146 Horses on Board Ship. 



layer of hay. A mat in this position would 

 run little risk of becoming soiled by urine or 

 dung, and consequently the duty of keeping it 

 clean would cause but little trouble. On board 

 the Idaho and Kelvingrove, I found that my 

 suggestion of putting soiled hay under the 

 horses' fore feet admirably served the purpose 

 of giving them secure foot-hold. Colonel Duck 

 tells me that in several steamers which carried 

 remounts from South America to South Africa, 

 the animals were bedded down with alfalfa 

 (lucerne) hay, and that no mucking-out was 

 practised. Consequently they had good foot- 

 hold both before and behind, although their 

 hind quarters received a gradually increas- 

 ing elevation which, towards the end of the 

 voyage, must have been somewhat incon- 

 venient to the animals. This plan of allow- 



