J62 THE WILD HORSE. 



not a token of alarm, it soon resumes its march, till 

 some young stallion on the skirts begins to blow 

 with his nostrils, moves his ears in all directions 

 with rapidity, and trots or scampers forward to 

 reconnoitre, bearing the head very high and the tail 

 out : if his curiosity is satisfied, he stops and begins 

 to graze ; but if he takes alarm, he flings up his 

 croup, turns round, and with a peculiarly shrill 

 neighing, warns the herd, which immediately turns 

 round and gallops off at an amazing rate, with the 

 stallions in the rear, stopping and looking back 

 repeatedly, while the mares and foals disappear as 

 if by enchantment, because with unerring tact they 

 select the first swell of ground or ravine to conceal 

 them until they reappear at a great distance, gene- 

 rally in a direction to preserve the lee side of the 

 apprehended danger. Although bears and wolves 

 occasionally prowl after a herd, they will not ven- 

 ture to attack it, for the sultan- stallion will instantly 

 meet the enemy, and, rising on his haunches, strike 

 him down with the fore feet; and should he be 

 worsted, which is seldom the case, another stallion 

 becomes the champion : and in the case of a troop 

 of wolves, the herd forms a close mass 1 , with the 

 foals within, and the stallions charge in a body, 

 which no troop of wolves will venture to encounter. 

 Carnivora, therefore, must be contented with aged 

 -or injured stragglers. 



" The sultan -stallion* is not, however, suffered 



* The sultan-stallion of a great herd was anciently an object 

 of research for the chiefs of armies, who endeavoured to catch 



