WILD HORSES. 109 



pable powder fills tlie air, the springs dry up, and the 

 cattle perish in thousands. Death reigns victorious over 

 animal and vegetable nature, and " desolation tracks the 

 scene to the utmost verge of the horizon, a hideous wreck. " 

 Some portions of this vast region possess an excellent 

 but thin soil, which rewards the cultivator's labour wdth 

 abundant crops. But a stiff cold clay at a short distance 

 below the surface kills all deep-rooted herbs ; and only the 

 hardiest plants can endure a climate distinguished by such 

 astonishing contrasts. A very wide range is hopelessly 

 barren. 



ANIMAL LIFE IN THE GREAT PLAINS. 



It will be convenient to consider under one section the 

 Animal Life of the great European and Asiatic plains. 



Numerous companies of wild horses wander across these 

 grassy breadths, and the Asiatic steppes are supposed by 

 many naturalists to be the original cradle of their race. 

 Shall we look upon them as the representatives of the 

 primitive breed, from which have descended all the varie- 

 ties known at the present day ; or shall w^e see in them, as 

 in the wild horses of the American prairies and pampas, 

 the descendants of individuals which, at some remote 

 period, escaped from human mastery? The latter hypo- 

 thesis is generally accepted. But there are good reasons 

 for believing that, under the influences of a life of freedom, 

 these animals are returning to their primitive type. They 

 liave lost the "harmonious gi'ace of form," the sleek beauty, 

 and the robust strength which we observe in the horse as 

 developed, educated, and perfected by the care and scien- 

 tific intelligence of man. Between the wild horse of the 



