122 HORSES AND ROADS. 



the chisel through it, or whether there was any 

 other annoyance or difficulty attached to the opera- 

 tion; because some people may say that if the 

 annoyance in cutting the toe is as great as that of 

 shoeing, they prefer rather * to bear those ills they 

 have, than fly to others they know not of.' By 

 rasping the toe once or twice a week it may always 

 be kept in good form, and then no cutting would be 

 required. 



' Aberlorna ' has happily known how to compress 

 a large amount of useful observation into the twenty- 

 five lines which his letter occupies ; some people 

 cannot say more to the real point in as many 

 columns. 



The next statement of this gentleman, who went 

 about the world with his eyes open, is that 4 he does 

 not remember seeing any lame horses except in the 

 towns, and these were generally, if not always, / 

 observed, shod. The (country ?) roads were for the 

 most part sand, full of rough stones, and in some 

 places causewayed for miles. Anyhow they were 

 pretty rough going.' So, then, it really is a fact 

 that in the towns, where horseshoes would have been 

 brought into fashion by Europeans, and where the 

 road surface would be smoother, shod horses went 

 lame, whilst the unshod ones went sound on long 

 journeys over worse roads. ' Truth is stranger than 

 fiction.' 



Another thing which many readers would 

 probably be glad to hear from this gentleman is, 

 whether by ' causeways ' are to be understood roads 



