THE WILD IIOESE OF SOUTH AMERICA. 37 



stantinople in the seventeenth century, gives the folloAving account of the 

 Turkish horses. Our gi-ooms, and their masters too, may learn a lesson of 

 wisdom and humanity from his ■words. 



' There is no creature so gentle as a Tui'kish horse, nor more respectful 

 to his master, or the groom that di^esses him. The reason is, because 

 they treat their horses with great lenity. I myself saw, when -I was in 

 Pontus, passing through a part of Bithynia called Axilos, towards Cap- 

 padocia, how indulgent the countrymen were to young colts, and how 

 kindly they used them soon after they were foaled. They Avould stroke 

 them, bring them into their houses, and almost to their tables, and use 

 them even like childi'en. They hung something like a jewel about their 

 necks, and a garter which was full of amulets against poison, which they 

 are most afraid of. The grooms that dress them are as indulgent as their 

 masters ; they frequently sleek them down with their hands, and never 

 use a cudgel to bang their sides, but in cases of necessity. This makes 

 their horses great lovers of mankind ; and they are so far from kicking, 

 wincing, or growing untractable by tliis gentle usage, that you will hardly 

 find an ill-tempered horse amongst them. 



' Bat, alas ! our Christian grooms' horses go on at another rate. They 

 never think them rightly curried till they thunder at them with their 

 voices, and let their clubs or horse- whips, as it were, dwell on their sides. 

 This makes some horses even tremble when their keepers come into their 

 stable ; so that they hate and fear them too. But the Turks love to have 

 their horses so gentle, that at the word of command they may fall on their 

 knees, and in this position receive their liders. 



' They will take up a staffer club upon, the road with theu* teeth, which 

 theii* rider has let fall, and hold it up to him again ; and when they are 

 perfect in this lesson, then, as a reward, they have rings of silver hung 

 on their nostrils as a badge of honour and good discipline. I saw some 

 horses, when their master was fallen from the saddle, stand stock still 

 without wagging a foot till he got up again. Another time I saw a 

 groom standing at a distance in the midst of a whole ring of boi'ses, and 

 at the word of command they would either go round or stand still. Once 

 I saw some horses, when their master was at dinner with me in an upper 

 room, prick up their ears to hear his voice, and when they did so they 

 neighed for joy.' 



THE AMEKICAN HORSES. 



Before we can advance eastward into Europe, it will be convenient to 

 dispose of the horses of the American continents. In South America, 

 although constant warfare is cariied on against them, there are innu- 

 merable herds of wild horses ; and in the back settlements of the south- 

 western States of North America there is a horse resembling the wild 

 horse of the Pampas ; but both are evidently the descendants of those who 

 have escaped from the slavery of man. 



THE WILD HORSE OE SOUTH AMERICA. 



All travellers Avho have crossed the plains extending from the shores 

 of La Plata to Patagonia have spoken of numerou.s droves of wild horses. 

 Some affirm that they have seen ten thousand in one troop. They appear 

 to be under the command of a leader, the strongest and boldest of the 

 herd, and whom they imphcitly obey. A secret instinct teaches them 

 that their safety consists in their union, and in a principle of subordina- 

 tion. The lion, the tiger, and the leopard are their principal enemies. 

 At some signal, intelligible to them all, they either close into a dense 

 mass and trample thcii- enemy to death, or placing the mares and foals in 



