FERAL HORSES. 1J9 



is one of the means by which the too rapid increase 

 of this quadruped is by the ordinance of Nature 

 there prevented." 



North America likewise contains herds of feral 

 horses; they are in form stout cobs, mostly bay, 

 though there are herds where black predominates ; 

 they have considerable speed, and are very sure- 

 footed. The herds belong exclusively to the prairie, 

 avoiding mountains and woods. They were for- 

 merly abundant in the Floridas, and still range 

 through the open districts to California and the 

 plains of the Columbia, but are not described with 

 equal detail. In numbers they herd together per- 

 haps still more considerable. 



In the description furnished by a recent traveller, 

 the Hon. C. A. Murray, * we are furnished with a 

 picture of what he denominates a Stampede, or pas- 

 sage of these animals, surpassing in graphic spirit 

 every account of wild horses upon record. " About 

 an hour," he writes, " after the usual time to secure 

 the horses for the night, an indistinct sound arose, 

 like the muttering of distant thunder; as it ap- 

 proached, it became mixed with the howling of all 

 the dogs in the encampment, and with the shouts 

 and yells of the Indians ; in coming nearer, it rose 

 high above all these accompaniments, and resembled 

 the lashing of a heavy surf upon a beach ; on and 

 on it rolled towards us, and partly from my own 

 hearing, partly from the hurried words and actions 

 of the tenants of our lodge, I gathered it must be 

 * Travels in North America, 2 vols. 



