6 SALTED ’ HOESES. 
275 
other nag, Fleur, is a regular brute, very timid, 
swerves at everything, will not face thorns at all, and, 
as he always carries his head as high as his short 
neck will allow him, he stumbles over every stump 
and into every hole he comes across, keeps changing 
his legs continually^when pressed into a gallop, and 
always appears to be going very much against his 
will; and it is very hard work to keep your seat on 
him at all, as he makes a succession of buck-jumps 
over or into every scrubby bush, consequently makes 
no way; and his only redeeming point is that he is 
a very fast walker and an excellent roadster, being 
uncommonly easy in his paces when on a beaten 
path. Manelle, my other nag, is an incorrigible 
slug, and, if you ply the sjambok severely, bolts into a 
thicket, there stops and kicks as long as you thrash. 
The reader will ask why I buy such brutes P My 
answer is—They are salted, have come through the 
sickness, and are guaranteed by their former owners 
not to die; a good salted horse is worth from 40/. to 
75/., and is not always to be had, even at that price. 
I worked hard at the old wagon for a whole day 
with great success, and, with taking the best parts 
of the other old one and the one good wheel, I 
have patched up mine into a very respectable, ser¬ 
viceable-looking vehicle, and she cannot now be 
drawing under 2,000 lbs. weight. We, however, 
stuck fast all last night in a mud-hole, had to unload 
to the last thing, and trek her out backwards, which 
we succeeded in doing to-day, after great breakage 
