THE HORSE AND HIS RIDER. 19 



ed, and from which no pony hunter was exempt, served 

 but to attach him to the sport. Rugged, however, as 

 were the Merioneddshire coast and its environs, and 

 abounding with precipices and morasses, the hunter 

 sometimes experienced worse mishaps, and so it hap- 

 pened with Garonwy. 



" He set out one morning with his lasso coiled 

 round his waist, and attended by two hardy de- 

 pendents and their greyhounds. The lasso was then 

 familiar to the Welshman, and as adroitly managed 

 by him as by any guacho on the plains of South 

 America. As the hunters climbed the mountain's 

 brow, the distant herd of ponies took alarm some- 

 times galloping onwards, and then suddenly halting 

 and wheeling round, snorting as if in defiance of the 

 intruders, and furiously pawing the ground. Garon- 

 wy, with the assistance of his servants and the grey- 

 hounds, contrived to coop them up in a corner of 

 the hills, where perpendicular rocks prevented their 

 escape. 



" Already had he captured three of the most beau- 

 tiful little fellow r s in the world, which he expected to 

 sell for 4 or 5 each at the next Bala fair, to him a 

 considerable sum, and amounting to a fourth of the 

 annual rent which he paid for his sheep walk. There 

 remained, however, one most untamable creature, 

 whose crested mane, and flowing tail, and wild eye, 

 and distended nostril, showed that he was a perfect 



