It may hence be assumed that Shetland ponies are mainly descended from the “small and fleet” race yoked to the chariots of the Caledonians at the battle of Mons Graupius. This ancient race (which was probably brought to Britain during the late Celtic period) was probably originally a blend of the slender-limbed, Arab-like ponies of the Swiss Lake-dwellers and of a thick-set race of the Elephant-Bed type. That the Shetland blend is an old one is suggested by the account Herodotus gives of the horses belonging to a tribe on the north of the Danube. This tribe (the Sigynnæ), Herodotus says, “had horses with shaggy hair, five fingers long, all over their bodies, and which were small and flat-nosed, and incapable of carrying men,[F19] but when yoked under a chariot were very swift, in consequence of which the natives drove in chariots.” Judging by this description, the chief difference between typical modern Shelties and the small horses of Central Europe in the time of Herodotus is a difference of size. [F19] Herodotus probably means these small horses were incapable of carrying men into battle. [Illustration: PLATE I. Fig. 1.—A 41-inch Java pony. Many East Indian ponies are said to be saturated with Arab blood. In the Java mare figured the head and limbs bear nearly the same relation to the trunk as in small desert Arabs. Fig. 2.—A Norwegian Udganger pony in which the legs are relatively nearly as short as in the dachshund. From a specimen in the Bergen Museum. Fig. 3.—A 42-inch pony of the Udganger type from Iceland, in which the head and legs bear nearly the same relation to the trunk as in Exmoor ponies. This pony is characterised by a fine head, large eyes, and small ears; by fine limbs, sloping shoulders, and a short back; and by the absence of the hind chestnuts and all four ergots.] [Illustration: PLATE I. Fig. 1. A 41-INCH JAVA PONY. Fig. 2. A DWARFED UDGANGER PONY, NORWAY. Fig. 3. A 42-INCH ICELAND PONY, UDGANGER TYPE.] [Illustration: PLATE II. Fig. 4.—Skeleton of a 33-inch Shetland pony (Highland Chieftain) in the American Museum of Natural History, New York. Though the front cannon-bone is 1·5 inches shorter than in the three-toed Miocene horse _Protohippus_, it has only been dwarfed about one-quarter of an inch. From a photograph lent by Prof. H. Fairfield Osborn. Fig. 5.—Skeleton of Persimmon, a 66-inch race-horse belonging to the late King Edward VII. The bones of the limbs of Persimmon bear practically the same relation to each other and to the trunk as in Highland Chieftain, but in Persimmon the skull is relatively shorter and the withers are relatively higher.] [Illustration: PLATE II. Fig. 4.—Skeleton of Highland Chieftain, a 33-inch Shetland Pony. Fig. 5.—Skeleton of Persimmon, a 66-inch Thoroughbred.] [Illustration: PLATE III. Fig. 6.—Side view of skull of Eric, a 36·5-inch Shetland pony of the riding type. Fig. 7.—Skull of a new-born foal of the Celtic or riding type.