Every Morning All The Horses In The Village Are Turned Loose, And A
General Gallop Takes Place To The Water
Tank, where they drink and
lounge a little; and the young ones are fetched home by their
niggers, while the
Old stagers know they will be wanted, and
saunter off by themselves. I often attend the Houyhnhnm
conversazione at the tank, at about seven o'clock, and am amused by
their behaviour; and I continually wish I could see Ned's face on
witnessing many equine proceedings here. To see a farmer outspan
and turn the team of active little beasts loose on the boundless
veld to amuse themselves for an hour or two, sure that they will
all be there, would astonish him a little; and then to offer a
horse nothing but a roll in the dust to refresh himself withal!
One unpleasant sight here is the skeletons of horses and oxen along
the roadside; or at times a fresh carcase surrounded by a
convocation of huge serious-looking carrion crows, with neat white
neck-cloths. The skeletons look like wrecks, and make you feel
very lonely on the wide veld. In this district, and in most, I
believe, the roads are mere tracks over the hard, level earth, and
very good they are. When one gets rutty, you drive parallel to it,
till the bush is worn out and a new track is formed.
January 17th. - Lovely weather all the week. Summer well set in.
LETTER VI - CALEDON
Caledon, January 19th.
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