ON MILITARY HORSE-POWER. 203 



in constant use for all military and civil purposes a 

 practical invention which, under all circumstances, has 

 been always found to answer, it is evident to demon- 

 stration, 1st. That if it can transport artillery, &c., 

 across the lofty, vast, and rugged features of unculti- 

 vated America, it would surely be serviceable on the 

 roads and bridges of civilized countries. 2ndly, That if 

 it can be adapted to unbroken horses, it cannot be inap- 

 plicable to the trained horses of our cavalry. And, Srdly, 

 That as both the surcingle and trace are made, in Ame- 

 rica, of nothing but the skins of bullocks, we should, 

 on active service, be able in all countries at least to 

 obtain this material, and generally many others. 



It must, moreover, be observed, that as a mounted 

 horse (i. e. a horse and man) are heavier than an un- 

 mounted horse, the former with a lasso can drag a 

 heavier weight than the latter with a collar and traces.* 



Now, supposing for a moment that not only our cavalry 

 were to be furnished with, but that every saddle-horse 

 receiving rations in a European army was to be ordered 

 to wear the South American surcingle (which costs less 

 than English girths and surcingle, and which experience 

 has proved to be, merely as a girth, superior to a common 



* On active service, when a gun sticks in very heavy ground, it has been 

 usual to place a gunner upon every unmounted horse, and, if necessary, 

 behind every driver on the mounted ones. By this additional weight or 

 power a gun has repeatedly been extricated and brought into action. 



