glitters on the silver stream, and when the distant and varied cries of
wild-fowl break in plaintive cadence on the ear, one experiences a sweet
exulting happiness, akin to the feelings of the sailor when he gazes
forth at early morning on the polished surface of the sleeping sea.

Such is Red River, and such the scenes on which I gazed in wonder, as I
rode by the side of my friend and fellow-clerk, McKenny, on the evening
of my arrival at my new home. Mr McKenny was mounted on his handsome
horse "Colonel," while I cantered by his side on a horse that afterwards
bore me over many a mile of prairie land. It is not every day that one
has an opportunity of describing a horse like the one I then rode, so
the reader will be pleased to have a little patience while I draw his
portrait. In the first place, then, his name was "Taureau." He was of
a moderate height, of a brown colour, and had the general outlines of a
horse, when viewed as that animal might be supposed to appear if
reflected from the depths of a bad looking-glass. His chief peculiarity
was the great height of his hind-quarters, In youth they had outgrown
the fore-quarters, so that, upon a level road, you had all the
advantages of riding down-hill. He cantered delightfully, trotted
badly, walked slowly, and upon all and every occasion evinced a resolute
pig-headedness, and a strong disinclination to accommodate his will to
that of his rider. He was decidedly porcine in his disposition, very
plebeian in his manners, and doubtless also in his sentiments.

Such was the Bucephalus upon which I took my first ride over the Red
River prairie; now swaying to and fro on his back as we galloped over
the ground; anon _stotting_, in the manner of a recruit in a cavalry
regiment as yet unaccustomed to the saddle, when he trotted on the
beaten track; and occasionally, to the immense delight of McKenny,
seizing tight hold of the saddle, as an uncertain waver in my body
reminded me of Sir Isaac Newton's law of gravitation, and that any rash
departure on my part from my _understanding_ would infallibly lay me
prostrate on the ground.

Soon after my arrival I underwent the operation which my horse had
undergone before me--namely, that of being broken-in--the only
difference being that he was broken-in to the saddle and I to the desk.
It is needless to describe the agonies I endured while sitting, hour
after hour, on a long-legged stool, my limbs quivering for want of thei