54 THE HORSE AND HIS RIDER. 



shows that, on particular occasions, something more 

 must have been added to it. A faculty like this would 

 in some hands have made a fortune, and I understand 

 that great offers were made to him for the exercise of 

 his art abroad. But hunting was his passion : he 

 lived at home in the style most agreeable to his dispo- 

 sition, and nothing could induce him to quit Duhallow 

 and the fox-hounds." 



We have been told by a merchant long resident in 

 Mexico, that it is a common practice in that country to 

 tame the most violent horses by a very simple but 

 singular method, namely, by putting the horse's nos- 

 trils under a man's armpit. Our informant assures us 

 that the most refractory brute instantly becomes trac- 

 table on inhaling the odor of the human body. This 

 strange statement is corroborated by a fact first made 

 known by Mr. Catlin, and both together may perhaps 

 afford a clue to the mystery of the Whisperer's pro- 

 ceedings. Mr. Catlin tells us, that when an Indian of 

 the Rocky Mountains runs down and nooses a wild 

 horse, one of his first steps is to place his hand over 

 the eyes of the struggling animal, and breathe into his 

 nostrils, when it soon becomes docile, and is so com- 

 pletly conquered that it submits quietly ever after. 



Mr. Ellis, a gentleman of Cambridge, happened to 

 read Mr. Catlin's statement, and felt a natural desire 

 to ascertain how far this mode of horse-taming might 

 be employed among British horses. He tried the 



