58' THE HORSE AND HIS RIDER. 



We have been told by a merchant long resident 

 in Mexico, that it is a common practice in that 

 country to tame the most violent horses by a very 

 simple but singular method, namely, by putting the 

 horse's nostrils under a man's armpit. Our informant 

 assures us that the most refractory brute instantly 

 becomes tractable on inhaling the odour of the human 

 body. This strange statement is corroborated by a 

 fact first made known by Mr. Catlin, and both to- 

 gether may perhaps afford a clue to the mystery of 

 the Whisperer's proceedings. Mr. Catlin tells us, 

 that when an Indian of the Rocky Mountains runs 

 down and nooses a wild horse, one of his first steps 

 is to place his,, hand over the eyes of the struggling 

 animal, and breathe into its nostrils, when it soon be- 

 comes docile, and is so completely conquered that 

 it submits quietly ever after. 



Mr. Ellis, a gentleman of Cambridge, happened 

 to read Mr. Catlin's statement, and felt a natural 

 desire to ascertain how far this mode of horse-taming 

 might be employed among British horses. He tried 

 the experiment on a filly not a year old, that had 

 been removed from her dam three months before, and 

 since that time had not been out of the stable ; he 

 tried it, too, under manifest disadvantage, for the 

 filly, which was quite wild, was in the open air, with 



