172 



ZOOLOGICAL SKETCHES. 



from the pampa cur, the Khamr hound, the dog-wolf 

 (Cam's Anthus), or the Abu Hossein (Canis Lupastcr). 

 It does not improve their appearance ; in connection 

 with their wolfish eyes it reminds one too much of a 

 hyena-head. Wild horses generally bear a strange re- 

 semblance to the ponies of the Russian steppe, and some 

 of their characteristics may be recognized in the shape 

 of the mustang cows, as the Texans call the half-starved 

 cattle of the Mexican frontier. These horned mustangs, 

 like their equine namesakes, are lean, knock-kneed, and 

 thick-headed, besides having a rougher coat and a smaller 

 udder than our domestic milch-cows. They are good 

 fighters ; their natural weapons resemble the terrible 

 bayonet-horns of the Javanese wild cow and the more 

 than half-wild toros Galcgos that often turn the joke 

 against the Madrid bull-fighters. 



A singular character-trait of all animal renegades is 

 their hostility toward their servile relatives. Travellers 

 on the Rio Grande have to be very careful in picketing 

 their saddle-horses, for if they stray into the prairie they 

 are sure to be " mobbed" and cruelly kicked by the 

 wild mustangs. A Bokhara courier, it appears, would 

 rather meet a panther than a troop of w r ild camels ; the 

 mere sight of the gaunt monsters will frighten a drome- 

 dary out of its wits, and, unless the rider has much gun- 

 powder to waste, the renegades, in spite of their timidity, 

 come nearer and nearer, the cows stretching their long 

 necks inquisitively, while the old males prance around 



