Gulliver arrives in the land of the Houyhnhnms in May 1711. He leaves the country, at the request of his master, in February of either 1714 or 1715. Therefore, we know that Gulliver must have stayed in the country for either three or four years, but he is unclear exactly as to which of these it was.

Gulliver fully entrenches himself in the life of the Hoyhnhnms and of his master in particular. Having spent ten weeks teaching himself to understand the language of the people, he is, by the end of this time, fluent enough to begin explaining the customs of his own land to his master. He and his master engage in such lengthy debate that Gulliver becomes extremely fond of the country and its people and does not wish to leave.

In fact, he notes that he was fully "settled" to stay there for the rest of his life and would not have left were it not for the fact that his master tells him that he needs to depart. This is not because the master himself is sick of Gulliver, but because he fears for his safety; other members of the assembly have argued that the master should not keep a "Yahoo" such as Gulliver, whom they consider to be a "brute," and particularly feel that he should be executed because of the things that he has said to the assembly. So, with a heavy heart, Gulliver departs.