became independent of her,
and learned to eat, she recovered her condition, and I was never tired
of looking at her. To all who delight in admiring wild, unrestrained
action, there could not be a much greater treat than to have the gates
of the Government-House spur closed, and turn her and her child loose
into it, while we stood upon the veranda to watch them. At no time did
she ever walk; but went every where with a light, dancing step. And on
these occasions the frolics, the gestures, were past all description;
standing at one corner, her fore feet stretched out, she would appear
to wait for the pretty little son who trotted up to her; when, in a
moment, almost so as to elude sight, she would bound completely over
him, and take her stand at another corner; then back again, and round
and round, till it seemed to me that all the tricks taught by Ducrow,
the waltzing and quadrilling excepted, must have been suggested by
watching the movements of wild horses. A curious adventure happened to
that little foal, which is worthy of record. A year or two after this,
the groom took him to the river to wash his legs, and as he turned to
come out again, a crocodile bit him; he struggled for a moment and fell;
this frightened the crocodile away, and the poor young horse was dragged
from the water's edge; the formidable teeth of the reptile had nearly
separated the foot from the leg, and it hung by one tendon. There seemed
to be no alternative but to shoot him; however, a native suggested to
his owner, that there was a famous Moorish doctor then in the place, and
if any one could cure the horse, he could; at any rate it was worth the
trial: the man came, was very quiet, did not promise anything, but
united the parts, bandaged them together, had the patient fastened down
in the position in which he chose him to lie, and after some weeks of
careful tending, the animal was restored to his master even without
blemish. It was only by passing the hand along the parts which had been
severed, that the scar could be detected; and he was afterwards sold for
a handsome sum.

M. de Lamartine tells an interesting story of an Arab chief and his
horse, which is highly characteristic. They, and the tribe to which they
belonged, attacked a caravan in the night, and were returning with their
plunder, when some horsemen, belonging to the Pasha of Acre, surrounded
them, killed several, and bound the rest with cords. Among the latter
was the chief, Abo