CH. XVII DOUBLE-THONG 403 



belly near the stick end ; it has nothing resembling 

 a quill, but in its place there is a loop. * 



The stick, or 'stock,' frequently has metal bands 

 at intervals for its whole length, but it has no handle 

 proper, the lower part being swelled out to fit the 

 hand. A leather loop is fastened on the upper end 

 of the stick by wrapping, and to it the thong is at- 

 tached by its loop, exactly like a hunting-whip or 

 like the thong of the long whip, or chambriere, of 

 the circus ring-master. 



The short stick is convenient in narrow forest- 

 roads, where trees are close to the track, but the 

 whole whip is stiff, and entirely inferior to the 

 English whip. It is difficult to strike a wheel 

 horse with it without using the whole length of 

 the thong, since a 'double-thong' cannot be made 

 with it. 



The whips used in Africa with teams of eight or 

 ten animals are described as being exceedingly long, 

 with a very heavy thong, and are used with both 

 hands, one man driving- and another flogging. 



Catching a Double-Thong. — Owing to the length 

 of the thong of a four-horse whip, it is convenient to 

 carry it looped on the stick, and for that purpose it 

 is caught up in what is called a double-thong (Fig. 

 165), with a loop of the upper part hanging on 

 the end of the stick and the rest of the thong 

 coming down to the hand. 



A learner who desires to master the trick of 



