Southwest-sentinel. [volume] (Silver City, N.M.) 1883-189?, 1895-12-31

An Are said 10 De Descendants o. Those
1hat Once Were Demonstrated.

All Are Said 60 he Descendants 81 Those
Ihat Once Were Demonstrated.
II there such Z thing aa the wild
horse, an aboriginal or truly wild horse,
IN the world now7 The answer Is more
than doubtful. The mustang Of Mex
leo, the wild horse Of the South Ameri-
can pampaa, tho brumbi Of Australia, al
are descendants Of the domesticated ami
mails introduced from Europe. The first
horse was landed IN America at Buenos
Ayres in 1887. In lb8O-that Is, IN less
than so years-horses had spread to re-
gions as remote as Patagonia In Aus
tralia the diffusion Of horses that have
escaped from civilization has been quite
as rapid, and ia 1875 Il was found neo-
essary to shoot as many as 1000 wild
horses ia the colony Of New South Wales
alone.
In some parts Of Australia the horse
pest has received Legislative notice The
wild horses tempt domestic horses 10
Join them, and wild stations also IN
wade the Australian horse runs and giSi-
ate choice herds in q most annoying
manner They reour TO the ancestral
manner in q way that Is always the
same. Each stallion has his following
Of mares, ranging from a few up 70 40
and even 90, and these parties may be
separate or banded together in herds Of
considerable size, even, II is said, 400
strong. Tho young and the weak mares
remain with a scanty or oven nc follow
ing. The stallion has to maintain his
supremacy by frequent combats, which
especially ocour at certain seasons Of tho
year. The animals are suspicious in the
extreme, swift in flight, but bold in de-
Tense with tooth and heel in emergency.
They range extensively in search Of pas
ture and water, and when hard pressed
by danger and famine the herds break
uI. It is said that each troop has q
leader and implicitly obeys him. He is
the first to face danger and give the hint
to fly. When pressed, the horses form a
ring, with tho mares and foals IN the
center, and defend themselves vigorous
" with their heels, or they close in ON
their opponent in dense masses and
trample him to death.
Il is distinctly proved, then, that
there can be no aboriginal On wild horse
III 0AllCA AANIAAlN VA 1loA IAAtNf NANAAAHA
there are tens Of thousands Of unknown
horses. Tradition points to central Asia
as the original abode Of the horse, and
there the original stock Of wild horses
may still possibly exist. Darwin's state-
mont that no aboriginal or truly wild
horse Is known to exist must still be
held as explaining the exact position Of
this question. But We must supplement-
It by stating that Il is not certain that
truly Wild horses do not exist, and, on
the whole, conclude that the evidence
IL in favor Of the existence Of the wild
horse in central Asia, but that we have
no evidence as to his pedigree in rela-
ton to domestication. The wild horse
Of the British islands Is now practically
the Shetland pony, but he is not the
powerful animal described by Caesar,
The domesticated animal everywhere,
however, reyerts very easily to the saw
ago state. The PAGES OF awild horse ar
q walk and gallop The do1ble and tbs
cantor are artificial, and it is still 3
mooted question as to whether the wild
horse ever trots Paper Read Befor'
the Bombay Historical Society.