Another branch of commerce much followed by the Gipseys is horse dealing, to which they seem to have been attached from the earliest period of their history. In those parts of Hungary where the climate is so mild that horses may lie out all the year, the Gipseys avail themselves of this circumstance to breed, as well as deal in, those animals; by which they sometimes not only procure a competence, but grow rich. Instances have been known on the Continent of Gipseys keeping from fifty to seventy horses each, and those the best bred horses of the country; some of which they let out for hire, others they sold or exchanged, as occasion offered. But this description of Gipsey horse-dealers is not very numerous; for the greatest number of them deal only in blind worn-out jades, which they drive about to different markets, to sell or barter. When the dealer is not fortunate enough to find a chap for his nag, he leads him to the collar-maker, who values the hide, and takes him off his hands for a few groschens. In order to prevent being reduced to this necessity, the slyest tricks are practised to conceal the animal’s defects. In Spain, therefore, _Gitano_ and _Gitaneria_ (Gipsey and Gipseyism) are become familiar expressions to imply a cheater in horses, with the deceptions he makes use of. In the year 1727 they had become so infamous in Sweden, that the subject was thought of sufficient consequence for the consideration of the diet, and their total expulsion was voted to be a necessary measure. The following trick is frequently played in Hungary, and the adjacent country, to make a horse appear brisk and active:—the rider alights at a small distance from the place where he means to offer his horse for sale, and belabours him till he has put the whole muscular system in motion with fright; he then mounts again, and proceeds. The poor beast remembering the blows he has received, jumps about, or sets out full speed, at the least signal; the buyer, entirely ignorant of the preparatory discipline the animal has undergone, supposes this to be natural vivacity, and in hopes that good feeding, with care, will render him still more lively, strikes a bargain: but the next day he has the mortification to discover that he has bought a jade, on which all his care will be thrown away, as the beast has not a leg to stand upon. In Suabia, and on the Rhine, they have another device:—they make an incision in some hidden part of the skin, through which they blow the creature up, till he looks fleshy and plump; they then apply a strong sticking-plaster, to prevent the air from returning. If what Wolfgang Franz assures us be true, they sometimes make use of a trick with a live eel, to this blown-up horse, that he may not only appear in good condition, but spirited and lively. It might be thought, that, on account of these and such-like roguish proceedings, nobody would ever venture to deal with a Gipsey for a horse, were not the possibility