414 UNGULATA. 



servant is appointed to assist the horse to keep them together. Pres- 

 ently one jade bolts away at full speed, and tries to regain her old 

 accustomed herd. Away goes the horse in chase, and as he • overhauls 

 her, with his ears laid back, and his nose to the ground, he compels 

 her return quicker than she went away. Before he has got well 

 breathed, another starts off in the opposite direction. After her goes 

 the horse, and the jilt is brought back at the top of her speed. This 

 continues nearly all the day, and at night they are again locked up. 

 Next day the same game goes on, the horse still assisted by a well- 

 mounted peon, until, at the end of eight or ten days, their acquaintance 

 is made. If any remain refractory, they are thrown down, the axe 

 applied to one of the hoofs of the hind-legs ; it is cut to the quick, and, 

 thus punished, she is compelled to limp it for fifteen or twenty days, until 

 the hoof groAvs again. By that time she becomes reconciled, and the 

 mandda is established, and keeps together. They are then conducted to 

 a quiet part of the ground, apart from the other herds, in order to 

 prevent collision between the different families. 



Apart from these herds of horses already described, there are small 

 troops of horses accustomed to go together in company with a mare 

 selected for that purpose, and called the madrina. These are reserved 

 for particular service, and are called tropillas. The horses, which gen- 

 erally consist of ten or twelve, are selected of one color, and the mare, 

 to render her more distinguishable, is as different as possible from the 

 horses. For instance, a tropilla of black horses will generally have a 

 white mare ; she wears a bell suspended from her neck, so that the horses 

 at night may hear the sound, and prevent them from parting company. 



Such is the life of the wild steeds that run over the wide plains of the 

 Argentine Republic, Paraguay, and Central Brazil. The Mustangs north 

 of the Isthmus of Panama are derived from Mexican horses which have 

 escaped into the woods and savannahs, and roamed northward to the 

 Rocky Mountains. The Indians have learned to capture them, and 

 employ them in transporting their families from place to place. The 

 highest ambition of the young Indian is to possess a good horse; 

 and to steal a horse is almost as glorious as to scalp an enemy. 

 The Indian pony, as it is called, is barely fourteen hands high, rather 

 light built, with good legs, straight shoulders, short, strong back, and 

 full barrel. He has no appearance of " blood " except sharp, nervous 

 ears, and intelligent eyes. He is never stabled, washed, rubbed, shod, 



