on the Continent that
is not in good working condition: you never meet the miserable, lame,
blind, and worn-out animals that you do in England, which stumble along
with their loads behind them till they stumble into their graves. If
any one would take the trouble to make friends with their horses, they
would be astonished at the intelligence and affection of this noble
animal; but we leave him to our grooms, who prefer to use force to
kindness. At the same time, I have observed, even in colts, very
different dispositions; some are much more fond and good-tempered than
others; but let them be what they will as colts, they are soon spoiled
by the cruelty and want of judgment of those who have charge of them in
the stable. The sympathy between the Arab and his horse is well known:
the horse will lie down in the tent, and the children have no fear of
receiving a kick; on the contrary, they roll upon, and with him: such is
the result of kindness. And I can now give a proof of the effects of
the contrary, as it was, in this instance, what may be termed _malice
prepense_ in the animal. The horses used in the West Indies are
supplied from the Spanish Main; they are from the Andalusian stock
originally, partly Arab and barb. These horses are taken by the lasso
from the prairies, and are broken in as follows:--They head them down to
the sea beach, saddle and bridle them for the first time, and mount them
with a pair of spurs, the rowels of which are an inch long. So soon as
the animal plunges and attempts to divest himself of his rider, he is
forced into the sea, and there he is worked in and out of his depth till
he is fairly worn out and exhausted. This is repeated once or twice
till they are submissive, and then they are sent off as broke-in horses
to the West India Islands. A friend of mine had a very beautiful
animal, which he had purchased from one of these ships. He had not
bought him more than a week before he took the bit in his mouth, and ran
away with the black boy who was exercising him. The boy lost his seat
and fell, and the horse, for a hundred yards, continued his career; and
then it stopped, turned round, and galloped up to the boy, who was still
on the ground, and never ceased kicking him till the poor fellow's
brains were scattered in the road. Now this was evidently determination
for revenge.

CHAPTER THIRTY FIVE.

Strasbourg is full of the pomp and circumstance of war. Being one of
the keys