ANECDOTES OF HORSES.

Maori Messenger : Te Karere Maori, Volume 1, Issue 19, 13 September 1849, Page 2

ANECDOTES OF HORSES.

Through the kindness of an indefatigable contributor, we have already been enabled to present a sketch of the history of the horse. The suggestions contained in that sketch, and the instructions afforded respecting the nature, habits, and requirements of the generous quadruped are of the utmost importance to, and should be carefully observed by, every horse, keeper to whom the welfare of the noble animal is dear :—for, what attention can be too great to bestow in care of a creature whose patient traelability, ready obedience, and unflinching industry are of such invaluable consequence to man, to whose toils and whoso pleasures he is equally submissive ? _ As we are solicitous not merely to improve but to interest the native mind, and as the subject of the horse is an instructive and. tin cxhauslless om-, we slin'l occasionally transcribe some well authenticated am-edore illustrative of the conduct, courage, intelligence, or other remarkable traits of tha.t faithful friend

and companion of man. The following ure ftom the work of Captain Brown.

United Intrepidity. "1 should have found it difficult to give it credit," says M. De Pages (in whose Travels Round ihe World the fact is related,) " had it not happened at this place (the Cape of Good Hope) the evening before my arrival ,* and if, besides the public notoriety of the fact, I had not been an eye-witness of those vehement emotions of sympathy, blended with admiration, which it had justly excited in the mind of every individual al the Cape. " A violent gale of wind setting in from the north north-west, a vessel in the road dragged her anchors, was forced on the rocks, and bulged j and while tho greater part of fell an immediate sacrifice to the vfav&f, ■ the remainder were seen from the shore, struggling for their lives, by clinging to the different pieces of the wreck. The sea ran dreadfully high, and broke over the sailors with such amazing fury, that no boat whatever could venture to their assistance. Meanwhile a settler, considerably advanced in life, had come from his farm to.be a spectator of the shipwreck; his heart was melted at the sight of the unhappy seamen, and knowing the bold and enterprising spirit of his horse, and his particular excellence as a swimmer, he instantly determined to make a desperate effort fur their deliverance. He alighted, and blew a little brandy into his horse's nostrils, when, again seating' himself in the saddle, he instantly pushed into the midst of the breakers. " At first both disappeared, but it was not long before they floated on the surface, and swam up to the wreck; when, taking with him two men, each of whom held by one of liis boots, - he brought them safe to shore. This perilous expedition he repeated no seldomer than seven times, and saved fourteen lives to the public; but, on his return the eighth time, his horse being much fatigued, and meeting a most formidable wave, he lost his balance, and was overwhelmed in a moment. The horße swam safely to land, but hiß gallant rider, alas! was no more." "It is deeply to be lamented that M. De Pages did not give the name of this intrepid and benevolent individual, that it might have been recorded in the annals of fame." "Sparrman, in his Voyage to the Cape of Good Hope, relates the above story, although somewhat differently ; it was told to him by some eye-witnesses. He says the name of the Dutch ship, which was wrecked, was the Jong Theomas, He says, the gallant and humane individual, who saved the people, was one of the keeper! of the Company's menaceries, who had rode out to carry his son's breakfast, then a corporal in the army. This enterprising philanthropist commands our esteem and admiration the more, as he had put himself into this danger for the relief of others, without being himself able to swim. Sparrman gives his name, which was VOLTEMAD, and says—lnspired with similar sentiments, the East India Directors in Holland, on receiving intelligence of this affair, raised a monument to his memory, in a manner worthy of themselves and him, by calling one of their new built ships after his name, and ordering the whole story to be painted on the stern. These orders were accompanied with letters to the regency at the Cape, the contents of which were as follows:—' That in case Voltemad bad left any issue in the military or civil department, they shouM take care to provide for them, and make their fortune as speedily and effectually as possible.' But, unfortunately, in the southern hemisphere, they had not all the same grateful sentiments. The young corporal, Voltemad, who had been an eye-witness of his father's having offered himself up in the service of ths Company, and of mankind, was refused his father's place, though the appointment to it could scarcely be considered any promotion." Nodle Sensibility. " Some years ago a gentleman farmer, in the neighbourhood of Edinburgh, who was in the possession of a very vicious hunter, hap. pened to be relating some of his bad propensities to a party of friends at dinner, and, among these, mentioned the difficulty which . the groom had in trimming his fetlocks. This , operation was never accomplished without the aid of several assistants, and even then attended with great difficulty and danger. Dating this conversation, in which he defied any of his friends present to perform the task ! singly, he was unconscious of the presence of ' his youngest child, a fine boy of about three years'of age. This juvenile Nimrod was by '< no means the inattentive observer which ' might have been expected from his tender years, as was evinced next morning. His : father, in through the stable-yard, descried, with great horror and agony, his ' infant busily employed with a pair of scissors, attempting, with great cooln>:>s, to clip the fetlocks of the hind legs of his vicious hunter; which, in place of exhibiting his usual determined resistance to this operation, was looking round with the greatest complacency o„

his pigmy groom, whom the lather every instant expected to see struck dead at his feet. He, however, shortly afterwards walked away from the horse unharmed." " The above horse had a particular antipathy to strangers. On one occasion, his master was returning home from a jovial meeting, where he had been very liberal in his potations, which destroyed his power of preserving his equilibrium, and rendered him at the same lime somewhat drowsy. He had the misfortune to fall from his saddle, but in so easy a manner, that it had not |the effect of rousing him from his sleepy fit, and he felt quite contented to repose where he had alighted* His faithful steed, on being cased of his burden, instead of scampering home, as one would have expected from his habits, stood by his prostrate master, and kept a 'strict watch over him, who was discovered by some labourers at sunrise very contentedly snoozing on a heap of stones by the road Bide. They very naturally approached the gentleman, with the intention of replacing him ,on the saddle, but every attempt on their part wus resolutely opposed by the grinning teeth, and ready heels of his faithful and delermined'guardian." ' A Friend Protected. " A gentleman of Hris.ol had a greyhound which slept in tho stable along with a very fine hunter, of about five years of age. These animals became mutually attached, and regarded each other with the most tender affection. The greyhound always lay under the manger, beside the horse, who was so fond of him, that he was unhappy and restless when out of bis sight. It was a common practice, with the gentleman to whom they belonged, to call at the stable for the greyhound to accompany him in his walks. On such occasions, the horse would look over his shoulder at the dog, with much anxiety, and neighed in a manner which plainly said, ' Let me also accompany you !' When the dog returned to the stable, he was always welcomed by a loud neigh ; he ran up to the horse, and licked his nose; in return the horse would scratch his back with his teeth. " One day, when the groom was out with the horse and greyhound for exercise, a large dog attacked the latter, and quickly bore him to the ground; on which tho horse threw back his ears, and, in spite of all the efforts of the groom, rushed at the strange dog, who was worrying at the greyhound, seized uim by the back with his teeth, which speedily made him quit his hold; he shook him till a large piece of the skin gave way, when he fell to the ground. He no sooner got on bis feut, than he judged it prudent to beat a precipitate retreat from so formidable an enemy."