THE HORSE AND HIS RIDER. 193 



masses may be seen during the season of high water 

 swimming about followed by their colts, and feeding 

 on the tall grass, of which the tops alone wave above 

 the waters. Thus they lead for some time an amphibi- 

 ous life, surrounded by alligators, water serpents, and 

 other carnivorous reptiles, the marks of whose teeth 

 are often printed on their thighs. The impetuous rush 

 of a herd of wild horses, impelled either by some panic 

 or by raging thirst, is called a stampedo : one of them 

 is thus described in Murray's Travels in North 

 America : 



" About an hour," he says, " after the usual time 

 to secure the horses for the night, an indistinct sound 

 arose like the muttering of distant thunder ; as it ap- 

 proached it became mixed with the howling of all the 

 dogs in the encampment, and with the shouts and 

 yells of the Indians ; in coming nearer, it rose high 

 above all these accompaniments, and resembled the 

 lashing of a heavy surf upon a beach. On and on it 

 rolled towards us, and, partly from my own hearing, 

 partly from the hurried words and actions of the 

 tenants of our lodge, I gathered it must be the fierce 

 and uncontrollable gallop of thousands of panic- 

 stricken horses. As this living torrent drew nigh, I 

 sprang to the front of the tent, seized my favorite 

 riding-mare, and, in addition to the hobbles which 

 confined her, twisted the long lariett round her fore- 

 legs ; then led her immediately in front of the fire, 

 10 



