A WONDEEFUL PONY. 
sitting on his hind legs, busily engaged in disengaging 
some betel leaves out of bis cloth ! It was perfectly 
evident, the korsekeeper knew the habits of his charge, 
and the animal knew those of his keeper, better, far 
better, than we knew either of theirs. The horsekeeper 
now bought up the pony, adjusted the bridle, held 
the stirrup leather, and suggested a “mount.” We 
look fearfully at the long extent of precipitous descent, 
on the low side of the road, stretching for many a 
mile, in advance, and say, “No; we will walk.” With 
reins in hand, we proceed in advance of our gallant 
steed, and he begins to move bis legs, but they don’t 
move long; he again comes to a stand-still, plants 
his fore feet firmly in the ground, and remains fixed 
there, in that position. It is perfectly evident he 
won’t lead : there is therefore only another resource, 
for an animal, even should he be of the two-legged 
species, if he won’t lead, he must be driven. The 
stirrup irons are fixed close up on the leathers, the 
bridle reins thrown over the hinder part of the saddle, 
and the pony is driven in this way just as if he were 
a cow ; he drives very well, always making a dart 
or grab at any grass, leaves, or any green thing within 
reach of his mouth, until it begins to strike us rather 
forcibly, what a very silly proceeding this is, being 
bothered in this way, detained on the road, all for 
getting’ along this unhappy animal, and what for ? 
What are we at all this trouble about, when he is 
of no use? Our indignation rises to a high pitch, a 
general halt takes place, and the horsekeeper is sent 
into a piece of jungle, close by, to cut a good stout 
stick, and, during these dread proceedings, the object 
of them is making the most of his time, and has 
pulled down a young plantain tree, close to a native 
boutique, and before the unfortunate owner has time 
to get up off his cross legs and keep the invader at 
bay the half of the young plantain tree is crunched 
up and down his throat. What a stomach that pony 
must have had, for there was nothing green which he 
would not make a grab at and devour! 
A new course of proceeding is now adopted ; we^ 
mount the pony once more, and once more move on. 
The horsekeeper keeps close behind, and on the least 
sign of a collapse on the part of the animal gives a 
great shout, and belabours the hind quarters with 
the big stick. This plan is found to answer, so we 
just settle on the saddle, legs hanging free, spurs 
being of no use, the bridle also is knotted, and thrown 
over the mane ; after some time the stick is all 
smashed and broken up, so, at the next convenient 
piece of jungle, a halt is come to, and the same 
