PICTURESQUE ANIMALS. 143 



ing upon its more poetical relations to certain other ideas 

 and objects. 



Why is the horse not a picturesque animal, it may be 

 asked, but on account of the sleekness of his appearance ? 

 I am persuaded that his sleekness stands in the way of 

 this expression, only so far as it causes him to be asso- 

 ciated with fashion and the pomp and pride of wealth. 

 Hence, it must be allowed that the only horses that have 

 this quality are shaggy ponies and cart-horses. This 

 proves only that their rough exterior is the indication of 

 the rusticity of their habits, not that it is an intrinsic 

 quality of the picturesque, which has indeed no intrinsic 

 properties, like beauty, but is founded on association. 

 Were the case reversed, and were animals to become 

 sleek when engaged in rustic employments, and rough 

 and hairy when fed and combed and pampered by wealthy 

 and lordly masters, in that case the smoothest animals 

 would be the most picturesque. The squirrel, which is a 

 sleek and graceful animal, is, in spite of these qualities, 

 more picturesque than the rough and rusty looking rat. 

 In this instance the principle is reversed, because the 

 smoothness and gracefulness of the squirrel are associated 

 with his interesting habits of playfulness and agility, 

 while running about from branch to branch among his 

 native groves. On the contrary, the smooth and symmet- 

 rical horse cannot, by any pictorial accompaniments, be 

 made so expressive as the rough and homely ass. 



I have just alluded to the squirrel as one of the most 

 picturesque of the smaller animals ; but it is worthy of 

 notice that it must be represented in its native habitats to 

 possess this character in full force. Though a squirrel in 

 a cage is a beautiful object, especially when turning his 

 revolving grate by the rapid motions of his feet, yet a 

 picture of one in that situation would have none of that 

 suggestiveness of poetical and agreeable fancies that ren- 



