PECULIARITIES OF THE JAPANESE. 103 



The Japanese horse has many of the qualities of the mus- 

 tang of California, and is capable of doing good service in 

 almost any kind of work. Black, chestnut, and bay are the 

 predominating colors. The southern h6rses are of fair size 

 and substantial form, and are employed for riding, or under 

 the pack-saddle, but not often for draught. In the streets 

 of the cities may be seen many fine-looking stallions, led by 

 men who evidently do not intend to allow their horses to get 

 the advantage of them. They carry loads of three or four 

 hundred pounds' weight, and seem generally well fed and 

 full of life. Their propensity to fight with one another is 

 restrained very effectively by a thick iron ring which is 

 slipped on to the lower jaw, and fastened to tlie saddle-girth 

 by a short, stout rope. The muzzle of the horse is thus 

 drawn clown within three feet of the ground, so as to render 

 it quite impossible for him to bite, rear, or strike with his 

 forefeet. 



This fashion of checking a horse's head down, instead of 

 up, is only one of many ways in which the Japanese reverse 

 our methods. They back their horses into their stalls so 

 that they cannot kick, and can be conveniently fed. They 

 approach and lead them on what we call the "off" side, and 

 they mount and dismount on the same side. Instead of ad- 

 miring a long, flowing tail, those who can afford it tie up 

 this ornamental appendage in an elegant silk bag ; and a 

 stylish rider, despising an arching neck, tries to make his 

 spirited steed stick his muzzle straight out, so that his nose 

 shall be high in the air and on a level with his ears. To 

 accomplish this, he stretches his arms as far forward as pos- 

 sible, and seizes his reins about six inches from the bit. 

 Finally Japanese horses, in a land abounding in excellent 

 iron and skilful blacksmiths, are shod with shoes of straw, 

 and are often fed on cooked food. Blacksmiths sit while at 

 work, the anvil and fire being on the ground, and blow the 

 bellows with their toes. Carpenters and tailors hold their 

 work with the same members, and the former draw the saw 

 and the plane towards them in cutting, instead of shoving 

 them away. They fasten pieces of wood together with pegs 

 of bamboo, instead of nails, cut square holes with chisels 

 for pins in joining timber, instead of boring round ones with 

 augurs, and depend largely upon dowelling and dovetailing 



