STRAJF HORSE-SHOES. 91 



on. The arrangement of these is very simple. Rice- 



hg- 4 



Straw is plaited into close ropes or bands, which are inter- 

 woven to form a thick circular pad, intended to cover the 

 whole of the sole. Around the border of this cushion 

 are loops of the same material ; and at the front part 

 a stronger loop, the main fastening, and through which 

 run two narrow bands from the heels, the corrigicp, made 

 to secure the whole apparatus firmly to the pastern. 



Kaempfer, the veracious historian of this curious em- 

 pire, notices these contrivances. '■ Shoes for the servants 

 and for the horses. Those of the latter are made of straw, 

 and are fastened with ropes of the same to the feet of the 

 horses, instead of iron shoes, such as ours in Europe, 

 which are not used in this country. As the roads are 

 slippery and full of stones, these shoes are soon w^orn out, 

 so that it is often necessary to change them. For this 

 purpose, those who have the care of the horses always 

 carry with them a sufficient quantity, which they affix to 

 the portmanteaus. They may, however, be found in all 

 the villages, and poor children who beg on the road even 

 offer them for sale, so that it may be said that there are 



