35 8 The Naturalist in La Plata. 



the Indians. I believe they are right, for when 

 passing a distant Indian camp, from which the wind 

 blew, the horses driven before me have suddenly 

 taken fright and run away, leading me a chase of 

 many miles. The explanation that ostriches, deer, 

 and other fleet animals driven in before the invaders 

 might be the cause of the stampede cannot be ac- 

 cepted, since the horses are familiar with the sight 

 of these animals flying from their gaucho hunters. 



There is a pretty fable of a cat and dog lying in a 

 dark room, aptly illustrating the fine senses of these 

 two species. "Listen! I heard a feather drop !" 

 said the dog. " Oh, no ! " said the cat, "it was a 

 needle ; I saw it." The horse is not commonly 

 believed to have senses keen as that, and a dog 

 tracing his master's steps over the city pavement is 

 supposed to be a feat no other animal can equal. 

 No doubt the artificial life a horse lives in England, 

 giving so little play to many of his most important 

 faculties, has served to blunt them. He is a splen- 

 did creature ; but the noble bearing, the dash and 

 reckless courage that distinguish him from the modest 

 horse of the desert, have not been acquired without 

 a corresponding loss in other things. When ridden 

 by night the Indian horse and sometimes the same 

 habit is found in the gaucho's animal drops his head 

 lower and lower as the darkness increases, with the 

 danger arising from the presence of innumerable 

 kennels concealed in the grass, until his nose sweeps 

 the surface like a foxhound's. That this action is 

 dictated by a powerful instinct of self-preservation 

 is plain; for, when I have attempted to forcibly 

 drag the animal's head up, he has answered such an 



