This page has been proofread, but needs to be validated.
 
BACK IN ENGLAND

does not engage in trade, takes no part in politics, and is not even interested in the horse-racing at Ascot. They regard man indulgently and almost without antagonism; they are remarkably intelligent. Sometimes they meditate, sometimes they rush about with flying tails, and sometimes they gaze in so majestic and solemn a manner, that man beside them feels himself to be a sort of ape. To draw a horse is the most difficult task which has hitherto come my way. When I made an attempt at it, the horses surrounded me, and one of them with might and main tried to eat up my sketch-book; I had to beat a retreat, when he refused to be satisfied with my showing him my pictures from afar.

154