394 THONG OF THE WHIP CH. XVII 



plain, and made of silver or of brass, always of the 

 same metal with which the harness is mounted. 

 Their proportions affect the appearance of the whip, 

 and they should be neither too light nor too heavy. 

 The collar is the proper place on which to engrave 

 a name or a monogram. 



A stick which has no handle, — a rabbit-bitten 

 stick, for instance, — has a butt-cap, but no collar. 



The thong is of white leather made from horse- 

 hide, other leather, such as sheep-skin, being too soft 

 and absorbent ; it must be plaited tightly without 

 being very hard, and is usually tapered regularly 

 from the quill to the small end. A thong is some- 

 times made with a slight belly or swell, commencing 

 about two feet from the quill ; it is easier to catch 

 than a tapered thong, but not so good to hit with. 



The butt-end of the thong is stiffened by several 

 pieces of quill worked into it, and the stick is pushed 

 into the tube thus made, until its point comes oppo- 

 site to the knot worked on the thong (Fig. 162*) ; 

 the pieces of quill, and the ends of hide of which 

 the thono; is made, come down on the sides of the 

 stick, and are bound to it by waxed silk. 



The quill has a bend or turn up, which is put on 

 the stick opposite to the seam on the handle, and the 

 whip must be always so held that the seam is down 

 and the bend of the quill up. There is something 



* In Fig. 162 the knot shows at the point where the broad pieces 

 of leather commence to separate. The two pieces of quill also show 

 below the knot. 



