| a red-hot iron. 
304 
nearly in appearance to the wild boar of the 
European forests, from the thickness of their 
hair, which has even become frizzled. Beneath, 
in some individuals, it has been observed to as- 
sume a woolly appearance. The hog of these 
elevated regions is, however, small and stunted, 
from the want of sufficient food, and the con- 
tinued action of an excessive, cold. In some 
sultry districts, the hog is not black, like those 
above described, but red, like the peccari, during 
its youth. At Melgar, and in the other places 
above mentioned, instances have been known 
where the hogs are not entirely black ; but these 
are comparatively rare. There is a variety called 
cinchados, or ‘ girthed,’ because they have a large 
white band underneath, which usually unites on 
the back, and always preserves a uniform breadth ; 
and the young individuals of this variety bear 
the same stripes as those of the pure black breed. 
The only hogs in Colombia which resemble the 
common pigs of Europe, have been imported 
within the last twenty-five years, and these do 
not come direct from Europe, but from the 
United States of America; and it must be recol- 
lected that in the neighbourhood of New York, 
where this race has long been domesticated, it 
experienced the influence of a climate very nearly 
the same as our own. 
The horse has become wild in several districts 
of Colombia, especially in the plains of San Mar- 
tin, among the sources of the Meta, the Rio 
Negro, and the Umadea, where small troops of 
chestnut horses may be observed. Their limited 
numbers, the narrow range to which they are 
confined, and the immediate neighbourhood of 
the inhabited districts, have prevented them 
from acquiring those peculiarities which Azara 
has related of the wild horses of Paraguay. They 
go about in small squadrons, composed of an old 
horse, five or six mares, with some foals, and one 
squadron is completely isolated from another. 
Instead of approaching the caravans to entice 
the domestic horses, they run away on the first 
appearance of a man, and do not stop their flight 
until he is out of sight. Their movements are 
graceful, especially those of the leader, but their 
forms, though not heavy, are wanting in ele- 
gance. In the Hatos des Llanos, the horses are 
almost wholly left to themselves. The herds are 
assembled together at intervals to prevent them 
| from becoming absolutely wild, to extract the 
! 
larvee of the gad-fly, and to mark the foals with 
From this independent kind of 
life, they begin to acquire the uniform colour of 
the savage races. The chestnut bay is not merely 
the prevalent colour, but it is very nearly the 
| only one. Something similar to this has pro- 
| bably happened in Spain with the wild horses 
| (cavallos cerreros) which wander in the moun- 
_ tains; for in the Spanish proverbs, the horse is 
| often noticed by the name of e bayo (the bay), 
as well as the ass by the term rucio (grey). In 
the small Hatos which are found on the plateau 
es 
SPECIES. 
of the Cordilleras, the effects of domestication 
are more perceptible. The colours of the horses 
become more various; there is also a greater 
difference in their height; and while many are 
more diminutive than the average of the species, 
only a few surpass the medium size. As long as 
they live continually in the fields, their hair is 
tolerably thick and long, but a few months’ resi- 
dence in the stable is sufficient to render it short 
and glossy. It is customary to cross this breed 
of horses with the races from the warin valleys, 
especially with those of Cauca. On some pro- 
perties where this precaution has not been at- 
tended to, the horses have become perceptibly 
smaller, though the pastures have long been cele- 
brated for their richness. The hair has grown 
to such a degree as to render their appearance 
absolutely deformed. In respect to the useful 
qualities, this breed has lost but little; and the 
horses belonging to one canton are even cele- 
brated for their swiftness. When a horse is 
brought from the Llanos de San Martin, or from 
Casanare, to the plateau of Bogota, he must be 
kept in the stable until he is accustomed to the 
climate. If allowed to run loose at once into 
the fields, he grows thin, contracts a cutaneous 
disease, and often dies in a few months. The 
pace which is commonly preferred in the saddle- 
horses is the amble; this they are made to ac- 
quire early, and the greatest care is taken not 
to allow them, when mounted, to take any other 
pace. Ina short time, the limbs of these horses 
usually become stiff; and then, if otherwise of a 
good form, they are allowed to run in the Hatos 
as stallions. From them a race has descended, 
in which the amble is with the adults the na- 
tural pace. These horses are called aguzlillas; 
and they form a remarkable instance of the 
transmission of acquired habits from the parent 
to his offspring. 
The ass has undergone very few alterations in 
its form or habits in all the provinces visited by 
M. Roulin. At Bogota it is very common, being 
there used for transporting building materials ; 
but being badly taken care of, and exposed to 
the inclemencies of the weather, without receiv- 
ing sufficient nourishment, the race has become 
small and pitiful. It is covered with very long 
and uncombed hair. Deformed individuals are 
often seen, not only among the adults, which 
are loaded prematurely, and before they have 
acquired sufficient strength, but also among the 
foals at their birth. Perhaps the latter circum- 
stance may arise from the ill treatment of the 
dams during the period of gestation. In the low 
and warm provinces this animal is less neglected, 
as it is required for the production of mules. 
Being well fed, at least in these districts, it be- 
comes larger and stronger ; its hair also is shorter 
and more polished. In no province, however, 
has the ass reverted to its wild state. 
The sheep was originally transported to the New 
World from Spain; and the earliest importation 
