THE HORSE AND HIS RIDER. 109 



and then stopped abruptly, as if a wall had all at once 

 risen up before them. On a sudden the furious 

 animal would crawl on its belly, or rear in a manner 

 that made us shriek with terror, then plunging forward 

 again in his mad gallop, he would dash through the 

 taboon, and endeavour in every possible way to shake 

 off his novel burden. 



" But this exercise, violent and dangerous as it 

 appeared to us, seemed but sport to the Calmuck, 

 whose body followed all the movements of the animal 

 with so much suppleness, that one would have fancied 

 that the same spirit animated both bodies. The 

 sweat poured in foaming streams from the stallion's 

 flanks, and he trembled in every limb. As for the 

 rider, his coolness would have put to shame the most 

 accomplished horseman in Europe. In the most 

 critical moments he still found himself at liberty to 

 wave his arms in token of triumph ; and in spite of the 

 indomitable humour of his steed, he had sufficient 

 command over it to keep it almost always within the 

 circle of our vision. At a signal from the prince, two 

 horsemen, who had kept as close as possible to the 

 daring centaur, seized him with amazing quickness, 

 and gallopped away with him, before we had time to 

 comprehend this new manoeuvre. The horse, for a 

 moment stupified, soon made off at full speed, and was 



j 



