33^ TlIE LIFE or 



I pleafed ; I therefore took upon me to put at 

 leaft one into decent trim. The fhoe was the 

 firft point that I proceeded to reform ; for which 

 purpofe having myfelf made a proper model, I 

 took it to a Moorifh blackfmith for his imita- 

 tion. It is but juftice to thofe artifts to fay, 

 that they are ingenious ; for the man after a 

 few trials, compleated afet of very decent fhoes, 

 which I then nailed on to fhew him the method 

 of doing it. He feemed furprifed at my mode 

 of trimming the hoof; however, he foon ac- 

 quirer a competent knowledge, though I had 

 much difficulty in prevailing upon him to fix 

 the flioes fufficiently forward, I fitted up an 

 old faddle of Mr. Matra's, in the huzar ftyle, 

 but the (iirrups were loft, nor could I get a pair 

 in all Tangier; I had, therefore, recourfe to 

 my ingenious fmith, who, by the help of a 

 model, made a pair that would not have difgraced 

 a Birmingham artift. My thus being my own 

 blackfmith, fadler, and farrier, gave the Moors 

 a ftrange idea of me, as they had hitherto ima- 

 gined themfelves to be the only perfons in the 

 world that were capable of managing a horfe. 



Their ftables are like wife a fcene of abfurdity 

 and cruelty; they do not faften their horfes by 

 the head, but by the fore-legs, with ftraps, to 

 a chain, which is ftretched the whole length 

 of the manger, fo that the poor animals cannot 



lay 



