262 ANECDOTES OF ANIMALS. 



horses at a time are driven into the enclosure. They 

 are terrified by the crackling straw and the noise of the 

 whip over their heads, and the more frantic they are, 

 the sooner is the corn threshed.' 



The attachment of Arabs to their horses, the extreme 

 beauty of these animals, which form part of the family, 

 and are sometimes more precious to their owners than 

 wives or children, have become proverbial. They are 

 managed by kindness, and nothing can exceed the in- 

 dignation of the owners when they behold any attempt 

 to manage a horse of any kind by means of the whip. 

 It is the Arabian which, imported through Spain or 

 direct through England, has produced so much im- 

 provement in the European stock. An Arab mare of 

 pure descent had, by means of the Moors, found her 

 way to the north-western coast of Africa, where she was 

 purchased by an English officer. At first I was a little 

 disappointed in her appearance, for she was thin ; but 

 as her foal became independent of her and learned to 

 eat, she recovered her condition, and I was never tired 

 of looking at her. To all who delight in admiring wild, 

 unrestrained action, there could not be a much greater 

 treat than to have the gates of the Government House 

 square closed, and turn her and her child loose into it, 

 while we stood upon the verandah to watch them. At 

 no time did she ever walk, but went everywhere with a 

 light, dancing step ; and on these occasions the frolics, 

 the gestures, were past all description. Standing at 

 one corner, her fore-feet stretched out, she would 

 appear to wait for the pretty little son who trotted up 

 to her ; when, in a moment, almost so as to elude 

 sight, she would bound completely over him, and take 

 her stand at another corner, then back again, and round 



