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"GIVE HIM A ROLL."--A PLEA FOR THE HORSE.
We learn, from the comedy of the _The Clouds_, that the Athenians were
accustomed to refresh their horses after a race by allowing then to roll on
the ground; for Pheidippides, the wild young man of the play, who spent
much of his own time and of his father's money on the "turf," and who is
shown in the opening scene fast asleep in bed, dreaming of his favourite
amusement, says very quietly,
"[Greek: Apage ton hippon exalisas oikade] [32]--
an order which he had probably often given to his groom at the Hippodrome,
the Newmarket or Ascot of Athens.
I have often seen racing, I have often seen hunters brought home after a
hard day's work, and I have read of forced marches, &c. made by cavalry and
artillery; but never yet have I heard of an English Houyhnhnm, either at
home or abroad, who was invited to refresh himself after his labours, civil
or military, classically, with a _roll_.
Dobbin, that four-footed Ofellus,
"Rusticus, abnormis sapiens, crassaque Minerva,"
whenever he has the luck to spend his summer Sunday's _otium cum dignitate_
in a paddock, invariably indulges in a baker's dozen, without waiting for
an invitation to do so, and without saying "with your leave" or "by your
leave."
They ordered this matter better in Africa some fifty years ago, and I hope
they still continue so to order it.
By one of the stipulations of the hollow Peace of Amiens, the colony of the
Cape of Good Hope was restored by Great Britain to the Batavian Republic,
which immediately appointed Mr. J. A. de Mist its Commissary-General, and
despatched him to receive the ceded territory from the hands of the
English, to instal the new Governor, General J. W. Janssens, into his high
office, and to reorganise the constitution of the colony.
Having fulfilled these duties, Mr. De Mist determined to make a tour of
inspection, and he accordingly travelled _on horseback_ nearly 4500 English
miles through the interior. Among his suite was a Dr. Lichtenstein, the
physician and _savant_ of the party, who afterwards published an account of
the expedition.
The extract that I am about to make from his work may at first sight appear
unnecessarily long; but I wish the "courteous reader" to bear in mind that
I do not cite it for the sake of parading a long rambling comment on five
short words of Aristophanes, but for that of bringing forward additional
evidence, to prove that a dry roll may occasionally be of as much service
in recruiting the strength and spirits of that noble animal, the horse,
when jaded by violent exertion or long-protracted toil, as our English
nostrums, a warm mash or a bottle of water. Dr. Lichtenstein says,--
"Our road led us soon again over the Vogel river and here we were
obliged to supply ourselves with water for the whole day, since not a
drop was to be met with again till the Melk river, a distance of ten
hours [ = 50 English miles]. When we had filled our vessels, and our
cattle had drunk plentifully, we proceeded on our way.
"It is difficult for an European to form an idea of the hardships that
are to be encountered in a journey over such a dry plain at the hottest
season of the year. All vegetation seems utterly destroyed; not a blade
of grass, not a green leaf, is anywhere to be seen; and the soil, a
stiff loam, reflects back the heat of the sun with redoubled force; a
man may congratulate himself that, being on horseback, he is raised
some feet above it. Nor is any rest from these fatigues to be thought
of, since to stop where there is neither shade, water, or grass, would
be only to increase the evil, rather than to diminish it.
"Yet the African horses are so well accustomed to hardships, although
they have in fact much less innate strength than the European, that it
is incredible what a length of way they will go, in the most intense
heat, without either food or drink. It is, however, customary for the
riders to dismount at intervals, when the saddles are taken off, and
the animals are suffered to roll upon the ground and stretch out their
limbs for a short time. This they do with evident delight, and after
they have well rolled, stretched, and shaken themselves, they rise up
and go on as much refreshed as if they had had food and drink given
them. On arriving at a farm, the invitation of the host, who comes
immediately to the door, is, 'Get off, Sir, and let him roll.' A slave
then appears, takes the horse, and leads him backwards and forwards for
a few minutes, to recover his breath, and he is then unsaddled and left
to roll.
"These rollings were then the only refreshment we could offer our
horses, and both they and their riders were, when towards evening they
arrived at the Melk river, exceedingly exhausted."--_Travels in
Southern Africa in the Years 1803-1806_. By Henry Lichtenstein, Doctor
in Medicine and Philosophy, &c. &c. Translated from the original German
by Anne Plumptre: London, Henry Colburn, 1812; vol. i. chap. xxv.