149 STORIES ABOUT HORSES.

the fact, that those small parties of Toorkomans
who ventured several hundred miles into Persia,
used both to advance and retreat at the average
of nearly one hundred miles a day. They train
their horses for these expeditions as we should
do for a race; and the expression they use to
describe a horse in condition for a foray is, that
his flesh is marble.

“<« We are assured, Sir John continues,
‘from authority we cannot doubt, that parties
of twenty or thirty ’oorkoman horse often ven-
ture within sight of the city of Isfahan. They
expect success in these incursions, from the sud-
denness of their attack, and the uncommon ac-
tivity and strength of the horses on which they
ride. Their sole object is plunder; and when
they arrive at an unprotected village, the youth
of both sexes are seized, and tied on led horses
(which the Toorkomans take with them for the
purpose of carrying their booty), and hurried
away into a distant captivity, with a speed
which generally baffles all pursuit. When I