grees, became in procefs of time much more favage than those of their own species in the country from whence thefe two originals came. The reafon of this affertion was, that he had now in his poffeffion a certain wonderful yahoo, (meaning myfelf,) which most of them had heard of, and many of them had een. He then related to them, how he first found me that my body was all covered with an artificial composure of the skins and hairs of other animals: that I fpoke in a language of my own, and had thoroughly learned theirs: that I had related to him the accidents which brought me thither; that, when he faw me without my covering, I was an exact yahoo in every part, only of a whiter colour, lefs hairy, and with fhorter claws. He added, how I had endeavoured to perfuade him, that, in my own and other countries, the yahoos acted as the governing, rational animal, and held the Houyhnhnms in fervitude: that he obferved in me all the qualities of a yahoo, only a little more civilized by fome tincture of rea fon; which however was in a degree as far inferior to the Houyhnhnm race, as the yahoos of their country were to me: that, among other things, I mentioned a custom we had of caftrating Houyhnhnms when they were young, in order to render them 'ame; that the operation was eafy and fafe; that it was no fhame to learn wisdom from brutes, as induftry is taught by the ant, and building by the wallow, (for fo I tranflate the word lyhannh, although it be a much larger fowl): that this invention might be practifed upon the younger yahoos here, which, besides rendering them tractable and fitter for ufe, would in an age put an end to the whole fpecies without deftroying life that, in the tucan time, the Houyhnhnms fhould be exhorted to cultivate the breed of affes, which, as they are in all refpects more valuable brutes, fo they have : this advantage, to be fit for fervice at five years old, which the others are not till twelve. This was all my mafter thought fit to tell me at that time, of what paffed in the grand council. But he was pleafed to conceal one particular, which related perfonally to myfelf, whereof I foon felt the unhappy effect, as the reader will know in its proper place, and from whence I date all the fucceeding misfortunes of my life. The Houyhnhnms have no letters, and confequently their knowledge is all traditional. But there happening few events of any moment among a peo ple fo well united, naturally difpofed to every virtue, wholly governed by reafon, and cut off fromall commerce with other nations; the historical part is eafily preferved without burdening their memories. I have already obferved, that they are fubject to no difeafes, and therefore can have no need of phyficians. However, they have excellent medicines compofed of herbs, to cure accidental bruifes, and cuts in the paftern or frog of the foot by fharp ftones, as well as other maims and hurts: in the feveral parts of the body.. They calculate the year by the revolution of the fun and the moon, but ufe no fubdivifions into weeks. They are well enough acquainted with the motions of thofe two luminaries, and understand the nature of eclipfes; and this is the utmoft progrefs of their aftronomy. In poetry they must be allowed to excel all other mortals; wherein the juftness of their fimilies, and the minutenefs as well as exactnefs of their defcrip. tions, are indeed inimitable. Their verfes abound. very much in both of thefe; and ufually contain either fome exalted notions of friendship and benevolence, or the praifes of thofe, who were victors in races and other bodily exercifes. Their buildings, although very rude and fimple, are not inconvenient, but well contrived to defend them from all in juries of cold and heat. They have a kind of tree, which at forty years old loofens in the root, and falls with the firft ftorm; it grows very ftrait, and being pointed like ftakes, with a fharp ftone (for the Houyhnhnms know not the ufe of iron,) they ftick them erect in the ground about ten inches. åfunder, and then weave in oat-ftraw, or fometimes wattles, betwixt them. The roof is made after the fame manner, and fo are the doors. The Houyhnhnms ufe the hollow part, between the paftern and the hoof, of their fore-feet, as we do our hands, and this with greater dexterity than I could at first imagine, I have seen a white mare of our family thread a needle, (which I lent her on purpose,) with that joint. They milk their cows, reap their oats, and do all the work which requires hands in the fame manner. They have a kind of hard flints, which, by grinding against other ftones, they form into inftruments, that ferve inftead of wedges, axes, and hammers. With tools made of thefe flints they likewife cut their hay, and reap their oats, which there grow naturally in feveral fields the yahoos draw home the fheaves in carriages, and the fervants tread them, in certain covered huts, to get out the grain, which is kept in ftores. They make a rude kind of earthen and wooden veffels, and bake the former in the fun. : If they can avoid cafualties, they die only of old age, and are buried in the obfcureft places that can be found, their friends and relations expreffing neither joy nor grief at their departure; nor does the dying perfon discover the leaft regret that he is leaving the world, any more than if he were returning home from a vifit to one of his neighbours. I remember, my mafter having once made an appointment with a friend and his family, to come to his houfe upon fome affair of importance, on the day fixed, the mistress and her two children came very late; fhe made two excufes, firft for her huf band, band, who, as the faid, happened that very morning to lhuuwnh. The word is ftrongly expreffive in their language, but not eafily rendered into Englith; it fignifies to retire to his firft mother. Her excufe for not coming fooner was, that her husband dying late in the morning, fhe was a good while confulting her fervants about a convenient place where his body should be laid; and I observed, she behaved herself at our houfe as chearfully as the reft fhe died about three months after. They live generally to seventy, or seventy-five years, very feldom to fourfcore: fome weeks before their death, they feel a gradual decay; but without pain. During this time they are much vifited by their friends, because they cannot go abroad with their usual eafe and fatisfaction. However, about ten days before their death, which they feldom fail in computing, they return the vifits that have been made them, by those who are nearest in the neigh- bourhood, being carried in a convenient fledge drawn by yahoos; which vehicle they use, not only upon this occafion, but when they grow old, upon long journies, or when they are lamed by any accident. And therefore when the dying Houyh nhnms return thofe vifits, they take a folemn leave of their friends, as if they were going to fome remote part of the country, where they defigned to pa's the rest of their lives. I know not whether it may be worth obferving, that the Houyhnhnms have no word in their language to exprefs any thing that is evil, except what they borrow from the deformities or ill qualities of the yahoos. Thus they denote the folly of a fervant, an omiffion of a child, a ftone that cuts their feet, a continuance of foul or unseasonable weather. and the like, by adding to each the epithet of yaboo. For instance, hhnm yahoo, whnaholm yahoo, ynlhmndwihlma yahoo, and an ill-contrived houfe, ynholmbnmrohlnw yahoo. U 3 I could. I could with great pleasure enlarge farther upon the manners and virtues of this excellent people; but intending in a fhort time to publish a volume by itself, exprefly upon that fubject, I refer the reader thither. And, in the mean time, proceed to relate my own fad catastrophe. CHAP. X. The author's economy and happy life among the Houyhhnhnms. His great improvement in virtue by converfing with them. Their converfations. The author bath notice given him by his mafier, that he muft depart from the country. He falls into a fwon for grief; but fubmits. He contrives and finishes a canoe by the help of a fellow-fervant, and puts to fea at a venture. I HAD fettled my little economy to my own heart's content. My mafter had ordered room to be made for me after their manner, about fix yards from the house; the fides and floors of which I plaiftered with clay, and covered with rush-matts of my own contriving; I had beaten hemp, which there grows wild, and made of it a fort of ticking: this I filled with the feathers of feveral birds I had taken with fpringes made of yahoos hair, and were excellent food. I had worked two chairs with my knife, the forrel-nag helping me in the groffer and more laborious part. When my cloaths were worn to rags, I made myfelf others with the fkins of rabbets, and of a certain beautiful animal about the fame fize, called nnubnob, the fkin of which is covered with a fine down. Of thefe I also made very tolerable ftockings. I foaled my fhoes with wood, which I cut from a tree, and fitted to the upper |