764
HARPER'S NEW MONTHLY MAGAZINE.
An English soldier of the 12th
lancers, by the name of Dance, was engaged at Balaklava in drawing water
for the troops, and while thus occupied, a horse, with mane and tail
erect, galloped furiously toward him, seized him by the shoulder and
threw him down, and then kneeling on his body, commenced tearing the
soldier's clothes off, and lacerating his breast and shoulders in a
frightful manner. The poor fellow put out his hand to protect his body,
when the infuriated animal seized it in his mouth and bit it off!
Before the horse could be subdued he bit off the finger of another man,
and severely injured the veterinary surgeon of the regiment. This horse
was of the Arab breed.
A Mr. Hannan, of Peru, Illinois,
one morning observed his horse, a fine animal, acting strangely. He
would lay hold with his teeth of every thing that came within his reach,
and shake them as a terrier will a rat. While the gentleman was watching,
the horse reached into a pig-pen, and seizing hold of one of its inmates,
threw it up into the air. This strange feat he repeated two or three
times, then setting his teeth in the body of the pig, he crushed it to the
earth, gnawing and mangling the body in the most frightful manner. The
horse then took a second pig, served it in a similar manner, and then
tossed a calf into the air as easily as a cat would a mouse.
The owner immediately sent for a
popular farrier, but when he arrived the horse was more quiet, whereupon
the farrier ventured into the inclosure, and called the horse to him.
The animal came up apparently very docile, but the moment he was
within reach he seized the man violently by the shoulders, threw him
forcibly with his face on the ground, then setting his teeth in his back,
endeavored to crush and gnaw him, the animal's eyes meanwhile becoming
glassy with rage. Mr. Hannan with difficulty rescued the farrier from his
perilous situation. No other cause than hydrophobia could explain the
phenomenon, and the animal was consequently shot.
A man by the name of Stephen
Wigley, while crossing a field near Hammersmith, England, was
attacked by a horse, seized by the head, and dashed to the ground. The
animal then fell on him with his knees, and bit him in such a furious
manner as to cause death. Another man, William Perry, came near a
horse, which suddenly reared into the air, and struck the unfortunate
Perry in the chest with his forefeet, then deliberately kneeled upon
the body, as if to crush it into the earth. More recently, Lawrence
Steers, of Sullivan County, New York, was whipping a vicious horse, when
the enraged creature seized the man with his teeth, and threw him on the
ground with such force as to cause instant death. Quite recently a son of
David Huckelbury, of Craig Township, Indiana, in crossing a field
occupied by a vicious horse, was attacked by the animal, knocked down,
torn with his teeth, and stamped upon until he became utterlv
insensible. The mother of the boy
saw the dreadful occurrence, and
became so much excited that she swooned, and was carried into the house in
a helpless condition, in which she remained for a few hours, when death
relieved her of her sufferings. The boy was rescued, but not
until hopelessly injured.
Copenhagen, the charger that
carried Wellington at Waterloo, died at the age of twenty-seven
years. He was in his prime at the great battle, and his master rode him
seventeen hours and a half without dismounting. When the Duke finally
dismounted, the horse was playful, and showed that his hard work had done
but little harm. Upon his return to England, Copenhagen had a paddock
assigned him, in which, in the most perfect comfort, as may be imagined,
he passed the rest of his life. In his latter days his oats were broken
for him, and “the Duchess” used regularly, with her own hands, to feed him
with bread; and this kindness gave him the habit (especially after
the lady's death) of approaching the sex with the most confiding
familiarity. From the effects of age he became partially blind, lean, and
feeble, and in the manner he approached a casual visitor there was
something to demand sympathy, an appeal to human kindness, which is often
observed in a very old dog when he approaches his master. Copenhagen was
buried with military honors, but his remains did not long repose
in peace; a curiosity-hunter dug them up, stole one of the hoofs, and
escaped with the relic without being discovered. The skeleton of Marengo,
the horse Napoleon rode at Waterloo, graces the museum of the United
Service, London, and is by all visitors regarded with intense
curiosity.
A farmer's family in England had
a young colt which was raised about the house; from an occasional
indulgence it became very fond of boiled meat, and retained this
carnivorous appetite throughout its life, being frequently seen to
secure a bone, and gnaw it with all the intense satisfaction of a
hungry dog. In some parts of India, where proper food is not
abundant, the natives feed their horses on boiled sheeps'-heads, and
the animals not only thrive under such regimen, but become very fond of
it. In Iceland, during times of great scarcity, the small breed of horses
peculiar to that country will go down to the sea-shore and satisfy their
appetites by catching fish. The expression, therefore, “that all
flesh is grass,” is less figurative than is generally
supposed.
A horse owned in Belchertown,
Massachusetts, was driven a few miles out of town, and on his return
in the afternoon was fed with meal and “ cut feed,” as usual, but for his
supper had nothing but dry hay, which did not agree with his sense of fair
dealing, after traveling twenty miles through snow-drifts. Remaining
perfectly quiet until his master had retired for the night, he then
by some means got loose from his halter, passed through the cow stable,
around the barn-floor and the carriage-room, to the granary, where he
found two bags of corn-meal.