Page:Letters from England.djvu/158

 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.