THE SOUTHERN PLANTER. 535 



I860.] 



and his shadow, the undertaker; while these 

 buxom English beauties are tramping about 

 in their water-proof boots, or darting through 

 lanes and parks in their saddles. To appear 

 delicate or lackadaisical, is no part of an Eng- 

 lish woman's ambition. Health and vigor of 

 body are considered of primary importance, 

 not only for comfort's sake, but as the most 

 essential qualifications for satisfactorily and 

 successfully performing the duties of wives 

 and mothers. And they dress, and eat, and 



exercise accordingly. On calling on Lady , 



the other morning, one of the most beautiful 

 and accomplished ladies in London, I found 

 her dressed in a plain purple-colored woollen, 

 robe, made of cheap and coarse material, and 

 yet so tastefully fitting her figure, that I was 

 struck with the elegance and comfort- of the 

 ensemble. An ultra fashionable belle of the 

 Fifth avenue would hardly ' come down' to her 

 visitor in so simple a costume; or if she did, 

 it would be with a confusion of apologetic 

 words and blushes/' — Southern Cultivator. 



From the Spectator. 



Stories about a Horse-Trader. 



There*' are certain men who seem to be 

 born for horse-traders. From their earliest 

 childhood nothing engages their every 

 thought so much as horses. To a horse 

 everything in nature is subordinate in their 

 eyes. It is even quite common to hear 

 people born with this idiosyncracy exclaim, 

 when they see a pretty woman, "She is 

 almost as pretty as a thorough-bred mare." 

 To this class belonged the famous Monsieur 

 Gervais, of Norfolk, Va. 



The French are not generally remarkable 

 for skill in the science of live horse flesh — 

 though, to do them justice, they are said to 

 excel in preparing it for the table. Our 

 hero, however, was a finished hand at jock- 

 eying. He had been keeper of a livery- 

 stable in his youth for a regiment of cavalry 

 quartered near " Paris, and became after- 

 wards riding-master to the same under the 

 great Napoleon, the god of his idolatry. 

 After his fall, the army was reduced and 

 G-ervais left to shift for himself. Disgusted 

 with les sacres cMens, les Bourbons, he de- 

 termined to come to America, and settled in 

 Norfolk. 



Many are the stories told of him there, 

 where he was looked upon as the King of 

 Horse-Traders. It is our purpose to rescue 

 from oblivion a very few of the evidences 

 of his genius, out of many which are told 

 of him in his adopted city. It is said that 

 no one was ever known to trade with the 



Frenchman without being deeply bit ; yet, 

 such were his talents, that it seemed that 

 almost every day he did up some one brown- 

 er than any of his victims who had suffered 

 before. The first story we shall tell of G-er- 

 vais will be the famous one of Breakee de 

 Buggee. We must premise that our horse- 

 trader understood our language perfectly, 

 and when it served his purpose he spoke it 

 very well; but when his object was to chisel 

 any one, he always managed to employ 

 broken English in such a way as most effec- 

 tually to cheat his victim. Now for our 

 story : 



Mr. S. wished to purchase a horse for his 

 buggy/and went to Gervais' livery-stable to 

 buy one. Our hero had a few weeks before 

 gotten for a small sum a very showy horse ; 

 but a vicious horse he was, and had been 

 sold by hisllfermer owner because he had 

 kicked his gig to pieces, and came near 

 killing himself and wife. The eyes of Mr. 

 S. were attracted by the first appearance of 

 the animal, and enquired of Gervais how 

 much he would take for him. The French- 

 man expatiated on his fine points, exhibited 

 them with gusto, and wound up by saying, 

 " As he is ver fine horse, I charge you a 

 hundred and seventy-five dollars for him, 

 and he cheap as dirt at dat." Now this 

 was an enormous price in those days for a 

 horse intended for any other purpose than 

 the turf. Mr. S. did not care about the 

 price, if he could get a horse to suit his 

 purpose. Before purchasing, however, he 

 questioned Gervais as to his temper, and 

 asked if he had been "broken to a buggy." 

 The Frenchman answered, " Breakee de 

 buggee ? By gar, he breakee de buggee 

 fuss-rate. He breakee de gig, breakee de 

 cart, breakee eberyting you put him to — I 

 answer for dat." He said these with a pro- 

 nunciation quite unintelligible, but accom- 

 panied with a thousand gestures, conveying 

 the impression that he was praising the 

 temper of the horse. Mr, S. thinking more 

 of his manner than of the words he made 

 use of, paid him one hundred and seventy- 

 five dollars, and ordered him to be sent up 

 to his stable. That afternoon he had him 

 hitched to his buggy, and his servant led 

 him out into the street. Mr. S. got in ) but 

 so soon as he tried to start, the beast flung 

 both heels into the front of the vehicle, 

 stove it into shivers, broke the traces, and 

 trotted off to Gervais' livery-stable. Luck- 

 ily Mr. S. was not materially hurt, but his 



