and all of them shaped, as they express it, with the elegance of an antelope.

Next to the Barb, travellers generally rank the Spanish genette. These horses, like the former, are little, but extremely swift and beautiful. The head is something of the largest; the mane thick; the ears long, but well pointed; the eyes filled with fire; the shoulder thickish, and the breast full and large; the croup round and large; the legs beautiful, and without hair; the pastern a little of the longest, as in the Barb, and the hoof rather too high. Nevertheless, they move with great ease, and carry themselves extremely well. Their most usual colour is black, or a dark bay. They seldom or never have white legs or white snip. The Spaniards, who have a groundless aversion to these marks, never breed from such as have them. They are all branded on the buttock with the owner's name; and those of the province of Andalusia pass for the best. These are said to possess courage, obedience, grace, and spirit, in a greater degree than even the Barb; and for this reason they have been preferred as war-horses to those of any other country.

The Italian horses were once more beautiful than they are at present, for they have greatly neglected the breed. Nevertheless, there are still found some beautiful horses among them, particularly among the Neapolitans, who chiefly use them for the draught. In general, they have large heads and thick necks. They are also restive, and consequently unmanageable. These faults, however, are recompensed by the largeness of their size, by their spirit, and the beauty of their motion. They are excellent for show, and have a peculiar aptitude to prance.

The Danish horses are of such an excellent size and so strong a make, that they are preferred to all others for the draught. There are some of them perfectly well shaped; but this is but seldom seen, for in general they are found to have a thick neck, heavy shoulders, long and hollow back, and a narrow croup: however, they all move well, and are found excellent both for parade and war. They are of all colours, and often of whimsical ones, some being streaked like the tiger or mottled like the leopard.

The German horses are originally from Arabian and Barbary stocks; nevertheless, they appear to be small and ill shaped: it is said, also, that they are weak and washy, with tender hoofs. The Hungarian horses, on the other hand, are excellent for the draught as well as the saddle. The Hussars, who use them in war, usually slit their nostrils; which is done, as it is said, to prevent their neighing, but, perhaps, without any real foundation.

The Dutch breed is good for the draught, and is generally used for that purpose over Europe: the best come from the province of Friezland. The Flanders horses are much inferior to the former; they have most commonly large heads, flat feet, and swollen legs-which are an essential blemish in horses of this kind.

The French horses are of various kinds; but they have few that are good. The best horses of that country come from Limosin; they have a strong resemblance to the Barb, and like them are excellent for the chase; but they are slow in coming to perfection: they are to be carefully treated while young, and must not be backed till they are eight years old. Normandy furnishes the next best, which, though not so good for the chase, are yet better for war. In general, the French horses have the fault of being heavy shouldered, which is opposite to the fault of the Barb, the latter being too thin in the shoulder, and is consequently apt to be shoulder-slipt.

Having mentioned the horses most usually known in

Europe, we pass on to those of more distant countries, of which we can only judge by report. We mentioned the wild horses of America. Such as are tame, if we may credit the latest reports, are admirable. Great numbers of these are bred up to the chase, and are chiefly kept for this purpose, particularly at Quito. The hunters, as Ulloa informs us, are divided into two classes one part on foot, the other on horseback; the business of the footmen is to rouse the deer, and that of the horsemen to hunt it down. They all at break of day repair to the place appointed, which is generally on the summit of a hill, with every man his greyhound. The horsemen place themselves on the highest peaks, whilst those on foot range the precipices, making a hideous noise to start the deer. Thus the company extend themselves three or four leagues or more, according to their numbers. On starting any game, the horse which first perceives it starts off, and the rider, being unable to guide or stop him, pursues the chase, some times down such a steep slope, that a man on foot with the greatest care could hardly keep his legs; from thence he flies up a dangerous ascent, or along the side of a mountain so that a person not used to this exercise would think it much safer to throw himself out of the saddle than to commit his life to the precipitate ardour of his horse. The other horses which join in the chase do not wait for their riders to animate them; they set for ward immediately upon seeing another at full speed; and it becomes prudence in the rider to give them their way, and at the same time to let them feel the spur, to carry him over the precipices. These horses are backed and exercised to this method of hunting; and their usual pace is trotting.

