THE HORSE. 



215 



often seen feeding in droves of five or six hun- 

 dred. As they do not carry on war against 

 any other race of animals, they are satisfied to 

 remain entirely upon the defensive. The pas- 

 tures on which they live, satisfy all their 

 appetites, and all other precautions are purely 

 for their security, in case of a surprise. As 

 they arc never attacked but at a disadvantage, 

 whenever they sleep in the forests, they have 

 always one among their number that stands 

 as centinel, to give notice of any approaching 

 danger ; and this office they take by turns." 

 If a man approaches them while they are feed- 

 ing by day, their centinel walks up boldly 

 near him, as if to examine his strength, or to 

 intimidate him from proceeding ; but as the 

 man approaches within pistol-shot, the centi- 

 nel then thinks it high time to alarm his fel- 

 lows ; this he does by a loud kind of snorting, 

 upon which they all take the signal, and fly off 

 with the speed of the wind ; their faithful centi- 

 nel bringing up the rear. b 



It is not easy to say from what country the 

 horse came originally. It should seem that 

 the colder climates do not agree with his con- 

 stitution ; for although he is found almost in 

 them all, yet his form is altered there, and he 

 is found at once diminutive and ill-shaped. We 

 have the testimony of the ancients that there 

 were wild horses once in Europe ; at present, 

 however, they are totally brought under sub- 

 jection ; and even those which are found in 

 America are of a Spanish breed, which being 

 sent thither upon its first discovery, have since 

 become wild, and have spread over all the 

 soutli of that vast continent almost to the straits 

 of Magellan. These, in general, are a small 

 br'-ed, of about fourteen hands high. They 

 have thick jaws and clumsy joints ; their ears 

 and neck also are long ; they are easily tamrd ; 

 for the horse, by nature, is a gentle complying 

 creature, and resists rather from fear than ob- 

 stinacy. They are caught by a kind of noose, 

 and then held fast by the legs, and tied to a 

 tree, where they are left for two days without 

 food or drink. By that time they begin to 

 grow manageable ; and in some weeks they 

 become as ta<ne as if they had never been in 

 a state of vvildness. If, by any accident, they 

 arc once more set at liberty, they never be- 

 come wild again, but know their masters, and 



* Dictionnaire Universelle des Animaux, p. 19. 



come to their call. Some of the buccaneers 

 have often been agreeably surprised, after a 

 long absence, to see their faithful horses once 

 more present themselves, with their usual assi- 

 duity ; and come up, with fond submission, to 

 receive the rein. 



These American horses, however, cannot 

 properly be ranked among the wild races, since 

 they were originally bred from such as were 

 tame. It is not in the new, but the old world, 

 that we are to look for this animal in a true 

 state of nature; in the extensive deserts of 

 Africa, in Arabia, and those wide-spread coun- 

 tries that separate Tartary from the more 

 southern nations. Vast droves of these ani- 

 mals are seen wild among the Tartars ; they 

 are of a small breed, extremely swift, and very 

 readily evade their pursuers. As they go to- 

 gether, they will not admit of any strange ani- 

 mals among them, though even of their own 

 kind. Whenever they find a tame horse at- 

 tempting to associate with them, they instantly 

 gather round him, and soon oblige him to seek 

 safety by flight. There are vast numbers also 

 of wild horses to the north of China, but they 

 are of a weak, timid breed ; small of stature, 

 and useless in war. 



At the Cape of Good Hope there are num- 

 bers of horses in a state of nature, but small, 

 vicious, and untameable. They are found 

 wild also in several other parts of Africa ; but 

 the wretched inhabitants of that country either 

 want the art to tame them, or seem ignorant 

 of their uses. It is common with the negroes, 

 who are carried over from thence to America, 

 when they first see a horse, to testify both ter- 

 ror and surprise. These poor men seem not 

 to have any knowledge of such a creature ; and, 

 though the horse is probably a native of their 

 own country, they have let all the rest of man- 

 kind enjoy the benefit of his services, without 

 turning them to any advantage at home. In 

 some parts of Africa, therefore, where the horse 

 runs wild, the natives seem to consider him 

 rather in the light of a dainty for food, than a 

 useful creature, capable of assisting them either 

 in war or in labour : riding seems a refinement 

 that the natives of Angola or Caffraria have 

 not as yet been able to attend to ; and when- 

 ever they catch a horse, it is only with an in- 

 tent to eat him. 



b Labat, torn. vii. 



