FERAL HORSES 173 



they subsequently ran wild. According to Darwin, 

 their predominating colours are roan and grey : like 

 the domesticated cattle of the same inclement 

 islands, they have become stunted in size, their 

 average height being only about 14J hands. It is 

 stated that the Falkland horses, like the tarpan, have 

 the habit of scraping away snow with their hoofs 

 in order to get at the herbage beneath ; and it is 

 generally considered that this is an instance of re- 

 version, although this can scarcely be the case if 

 they are all of Andalucian, i.e. Barb, stock. The 

 Puno ponies of the high Cordillera of Chile 

 afford another instance of a dwarf feral race 

 apparently derived from the same stock. 



\xi A Naturalist on the " Challenger'' Professor 

 H. F. Moseley states that in the peninsula of 

 Lafonia, where the Falkland horses run larger than 

 elsewhere, the stallions guard their own herds of 

 mares. " They keep the closest watch over them, 

 and if one strays at all, drive her back into the 

 herd by kicking her. The younger horses live in 

 herds apart, but the more vigorous ones are always 

 on the look-out to pick up a mare from the herds 

 of the older ones, and drive her off with them, and 

 they sometimes gather a few mares for a short time 

 and hold them till they are recaptured. When 

 they think they are strong enough, they try the 

 strength of the old horses in battle, and even- 

 tually each old horse is beaten by some rival and 



