X. 



As we find no animal whose initial letter is X, and of 

 whom enough is known to form a chapter in this work, we 

 will substitute some interesting, and instructive, anecdotes 

 of Horses ; from " Bingley's Stories about Horses," an en- 

 tertaining work published in London. " We can hardly 

 wonder at the extreme gentleness of the Arabian, when we 

 consider how differently they are treated from English 



w fc' O 



horses, or indeed from those of any other country. The 

 Arabs live constantly in tents, and these are always shared 



* 



with their horses, so that the whole family live together in 

 indiscriminate friendship ; the mare and her foal occupying 

 perhaps the same corner which serves the children as a 

 sleeping place ; where, indeed, they may be often seen 

 prattling to their four-legged companions, climbing on their 

 bodies, or hanging round their necks, with all the unsus- 

 pecting fondness of perfect security. Accustomed from 

 their infancy thus to treat their horses with kindness, a 

 spirit of affection springs up between them, which is very 

 rarely interrupted. The use of the whip is unknown ; 

 their willing services are secured by affection alone. It 

 is only in the utmost extremity that the spur is used, and 

 when this is the case, they set off with amazing swiftness, 

 overcoming every obstacle, and sometimes even falling vic- 

 tims to their generous ardor. Chateaubriand, a French trav- 

 eller, relates an instance in which the exertions of a noble 



