21
97. Veterinary Lieutenant Trydell is wrong about the price of donkeys;
the relative price of Italians and Cyprians in Italy and Cyprus is about £60
and £12 respectively.
Supply of donkey
stallions.
98. Whilst in England on leave, I had an interview with General Sir
Oliver Newmarch, at which the question of the supply of Jacks was discussed.
The matter was referred to me officially by the India Office, and, finding that
the matter was one of urgency, I had frequent interviews with Mr. Suther-
land. I laid before him the necessity of obtaining a bigger class of donkey
stallion. I regretted to find that all he could do for us this year was to pur-
chase 10 Catalans by deputy, and to supply one—a cross between a Poitou and
Catalan. He was of opinion that it would be unwise to proceed to Spain in
person, and he further informed me that if he proceeded to Italy he could not
hope to obtain any donkeys over 12 hands in height—these are valueless for the
production of Ordnance mules; and recognizing the fact that Cyprians would
be of greater value to us than Italians of that size, I pointed out to him that
as many of our mares were well bred, although small and slight, we could well
do with coarser bred Jacks than if we were dealing with coarser bred mares.
I therefore urged upon him to endeavour to obtain for India a few bigger size,
irrespective of their breeding; this I did, having tried them in the Punjab with
success. I would much have liked him to send us some Poitous, but he so
dreaded their liability to develop Laminitis that he did not see his way to do
so. He also feared the long curly coat carried by this class of Jack, but I
would willingly accept a few, if of good stamp, as they could be utilized in
such districts as Hazara and Kangra; and my experience of this class of donkey
is that, if placed in Northern India, they soon change the heavy curly coat for
a lighter one.
99. The outlook, as far as the supply of Jacks for India is concerned, is a
most gloomy one; that the supply from the whole of the Continent could only
reach 11 augurs badly for our future requirements. I say from the whole
Continent, as sanction was accorded to Mr. Sutherland to purchase wherever
he could obtain them, and only 11 were forthcoming. I was therefore
compelled, owing to the limited supply, to recommend that the deficiency of
nine on the Home Indent should be made good by further purchases in
Cyprus; this received the sanction of the Secretary of State for India in
Council. This number was further augmented by an Indent for 25 more,
making, with the original Indent for 27 (including 2 for Native States), a total
of 61 to be obtained from that Island. With the sanction of the Government
of India I visited Cyprus with the following result.
100. I feel that I can best describe the results of my visit by giving the
following extracts from my report to Government, bearing on the subject:—
*
*
*
*
"I left London on 30th September for Port Said viâ Brindisi, thence I proceeded to Alexandria and
arrived at Limasol on 7th October. At Limasol I received a telegram from His Excellency the High Commis-
sioner of Cyprus, kindly asking me to visit him at Troodos, the summer seat of the Government of Cyprus, but
I deemed it advisable to see the island first, and make myself acquainted with the class of donkeys obtainable,
to be better able to discuss the question of a further supply with His Excellency. I therefore proceeded to
Larnaca, and thence to Famagusta, which district is supposed to produce the best class of donkey, although, as
I shall hereafter show, I do not agree with this generally accepted idea.
"On my way to Famagusta, I visited the villages of Kooklia and Pylla, both of which are situated in the
Mesorea plain, this being one of the best breeding centres of the island. I subsequently visited the villages of
of Vataly, Asha, and Timboo. This gave me a great insight into what was being done in the way of breeding.
I saw many pony mares with mules at foot, their average height being 13.2½; this average exceeds that of the
mares generally allotted to mule breeding in India. I was able to see stock by some of the Jacks which had
been purchased for India. I was very pleased with the stock got by them. One point which struck me very
forcibly was that the donkey mares were generally of much larger size than the donkey stallions, and on enquiry
I found that the cause was that the best mares are crossed with pony stallions in order to obtain mules, as they
are more remunerative. This fact is a most important one, bearing, as it does, on the size and quality of the
Jacks obtainable, and I shall hereafter allude to this when referring to my interview with the High Commis-
sioner.
"When donkey stallions are foaled, great care is exercised, the custom being to have a donkey mare and
a pony mare with a mule foal, to foal simultaneously, the donkey foal is immediately transferred to the pony
mare in order that he may become accustomed to ponies and not to his own species. All donkey stallions are
termed Lakinari, such as have been suckled by pony mares being termed Alithinos or True Lakinaris, whilst
those that have been suckled by donkey mares are termed Planos Lakinaris.
"On arrival at Famagusta, I visited all the Potters' yards, as it is mainly from these men that good
donkeys are obtained; for, as in all eastern countries animals are worked at two years of age, very few are
therefore bought direct from the breeders. The majority of the donkeys were, however, under 12—2 in height,
53 inches in girth, and 6½ inches in the shank; they were therefore under the standard required. This
confirms what I have already said that, although the Famagusta district is supposed to produce the best Jacks,