181 MAMMALIA. 



posed life, have lost many characteristics "vvhich were possessed by 

 their progenitors. These Horses, called Tarpans, Mustangs, and 

 Parameros, according to locality, live most frequently in bands of 

 tifteen to twentj', of which only one is a mature male. In the 

 pampas of Paraguaj^, however, the droves are sometimes composed 

 of more than 10,000 animals. They are controlled by chiefs, who 

 always lead them in travelling as well as in escaping pursuit, and 

 each drove inhabits a particular district, which it defends against 

 the invasion of strangers, and does not abandon unless obliged by 

 deficiency of pasturage, or by the attacks of some of the larger 

 carnivora. The migration of wild Horses crossing the wide 

 jjlains of the New World, almost shaking the ground under 

 their measured tramp, is a spectacle to delight the traveller. 

 Divided into squadrons composed of a stallion and his attendant 

 mares, the column progresses, preceded by their scouts. If 

 these droves should meet with domestic Horses, they invite them 

 by neighings to regain their lost liberty and join their wandering 

 phalanx, a request too frequently accej)ted. 



These wild Horses can be broken in for Man's use, but their 

 struggles are most determined before they are willing to resume 

 the commonplace life which was led by their ancestors. 



Spaniards and Indians capture wild Horses by surrounding, and 

 forcing a drove to enter an enclosure, called a coral, where a 

 horseman, armed with a latiso (a long strip of green hide, provided 

 with a noose at one end), or the haUeros (two balls comiected by a 

 cord), is placed. In Mexico the former implement is used, in lower 

 South America the latter ; and the skill and address with which 

 these people entangle and throw the objects of their pursuit are 

 truly surprising. However violent and protracted the victim may 

 struggle, it must ultimately succumb, when a leather strap with a 

 slip noose having been placed round its lower jaw, or a villainously 

 cruel Spanish bit in its mouth, an Indian mounts. After making 

 vain efforts to get rid of the Man, the Horse sets off at full 

 gallop, stimulated moreover by the spur. After being ridden till 

 thoroughly exhausted, and its lungs bursting for want of breath, 

 it submits to be led back to the coral. Henceforth it is tamed, or, 

 more properly, broken-spirited, and although left free with the 

 domesticated Horses, does not seek to escape ; for having felt the 

 brand of serfdom, it feels unworthy of liberty. Young Horses are 