There are said to be very good horses in the islands of the Archipelago. Those of Crete were in great reputation among the ancients for their swiftness and force; however, at present they are but little used, even in the country itself, because of the unevenness of the ground, which is there very rocky and mountainous. The original horses of Morocco are much smaller than the Arabian breed; nevertheless they are exceedingly swift and vigorous. In Turkey there are to be found horses of almost all races-Arabians, Tartars, Hungarians, and those natural to the place. The latter are beautiful and elegant; they have a great deal of fire, swiftness, and management; but they are not able to support any fatigue. They eat little; they are easily heated; and they have skins so sensitive that they can scarce bear the rubbing of the stirrup. The Persian horses are in general the most beautiful and valuable of all the east. The pastures in the plains of Media, Persepolis, Ardebil, and Derbent are excellent for the purpose of rearing them; and there were bred in those places vast numbers by order of the government of Persia, while that country was under any government. Pietro della Valle prefers the horses of Persia to those of Italy, and says that they are in general of a middle size; and although some are found even of the smallest stature, yet that does not impair their beauty or their strength. In some places they are found of a good size, as large as the English saddlehorses are generally found to be: they have all thin heads, fine crest, narrow breast, small ears well placed, the legs fine, the hoof hard, and the croup beautiful; they are docile, spirited, nimble, hardy, courageous, and capable of supporting extraordinary fatigue; they run very swiftly without being easily distressed; they are strong and easy, being only supplied with barley and chopped straw; they are put to grass only for six weeks in the spring; they have always the tail at full length, and there is no such thing as geldings among the number; they are defended from the air, as in England, by body clothes; they attend them with the most punctual exactness; and they are generally ridden in a snaffle, without spurs Great numbers of these are every year transported into Turkey, but chiefly into the East Indies.

All travellers, however, agree that they are not to be compared to the Arabian horses either for courage, force, or beauty; and that the latter are eagerly sought even in Persia.

The horses of India are of a very indifferent kind, being weak and washy. Those which are used by the grandees of the country come from Persia and Arabia; they are fed with a small quantity of hay during the day, and at night they have boiled peas, mixed with sugar and butter, instead of oats or barley: this nourishment supports them and gives them strength, otherwise they would sink and degenerate. Those naturally belonging to the country are very small and vicious. Some are so very little, that Taverner reports that the young Mogul prince, at the age of seven or eight, rode one of these little horses that was not much larger than a greyhound : and it is not long since one of these was brought over into this country, as a present to the Queen, that measured no more than nine hands high, and is not much larger than a common mastiff. It would seem that climates excessively hot are unfavourable to this animal. In this manner, the horses of the Gold-coast and of Guinea are extremely little, but very manageable. It is a common exercise with the grandees of that country, who are excellent horsemen, to dart out their lances before them upon full gallop, and to catch them again before they come to the ground. They have a sport, also, on horseback that requires great dexterity in the rider, and a great share of activity in the horse: they strike off a ball with a battledore while they are upon full gallop, and, pursuing it, strike it again before it comes to the ground; and this they continue for a mile together, striking sometimes to the right and sometimes to the left with amazing speed and agility.

The horses of China are as indifferent as those of India: they are weak, little, ill-shaped, and cowardly. Those of Corea are not above three feet high: almost all the breed there are made geldings, and are so timorous that they can be rendered no way serviceable in war; sc that it may be said that the Tartar horses were properly the conquerors of China. These, indeed, are very ser viceable in war; and although but of a middle size, yet they are surprisingly patient, vigorous, swift, and bold; their hoofs are extremely hard, though rather too narrow, their heads are fine, but rather too little; the neck is long and stiff; the legs of the longest; and yet, with all these faults, they are found to be an excellent breed. The Tartars live with their horses pretty much in the same maner as the Arabians do; they begin to back them at the age of seven or eight months, placing their children upon them, who manage them even at that early age. By these means they break them by little and little, till at last, about the age of six or seven years, they are capable of enduring amazing hardships.. Thus they have been known to march two or three days without once stopping; to continue five or six without eating anything except a handful of grass every eight hours; and, besides, to remain without drinking for four and twenty hours. These horses, which are so vigorous in their own country, lose all their strength when they are brought into China or the Indies; but they thrive pretty well in Persia and Turkey. The race of little Tartars towards the north have also a breed of little horses, which they set such a value upon that it is forbidden to sell them to strangers: these horses have the very same qualities with those of the larger kind, which they probably derive from a similar treatment. There are also very fine horses in Circassia and Mingrelia. There are some greatly esteemed in the Ukraine, in Walachia, Po land, and Sweden; but we have no particular accounts of their excellencies or defects.

If we consult the ancients on the nature and qualities of the horses of different countries, we learn that the Grecian horses, and particularly those of Thessaly, had the reputation of being excellent for war; that those of