Portable Horse-boxes. 97 



that is rolling in the most desperate manner ; 

 because the pads of his feet give him abund- 

 ance of grip. Therefore, to ensure a sea-going 

 horse against the danger in question, we need 

 only place him on a non-slippery surface, as 

 for instance, thick cocoanut matting, into the 

 upstanding fibres of which his feet can sink, 

 and can thus obtain secure foot-hold. The 

 cocoanut matting, to which I allude, is of 

 the rough door-mat type. I have frequently 

 proved the perfect efficiency of this material 

 during very bad weather on voyages with 

 horses between India and England, and also 

 in the North Sea when going to Russia. 

 My own practice when taking animals in 

 portable horse-boxes, is to employ six cocoa- 

 nut door-mats of the ordinary size (about 

 3 feet by i ^ feet) ; five to cover the floor, 



