The Man Wore Very Cruel Spurs, And Was
Armed With A Bit Of Stout Board Two Feet Long By Six Inches Broad.
The Horse Had Not Been Mounted Before, And Was Frightened, But Not
The Least Vicious.
He was spurred into a gallop, and ridden at
full speed up and down the street, turned by main force, thrown on
his haunches, goaded with the spurs, and cowed by being mercilessly
thrashed over the ears and eyes with the piece of board till he was
blinded with blood.
Whenever he tried to stop from exhaustion he
was spurred, jerked, and flogged, till at last, covered with sweat,
foam, and blood, and with blood running from his mouth and
splashing the road, he reeled, staggered, and fell, the rider
dexterously disengaging himself. As soon as he was able to stand,
he was allowed to crawl into a shed, where he was kept without food
till morning, when a child could do anything with him. He was
"broken," effectually spirit-broken, useless for the rest of his
life. It was a brutal and brutalising exhibition, as triumphs of
brute force always are.
LETTER XXXIX - (Continued)
The Universal Language - The Yezo Corrals - A "Typhoon Rain" -
Difficult Tracks - An Unenviable Ride - Drying Clothes - A Woman's
Remorse.
This morning I left early in the kuruma with two kind and
delightful savages. The road being much broken by the rains I had
to get out frequently, and every time I got in again they put my
air-pillow behind me, and covered me up in a blanket; and when we
got to a rough river, one made a step of his back by which I
mounted their horse, and gave me nooses of rope to hold on by, and
the other held my arm to keep me steady, and they would not let me
walk up or down any of the hills.
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