An Embassy to the Court of the Teshoo Lama in Tibet - Prajna Quest

22 BOOTAN.pected he would have engaged the Zeenkaub's more paciftc animal, ashe was patiently labouring up the hill,and by his discomfiture, put usall completely to the rout.This species, which is indigenous toBootan,has its title from the region in which they are bred ;being called Tangun,vulgarly Tannian, fi-omTangustan, the general appellation of thatassemblage of mountains, which constitutes the territory of Bootan.The breed is altogether confined within these limits, being found innone of the neighbouring countries ;neither in Assam, Nipal, Tibet,nor Bengal. I am inclined to consider it as an original and distinctspecies: they ai'e distinguislied in colour by a general tendency topiebald ; those of one colour are rare, and not so valuable in the opinionof the Booteea, but they are more esteemed by the English, andbear a higher price than theparty-coloured, which are composed ofthe various shades of black, bay, and sorrel, upon a ground of thepurest white. They are usually about thirteen hands in height, andare remarkable for their symmetry and just proportions ; uniting, inan eminent degree, both strength and beauty. They are short bodied,clean limbed, and, though deep in the chest, yet extremely active.Fromthis conformation they derive such a superiority in strength of muscle,when condensed by the repeated effort of struggling against acclivities,as can never be attained by a horse of a thin and light shoulder. Itissurprising to observe the energy and vigour apparent in the movementsof aTangun.Accustomed to struggle against opposition, theyseem to inherit this spirit as a principle of their nature ; and hencethey have acquired a character, among Europeans, of being headstrongand ungovernable ; though, in reality, it proceeds from an excess ofeagerness to perform their task.