76 RIDING FOR LADIES. 



charming, and there was nothing to raise the faintest 



suspicion of a blush on the cheeks of the most modest. 



There is no doubt that the Duchess de Berri mode of 



sitting on a horse is much less fatiguing to the rider, gives 



her more power over the half-broken animals that in foreign 



countries do duty for ladies' horses, and, in a very great 



measure, does away with the chance of establishing a raw 



on the back. In support of the claims of this, to us, novel 



manner of placing the rider on her horse's back, I 



quote from Miss Isabella Bird's " Hawaiian Archipelago." 



Describing her visit to the Anuenue Falls, that lady writes : 



" The ride was spoiled by my insecure seat in my saddle, 



and the increased pain in my side which riding produced. 



Once, in crossing a stream, the horses had to make a sort 



of downward jump from a rock, and I slipped round my 



horse's neck ; indeed, on the way back I felt that, on the 



ground of health, I must give up the volcano, as I would 



never consent to be carried to it, like Lady Franklin, in a 



litter. When we returned, Mr. Severance suggested that it 



would be much better for me to follow the Hawaiian fashion, 



and ride astride, and put his saddle on the horse. It was 



only my strong desire to see the volcano which made me 



consent to a mode of riding against which I have a strong 



prejudice ; but the result of the experiment is that I shall 



visit Kilauea thus or not at all. The native women all 



ride astride on ordinary occasions in the full sacks, or 



kolukus, and on gala days in the pan — the gay winged dress 



which I described in writing from Honolulu. A great many 



of the foreign ladies in Hawaii have adopted the Mexican 



saddle also for greater security to themselves and ease to 



their horses on the steep and perilous bridle-tracks, but 



they wear full Turkish trousers and jauntily made dresses 



reaching to the ankles." Writing later from the Colorado 



