4
"Libel"—by 'Sommeil' out of ' Scandal,' a grand upstanding horse. He took
the first prize at The Sale (Gippsland) Show in 1896 as the best
Thoroughbred sire suitable for getting Indian Remounts.
"Falmouth"—by ' Swiveller' out of 'Caranjah II.' I am glad to get another
'Swiveller' horse as the other one imported two years ago is giving such
satisfaction in the Punjab. This horse never raced owing to an injury
when a youngster. I consider him very nearly perfection in shape.
"Unison"—This horse is perferred by some to 'Jericho.' He is a beautifully-
bred horse by 'Prodigal' out of 'Music,' 'Prodigal' being by 'St. Albans.'
He is closely related to 'Wallace,' who is sire at St. Albans, both their
dams being ' Melody.' He won a lot of races at different weights.
"Bengal"—Although left to the last in the description, this horse should, I think,
come first as a stockgetter in India. He is about as near perfection as a
remount getter as any sire can be, and having proved himself a good
horse at the stud, I have no doubt but that he will do well in this country.
He is by 'Chester' out of 'Gymkhana' and although beautifully bred,
has, as will be seen from the above measurements, great bone and girth.
His only fault is that he is 9 years of age ; he was selected as a sire at
an early age on account of his pedigree. He has been a most successful
stockgetter, and some of his stock were brought over this year as Remounts,
they left nothing to be wished for.
21. Having now completed the description of the horses received through
Messrs. Krcrouse and Madden, I do not hesitate to say that it would be impossible
to expect any one to put a finer batch together, and I can only express a hope that
horses of the same quality will be forthcoming in future years.
22. In addition to the seven Australian Thoroughbreds imported by Messrs.
Krcrouse and Madden. I secured three in this country :—
"Coo'ee"—by 'The Echo,' a grand horse, showing great quality and likely to
make a good stockgetter.
"Castlereagh"—A model of a troop horse, 15-1½ in height, girth 71 inches, shank
8, a compact horse on very short legs.
"Ballater"—by 'Monmouth' (own brother to 'Chester') out of 'Sapphire.'
'Monmouth' by 'Yattendon.' 'Lady Chester' by 'Stockwell.' 'Sapphire'
by ' The Drummer' out of ' Amethyst.'
With this breeding it is
remarkable to find that he is 8¾ inches below the knee, in fact his bone is
prodigious. He has great muscular development and grand joints. He
is just the class required for this country, and all I can say is that I wish
I could procure more of this stamp.
23. In addition to these three Australians, the following Thoroughbred
English stallion was purchased:—
"Evermore"—by 'Hazelhatch' out of 'Marie Seton' 'Hazelhatch' by 'Hermit'
'Marie Seton' by 'Stockwell' Age 5 years, height 15-3, girth 71 inches,
shank 8 inches.
24. The price paid for these horses averaged Rs. 3,250 or a little over
£200 which is a saving on the price paid in England, especially when we take
into consideration that this represents their cost landed in this country, and also
that they are acclimatized.
Arab stallions.
25. That we cannot do without Arab stallions in India I have always main-
tained, but I go even further than that now and would say that the more Arabs we
can throw into our backward districts the better will be the stock, and the quicker
will the stock be such that, when crossed with English and Australian horses, it
will be likely to give us remounts. No class of stallion, taken as a class,—I do not
allude to individual stallions,—stamps its stock so indelibly as the Arab.
26. It was, therefore, with regret that at my first visit to Bombay I found
the market in a worse state than I had ever known it before. Last year only
half the usual number of horses were landed, but this year, owing to the losses
sustained by dealers during 1896-97, and from fear of Plague, which continued
unabated, few dealers came over. The opinion in November when I first visited
Bombay was, that only 1,500 horses and ponies against a yearly average of 5,000
would be landed, and this was fully confirmed at my subsequent visit.