ENCOMIUMS ON THE ARAB TAKEN AT RANDOM 149 



describes the common amusement of the Mexicans 

 and South Americans in charging Hke lightning, 

 and stopping so suddenly that the horses' feet will 

 exactly touch the wall, and even at times will tremble 

 over a precipice, and yet wheel round in safety. 



This is of a piece with the description given by 

 Layard and many others of the Eastern Arabs, who 

 would stop in full charge with their spears so close to 

 his face that an accident would have caused his death. 

 I have cited Major- General Tweedie's references to 

 this, and those of several others. 



'Thormanby' relates a story of Sir R. Gillespie 

 on the Calcutta racecourse, when a tiger had escaped. 

 A Bengal tiger is no kitten to play with. Sir 

 Robert called for his Arab, a small gray, and 

 attacked the tiger with a boar-spear, which was in 

 the hands of one of the crowd. Immediately the 

 tiger saw Sir Robert, he crouched for a spring, at 

 which Sir Robert instantly put his horse in a leap 

 over the tiger's back and thrust his spear through 

 the animal's spine. 



This grand and fearless little fellow was afterwards 

 given as a present to the Prince Regent. Though he 

 was like all his race, a born war-horse, cool in the 

 presence of the tiger under a rider that he knew, and 

 not afraid of jumping over him, yet, alas ! he could 

 probably not have won a half-mile race with 5 stone 

 on his back! How sadly degenerate ! Neverthe- 

 less, he was not quite ' so extinct as the dodo ' on 

 that occasion ! 



