374 HORSES ON BOARD SHIP. 



slinging him and lifting him in the same manner. When a 

 horse is put into a box, previous to taking him over the side, 

 the ropes on his head-stall should be firmly secured at a 

 proper length to the iron rings that are respectively fixed in 

 the posts at the entrance of the box, and the box should be 

 covered over with sail-cloth or other suitable material, so as 

 to prevent the animal seeing where he is going, while the box 

 is suspended in the air. The fact of his being thus kept in 

 darkness will greatly help in checking him from struggling 

 to get free. 



Generally, the safest way of bringing a horse on board is, 

 when practicable, to walk him into the ship by a broad and 

 well-protected gangway, the slope of which should be by no 

 means steep. In this case, the portion of the deck which he 

 has to traverse before arriving at his box or stall should, if 

 possible, be covered by ordinary cocoanut matting or other 

 suitable material, so as to prevent him slipping, which a horse 

 in these circumstances is very liable to do. If cocoanut 

 matting be not available, a layer of cinders will be a fair sub- 

 stitute. The stevedores' men who have helped me on different 

 occasions to walk horses on board, have usually shown a 

 strange liking to fill up inequalities in the horse's path as, 

 for instance, between the ends of the gangway and the ground 

 or deck with straw, in order, as they thought, to give the 

 animal confidence to go straight ahead. This practice is 

 certainly founded on a misconception ; because, if a horse 

 steps on an inviting surface, and then finds that it concealed 

 a danger, he will generally become alarmed, and will object to 

 again enter into the trap. In all such cases it is best to let 

 a horse see the nature of the obstacles in front of him, so that 

 he may adopt his own method of surmounting or avoiding 

 them. In taking care of himself he requires but little help 

 from us, and no deception. 



As slinging a horse with the object of carrying him from 



