98 ' WILD TRAITS IN TAME ANIMALS. 



prairie horses of to-day have become more 

 marked in the three centuries that have elapsed 

 since the Spanish conquest. At present the 

 Barb and Andalusian breeds are not more 

 variegated in colour than are the other horses 

 of the Old World ; and unless the adventurers 

 who took their steeds West had a special taste 

 for "piebald" and other eccentrically coloured 

 steeds, it seems difficult to explain the present 

 prevailing colours among the mustangs, except 

 upon the supposition that the resumption of wild 

 habits has produced some remarkable changes in 

 this respect. 



Possibly, however, an explanation of the phe- 

 nomenon may be found in the fact that the early 

 adventurers could only have brought a very few 

 horses with them, and that of these invaluable 

 animals the greatest care would have been taken. 

 Hence the number which escaped and which 

 became the ancestors of the wild mustangs would 

 have been very small, and if one of these chanced 

 to possess any special peculiarity it would be 

 likely to be repeated among all its innumerable 

 descendants. 



The distinct types observable among the 

 various strains of domestic horses doubtless 



