202 
FALKLAND LSLANDS 
CHAP. 
French in 1764, since which time both have greatly increased. 
It is a curious fact that the horses have never left the eastern 
end of the island, although there is no natural boundary to pre¬ 
vent them from roaming, and that part of the island is not more 
tempting than the rest. The Gauchos whom I asked, though 
asserting this to be the case, were unable to account for it, except 
from the strong attachment which horses have to any locality 
to which they are accustomed. Considering that the island 
does not appear fully stocked, and that there are no beasts of 
prey, I was particularly curious to know what has checked their 
originally rapid increase. That in a limited island some check 
would sooner or later supervene, is inevitable ; but why has 
the increase of the horse been checked sooner than that of the 
cattle ? Capt. Sulivan has taken much pains for me in this 
inquiry. The Gauchos employed here attribute it chiefly to 
the stallions constantly roaming from place to place, and com¬ 
pelling the mares to accompany them, whether or not the young 
foals are able to follow. One Gaucho told Capt. Sulivan that 
he had watched a stallion for a whole hour, violently kicking 
and biting a mare till he forced her to leave her foal to its fate. 
Capt. Sulivan can so far corroborate this curious account, that 
he has several times found young foals dead, whereas he has 
never found a dead calf. Moreover, the dead bodies of full-grown 
horses are more frequently found, as if more subject to disease 
or accidents than those of the cattle. From the softness of the 
ground their hoofs often grow irregularly to a great length, and 
this causes lameness. The predominant colours are roan and 
iron-gray. All the horses bred here, both tame and wild, are 
rather small-sized, though generally in good condition; and they 
have lost so much strength, that they are unfit to be used in taking 
wild cattle with the lazo : in consequence, it is necessary to go to 
the great expense of importing fresh horses from the Plata. At 
some future period the southern hemisphere probably will have its 
breed of Falkland ponies, as the northern has its Shetland breed. 
The cattle, instead of having degenerated like the horses, 
seem, as before remarked, to have increased in size ; and they 
are much more numerous than the horses. Capt. Sulivan 
informs me that they vary much less in the general form of their 
bodies and in the shape of their horns than English cattle. In 
colour they differ much ; and it is a remarkable circumstance, 
