Ii6 HORSE-BACK RIDING. 



tages of domesticating an animal so absolutely essen- 

 tial to our modern civilization. 



Each father of a family lived on the spot where he 

 was born, occupying himself solely in cultivating his 

 ancestral heritage ; the earth was tilled by the aid of 

 " the patient ox," and the ass was the sole beast of 

 burden employed ; for, capable of enduring the 

 greatest hardships and requiring but the scantiest 

 fare, this animal, despicable in our eyes, was then 

 held in high esteem. No one, whatever his condi- 

 tion, whether chieftain or servitor, ever dreamed of 

 wishing for a better or more honorable animal for 

 riding. Luxury and refinement had not then created 

 in man an infinitude of imaginary desires ; natural 

 wants were the only ones he troubled himself to 

 satisfy. 



This condition of primitive simplicity, however, 

 was destined to form no exception to the inexorable 

 law of change stamped on all human affairs ; an 

 alteration in manners soon took place, and different 

 manners introduced different usages. 



Fifty years after the deluge of Deucalion, which 

 in the time of Moses inundated Greece, Clymenus, one 

 of the descendants of the Idean Hercules, emigrated 

 from Crete into Elis, reigned there, and celebrated 

 games at Olympia. Then Endymion, son of ^th- 

 lius, drove Clymenus from Elis, and usurped the 

 throne ; but wearying speedily of power so easily 

 gained, he offered the kingdom to his own children, 



