The Sun.
London, England, 1858-09-20 00:00:00

CAPE OF GOOD HOPE HORSES FOR
THE INDIAN ARMY:

" Good," as theologians say, " is ever educed from
evil," and the atrocious mutiny just suppressed in
our Indian empire has, among other benefits, pre-
sent and prospective, elicited some valuable and
highly interesting information on the subject of
horseflesh. A blue-book which we have just re-
ceived from the Cape of Good Hope—for the Cape
has its blue-books as well as the Palace at West-
minster—purports to contain " Papers relating to
the Purchase of Remount Horses at the Cape for
the Army in India," compiled from voluminous
documents presented to "both Houses of Parlia-
ment" (how home-like is the phrase!) by his
Excellency the Governor of the Colony.
It hence appears that between the 12th of Aug.,
1857, and the 15th of May last 2,067 horses were
shipped at the Cape of Good Hope for Calcutta, of
which a very few died at sea ; that 502 were shipped
for Bombay (between October, 1857, and April,
1858) ; that 250 horses were at the date of the
return shipped on board vessels fitting in Table-
bay, and that 40 remained in the remount stables,
thus making a grand total of 3,059 horses, accord-
ing to the return of Lieut.-Col. C. E. Goad, the
" assistant remount agent." 104 mules were also
shipped and despatched on board the Henry Ellis
December, 1857 (of which 99 were
good condition), and 200 " remounts"
ltaonCdieildeuitnta, in
have been purchased since the publication of the
papers before us. •
in a report from' the Audit-office
at
dated June 12, 1858, states, in fine,
that the nunilher of horses hitherto purchased
IsCiariie W.
Town,li°P
amounted to 3,300 ; and he refers to a letter of Col.'
Apperley as supplying valuable information on
the subject .of the breed of horses. The Cape
ha lrsocas , and ought says Mr. Hope himself, is better than
not to be judged by his ap-
pearance only, or by books, .as the endurance of
The horses- which had been
many is far .beyond what might be supposed from
India by private persons
thhr i
te e r
taop p
were entirely stallions, and these are in seahirpapnecde. to
l use in and about Cape Town as saddle
and carriage horses. The officers of the Indian
service were the best arid Chief customers for the
handsomest of these -stallions, and many were
shipped to India. The, sleekness of coat, the round-
ness of shape, the fine.appearance the docility, and
high_ carriage of these noble stallions make them
very attractive to the eye, compared with the
rougher coats, shyness, and general " ruggedness"
of the geldings, whose show and appearance are very
inferior. Hence the gelding was a " despised and
rejected" beast among those who looked to appear-
ance only. But the gelding makes up for lack of
" looks" by other excellent qualities, due to the dif-
ference of his early rearing, for horses, like children,
must be " trained up in the way wherein they
ought to go." The most promising colts at the
Oape are generally kept at stallions. They are
stabled at two years of age, and never more run
loose. They are often badly fed while growing,
and seldom regularly exercised at the farmhouses,
and hence their muscles are not fully developed, nor
does their bone increase as it should do. The stal-
lions, are round-barrelled, plump, mid full about the
quarters, but deficient in depth of chest and ribs ;
they are low in the withers, and when fat apt to be
too heavy in the fore-hand to• be " pleasant" as
saddle horses, but as beasts of traction or draught
horses none can surpass, if equal; them. The stal-
lions, if reared as the geldings are, would be a far
finer animal.

The geldings, on the tontrary, are left to nature.;
they run loose in the field all day, inhaling the
purest and driest air ; their bones and muscles
increase and develop as they grow ; they
are exposed to all weathers . and extremes of
temperature, and the consequence is that they be-
come very hardy, and admirably adapted for mili-
tary service. " A stallion," adds Mr. Hope, rather
pithily, "is more of. a gentleman, and has been ac-
customed to better (more artificial) treatment, and
the fineness of his coat makes him feel exposure at
night."
The shape of the gelding is superior to that of the
stallion;, he is deeper in the chest and in the ribs,
broader in the hips, lighter and deeper in the
shoulder, and often not so straight ; he has more bone
and muscle in his legs, and is stronger in the fetlocks
and pasterns. He is lean and oft wry-necked, which
is considered a proof of endurance. He carries a fine
head, if well bred, and his eye and ears are " game "
and intelligent. In a word, he is hardier and more
useful than the stallion.

