I02 THE WONDER-BOOK OF HORSES 



proudly, kicked his heels high into the air, and 

 set off at great speed toward distant Thessaly 

 and the vast pasture lands of the North. The 

 men of Athens watched him in his flight across 

 the plain. Swift as the whirlwind, with his long 

 mane floating gracefully over his back, he looked 

 not unlike some white-sailed vessel scudding be- 

 fore the wind across the ruffled surface of the sea. 

 The people had been at a loss to find a name for 

 the strange creature, but they caught eagerly at 

 the suggestion that now offered itself. 



" See ! " cried one, " is he not a ship, a skiff 

 with sails ? " 



" He is the Ship of the Plains ! " said another. 



" Yes, we will call him Skyphios, or the Ship 

 of the Plains ! " cried they all. 



And men afterward said that it was from Sky- 

 phios that the wild horses of the Scythian desert 

 — nay, of all the world — are descended. 



