Litchfield enquirer., 1865-07-06
HOW WILD HORSES FIGHT.
BY c. BoNvILLE, U. s. T. E.

somewhat OotIer authority, or the uses to which the horses of the lanos and pampas sometimes apply their heels; and, upon numerous occa- sions since we came down into the Great Basin we have been furnished with peculiar demon strations of the proclivities of these fleet, beau tifal animals for using as weapons, both offen sive and defensive, mot only their heels but fore feet and teeth.
 It was not, however, until after we had crossed the head waters of the Tacoary en, tered upon the country of the Cayopas, and were skirting along the northwestern base of the Tucubayo Range. that We had an opportu- nity of witnessing battle Royal between the slender, clean-limbed, South American horse and the most ferocious and powerful of all the brute rangers of the Brazilian forests
 The six months that we had been in the Great BasiA had occupied us chiefly along the courses of the Parana, Parnahyba, and wooded country. and. consequently, Very few of the larger and more formidable animals with which all the forest regions of the interior abound.
 But we had got fairly into the wild beast regions at last, and for week or so, had been favored with good deal more of their com paniobship than was agreeable. Pumas, leop, ards, tigers and congers were quite as numer- ous as we had found the smaller animals out in the plains, and ten times more annoying particularly the puma, the only one of our new neighbors who had no fear of fire and very little of our rifes compelling us by his auda- cious bravedo, generally to settle our differen- ces with the lasso and lance.
 The northwestern slope of the Tucubayo Range is, perhaps, one of the most singular sierra formations in the world. From it's gen. eral base, which is densely wooded. juts out into the grassy plain long narrow spurs of sierra, of moderate elevation. of irregular lengths and distances from each other, and all heavily tim bered to their very extremities. From bird' s eye point of view the mountain would probably appear something like vast comb, with the teeth irregularly set or some of them broken ont.
 As rule, we kept to the level ground, pass we came to barrier of triAing elevation and had fancy to rsplenish our stock of game, we crossed one of the sierras either direct or diag- onally, as suited our purpose.
 One afternoon we were crossing one of these ridges. well in towards it's base, and had just reached the sumit, when Mendosa, our wild Paraguayan outrider, came driving back, all excitement, shouting in his lingua franca of the border:
 'Ola! Senors; vomos a yer Ten hamos dos leo grande haber casta muerto con ell car valbosp -. -g.
 'What's that, Mendosa-two lions having a death-fght with the horses ?
 Si, Senor. Bon combato ? Vamos a ver.' -.
 So we went down 10 see but Mendoza's eagerness had slightly outran the facts. The battle was not set yet. but it was inevitable and near at hand. There would be right royal sport worth witnessing. So, having gone down the slope of the sierra at rattling dash, We drew rein just within the fringe of timber, where we had an admirable lookout and lay ing clear the jakes of our lassos, loosening the fastenings of lances, and unslnging our rifles, we were prepared for whatever emergency might arise.
 The level. grassy plain, between the two spars, was less than half mile in width, and about one.third of the distance across it, count ing from one side. and directly in front of our position was grazing quietly beautiful mousse eolored mare. having a pair of twin colts, three months old. perhaps, frisking about her. Of to our right, and down towards the bottom of the grassy cove, were two immense pumas, male and female, stealing cautiously out to- wards the ansuspicious mare; and away to the left, out in the center of the meadow, was a small herd of the finest looking horses had ever seen.
 The animals had discovered the pumas, and were preparing for battle while the lone mare remained unconscious of danger
 The mare was about midway between her friends and enemies, and the pair of ferocious brutes appeared to be calculating their chances of bouncing upon and bearing off the two foals before the horse brigade could sweep down upon them. There was- something very like reason in the sagacity manifested by the horses. The herd numbered perhapsa hundred animals, among them some twenty mares with foals by their s'des After brisk trotting to and fro fol two or three minutes. by half dozen of the nnest looking wild stallions ever saw, as many
 staid matronly mares drew out from the troop
 followed by every colt among them. Then, as It practaclng strategy to conceal their real intentions from the pumas, every animal pu, his or her head down to the grass, and began |cropping along towards the mare at 2 raj. }just about equal in speed to the advance of the pumas. It looked very much as if the horses wished to draw their enemies so far from thei, base that when the charge was made they could cut of their retreat. I Both parties continued to advance until the distance to the mare on either hand was moi \ more than tWarrfv. five varda