ENDURANCE OF THE MUSTANG. 79 



are wonderful horses for endurance. I once rode a small 

 grey mustang about eighty-six miles, across a prairie, 

 scorched by a July sun, without water or shade, in less 

 than twelve hours. I was informed that the thermo- 

 meter had marked all day long in the shade 98°, and 

 in the sun — the sun to which we had been exposed — it 

 could not have been less than from 120° to 130°. \Yhen 

 I reached the rancho my horse showed no signs of 

 distress, eat with a good appetite, and doubtless could 

 have carried me half as far again that evening. This 

 endurance and patience under heat they have doubtless 

 received from their Arab sires, who, first of all trans- 

 planted into Spain from Barbary by the Moors, were 

 afterwards imported into the New World by Cortez and 

 his fellow-warriors, who would naturally carry over their 

 best and favourite steeds for the conquest of such a 

 country. 



They are beautifully formed, active, hardy, docile, 

 easily trained for war or the chase, and very affectionate 

 to their masters when they have kind ones. They are 

 of all colours, greys, bays, blacks, browns, chestnuts, 

 &c., but the most common colours are piebald and 

 cream-coloured, the latter being called 'clay-bank' by 

 the Americans, whilst the former (piebalds) are more 

 poetically termed by the Mexicans ;p into, or painted. 



It is one of the most beautiful sights in the world to 

 see a herd grazing peacefully on the flower-decked 

 prau'ie at early dawn on a spring morning. To see the 



