CAMP REGULATIONS. 63 



tomary to secure tlie horses by hoppling them. 

 The 'fore-hopple' (a leathern strap or rope 

 manacle upon the fore legs) being most con- 

 venient, was more frequently used; though 

 tiie 'side-line' (a hopple connecting a fore 

 and a hind leg) is the most secure ; for with 

 this an anmial can hardly increase his pace 

 beyond a hobbling walk ; whereas, with the 

 fore-hopple, a frighted horse will scamper off 

 with nearly as much velocity as though he 

 were unshackled. But, better than either of 

 these is the practice which the caravans have 

 since adopted of tethering the mules at night 

 around the wagons, at proper intervals, with 

 ropes twenty-five or thhty feet in length, tied 

 to stakes fifteen to twenty inches long, driven 

 mto the ground ; a supply of wliich, as well 

 as mallets, the wagoners always carry with 

 them. 



It is amusing to v^dtness the disputes which 

 often arise among wagoners about their 

 * staking ground.' Each teamster is allowed, 

 by our ' common law,' a space of about a 

 hundred yards immediately fronting his 

 wagon, which he is ever ready to defend, if a 

 neighbor shows a disposition to encroach 

 upon his soil. If any animals are found 

 ' staked' beyond the ' chartered htnits,' it is the 

 duty of the guard to ' knock them up,' and 

 turn tliem into the corral. Of later years the 

 tetliering of oxen has also been resorted to 

 ^ith advantage. It was thought at first that 

 animals thus confined by ropes could not pro- 

 cure a sufficient supply of food : but experi- 



t 



