458 



EXTINCTION OF SPECIES. 



[Ch. XLII. 



3 maj be re 

 termination 



On 



this, and on several other grounds, the introduction of the 

 horse, ox, and other mammalia, into America, and their 

 rai3id propagation over that continent within the last three 



im 



The extraordinary herds of wild cattle and horses which 

 overran the plains of South America sprung from a verj few 

 pairs first carried over by the Spaniards ; and they prove 

 that the wide geographical range of large species in great 

 continents does not necessarily imply that they have existed 



om 



Humboldt observes, in his Travels, on the authority of 

 Azara, that it is believed that there exist, in the Pampas of 



million 



comprising in this enumeration 



no acknowledged proprietor. In the Llanos of Caraccas, the 

 rich hateros, or proprietors of pastoral farms, are entirely 

 ignorant of the number of cattle they possess. The young 



mark 



the most wealthy owners mark as 



In the northern plains, from the Orinoco to the lake of 



many 



M 



horses, and 



mules 



Mississipp 



t In some 



of the Osage Indians, wild horses w^ere immensely numerous 

 in the ftarly part of this century. 



The establishment of black cattle in America dates from 

 Columbus's second voyage to St. Domingo. They there mul- 

 tiplied rapidly ; and that island presently became a kind of 

 nursery from which these animals were successively trans- 

 ported to various parts of the continental coast, and from 

 thence into the interior. J^Totwithstanding these numerous 

 exportations, in tw^enty-seven years after the discovery of the 

 island, herds of 4,000 head, as we learn from Oviedo, were 

 not uncommon, and there were even some that amounted to 

 8,000. In 1587, the number of hides exported from St. 



* Pors. Nar. vol. iv. 



t Quarterly Review, vol. xxi. p. 335. 



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