GOLD AND SILFER SHOES. 443 



horse was shod with sih^er shoes, lightly tackt on ; and 

 when he came to a place where persons or beauties of 

 eminency were, his very horse prancing and curvetting 

 in humble reverence threw his shoes away, which the 

 greedy understanders scrambled for, and he was content 

 to be gazed on and admired till a farrier, or rather the 

 argentier, in one of his rich liveries, among his train of 

 footmen, out of a tawny velvet bag took others and tackt 

 them on, which lasted till he came to the next troup of 

 grandees ; and thus, with much ado, he reached the 

 Louvre.' ' 



At a still later period^ we find Duke Eberhard of Wlir- 

 temberg causing his dead charger to be skinned and stuffed, 

 and its hoofs shod with gold shoes, before being set up 

 at Stuttgart. The creature had saved his master's life by 

 swimming with him at the battle of Hochstadt, 13th 

 August, 1704; but was accidently shot eight days after- 

 wards, through the carelessness of one of the duke's 

 followers. 



Von Tschudi " mentions that during the brilliant period 

 of the Spanish domination in Peru, like signs of wealth 

 and foolish display were in vogue among the conquerors. 

 Incredible sums were frequently expended on carriages and 

 mules ; and very often the tires of the caleza wheels and 

 the shoes of the mules were of silver instead of iron. A 

 Tartar song of the i4tli century causes a Mongol khan 

 to say, ' Bid the horses be put to my golden chariot, and 

 let them be shod with golden shoes and silver nails.' ^ 



Tlie liberality of the knights during the hey-day of 



' IFilsons James I. p. 94. ^ Travels in Peru, p. 138. 



"* Chodzko. Popular Poetry of Persia. 



