378 The Journal 
memorandum, ‘That the buffalo (cara- 
bao) be domesticated, and that his 
majesty should give imperative orders 
that an effort be made to have many 
cattle and horses brought from China 
and Japan.” 
A letter of Santiago de Vera to 
Philip II, dated June 26, 1587, states, 
“Many vessels have come to these 
islands from China this year, and es- 
pecially to this city more than thirty 
of considerable burden, laden with a 
quantity of merchandise, horses, cows 
and more than 3,000 men.”’ In the 
relation of events for the following year, 
1588, we read, that many horses and 
cows have been brought from China to 
Manila. 
That the effort of the colony to 
introduce and distribute horses met 
with the approval of the king, is evi- 
denced by his instructions to Gen. 
Dasmarinas, dated August 9, 1589: 
‘Cattle and horses are to be sent to-the 
islands, and the farmers sent shall be 
ordered to tame and breed the wild 
buffalo found there.”’ 
These positive orders evidently bore 
fruit. As early as 1604 Cherino says, 
in his relation of events from 1601 to 
that date: ‘“But they (Chinese) have 
stocked the islands with horses and 
mares which have since multiplied, 
and great stock farms have been es- 
tablished.” 
Production seems to have outrun 
demand, for Viana in his memorial of 
1761 reports that although there are 
many horses in the islands, ‘there 
would be more if the ranchmen had a 
better sale for them. They are accus- 
tomed to kill them in order to dry their 
flesh and sell it.” 
To sum up, we find that as early as 
1751 the horse had, through the activity 
of the Spaniards, become introduced 
and distributed in the northern islands; 
and that these horses were not from 
Spain, as has been ever since taken for 
granted, but that they were from China. 
CHINESE HORSES 
When we try to ascertain the ancestry 
of these Chinese horses, we meet with 
little success. It is known that they 
were domesticated in the Flowery King- 
of Heredity 
dom at a very early day: a hymn as- 
cribed to the Yin dynasty (1766-1122 
B. C.), describing the emperor’s horses, 
mentions thirteen different colors. All 
black horses had to be turned over to 
the monarch. 
In trunk and limbs the horses of 
Korea and Mongolia bear a close 
resemblance to that wild Siberian breed 
known as Prjevalsky’s horse, and to 
the semi-wild Tarpan from the same 
region, and it may well be that the 
Chinese horses in general are of north- 
ern origin. 
It is natural to suppose, and is 
demonstrated by such facts as we have, 
that the horses brought to the Philip- 
pines were from the southern provinces 
of China. Even today the resemblance 
between the breeds in these two regions 
is close. The Mongolian horses which I 
have seen are coarser than these south 
China horses and the still smaller 
Philippine ponies. 
It will be recalled that the orders of 
King Philip II directed that horses be 
brought from Japan as well as China. 
The first record of importation from 
Japan is in a letter to the monarch 
from Santiago de Vera, dated June 26, 
1587. ‘In a former letter,’ he writes, 
“T informed your majesty of the arrival 
of a Japanese vessel laden with flour 
and horses (which they are bringing to 
this city), at the town of Segovia in the 
province of Cagayan in these islands.” 
This is the most northerly province of 
Luzon. ‘‘They had been driven ashore 
upon the coast there and some of the 
crew and horses escaped.” 
Again in a letter to the king from 
Governor Tello, dated June 17, 1598, 
we read, “After this the ambassador 
was invited to dine with the [ruler of 
Japan] three times and was _ finally 
dismissed with a present of twelve 
coats of mail, thirty lances and two 
horses.” 
The most lucid and concise descrip- 
tion available relative to the trade in 
horses is that by Dr. Antonio de Morga, 
which follows: 
“There were no horses, mares or 
asses in the islands until the Spaniards 
had them brought from China and 
Japan, and brought them from Nueva 
