THE BRAND OF EUROPE 49 



So the strong action of man in sudden flood- 

 ings of Europe with Bays from the desert, 

 Duns from the steppe, is outweighed by a 

 stronger law of nature. With strains of horses 

 as with tribes of man, the penalty for sudden 

 migration from their native zone of light is 

 gradual extinction. 



Yet is there one difference between Bays and 

 Duns. The Dun is not worth renewing, and so 

 dies out unnoticed. The Bay is worth breed- 

 ing and so persists. 



PART IX. THE BRAND OF EUROPE. 



In nature's immense and gentle processes, 

 throughout the amazing story of the Europe 

 horse, the bewildering actions of forgotten 

 tribes of men, and the sun's own slow adjust- 

 ments, a single force persists in branding the 

 stock wdth a sign of ownership. 



A partial echpse of the sun had made his 

 figure that of the crescent moon. Standing 

 under some oak trees, beside the road puddles 

 made b}^ recent rain, I noticed that the bars of 

 reduced sunlight which came down through the 

 leafage shone upon the little patches of water. 

 The image of the crescent sun was reflected 

 upside dow^n. 



The bar of sunlight coming down through 

 leafage acts as a lens to the sun's image. The 



