The Horse--_par excellence_ the noblest of animals--is represented by
only a limited number of species; but, like other creatures domesticated
by man, he is found of many different breeds and varieties: too many to
be minutely described in these pages. Suffice it to say, that almost
every civilised nation possesses several kinds of horses--differing from
one another in size, shape, colour, and qualities: in size especially--
since this fine animal may be observed not much bigger than a mastiff;
while other members of his family attain almost to the dimensions of an
elephant! Even savage tribes, both in Asia and America, are in
possession of peculiar breeds of horses; and it may be assumed as a
fact, that more than a hundred varieties exist upon the earth. These
have all been regarded as springing from one original stock; but here
again there is only vague conjecture; and it is far more probable, that
the domesticated horses are the descendants of several kinds originally
distinct in their wild state.
There are wild horses at the present day in Asia, Africa, and America;
but it is questionable whether any of these are the descendants of an
originally wild stock. More likely they are the progeny of horses
escaped from the domesticated breeds. Of course we refer to the _true_
horses of the genus _equus_; and not to the dziggetais, quaggas, and
zebras--to which we shall presently refer. These last-mentioned kinds
are still found wild, as they have ever been; and, with one or two
exceptions, none of their species have been tamed to the use of man.
In America--both in the northern and southern divisions of the
continent--herds of wild horses are numerous. These have all sprung
from individuals that escaped from their owners, and in process of time
have multiplied to a great extent. Of course they could have no other
origin: since it is well-known that, previous to the time of Columbus,
no animal of the horse kind existed in America. The wild horses now
found there are descended then from a domestic breed; and this breed has
been easily ascertained to be that used by the Spaniards in their
conquests of Mexico and Peru. It is a race known as the Andalusian
horse--nearly allied to the Arabian--and no doubt at an earlier period
imported into the peninsula of Spain by the Moors. These horses are
much smaller than the English hunter; but possess all the properties of
a true horse--the shape, action, etcetera--and cannot, therefore, be
considered as mere _ponies_. They are, in reality, well-blooded horses,
of small stature; and no breed could be better suited to the climate of
most parts of Spanish America, where they now run wild.
On the pampas of South America these horses exist in vast droves. The
Gauchos, a half-civilised race of men, live amidst their herds, and hunt
them chiefly for the hides. They early learn to capture and ride them;
and a Gaucho is seldom seen off the back of his horse. He can capture
and break one in in the course of an hour. The flesh also serves him as
an article of food. Down as far as the Straits of Magellan the droves
of wild horses are found. There the native Indians have tamed many of
them--even the women and children going most of their time on horseback.
On the llanos, or great plains, that extend northward from the Amazon
and Orinoco--that is, in the provinces of Venezuela--other droves of
wild horses exist; and these, along with half-wild oxen, form the sole
property and pursuit of a class of men called Llaneros, who in many
respects resemble the Gauchos. Again, proceeding to North America, we
find the same species of horse running wild on the great plains to the
north of Mexico; in California, and upon the prairies east of the Rocky
Mountains. In Mexico Proper, as also in California, they are _owned_ by
great landed proprietors; and are annually caught, branded, and sold.
Many of these proprietors can count from 10,000 to 20,000 head roaming
within the boundaries of their estates, besides large droves of horned
cattle and mules. In the vast regions between the settled parts of
Mexico and the frontier settlements of the United States, the wild
horses are the property of no one, but range freely over the prairies
without mark or brand. These are hunted and captured by different
tribes of Indians--Comanches, Pawnees, Sioux, Blackfeet, etcetera, who
also possess large numbers of them tamed and trained to various uses.
Like the Gauchos and Llaneros of the south, these Indians use the flesh
of the horse for food, and esteem it the greatest delicacy! Among some
tribes, where the buffalo is not found, the horse takes the place of the
latter as an article of diet; and forms the principal article of
subsistence of thousands of these people. Among most of the prairie
tribes the chase of this animal, or the buffalo, is the sole pursuit of
their lives.
Still further north ranges the wild horse, even as far as the prairies
extend; and among the tribes of the Saskatchewan he is also found--used
by them for the saddle, and also as a beast of burden. In these
regions, however, the buffalo still exists in great numbers; and the
horse, besides being eaten himself, is also employed to advantage in the
chase of this animal.
