16 THE ARABIAN HORSE. 



are now bred in almost all countries ; but there are few m which 

 this noble animal is seen in possession of his native freedom, 

 unsubdued by man : it is only in the vast and uncultivated plains 

 of Africa and Arabia, and in some parts of South America, that 

 he is to be found in a state of native independency. In those 

 wild and extensive tracts, wild horses may be seen in droves of 

 five or six hundred, feeding together, while one of the number 

 is always observed to be posted at the outside, and acting the 

 part of a sentinel, in order to give notice of any approaching 

 danger. When any such seems to threaten, he gives the alarm 

 by a loud snort, and the whole herd fly off with amazing rapidity. 

 The wild horses of Arabia are esteemed the most beautiful of 

 the whole species. They are generally of a brown colour, with 

 a black mane and tail of short tufted hair. In size and bone 

 they are, for the most part, inferior to the tame breed, but ex- 

 ceedingly active arid swift. The common method of taking 

 them is by snare and pitfalls, formed in the ground. The wild 

 horses, now so numerous in some parts of America, especially 

 in Paraguay, Patagonia, and La Plata, were originally of the 

 Spanish breed, and were carried thither, and turned into the woods, 

 by the first Spanish settlers. The astonishment which the Mexi- 

 cans, the most polished and intelligent of all the Americans, 

 manifested at the sight of horses, convinced the Spaniards that 

 this animal was totally unknown on that continent, and induced 

 them to carry numbers thither, not only for their immediate use, 

 but also to propagate a breed. Since that time, they have mul- 

 tiplied so much as to range in numerous herds through those 

 extensive countries. They are difficult to take, but if once taken 

 are easily tamed, and soon learn to know their master ; and if 

 they be by any means set at liberty, they are easily caught again, 

 not shewing any inclination to return to their former state of 

 wildness a circumstance which evinces a remarkable tractable 

 ness of disposition in this noble and useful animal. 



The Horse is so well known, that it is entirely needless to give 

 a particular description of his shape and exterior appearance. 

 It will be sufficient, to exhibit to view the principal distinctions 

 which nature has made in the different breeds of this noble 

 quadruped, through the influence of climate and other accidental 

 circumstances. For this purpose, we shall commence with 



THE ARABIAN HORSE. 



Of all the people in the world, the Arabians set the greatest 

 value on horses ; and almost every Arabian, how poor soever 

 he may be in other respects, possesses at least one horse. They 

 are particularly fond of mares for riding, as they find them to 

 bear hunger and thirst better than horses, besides being less 



