DOCILITY OF ANIMALS. 263 



by marks of emulation. They are anxious to be foremost in 

 the course, to brave danger in crossing a river, or in leaping 

 a ditch or precipice ; and it is said, that those horses which 

 are most adventurous and expert in these natural exercises, 

 are, when domesticated, the most generous, mild, and tract- 

 able. 



Wild horses are taken notice of by several of the ancients. 

 Herodotus mentions white wild horses on the banks of the 

 Hypanis, in Scythia. He likewise tells us that in the north- 

 ern part of Thrace, beyond the Danube, there were wild 

 horses covered all over with hair five inches in length. The 

 wild horses in America are the offspring of domestic horses 

 originally transported thither from Europe by the Spaniards. 

 The author of the History of the Buccaneers informs us, that 

 troops of horses, sometimes consisting of 500, are frequently 

 met with in the island of St. Domingo ; that, when they see 

 a man, they all stop, and that one of their number approaches 

 to a certain distance, blows through his nostrils, takes flight, 

 and is instantly followed by the whole troop. He describes 

 them as having gross heads and limbs, and long necks and 

 ears. The inhabitants tame them with ease, and then train 

 them to labor. In order to take them, gins of ropes are laid 

 in the places which they are known to frequent. When 

 caught by the neck, they soon strangle themselves, unless 

 some person arrives in time to disentangle them. They are 

 tied to trees by the body and limbs, and are left in that situa- 

 tion two days without victuals or drink. This treatment is 

 generally sufficient to render them more tractable, and they 

 soon become as gentle as if they had never been wild. Even 

 when any of these horses, by accident, regain their liberty, 

 they never resume their savage state, but know their masters, 

 and allow themselves to be approached and retaken. 



From these and similar facts, it may be concluded, that the 

 dispositions of horses are gentle, and that they are naturally 

 disposed to associate with man. After they are tamed they 

 never forsake the abodes of men. On the contrary, they are 

 anxious to return to the stable. The sweets of habit seem 

 to supply all they have lost by slavery. When fatigued, the 

 mansion of repose is full of comfort. They smell it at con- 

 siderable^ distances, can distinguish it in the midst of popu- 

 lous cities, and seem uniformly to prefer bondage to liberty. 

 By some attention and address, colts are first rendered tract- 

 able. When that point is gained, by different modes of 

 management, the docility of the animal is improved, and they 



