MY FIRST RIDE ON A HORSE

Press, Volume LXXIV, Issue 22429, 16 June 1938, Page 4 (Supplement)

MY FIRST RIDE ON A HORSE

(By lan Robinson) The first day we got our horse it was raining, but to my delight the next morning was beautifully fine. I got up early, but my father, who was still in bed, said I had better wait till after breakfast. Determined I would have a ride, I went into the shed to find a nice new saddle and bridle. In the paddock I found the horse lazily lying down in the sun at the corner.

I had a lot of trouble getting the saddle on, but at last I managed it, arid put the bit in the horse’s mouth. I then jumped on its back, but it would not move. I got off, picked up a bit of stick, apd gave it a little whack. Suddenly it started off at- the rate of knots, and as it happened, the girth was •loose, and it began to tilt over to one side till 1 was almost upside down; then I felt I could hold on no longer; so I let go. Bump! I had landed on my back, and I felt myself to see if any bones were broken, but luckily there were not. As I walked away I heard a whinny, and looked round, and saw what seemed like the horse laughing at me. THE LIBYAN DESERT To the. west of the Nile lies the Libyan Desert, a vast plateau where rain seldom falls arid the north-west winds blow year in and year out. Blisteringly hot days succeed bitterly cold nights, and under these unending changes of temperature the softer layers of rock crumble into sand, to be swept onwards by the winds. The harder layers of rock resist this wearing process better, and so they stand out as small plateaux in step-like shapes. .

Elsewhere, there are deep hollows, while in ■ places the wind and sun have so ,loosened the rock that vast excavations, lined by steep cliffs, have been scooped out in the desert. Such hollows usually form oases, since , their floors are near a layer of water-bearing sandstone. Sometimes the water rises to the surface through natural cracks; elsewhere wells may be sunk. In such areas are groves of date palm's, tamarisks, and stunted thorn trees. Crops of barley, millet, and even rice may be grown where there is sufficient water.

For centuries these oases have been occupied by man, and the Royal Anthropological Institute has supported several expeditions to find out more about the former dwellers in these desert hollows. MAELSTROM A maelstrom is a great whirlpool, The most famous is that off the coast of Norway, between the islands of Moskenes and. Mosken, of the Lofoten group, the power of which has been much exaggerated. It is dangerous only at certain seasons. * MAGNA GRAEGIA Magna Graecia was a group of independent states established by Greek colonists in south Italy between 1034 and 774 B.C. They included Syracuse, Leontinum, ; and Thorium. They allied themselves with Hannibal when he invaded Italy,-216 8.C., and his defeat involved their collapse as free states;