2l6 AUDUBON 



a newly caught "Wild Horse," a descendant of some 

 of the horses originally brought from Spain, and set at 

 liberty in the vast prairies of the Mexican lands. The 

 animal was by no means handsome; he had a large head, 

 with a considerable prominence in its frontal region, his 

 thick and unkempt mane hung along his neck to the 

 breast, and his tail, too scanty to be called flowing, almost 

 reached the ground. But his chest was broad, his legs 

 clean and sinewy, and his eyes and nostrils indicated 

 spirit, vigor, and endurance. He had never been shod, 

 and although he had been ridden hard, and had per- 

 formed a long journey, his black hoofs had suffered no 

 damage. His color inclined to bay, the legs of a deeper 

 tint, and gradually darkening below until they became 

 nearly black. I inquired what might be the value of 

 such an animal among the Osage Indians, and was an- 

 swered that, the horse being only four years old, he had 

 given for him, with the tree and the buffalo-tug fastened 

 to his head, articles equivalent to about thirty-five dol- 

 lars. The gentleman added that he had never mounted 

 a better horse, and had very little doubt that, if well fed, 

 he could carry a man of ordinary weight from thirty-five 

 to forty miles a day for a month, as he had travelled at 

 that rate upon him, without giving him any other food 

 than the grass of the prairies, or the canes of the bottom 

 lands, until he had crossed the Mississippi at Natchez, 

 when he fed him with corn. Having no farther use for 

 him, now that he had ended his journey, he said he was 

 anxious to sell him, and thought he might prove a good 

 hunting-horse for me, as his gaits were easy, and he stood 

 fire as well as any charger he had seen. Having some 

 need of a horse possessed of qualities similar to those 

 represented as belonging to the one in question, I asked 

 if I might be allowed to try him. "Try him, sir, and 

 welcome ; nay, if you will agree to feed him and take care 

 of him, you may keep him for a month if you choose." 

 So I had the horse taken to the stable and fed. 



