MAMMALIA. 
83 
250. There may be a couple of fair pointers, a Scotch terrier or 
two, and perhaps a sheep-dog of decent breed to he found, but the 
rest are the most mongrel curs that exist anywhere. If over-much 
education be a reason for dogs going mad, the neglect of it may 
account for no single instance of hydrophobia ever occurring at St. 
Helena. For the support of the poor of the Island a tax of 1 0*. a 
year is levied upon all dogs over three months old. 
Order Ungtjlata. 
Equus, Linn. 
E. caballus, Linn. — Horses, of which about 225 are found at 
the Island, appear to have been a modern introduction, for we read 
in Yiscount Valentia’s travels that at so recent a period as 1802, 
“ The fair daughters of the Governor arrived this morning at the 
castle, drawn in a light carriage by oxen, the only animals adapted 
to ascend and descend Ladder Hill.” ic It seems almost a pity that 
this mode of transport has not been continued, for the steep 
roads, with their sharp turns, are far better suited to the sledge 
carriages of Madeira than the modern carriage and pair of Hyde 
Park, which now conveys His Excellency the Governor’s family up 
and down the precipitous hills. Horses are imported from the 
Cape of Good Hope and South America, but the former soon 
appear delicate, and do not stand either the dampness of the atmo- 
sphere or the steep hills, neither are they so suited to the require 
ments of the place as the slight, short-legged, firmly-bui t, s an - 
bred pony. A horse is a necessity, and not a luxury at bt. Helena ; 
all the heavy traffic is carried on by them with carts or drays. 
A horse may he stabled and kept well for 55 1 a year, including the 
groom’s wages; and a pretty fair stud turns out immediately the 
arrival of a mail steamer or passenger ship is announced. The 
charge for a ride to Napoleon’s Tomb and Longwood is from 10*. to 
12*. 6 d . ; but Jack Tar generally manages to have his money s 
worth out of the poor beast by keeping him the whole day. There 
is a good race-course, full a mile in length, on Deadwood Plain, 
where races are held once a year at Christmas-time. Each horse is 
taxed by the Government at from 5*. to 10*. a year, according to 
the purpose for which it is kept. 
E. asinus, Linn.— Donkeys are far m ore us eful than horses, 
* Voyages and Travels to India, &c., in 1802-6 by Viscount Valentia. 
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