THE INDIAN PONY. 415 



nor fed ; in winter he is an animated skeleton, sustaining a bare existence 

 on cottonvvood branches; but when spring brings out the tender grass, 

 he is soon in condition " worthy to be trusted to the death." After 

 endurance, the best quality of the Indian pony is his sureness of foot. 

 He climbs rocks like a mule, he plunges down precipices like a buffalo, 

 and crosses swamps like an elk. The amount of work got out of him 

 by the Indians is considerable, and in Indian hands and with Indian 

 bits he is tractable. But he does not receive civilization any better 

 than his master. According to General Dodge, " he is either a morose, 

 ill-tempered brute, hard to manage, and always dangerous, or he degen- 

 erates into a fat, lazy, short-breathed cob, fit only for a baby or an 

 octogenarian. Prosperity spoils him, and his true character and value 

 are best displayed in adversity." Among the Indians a " pony " is the 

 standard of value by which the price of wives and other chattels is 

 fixed. 



