RUSSIAN HORSES. 425 



night was rendered hideous to me by the brutal slash- 

 ing of cab horses ; for one hears nothing of that kind 

 in Russia, and yet we English people pride ourselves 

 on being a horse-loving nation ! The speed of Orlov 

 trotters is very great, but no whip is used in driving 

 them ; the coachmen drive with a rein in each hand, 

 like the drivers of American trotters, and shout after 

 the manner of firemen to clear the road, for these 

 animals seem to require a good deal of holding. The 

 Russian cabby uses a small whip like an ordinary dog- 

 whip, which he tucks away somewhere under his seat, 

 and when his horse is taking things too easy, it is 

 only necessary for him to show it him, for he is driven 

 without blinkers, to cause him to at once hasten his 

 pace. Very often the man is unprovided even with 

 this toy thing, in which case he obtains a similar 

 result by abusing the animal's relations ! During the 

 whole time that I was in Russia, I never once saw a 

 cabby hurt his horse with the whip. Russia is the 

 last country to which one would go to learn anything 

 about the treatment of human beings, knowing what 

 we do of her past and present history ; but we cer- 

 tainly should emulate the Russian coachmen in their 

 kindness to horses, and not shock our neighbours by 

 exhibitions of brutality which may be seen daily in 

 the London streets. 



