by a highwayman named
Nicks, who rode a bay mare. Nicks set off instantly for Gravesend,
where he was detained nearly an hour by the difficulty of getting a
boat--an interval which he employed to advantage in baiting his horse.
From thence he got to Essex and Chelmsford, where he again stopped
about half an hour, to refresh his horse. He then went to Braintree,
Bocking, Westerfield, and over the downs to Cambridge, and, still
pursuing the cross roads, he went to Huntingdon, where he again rested
about half an hour. Proceeding now on the north road, and at full
gallop most of the way, he arrived at York the same afternoon, put off
his boots and riding clothes, and went dressed to the bowling-green,
where, among other promenaders, happened to be the lord mayor of the
city. He there studied to do something particular, that his lordship
might remember him, and, asking what o'clock it was, the mayor informed
him that it was a quarter past eight. Upon prosecution for the robbery,
the whole safety of the prisoner rested upon this point. The gentleman
swore positively to the time and place; but, on the other hand, the
proof was equally clear of his being at York at the time specified. The
jury acquitted him on the supposed impossibility of his having got so
great a distance from Kent by the time he was seen in the
bowling-green. Yet it appeared afterwards that he was the robber, and
had performed this feat of horsemanship to escape conviction.

Very extraordinary performances of the horse, in swimming, are on
record. A violent gale of wind, at the Cape of Good Hope, setting in
from north and northwest, a vessel in the road dragged her anchors, was
forced on the rocks, and bilged; and, while the greater part of the
crew fell an immediate sacrifice to the waves, 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 off
to their assistance. Meanwhile a planter, considerably advanced in
life, had come from his farm to be a spectator of the shipwreck. His
heart 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 for their
deliverance. He alighted, and blew a little brandy into his horse's
nostrils, and again seati