224 SPOUTING IN BOTH HEMISPHERES. 



obstinacy and vice peculiar to this breed, and which no one 

 could manage in any way but his master, under whose treat- 

 ment he was perfectly docile, and would follow like a dog, 

 whether mounted or otherwise. One day, during my resi- 

 dence at Eneilles, a commis voyageur en vins de champagne, 

 a type of his tribe, " bearded like a pard," full of bombast 

 and hyperbole, in fact, the veritable Jeune France, called on a 

 professional visit, and was asked to remain to dinner. I 

 clearly saw mischief in my host's eyes, and some practical 

 joke was evidently in contemplation upon the purveyor of 

 vins mousseux. Upon being asked if he was fond of horses 

 and riding, his answer would have led us to suppose that he 

 was born an Arab ; and a ride was proposed in the country 

 before dinner. I must mention here, par parenthese, that we 

 were frequently in the habit of swimming two horses 



of A 's, as well as the mule, across the river, which in 



some places was tolerably wide and very deep. On this 

 occasion the Frenchman was mounted on the mule, which, in 

 company with the other animals, and particularly with 



A , would follow wherever they went. After passing 



the ford, and making a short circuit of the surrounding 



country, A whispered to me that he intended to recross 



the river at a deep part of it, and accordingly we rode care- 

 lessly on, conversing on different matters until we arrived at 

 the intended spot, when we both plunged into the stream, 

 which the horses were accustomed to do nearly daily. In 

 spite of the almost distracted efforts of the Frenchman, the 

 mule followed their example; and then began a scene half 

 tragic half comic. His equitation had evidently been con- 

 fined to dry land, and he was not at all at home in the 

 water. Losing his saddle, he grasped tight round the mule's 

 neck, the animal every now and then making a bite at him, 

 encumbered as he was with this impediment to his pro- 

 gress, and A , who, on his horse, was a perfect Triton, 



