THE LATE GEORGE W/SBEACH. 



123 



horses was what I call " a three-cornered brute." 

 What he did not know was not worth knowing ; 

 but, as frequently happens with very clever men, he 

 was a rum-'un to look at. Having had the mis- 

 fortune to lose an eye in his youth, when ridden the 

 beast carried his head over to one side, to look out 

 for holes and obstructions. That solitary orb must 

 have been a very good one, for although it had the 

 most malicious, evil cast, it would have been impossi- 

 ble to ride its owner into any perilous place. This 

 dun for such was his colour was not vicious ; 

 exactly the reverse : but he was gruesome to look 

 upon, for he had a head like a fiddle, lop ears, and 

 protruding hip bones, that you might have hung 

 your hat upon. In pace this horse was a trippler^ and 

 about seven miles an hour might have been got out 

 of him by ordinary means ; although with an appli- 

 cation of spurs ox jamhock double that distance would 

 be accomplished without overtaxing his legs or " blow- 

 pipes." How this Rosinante was so thin was ever a 

 mystery to me, for he had an insatiable appetite and an 

 abundance of food to gratify it with, never was over- 

 worked, and in a general way "had a pretty good time." 



Possibly this quadruped does not deserve so much 

 space as I have awarded him, but he was such a 

 character, and so incomprehensible in some of his 

 ways, that he could well be considered a regular 

 oddity, and I have a great weakness for eccentricities, 

 whether they be among men, horses, or dogs. 



The late George Wisbeach, one of the very best 

 fellows that the world ever produced, had given me 

 a warning about this vley. " Look out for your 

 cattle and horses at Mahalapsi," said he, " for there 

 are the cheekiest lot of lions about that water that 

 ycu will find in the whole country." 



However, the night was fine, with a grand moon, 

 so the marauders did not molest me, although, from 

 the restlessness of the bullocks and nags, I have no 



