From the horses that were in use among the ancients the two wild species
now found are known to have descended, a fact confirmed by their evident
resemblance to the horses we still retain. The largest wild horse is
almost black, or inclined to a dark colour, somewhat less in size than
our present waggon horses, but of the same heavy make. It is, however,
much swifter, on account of having enjoyed liberty for so long. It is
called the bush-horse, being generally distributed among thickets and
meadow-like lands adjoining water.

The other species is called the hill-pony, from its habitat, the hills,
and is rather less in size than our riding-horse. This latter is short
and thick-set, so much so as not to be easily ridden by short persons
without high stirrups. Neither of these wild horses are numerous, but
neither are they uncommon. They keep entirely separate from each other.
As many as thirty mares are sometimes seen together, but there are
districts where the traveller will not observe one for weeks.

Tradition says that in the olden times there were horses of a slender
build whose speed outstripped the wind, but of the breed of these famous
racers not one is left. Whether they were too delicate to withstand
exposure, or whether the wild dogs hunted them down is uncertain, but
they are quite gone. Did but one exist, how eagerly it would be sought
out, for in these days it would be worth its weight in gold, unless,
indeed, as some affirm, such speed only endured for a mile or two.

It is not necessary, having written thus far of the animals, that
anything be said of the birds of the woods, which every one knows were
not always wild, and which can, indeed, be compared with such poultry as
are kept in our enclosures. Such are the bush-hens, the wood-turkeys,
the galenæ, the peacocks, the white duck and the white goose, all of