202 RIDING 



broken, and how he resolved to go to the ' pah ' or village 

 whence the mare that elicited so much admiration was brought. 

 He says : 



In reply to our inquiries they told us that they knew very little 

 about horses, that they had no stable, no yard, no whip, no straps > 

 no breaking tackle of any kind, but they would show us next morn- 

 ing how they caught and broke in Grace Darling. 



The chief then gave orders to the women to dress a little native 

 flax, and to plait two very thick strong mats of undressed flax, the 

 use of which in horse-breaking we could not understand at all 

 The women went to work very cheerfully, and were evidently much 

 amused at the curiosity of the ' whity man ' as to the use of such 

 mats for horse-breaking, and in bursts of laughter seemed to enjoy 

 the thought of what we were to be shown in the morning. 



The next morning the herd of about fifty horses were driven 

 into an adjoining paddock, and all but two were turned out of the 

 paddock through a gate and across the river. One of the two that 

 had been kept back at the river gate was an old quiet thing that 

 was easily caught, the other appeared a wild unhandled colt. The 

 herd of horses ran up the river on the north side, and the old horse 

 was ridden up inside the paddock at nearly the same pace on the 

 south side, followed, of course, by the colt. Near the house they 

 were let out of a gateway, and went near the river, opposite to 

 where the herd had been stopped. The women and children now 

 surrounded the old and young horse. The ground became softer 

 as they neared the river, and we thought that both horses would 

 get swamped. The boy got off the old horse and led him to where 

 a woman was standing with the strong thick mats. It was a strip 

 of bulrush swamp, which is always soft at the bottom. The woman 

 laid down the mats and shifted them to the front of the horse as he 

 walked alternately on each. Attracted by his companions in full 

 sight on the other side of the river, and deceived by the success of 

 the old horse on his flying bridge of mats, the colt took the same 

 direction, when his legs disappeared in the swamp, and all further 

 progress for him was rendered impossible. 



Rarey's plan is nothing to this. There were no legs swinging 

 about to hurt any one ; the colt could not batter his head on the 

 ground ; the very babies could jump on his back with perfect safety, 

 and they were not slow to avail themselves of the opportunity. Their 

 little naked feet danced along him from mane to tail; the women sat 



