LXXYI 



AVell, after this umvaiTanted interpolation, what more 

 about Japanese horses ? Not much ; but there are some 

 (jueer tricks whicli they have with animals in that coun- 

 try which are interesting as contrasting theirs with, our 

 methods of management. The bulls they use for draught 

 wear the usual nose-ring, and have their tails tied around 

 to one side, under the impression, no doubt, that if he 

 cannot lash himself into fury with his tail, a bull cannot 

 misbehave. It is something of an Irish bull, this starting 

 in on horses and ending where I hav^e ; but as we have 

 got so far, it may not be amiss to point out the fact that 

 our idea that bulls and stallions are necessarily liard to 

 manage is a mistaken one. When kept for breeding, they 

 may indeed become so ; but all over the Orient they are 

 in common use; and when they are not put to service 

 they are as tractable as our steers and geldings. But you 

 must keep them at work, and with their own sex. 



Another queer Japanese trick with sumpter-horses is to 

 tie their heads back to the girth by so tight a martingale 

 that they can neither get their heads up nor down, nor 

 stretch out their noses. The head is held in a complete 

 vice. The animal, thus hampered, cannot possibly labor 

 to good effect. The horse's tail is sometimes tied around 

 to his girth in the same way as the bull's. 



A certain dread of the horse is very noticeable in the 

 Japanese way of using him. I have seen a well-behaved 

 young driving - horse, which would work kindly and re- 



