206 THE ADVENTURES OF A GENTLEMAN 



hill, shakes his fore legs, and not unfrequently throws 

 the rider. As then the walk is indispensable, and 

 no time is lost, the weight may as well be removed 

 by dismounting. 



Another of my travelling rules is to give my horse 

 his water at some pond on the roadside, a mile or two 

 before I stop to bait him. The subsequent exercise 

 prevents its being injurious to him in suddenly check- 

 ing perspiration ; while by deferring it, as is usually 

 done, till he has been dressed, he is kept suffering 

 from thirst for an hour or two, and of course refuses 

 his corn. It so rarely happens that gentlemen try 

 their own powers by long-continued and severe exer- 

 tion, that they are not very capable of appreci- 

 ating the suffering occasioned by real thirst. When 

 I was many years younger, it was no uncommon oc- 

 currence to me to walk forty or fifty miles in a day ; 

 sometimes even sixty. The relief afforded on such 

 arduous amusement, by an occasional glass of ale, is 

 unspeakably great, and I judge of my horse by 

 myself: but I regulate him by the same. rules, — I 

 allow him frequent sips, but never indulge him in 

 ample potations till night. 



It is yet more important to superintend both his 



