NOTE 2. - The horses exported to India, of which we shall hear more
hereafter, were probably the same class of "Gulf Arabs" that are now
carried thither. But the Turkman horses of Persia are also very valuable,
especially for endurance. Kinneir speaks of one accomplishing 900 miles in
eleven days, and Ferrier states a still more extraordinary feat from his
own knowledge. In that case one of those horses went from Tehran to
Tabriz, returned, and went again to Tabriz, within twelve days, including
two days' rest. The total distance is about 1100 miles.
The livre tournois at this period was equivalent to a little over 18
francs of modern French silver. But in bringing the value to our modern
gold standard we must add one-third, as the ratio of silver to gold was
then 1:12 instead of 1:16. Hence the equivalent in gold of the livre
tournois is very little less than 1l. sterling, and the price of the
horse would be about 193l.[1]
Mr. Wright quotes an ordinance of Philip III. of France (1270-1285) fixing
the maximum price that might be given for a palfrey at 60 livres
tournois, and for a squire's roncin at 20 livres. Joinville, however,
speaks of a couple of horses presented to St. Lewis in 1254 by the Abbot
of Cluny, which he says would at the time of his writing (1309) have been
worth 500 livres (the pair, it would seem). Hence it may be concluded in a
general way that the ordinary price of imported horses in India
approached that of the highest class of horses in Europe.
