Page:The Works of the Rev. Jonathan Swift, Volume 6.djvu/348

322 of yahoos into the fields laden with hay, and oats, and milk, for a repast to the Houyhnhnms; after which, these brutes are immediately driven back again, for fear of being noisome to the assembly.

Every fourth year, at the vernal equinox, there is a representative council of the whole nation, which meets in a plain about twenty miles from our house, and continues about five or six days. Here they inquire into the state and condition of the several districts; whether they abound, or be deficient in hay or oats, or cows or yahoos? and wherever there is any want, (which is but seldom) it is immediately supplied by unanimous consent and contribution. Here likewise the regulation of children is settled: as for instance, if a Houyhnhnm has two males, he changes one of them with another that has two females: and when a child has been lost by any casualty, where the mother is past breeding, it is determined what family in the district shall breed another, to supply the loss.

NE of these grand assemblies was held in my time, about three months before my departure, whither