The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1891-09-27
THE ONLY WILD HORSES.
They Have Been Found by Gen.
Prjsvalsky in Central Asia.

They Have Been Found by Gen.
PTJsvalsky in Central Asia.
The arrival in Russia of four specimens
OF the wild horse of Central Asia may be
considered to have set at rest for good and
all the questions Of this animals existence.
When the late Gen. Prjevalsky announced
the discovery Of such brute in the deserts
OF DJuugaria, a doubt was not
unreasonablY expressed whether the
animal whose skin he brought
to st. Petersburg might not be simply that
OF steed which had escaped from civiliza-
ton, though the characteristics of this
Equus PrjevalskiI, as it was called, were
widely different from any variety of its
relatives in state of domesticitY. How
ever, the fact OF the Brothers Grum-Grizi-
mallo having not only obtained four speci-
mems, but seen many others coursing over
the wastes Of the Altai and Tian-Shan, is
conclusive Of any doubts on the subject.
All the individuals killed are identical,
ana all agree in specific relationship to
Gen. Prjevalsky's discovery. This saw
age progenitor of ''the friend Of man. is
not an elegant creature. 1t is, In truth, "a
rum 'un to look at says the London Daily
Graphic, though, possibly, after being
bltted aud spurred, 1t may be "a good 'un
to CO." The absence of a foreluck and
the presents of a short, erect "hog" name
do not impart to the ancestor Of Eclipse and
Sainfoin the dignity desiderated in char
ger, while the popularity OF the long hairs
OF the tail not beginning till about half way
Gown that appendage, its thick legs, low
stature, heavy hoofs and large head leave
little to enhance the beauty Of this homely
wanderer of the Aryan land.
WILD HORSES ONLY IN NAME.
~ he IL. l.
approach yet made to the wild horse.
Hitherto none of the claimants to that dis
tinction have been able to make good their
genealogy. There is, of course, no neces-
sity for pointing out that the horses which
SO swarm in parts of South America that
they have to be killed, are simply escapes
from civilization. The first horses ever
brought to the new world came in the train
of the Spanish conquistadores. The
"brambles" of the Australian bush
are still more recent wildlings, though
already they have taken to themselves
characteristics which show that If not
slaughtered by the irate squstters, whose
pastures they eat up and whose stock they
decoy. these wild" horses WILL in another
century, be distinct variety. The same
remark may be made about the eGui fierce
which Pliny and Vsrro describe roaming
the European forests in their day, and the
HtOny 1CUCQe NOGS WHICH I1oCIOT DOeC6
boosted among the wealth Of Scotland in
the middle ages.
A more doubtful beast is the 'tarpan" of
Southern Russia. Many have, indeed,
claimed "the thousand horse the wild and
free" which roam the steppes as the real
progenitor of the tarpan varieties. But be-
tween the "tarpan" and the only half wild
"musin," or fugitive from fields, there is
often almost no distinction. Hence it is
difficult to admit the contention indicated.
At all events. the steppe horse is different
from that of Djungaria, and avoids the
region affected by the latter. As a good
working hypothesis a basis always dearly
loved of the naturalist, we may therefore
accept the theory that Prjevalsky's horse is
the savage forefather of the endless breed
into which his descendants have branched.
The primal home of the Aryans-pace
Canon Taylor and Prof. Sayce-is believed
to have been Central Asia. These progen-
itors Of the European races knew OF the
horse. Its name occurs In Sanscrit, though
whether they rode it is a point on which
the VedaS are silent