308 BUFFALO LAND. 



rider into many of the scenes with which these 

 tales are wont to harrow our souls. 



While crawling up on the herd, we took its census 

 very carefully. I was a little surprised to find there 

 were but twenty-five horses, all told. They were ap- 

 parently a little larger than the wild ones of Texas, 

 and had bushy manes and tails, and their step was 

 remarkably firm and elastic. They were exceedingly 

 timid creatures, raising their heads constantly, to 

 gaze around. One very interesting circumstance con- 

 nected with the herd was that among these wild 

 horses we noticed two strangers ; one, a feeble old 

 buffalo bull, expelled from his tribe, and seeking 

 their aid against the wolves, and the other, the black 

 pacing stallion. 



When we fired, the survivors were off on the in- 

 stant, and the manner in which their clean hoofs 

 struck the earth, and spurned it, was truly worth see- 

 ing. No heaves either, it was plain to see, had ever 

 troubled those full chests. We caught sight of the 

 herd awhile after, on a ridge four miles away, and 

 they were still running at full speed. These were the 

 only wild horses we saw on our trip. In fact, but two 

 or three small droves are believed to exist on the 

 plains, as the great mass of the shaggy-maned 

 thousands, children of those old Spanish castaways, 

 swarm nearer the Pacific. 



So timid and fleet are these horses that none of 

 them have ever been captured except during the early 

 spring. They are then poor, and, by hard spurring, 

 can be ridden down. At other times their bottom, 

 and the advantage of having no weight to carry, in- 



