Sept. 24. 1853.] 



NOTES AND QUERIES. 



287 



GIVE HIM A ROLL. 



•A PLEA FOB THE HORSE. 



We learn, from the comedy of the The Clouds, 

 that the Athenians were accustomed to refresh 

 their horses after a race by allowing them to roll 

 on the ground ; for Pheidippides, the wild young 

 man of the play, who spent much of his own time 

 and of his father's money on the " turf," and who 

 is shown in the opening scene fast asleep in bed, 

 dreaming of his favourite amusement, says very 

 quietly, 



"'Aira7€ rbv 'bnrov f^aXiffas oXKaSe" [32] — 



an order which he had probably often given to his 

 gi'oora at the Hippodrome, the Newmarket or 

 Ascot of Athens. 



I have often seen racing, I have often seen 

 hunters brought home after a hard day's work, 

 and I have read of forced marches, &c. made. by 

 cavalry and artillery ; but never yet have I heard 

 of an English Houyhnhnm, either at home or 

 abroad, who was invited to refresh himself after 

 his labours, civil or military, classically, Avith a 

 roll. 



Dobbin, that four-footed Ofellus, 



•' Rusticus, abnormis sapiens, crassaque Minerva," 



whenever he has the luck to spend his summer 

 Sunday's otium cum dignitate in a paddock, in- 

 variably indulges in a baker's dozen, without 

 waiting for an invitation to do so, and without 

 saying " with your leave " or " by your leave." 



They ordered this matter better in Africa some 

 fifty years ago, and I hope they still continue so to 

 oi'der it. 



By one of the stipulations of the hollow Peace 

 of Amiens, the colony of the Cape of Good Hope 

 was restored by Greafr Britain to the Batavian 

 Republic, which immediately appointed Mr. J. A. 

 de Mist its Commissary-General, and despatched 

 him to receive the ceded territory from the hands 

 of the English, to Instal the new Governor, Gene- 

 ral J. W. Janssens, into his high office, and to re- 

 organise the constitution of the colony. 



Having fulfilled these duties, Mr. De Mist de- 

 termined to make a tour of inspection, and he 

 accordingly travelled on horseback nearly 4500 

 English miles through the interior. Among his 

 suite was a Dr. Lichtenstein, the physician and 

 savant of the party, who afterwards published an 

 account of the expedition. 



The extract that I am about to make from his 

 work may at first sight appear unnecessarily long ; 

 but I wish the "courteous reader" to bear in mind 

 that 1 do not cite it for tlie sake of parading a long 

 rambling comment on five short words of Aristo- 

 phanes, but for that of bringing forward additional 

 evidence, to prove that a dry roll may occasionally 

 be of as much service in recruiting the strength 

 and spirits of that noble animal, the horse, when 

 jaded by violent exertion or long-protracted toil, 



as our English nostrums, a warm mash or a bottle 

 of water. Dr. Lichtenstein says, — 



" Our road led us soon again over the Vogel river, 

 and here we were obliged to supply ourselves with 

 water for the whole day, since not a drop was to be 

 met with again till the Melk river, a distance of ten 

 hours [=50 English miles]. When we had filled our 

 vessels, and our cattle had drunk plentifully, we pro- 

 ceeded on our way. 



" It is difficult for an European to form an idea of 

 the hardships that are to be encountered in a journey 

 over such a dry plain at the hottest season of the year. 

 All vegetation seems utterly destroyed ; not a blade of 

 grass, not a green leaf, is anywhere to be seen ; and 

 the soil, a stiff loam, reflects back the heat of the sun 

 with redoubled force : a man may congratulate himself 

 that, being on horseback, he is raised some feet above 

 it. Nor is any rest from these fatigues to be thought 

 of, since to stop whore there is neither shade, water, 

 or grass, would be only to increase the evil, rather than 

 to diminish it. 



" Yet the African horses are so well accustomed to 

 hardships, although they have in fact much less innate 

 strength than the European, that it is incredible what 

 a length of way they will go, in the most intense heat, 

 without either food or drink. It is, however, cus- 

 tomary for the riders to dismount at intervals, when 

 the saddles are taken off, and the animals are suffered 

 to roll upon the ground and stretch out their limbs for 

 a short time. This they do with evident delight, and 

 after they have well rolled, stretched, and shaken them- 

 selves, they rise up and go on as much refreshed as if 

 they had had food and drink given them. On arriving 

 at a farm, the invitation of the host, who comes imme- 

 diately to the door, is, ' Get off. Sir, and let him roll.' 

 A slave then appears, takes the horse, and leads him 

 backwards and forwards for a few minutes, to recover 

 his breath, and he is then unsaddled and left to roll, 



" These rollings were then the only refreshment we 

 could offer our horses, and both they and their riders 

 were, when towards evening they arrived at the Melk 

 river, exceedingly exhausted." — Travels in Southern 

 Africa in the Years 1803—1806. By Henry Lichten- 

 stein. Doctor in Medicine and Philosophy, &c. &c. 

 Translated from the original German by Anne Plump- 

 tre : London, Henry Colburn, 1812; vol. i. chap. xxv. 



C. Forbes. 

 Temple. 



DREAM TESTIMONY. 



On Saturday the 30th of July, 1853, the dead 

 body of a young woman was discovered in a field 

 at Littleport, in the Isle of Ely. The body has 

 not yet been identified, and there can be little 

 doubt that the young woman was murdered. At 

 the adjourned inquest, held on the 29th of August, 

 before Mr. William Marshall, one of the coroners 

 for the isle, the following extraordinary evidence 

 was given : 



"James Jessop, an elderly, respectable- looking la- 

 bourer, with a face of the most perfect stolidity, and 



