The daily dispatch. [volume] (Richmond [Va.]) 1850-1884, 1873-08-14
ea,ncotcnguc-The wild Horses OF inc
sntt war>hes-Their H"ot's ana Ors-
riu Pony repninS and Its Hum"f@s--
Young baltimore Artist-The Ma
,;xr Jockeys.

,,,t,,,,-.,l Correspondence OF the Baltimore Ame-
t'' riCSn.i
CuyNCorExHuE ISLAND. NA.,1
August :. 1873.
!, nv letter Of Yesterday made some al
r,.iaD 10 the ChincotcaGuc pouicS. Whena
r,}.imoraan is told that wild horses can be
t1und within ten miles OF the eastern coast
-, MARYLAND he is apt 10 look incredulouS.
=. Viii 70 Chincotcague will cure his skepti-
t..n WiIi ponies are abundant here, and
:. l.nd-,a of them may be seen in half
I,nr', walk from the Atlantic Hotel. No.
f,Ie knows how they got here. The " old
,.. 'inh,l;cint remembers Of hearing his
..-Sn,3ta;her SAY that they were on the island
,hon he WAS a boy. Probably they were
-, ,,.~iur over the sand-hii.s when the first
..f,!cr crossed the sound.
There i a tradition that some great Vir-
mia Gentleman, of two hundred years ago,
,o. nrlnging over L pair Of ponies from
rnd,ni, and that the ship which carried
thrn ,sa> wrecked off AsSateasue beach:
III. I.ui..s were wa-hcd ashore, and Were the
,-,,auj,ur> Of the little animals that now
tod mon the salt marshes of Chincoteague.
l., the last century they were considered of
,.y4;l,,, ana il i Mt known that the pro-
:-;r,or> Of the island ever set up any claim
:, those which gl;IZrd upon their lands.
When the hCrd>mrn became the owners OF
;h. soil they began 10 iaS>o some OF them,
am! - Yut mark on them by which they
could IL, recognized afterwards. y few
,rs,o ,iurnr-lCtipd and used for riding. The
,.,,fhlu: process went on from year to year,
until forty wears ago there was no pony on
-. Island that was not claimed by some
Ir.;v. Many O: them were tanned and taken
over 10 the mainland. In 1910 a well-broken
fLypnf u
fyc to thirty dollars.
NATURAL SELECTION.
Tbc~c tough little ponies admirably Illus
,r,ite Mr.. Darwiu's theory Of natural seec-
ton: onlr the tittc>t survive. Under the
ordinary conditions OF reproduction, in the
tiny or J hundred years during which they
had no owners. the island would have been
- stocked with them that they must ineri-
taby have starved. But there were causes
constantly operating 10 kill OFT the weak.
Only the strong and healthy could stand the
ri.ors Of winter. Prompted by hunger, the
herds would wade into the marshes for the
saIt-grs-S: the strong would return TO the
shore, the weak would remain fast i'll the
mud and perish. Every year many ponies
are lost In this way. Before the laSso
and the branding-iron appeared on the
the males, and the strongest conquered,
the weak were killed. Writers upon natu-
raj selection might obtain some interesting
facts in support Of their theory by studying
the habits Of these animals even now. They
represent the herd in It's normal state, living
under natural conditions and guided by ns-
trlr:,l instinct, unailed 10y the artificial lntiu-
cnc,S which control domestic animals. Mr..
Darwin would DC delighted to see how they
have adapted themselves TO the climate.
They have heavy names and tails, and in the
winter they hay" Il long coat OF hair. W hen
i chilling norihcastcr blows the animals OF
each herd crowd together. and, facing the
southwest, stand motionle>> until the storm
las spent lis fury. 1t is said that when there
j, snow on the ground they never lie down.
ana ii they sleep III all they sleep while
Standing on their feet.
SPECULATIVE THEORY.
10 not know how much truth there is in
the tradition about the two ponies that are
believed Ia have come ashore from the
wrecked ship: bat if the island was stocked
in this way. think il more probable that
til" ancestral pair were 4 coupe of small.
Wc-hrcd horses that had no pony blood III
their veins. The great majority of these
I,onic> look like diminutivc horses, and most
Of the mares have heads IL handsome and
buny as any thoroughbred. The straight
Hose, thin, currln" nUStrl. and tu!l, lntclli-
gcut eve are not characteristic Of The shetland
breed. There are 50 ne loW-Set little fell
lows with short. thick heads, and prOdigiOuS
foretop>, but am told that IL Canadian pony
wa, turned loose upon the island some years
;Go, and It Is probable that the peculiar CHAR
acScristics of his ~pccies crop out occasionally
in H. .pl ltl,,l .r lI.-
scyudcdtrom pair OF wellbrcd horses. then
tAe conditions under which they have lived
lave reduced them to ponies. The diminu-
tive size and the heavy names and tails have
resulted from the constant breeding In and
in, the riwQrS Of the climate, the hard strug-
gle for existence. aud the course, Scanty food.
II these CAUSES, operating for hundred
wears, will reduce an Arabian horse to 4
Chiucotcaguc pony, what sort of an animal
would they produce i'll 4 million of years
PONY SOCIETY.
There are about five hundred ponies on
the island, including those on ASsateague
They divide themselves into herds, without
regard 10 ownership, and each herd confines
Itself 10 Il particular range. Sometimes 4
herd will migrate from one quarter OF the
island TO another, but this does not often
happen. Thcrr are about thirty persons
who own ponic<, all "l whom. with two or
three exceptions, live on the island. One of
lhc large proprictors owns Il hundred
head, hut Il person Is considered well
oil who Ia, his brand upon twenty
or thirty. Each herd is governed
b. inll"-a sort OF equine autocrAt-WhoSc
authority is supreme. In former times he
fought his Way up 10 the position OF patrl-
arch by thra>hing all his rivals, sometimes
driving them into the sea, where they were
drowned. All us'irperS were remolselessly
cXpel"d from the herd, and if they were not
Killed they became bold bandits. and hung
about the marshes, capturing such unwary
icmalcs rs happened to stray too far from
their pra tectors. With these they founded
new herds. and became prosperous patri-
arch> Themselves.
Since the cvilizing lasso and branding
!rOn have appeared on the island the ,Iatri-
,>n.h has less difficulty in maiutaiuing his po-
siGOn, and biz life Is comparatively peaceful
TIE males Of tie herd are sold when three
are heater and more docile, they are seldom
sold. Some OF item live to be twenty
years OF age, aud all of them become
the mothers Of numerous progeny. The
mother OF ten colts brings her owner thou
sand dollars in ten years, during which time
her subsistence has not cost single penny.
1t is not surprising, therefore, that they are
seldom taken from the island.
In the summer the ponies lead Joyous
life. They crop the wild grass that grows
luXuriently on the island, and when the
hies annoy them too much they take g;llop
through the bushes or Il bath In the sea. If
the winter happens TO be severe, however,
they have sorry time OF il. They wade