. 



THE HORSE AND HIS RIDER. 103 



" But this exercise, violent and dangerous as it 

 appeared to us, seemed but sport to the Calmuck, 

 whose body followed all the movements of the animal 

 with so much suppleness, that one would have fancied 

 that the same spirit animated both bodies. The 

 sweat poured in foaming streams from the stallion's 

 flanks, and he trembled in every limb. As for the 

 rider, his coolness would have put to shame the most 

 accomplished horseman in Europe. In the most 

 critical moments he still found himself at liberty to 

 wave his arms in token of triumph ; and in spite of the 

 indomitable humor of his steed, he had sufficient com- 

 mand over it to keep it almost always within the 

 circle of our vision. At a signal from the prince, two 

 horsemen, who had kept as close as possible to the 

 daring centaur, seized him with amazing quickness, 

 and gallopped away with him, before we had time to 

 comprehend this new manoeuvre. The horse, for a 

 moment stupified, soon made off at full speed, and was 

 lost in the midst of the herd. These performances 

 were repeated several times without a single rider 

 suffering himself to be thrown. 



" But what was our amazement when we saw a 

 boy of ten years come forward to undertake the same 

 exploit ! They selected for him a young white stal- 

 lion of great size, whose fiery bounds and desperate 

 efforts to break his bonds, indicated a most violent 

 temper. 



