THE DOMESTIC HORSE. 175 



sound of his own coach, the " ten o'clock " was heard in the 

 distance." The intelligence of this horse was somewhat cir- 

 cumscribed but it was perfect within its limits. Colonel Smith, 

 as already quoted, says, " Bipeds who exercise authority over 

 horses, often show little superiority of reason, and much less 

 of temper." The way in which horses have preserved mas- 

 ters who have rendered themselves incapable of taking care 

 of themselves is proof of this. A horse has been known to 

 poke his nose in at a tavern door and shake his master by 

 the shoulder, when he has been lingering too long over his 

 potations. Another horse whose master from a similar cause 

 was unable to keep his seat watched by his side in the road 

 all night, and on being discovered by some labourers in the 

 early morning vigorously resented their attempts to awaken 

 him. Professor Kruger of Halle says, " A friend of mine was 

 one dark night riding home through a wood, and had the 

 misfortune to strike his head against the branch of a tree, and 

 fell from his horse, stunned by the blow. The horse imme- 

 diately returned to the house which they had left, about a 

 mile distant. He found the door closed, and the family gone 

 to bed. He pawed at the door till one of them, hearing the 

 noise, arose and opened it, and to his surprise saw the horse 

 of his friend. No sooner was the door opened than the 

 horse turned round, and the man, suspecting there was 

 something wrong, followed the animal, which led him directly 

 to the spot where his master lay on the ground in a faint." 

 A pony has been known to leap into a canal and save 

 the life of a child in danger of drowning, and a cart horse 

 to lift a child out of the road and place it carefully on the 

 side walk before proceeding with his load. A remarkable 

 illustration of the intelligence of the horse under circumstances 

 in which most human beings would have lost all presence of 

 mind, is quoted by Captain Brown. " In the month of April, 

 1794, owing to a strong wind blowing contrary to the current 

 of the river, the island Kroutsand, surrounded by the two 



