124 '^^he I rotter, 



do know, that from the time I first heard it, I have always dearly- 

 loved a fast trotter j and for some few years in my early life I gene- 

 rally owned one which could hold its own among our country nags. 

 I don't mean to say that I ever possessed a Peerless or a Flying 

 Cloud, but I once had a Welsh mare (whom I shall presently intro- 

 duce to the reader) who did her two two-mile heats in five min. 

 iifty-three sees, and five min. fifty-seven sees., and pulled up 

 "neither sick nor sorry J " and it must be acknowledged that this 

 was not bad travelling. I can truly say with Sam Slick, " I must 

 confess I am fond of a horse. I have made no great progress in the 

 world myself 5 I feel, therefore, doubly the pleasure of not being 

 surpassed on the road. I never feel so well or so cheerful as on 

 horseback, for there is something exhilarating in quick motion j and, 

 old as I am, I feel a pleasure in making any person whom I meet 

 on the way put his horse to the full gallop to keep pace with my 

 trotter." 



This taste for trotters might have been an inherent one, and, 

 probably, like most other tastes, would have developed itself in due 

 time 3 but I question much if it would ever have taken so strong a 

 hold upon me, had I never heard that rollicking free-and-easy old 

 song, the "Trotting Horse." If such is the case, all I can say is 

 that old Jarvis has much to answer for, because of all kinds of racing, 

 trotting matches are certainly the lowest j and the possession of a 

 fast trotter is sure to keep its owner in a continual state of excite- 

 ment, squabbles, and disputes -, and it used to appear to me that " to 

 win, tie, or wrangle " was the sole motto that must continually be 

 borne in mind in bringing a trotting match to a satisfactory 

 result. 



On the afternoon of the last day of the fair, the owner of the 

 drove, who spoke and understood English well, and who had 

 probably heard of my taste for trotting horses, asked me whether 

 I would buy the mare he rode, which he thought, if in condition, 

 could trot fast enough to beat most that she met. She was not for 

 pubhc sale, so was not with the drove, but standing at a little public- 

 house in the town. When we went to look at her I could see 



