160 THE ADVENTURES OF A GENTLEMAN 



I have had two deals with Thompson since I wrote 

 the preceding remarks. One of them has proved a 

 very good horse ; the other has been an unlucky pur- 

 chase. I bought him with a warranty of soundness, 

 and I detected no unsoundness for nearly five weeks 

 after my purchase, though I expressed a doubt at 

 the time whether his feet were right. He has proved 

 lame from inflammation of the navicular joint. He 

 is so unexceptionable in other respects, that I have 

 kept him, in the hope of curing the disease by a win- 

 ter's run in the wet marshes, but I am far from san- 

 guine as to his recovery. It is a complaint that 

 admits of relief, but is seldom cured.* 



No man, if he can help it, will ever buy a mare 

 for harness : no dependence whatever can be placed 

 upon them : they may be temperate and steady for 

 months, or even years, and yet when the season 

 arrives, will kick your chaise to pieces. I drove a 

 little mare for nearly a year with the galloway that 

 I have just been mentioning; the following spring 

 she kicked herself out of harness three times in the 

 course of as many weeks ! Purchasers are often 



* The case proved incurable, and I was obliged to sell the 

 horse for a trifle, after incurring all the expense of his winter's 

 run. 