The wild horses of America are not all exactly of one breed. Those of
the Mexico-American prairies, called by the Spaniards _mustenos_
(mustangs), differ slightly from those found upon the llanos of South
America; and these again from the horses of the pampas, and the
parameros of Peru. These differences, however, are but slight, and
owing solely to climatic and other little causes. But the mustangs of
the northern prairies have among them an admixture of breeds, derived
from American runaways along the borders of the Mississippi, and others
escaped from travellers on the prairies; and there have latterly been
discovered mustangs of large size--evidently sprung from the
English-Arabian horse.
In the Falkland Islands the horse is also found in an untamed state.
These were introduced by the French in 1764; but have since become
perfectly wild. Strange to say, they are only found in the eastern part
of the island--although the pasture there is not more rich than in the
west, and there is no natural boundary between the two!
In Asia the horse runs wild in large herds--just as in America. The
range in which they are found in this state is chiefly on the great
plains, or steppes--stretching from the Himalaya Mountains to Siberia.
The Calmuck Tartars tame them; and possess vast droves, like the Gauchos
and Indians. They also eat their flesh; and among many tribes of
Tartars mare's milk is esteemed the most delicious of beverages.
After the true horse, the most beautiful species is the _Zebra_. Every
one knows the general appearance of this handsomely marked animal, which
appears as if Nature had painted his body for effect.
Of the zebra there are two distinct kinds--both of them natives of
Africa, and belonging to the southern half of that great continent.
They are easily distinguished from each other by the stripes. One of
them is literally striped to the very hoofs--the dark bands running
around the limbs in the form of rings. The stripes extend in the same
way over the neck and head, to the very snout or muzzle. This is the
true zebra, an animal that inhabits the mountainous regions of South
Africa, and which differs altogether from the _dauw_ or Burchell's
zebra, also found upon the great plains or karoos of the same region.
The latter has the stripes only over the body; while the head and legs
are very faintly streaked, or altogether of a plain brownish colour.
Attempts have been made at taming both of these kinds, and with some
success. They have been trained both to the saddle and draught; but,
even in the most tractable state to which they have been yet reduced,
they are considered as "treacherous, wicked, obstinate, and fickle."
Another species of horse found also in South America is the _Quagga_.
This is very much like the zebra in size, shape, and in fact everything
except colour. In the last respect it differs from both, in being of a
plain ashy brown hue over the upper parts of the body, very indistinctly
striped, and of a dirty white colour underneath. Like the dauw, it
frequents the open plains--trooping together in vast droves, and often
herding with several species of antelopes.
Another species of quagga, called the Isabella quagga, is supposed to
exist in South Africa; but there are doubts upon this subject. The name
is derived from the colour of a specimen seen by a very untrustworthy
traveller, which was of the hue known as Isabella colour; but nothing is
known of the animal, and most naturalists believe that the Isabella
quagga is identical with the other species, and that the specimen
reported by Le Vaillant was only a young quagga of the common kind.
All these species of African horses are generally classed with the genus
_Asinus_; that is, they are considered as _asses_, not _horses_.
We now come to other species of the ass genus, which were all originally
natives of Asia.
First, then, there is the domestic _Ass_; and of this species there are
almost as many varieties as of the horse,--some of them, as the Guddha
of the Mahrattas, not larger than a mastiff, while others exist in
different parts of the world as large as a two-year-old heifer. Asses
are found of a pure white, and black ones are common, but the usual
colour is that to which they have given their name--the "colour of an
ass."
Besides the domestic species, there are several others still found wild.
There is the Koulan, which is exceedingly shy and swift--so much so
that it is difficult to capture or even kill one of them; since before
the hunter can approach within rifle range of them, they take the alarm
and gallop out of sight. They live in troops, inhabiting the desert
plains of Persia and Mesopotamia in winter, while in summer they betake
themselves to the mountain ranges. They are also found on the steppes
bordering the Caspian and Aral Seas.
Another species of wild ass is the Kiang. This inhabits Thibet. It is
of a bright bay colour, and has a smooth coat; but the males are deeper
coloured than the females. They live in troops of about a dozen
individuals under a solitary male; and frequent places where the
thermometer is below zero--though they dwell indifferently either on
open plains or mountains.
The kiang has a variety of appellations, according to the country in
which it is found. It is the Dziggetai, and the Wild Ass of Cutch, and
also the Yototze of the Chinese; but it is very probable that all these
are the names of different species. It is further probable, that there
exist several other species of wild asses in the Thibetian and Tartar
countries of Asia--and also in the vast unknown territories of
North-eastern Africa--yet to be classified and described; for it may be
here observed that a monograph of the horse tribe alone, fully
describing the different species and breeds, would occupy the whole life
of a naturalist.