112 HORSE AND MAN. 



tirely absent. This fact has been very well hit oft 

 by Tenniel in his illustrations to ' Alice in Wonder- 

 land,' the legs of ' Father Williams' ' son being 

 curiously true to nature. 



This want of development is due to the structure 

 of the boots worn by rustics. They are exceedingly 

 heavy to begin with, and are made heavier by the 

 soil which clings to them. Then the soles are so un- 

 bending that the instep has no play, and therefore the 

 muscles of the calf which work the instep have so 

 little to do that they cease to be developed. 



The wooden soles of the Lancashire clogs, and the 

 wooden shoes or ' sabots ' of the French rustic, pro- 

 duce a similar effect, while exactly an opposite result 

 is found in the professional dancer, the muscles of the 

 calf being enormously developed. The ' light fantastic 

 toe ' is unknown to the field labourer, whose only idea 

 of dancing is a shuffling clatter ; and for the same 

 reason, leaping is to him almost impossible. 



When Cetewayo was in England, he and his fol- 

 lowers found the weight of their shoes so fatiguing, 

 especially when ascending stairs, that after they had 

 been for a visit to any place where stairs had to be 

 ascended, they were so worn out that they were 

 obliged to pass a day or two prostrate on their straw- 

 beds. 



As with us, so with the horse ; and every ounce 



