The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1896-07-10
THE HORSES SIXTH SENSE.
strange Action OF Two Horses Cross
ing the Prairies.
From the New York Mercury.

From the New York Mercury
The exodus from the east 10 the Pacific
coast in the early 9s is a matter OF his
tory. Gold discoveries furnished the mo-
tive. and the American instinct 90 go
VEST gave the movement its impetus.
l was stopping with a family iu Illinois.
There were four grown sons and two
daughters. and five other young men
hands"
came infiamed by the stories of fabulous
fortunes made by those who were brave
enough TO undergo the hardships and nrf-
vations consequent upon remOving 10 the
west at that time. and the ariOr ~ Young
blood finally Overcame the objections of
age. the farm was leased TO ueiEhbOr
and We soon found ourselves on our way
10 the "boundless west
We had three wagons, drawn by four
oxen each: one wagon drawn by two
horses, and having ten mares and a stall
lion and some fifty head OF loose cattle.
cows and heifers.
We got across the Missouri river and
our only sustenance thereafter FOR our
stock was grass, and our only object for
the summer was to put as many miles as
possible between us and civilization
We used two mares to drive the loose
cattle, which left seven and sometimes
eight to take along, as the cattle and
horses did not drive we'll together. IL re-
Quired two persons to handle them. That
me, with 2-year-old boy as assistant.
In course OF time it came about thar I
was sent on ahead to find a suitable carun-
ing ground. or back after a stray COW. or
to communicate with the trains behind
us. There was a large emigration that
year, and the road was lined with trains
and / was often away from our train until
late in the night. on returning from these
trips the camp or train was hard to find
as they very often went off the road
to camp, sometimes as far as a mile I
soon found that the stallion and a Young
bay mare could always find our company.
while no other of other mares I'm our band
could do it. at least, not so we'll Ether
of the animals referred to could tell i'm a
moment where our train had left the road
or II 1t had passed along even if hun
dreds of other horses and cattle had
passed after. aAnd they would follow on
and find our company as unerringly as
a hound finds his game.
The horse. when he could see the band.
would neigh and go to them. but the
mare depended altogether on tracing. and
did not appear to look for the others until
quite close upon them.
One afternoon l went away 20 look up a
stray COW, which was supposed 10 have
wandered off among the hills M the
creek. This was in the Platte river coun-
try where there is little or no timber ex-
cept along the river. I Travelled along nm
the creek and over the hills, but found
no COW.
AS night was approaching, and a storm
brewing, abandoned the search
and struck out for camp 10 re-
trace the route had traversed
would have taken more time than I
had at my disposal, and accordinclv
I struck over the hills toward the river
and across a bottom several miles wide
Night came. and with IL a driving rain.
1t was very dark, but I knew he road
was ahead of me somewhere So 1 gave
the. mare her head and trusted to luck
and her ability for tracking witch I
was unable to comprehend IL was a
smooth, open country, and, as going on
was no worse than stopping l allowed the
mare to take me whittier she would
She walked steadily along. and after a
while stopped, put down her head. and
whinnied. dismounted and found we We're
in the road. remounted shook loose the
birdie reins and urged the mare forward
She tracked a few steps along The road
undecidediy then turned and took the
back trail. She went perhaps half a mile.
| turned abruptly to the right went around
a grove of trees into a bend of the river
and there was our camp light in a tent
People say that animals do this by scent
but in this ] cannot agree l think animals
have some faculty which we have not Vet
been able to discover. Probably 30 horses
and cattle, with wagons and people had
passed over the road. yet the mare knew
that her company was not among them
To suppose that She followed by scent'
is to attribute to her the power of exclud-
ing other and much stronger scents. and
also power and delicacy of smell very
difficult for us to conceive of. The question
suggests itself; Have animals a sixth sense
that we, as yet, do not know Of?