TRANSPORT BY SEA AND LAND 913 



inches, in order to still get in the four rows of horses across 

 the ship. What ought to be done at the narrow ends of 

 the vessel is to omit one row of horses, so as not to 

 interfere with the width of the gangway. 



The gangway is all important. If too narrow, viz., the 

 2 feet laid down for transports, the opposite horses can 

 touch noses ; this is undesirable when disease exists, and 

 horse ships and disease are inseparable. From the gang- 

 way the horses' stalls are cleaned out ; from the gangway 

 the animals are fed and watered ; in the gangway they 

 are placed when being moved from one point to another ; 

 finally, and most important of all, in the gangway they 

 are exercised. 



Where gangways are made narrow in order to get more 

 horses on board, it is an unsuitable boat for military pur- 

 poses, for the great object should be to have every horse out 

 of his stall daily and walked about ; the only thing which 

 should prevent this is the weather ; at present the only 

 thing which prevents it is the difficulty, sometimes the 

 impossibility, of doing it. 



Exercise. — To exercise horses on a ship a 3 feet gangway 

 is required, so arranged as to form an irregular circle around 

 the compartment. If it were not for the watertight doors 

 they could be walked all round the ship, but if exercised in 

 their own compartment gangway it will be found equally 

 satisfactory. It is evident there must be a clear passage 

 all round ; there is no turning back once the horse is in 

 the gangway, he cannot turn in a space of 3 feet, so that 

 to get back to his stall he must go all round until he comes 

 to it again. There must be no obstructions ; hatchways 

 leading to other decks may have to be crossed by a bridge, 

 but it must be done ; the exercising party should circle 

 around the deck, ten or twenty horses at a time, for as long 

 as can be spared ; they are then put back in their stalls, 

 and the next twenty taken out. Coir mats are put down 

 on the deck for this exercise. 



While the exercise is going on the horses awaiting their 

 turn spend their time by biting their companions as they 



58 

 Digitized by Microsoft® 



