THE FALKLAND ISLANDS. 555 



return to its " tropija " and feeding-ground. We changed horses 

 several times on the route, since we were the guests of the Com- 

 pany, and were treated most hospitably. We always simply 

 turned our tired horses loose, to find their own way back for 

 20 miles or so. 



An experienced guide is required, in order to traverse the 

 Falkland Island wastes and find the Passes. To a stranger, 

 every hill and mountain appears alike, and many persons have 

 lost their way and their lives on the moors. The most ex- 

 perienced "camp" men (Spanish campo) get lost sometimes, 

 especially when a thick fog comes on, and then they trust 

 entirely to their horses, which make their way when left to 

 themselves back to their accustomed feeding-ground. 



Mr. Fell, the head man of the Company at Darwin Harbour, 

 told me that a band of horses will always stay with a mare that 

 has a foal. Mr. Darwin has described a degeneration in the 

 size and strength of the horses which have run wild in the 

 Falkland Islands,* ascribing the degeneration to the action of 

 the climate on successive generations. Mr. Fell, and other 

 persons brought in constant relation with the horses, hold the 

 opinion that it is only the wild horses, occupying a particular 

 district in the neighbourhood of Port Stanley, which are small 

 and pony -like. 



Further, they believe that the reason why these particular wild 

 horses are small, is that they are sprung from a stock originally 

 inferior in size when imported. The wild horses which are 

 abundant in the large peninsula, known as Lafonia, were said to 

 be of full size and vigour, and to show no signs of degeneration, 

 and to be preferred for all purposes to those bred in domestica- 

 tion. I saw several of these horses which had been wild ones, 

 and rode one. They were not at all undersized. My guide 

 rode a sturdy pony, which he said was one of the smaller wild 

 breed. I give these opinions merely as a suggestion for further 

 inquiry. 



Mr. Fell has watched the habits of the Wild Horses in Lafonia 

 closely. The strong and active horses each guard their own herd 



* " Journal of Besearches," p. 192. "Animals and Plants under Do- 

 mestication," Vol. I. 



