The Horse--_par excellence_ the noblest of animals--is represented by only a limited number of species; but, like other creatures domesticated by man, he is found of many different breeds and varieties: too many to be minutely described in these pages. Suffice it to say, that almost every civilised nation possesses several kinds of horses--differing from one another in size, shape, colour, and qualities: in size especially-- since this fine animal may be observed not much bigger than a mastiff; while other members of his family attain almost to the dimensions of an elephant! Even savage tribes, both in Asia and America, are in possession of peculiar breeds of horses; and it may be assumed as a fact, that more than a hundred varieties exist upon the earth. These have all been regarded as springing from one original stock; but here again there is only vague conjecture; and it is far more probable, that the domesticated horses are the descendants of several kinds originally distinct in their wild state. There are wild horses at the present day in Asia, Africa, and America; but it is questionable whether any of these are the descendants of an originally wild stock. More likely they are the progeny of horses escaped from the domesticated breeds. Of course we refer to the _true_ horses of the genus _equus_; and not to the dziggetais, quaggas, and zebras--to which we shall presently refer. These last-mentioned kinds are still found wild, as they have ever been; and, with one or two exceptions, none of their species have been tamed to the use of man. In America--both in the northern and southern divisions of the continent--herds of wild horses are numerous. These have all sprung from individuals that escaped from their owners, and in process of time have multiplied to a great extent. Of course they could have no other origin: since it is well-known that, previous to the time of Columbus, no animal of the horse kind existed in America. The wild horses now found there are descended then from a domestic breed; and this breed has been easily ascertained to be that used by the Spaniards in their conquests of Mexico and Peru. It is a race known as the Andalusian horse--nearly allied to the Arabian--and no doubt at an earlier period imported into the peninsula of Spain by the Moors. These horses are much smaller than the English hunter; but possess all the properties of a true horse--the shape, action, etcetera--and cannot, therefore, be considered as mere _ponies_. They are, in reality, well-blooded horses, of small stature; and no breed could be better suited to the climate of most parts of Spanish America, where they now run wild.