HORSES. 263 



and round, till it seemed to me that all the tricks 

 taught by Ducrow, the waltzing and quadrilling ex- 

 cepted, must have been suggested by watching the 

 movements of wild horses. A curious adventure hap- 

 pened to that little foal which is worthy of record. A 

 year or two after this the groom took him to the river 

 to wash his legs, and as he turned to come out again, 

 a crocodile bit him. He struggled for a moment and 

 fell ; this frightened the crocodile away, and the poor 

 young horse was dragged from the water's edge. The 

 formidable teeth of the reptile had nearly separated the 

 foot from the leg, and it hung by one tendon. There 

 seemed to be no alternative but to shoot him : however, 

 a native suggested to his owner that there was a famous 

 Moorish doctor then in the place, and if any one could 

 cure the horse he could ; at any rate, it was worth the 

 trial. The man came, was very quiet, did not promise 

 anything, but united the parts, bandaged them together, 

 had the patient fastened down in the position in which 

 he chose him to lie, and after some weeks of careful 

 tending the animal was restored to his master even 

 without blemish. It was only by passing the hands 

 along the parts which had been severed that the scar 

 could be detected, and he was afterwards sold for a 

 handsome sum. 



M. de Lamartine tells an interesting story of an 

 Arab chief and his horse, which is highly characteristic. 

 They and the tribe to which they belonged attacked 

 a caravan in the night, and were returning with their 

 plunder, when some horsemen belonging to the Pasha 

 of Acre surrounded them, killed several, and bo and the 

 rest with cords. Among the latter was the chief Abou 

 el Marek, who was carried to Acre, and, bound hand 



