ANIMALS AND THEIR CLOTHES 253 



enormous importance and significance of clothes. It 

 is remarked that among the naked Kavirondi of British 

 East Africa (now put into trousers) immense hats, 

 made of clay, bamboo, and feathers, were in vogue 

 when no other garment was even thought of. Horses 

 may soon not like to go into the Park in unbecoming 

 hats. They may learn by some form of instinct that 

 even at this moment paragraphs are appearing in 

 the papers complaining of the want of variety and 

 the plainness of their headgear. Hitherto one of the 

 pleasures of the Park in the season has been to see the 

 undoubted self-satisfaction of the horses in their best 

 harness and ribbons. Shamefaced horses, unable to 

 hold up their heads when they passed and repassed 

 other pairs which they knew despised their hats, and 

 would mention it afterwards, would detract much from 

 the feeling of the thing. 



When the sage of Chelsea in " Sartor Resartus " 

 drew his comparison between the horse wrapped only 

 in his own skin and the rider invested in many portions 

 of the skins of other creatures, he was, strictly speaking, 

 not quite accurate. For horses, or at any rate modern 

 rich men's horses, are the most carefully clothed of 

 any animals. Complete Jaeger suits are now advertised 

 for their use. Like gentlemen who wish to get into 

 training, they are often muffled up in them and ridden 

 so wrapped up to get off weight. Nor is it likely that 

 horse clothing will ever be in less request than it is 

 now ; for though they no longer wear armour, and 

 only funeral horses appear in velvet and feathers, 

 patent shoes and shoe pads, bits, action developers, 



