Vermont phÅ“nix. [volume] (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1834-1955, 1884-02-29
Among the Mustangs.

The wild horse of America, although now
native to the soil, is descended from the tribes
of wild horses that still rove the plains OF
Central Asia. When the discoverers of this
continent first landed, there were no horses
anywhere in either North or South America.
Centuries before, the horse had been intro
duced into European countries from Asia, and
had become common all over that continent.
When Columbus arrived here on his second
voyage in 1493, he was accompanied by one
Cabma de Vaca, who brought with him a
number of horses, which were landed in Flor
ida. Cortez took horses with him TO assist in
the conquest of Mexico, as did Pizarro in his
conquest of Peru The natives were greatly
affrghted when they beheld these strange an
imals. At first they supposed that the man
and the horse were one complete creature,
something like the centaur of which We read
in ancient fable And when they saw the ri
der dismount and disengage himself from his
steed, their amazement knew no bounds.
In time the savages learned that the horse
was an animal that had been subdued by man,
aud that it was a separate creature but they
long dreaded the horse of the Spaniards as a
beast of prey. And when the horses escaped
from their masters, and made their way into
the freedom of the forest, as they did after a
space, the natives avoided them as something
to be Stunned. The quarreling Spaniards
neglected their steeds, which soon found
homes on the plains of Mexico, South Ameri-
ca, and the unexplored interior of North
America. From these escaped animals have
sprung the wild horses of America. The
mustang, as the native horse of the North
American continent is usually called is gen
| erally of bright chestnut color. The horses
marked with odd colors and patches are call
ed 'pinto," or ''painted," by the Mexioans,
and "calico," by the Americans. The mus
tang is smaller than the domesticated Ameri-
can horse for we must remember that the
larger horses now found in our stables are
! the direct descendants of later importations
| from Europe. The leadership of a
drove of mustangs is determined by the supe-
nor prowess and endurance of the candidate.
SO far as we can judge, the herd selects its
leader, and he is implicitly obeyed as long as
| hs lives. How he issues his ORDERS and how
he takes counsel of his company, no man can
| tell But the captain of the band is very
distinctly marked character. He is every
inch leader, and he is always at the head of
the column. He is on guard too, when the
young wild colts are being reared. 1t is he
that gives warning on the approach of foe,
and he has to fight for his own supremacy,
sometimes, when turbulent spirits appear
among the herd.
A duel between rival mustangs is a fascina-
ting but not pleasant sight They bite, kick
aud rush at each other like mad horses. One
could hardly imagine that horses could be SO
like lions and tigers as are these mustangs
when enraged. The sound of their cries and
shrieks may be heard far across the prairie,
and the combatants will often be SCARED and
lame for days from wounds received in thesC
fights. .-Mdreh ST. Nicholas.