A HORSE FIGHT.

Samoa Times and South Sea Gazette, Issue 9, 1 December 1877, Page 3

A HORSE FIGHT.

Thi: "Times" correspondent with the rUisasM army, writing from Ma/.ra. gives the following description of a horse fight:—"As one lw.s-.es over the space occupied by our cauip one comes in succession upon regiment* el Infantry, upon bsiteii -■ of t-i.-1.l guns, and Cavalry, with their''horses picketed »i the side These last ale perhaps the most interesting of all In the lu>t place, the mode of picketing the horses is strange. Posts are fixed in a long line at intervals of 20 yards,along which a rope is stretched. To this rope, the horses are attached at so small a distance apait that in a distance of a hundred yards you will find as many horses. A smaller number of horSBS arc sometimes attached to the rope, which forms'a circle of 20 yards diameter. Occasionally a horsfe will get loose. Rejoicing in its freedom, it rural about to make acquaintance with its neighbours. It breaks in on one of these pickets. A general panic ensues. The horses cannot see what is going on, and kick out violently ; then tney get their feet entangled among the ropes, After this a scene ensues which would bear any comparison with any fight of wild beasts which has ever been seen or imagined. It is a real horse fight, and the combatants an: tied together. Each one believes that it is his neighbour who has caused the entanglement of his feet. They bite each other ; they tear at their ropes; they rise up on their hind legs, and strike at each other with their forefeet like English boxes ; they kick and scream, and for some time no effort of their attendants can separate them. Blows are showered on them, and stones are thrown ; but at first this only increases their rage. In some cases it is necessary to wait until the combatants have exhausted themselves.