The gelding shies under the saddle when put into
" condition," but he is courageous in a team, aid in
a body, as a trooper, will face the very devil.
Eight or ten geldings attached to a wagon will
think nothing of plunging into a flooded river up
to their breasts or backs, swimming across without
swerving, and dashing up the opposite steep bank
in the finest style.
The fitness of the geldings for troopers
was tested at reviews last year, when the
farmers' horses charged repeatedly up to the
squares of infantry under their fire and that of
two howitzers, and stood (many of them) while
their riders cut at the bayonets of the square. The
Governor expressed his 'narked approbation, both
of the horses and their riders, in a general order of
the day issued on the occasion.
The majority of the horses sent Gut to India by
the remount agents were geldings, and, although
in that country there is a _ feeling in favour of
stallions, the excellence of the geldings as troopers
or artillery horses has only to be tested to be freely
acknowledged by all impartial persons.
The superiority of the gelding is due to his being
reared as nature intended, and it is admitted that
if a stallion were similarly trained he would be the
superior steed. Upon the whole, says Mr. Hope,
the gelding will be found the most serviceable horse
for the army. Mr. Hope's opinions are based on 12
years' experience and observation of Cape horses,
and he is willing and desirous, for the good of the
service, that they should be well " ventilated."
Mr. Hope's remarks are followed by the letter ad-
dressed to him (June 8, 1858) by Col. W. W. Apper-
ley, the remount agent. This officer fully testifies
to the excellence and especially to the wonderful
" bottom" of the Cape horses, which will travel
;
60' or 70 miles a day (on the journeys of the
farinel
an occasional drink of water
and a
so)llwinitl only
tihesand
Which
tihsesuppose
presentd
breedto n ke
them quite fresh again.of
horses the colonists are indebted to the late Lord
Charles Somerset and the 'present Mr. T. B.
Bayley, who infused vahiable. English blood into
the native stock of steeds. To the many good points
possessed by the Cape horses may be added a
wonderful soundness of constitution. Fever in
the feet is exceedingly rare; although hundreds
of horses in work ha;; e, never been shod in
their lives, while blindness. and broken wind
are unknown. Colonel Apperley has the highest
opinion of the present Cape horses, particularly as
regards their fitness for' the ranks of the Indian
army, but there is mueh,. he says, for the breeders
to consider with reference to the.parent stock, and
the use of Arab stallions is strongly deprecated.
Colonel Apperley adverts to the necessity of
keeping the horses in good condition, in the event
of any remount agency being set up at the Cape,
as no agent is justified (he observes) in buying
a single horse if he is not in proper condition
for immediate shipment. The farmers appear to be
very remiss in the " keeping" of their steeds during
many months of the year, and this is one great
drawback to the success of horse-dealing. in the
colony. If the farmers would but feed their stock
liberally, their horses would be larger and stronger,
and their returns certain. At the moment when
Col. Auerley wrote he was actually forced to sus-
pend his purchases, because " all the horses in the
country were out of condition, and as thin as
hurdles." _ _

Bower . ,
Colonel Apperley refers to the report of Colonel
and Captain Gall as containing much
valuable information of Cape breeders and farmers.
War prices, he
adds, must now cease, and the con-
tinuation of the &man': from India for horses will
become a mere matter of £. s. d. The Colonel thus
concludes : _

horses in India have been so ably
T he unsatisfactory results from the committees
at different times assembled to report upon Cape
by both Lieut.-Col. Bower and. *Capt. Gall that I
shall only record my opinion that I feel satisfied
explained away
when the Cape horses that I have sent on have had
time
to recover after the sea voyage, and have been
fairly tried in the ranks, they will be as favourably
reported upon as those formerly purchased by. Col.Hayelock were after eleven years' service. They
arrived. in the Crimea in better condition than any
other horses in the regiment ! A committee had
disapproved of these horses. And much fault was
found at first with the horses the 7th Dragoon
Guards were mounted upon during the Caffre war.
After a period that regiment was reported by Col.
Richardson to be as well mounted as the average
of cavalry at home, and no privation or fatigue could
make Gen. Catheart's horses succumb, although the
men in marching order averaged over 19 stone ! In
the face of such facts members of remount commit-
tees should pause before they condemn untried
horses, and the professional gentlemen should bear
in
mind
that Professor Coleman's opinion of what
constituted a sound horse was a horse that could
perform the ordinary labours of an ordinary horse,'
beyond which he *could not pronounce any horse
sound. If the Cape gentlemen will accept my
humble advice, I hopes they will continue to breed
from as much good EirglEN blood and bone a 3
their money will procure, and cross their mai e 3
-that have Arab blood-with the best description of
Norfolk trotting or Cleveland stallions procurable.
other cross will restore size and substance

from that description of mare until the Arab
blood becomes absorbed in many successive gene-
rations. By paying.; a little more attention to
the feeding of their horse stock generally the
breeders will find a ready market and remunera-
tion, unsurpassed by any other speculation that this
colony is capable of."
Mr. Hope, in another paper, hopes that the ques-
tion of the capability of the Cape colony to supply
the Indian army with horses to a very large extent
may now be regarded tts settled for ever. He
adds :

" It is to be hoped, also, that the Governments of
India and England will permanently establish a
reinount agency at the Cape, leaving the agent to
make his purchases in the manner he finds most
advantageous as circumstances may change, with-
out binding him to one prescribed course. If such
an agency- be established, the farmers will breed
up to the demand, and the description of horse re-
quired, and the supply for the amy could be in a
great measure kept up without the risk of being
disturbed by war with Persia. It is to be antici-
pated, also, that the breeders in the colony will
exert themselves to supply the demand, and to
enable the colony to fulfil the expectations thus held
out in a manner that should give no cause of regret
to the Government for having looked to the colony
to supply the wants of her army in India."
The blue-book before us contains a variety of
other papers, principally descriptive (in detail) of
the proceedings adopted by the Government at the
Cape of Good Hope for the procurinp• of horses for
the Indian service. , Captain Gall, already referred
to, concludes as the result of a deliberate and studi-
ous inquiry-Ist. That the Cape colony is able to
furnish an unlimited supply of horses, fit for all
military purposes ; 2d. That while the horses will
b© procurable at a price not exceeding that given
for.our present remonnts, a great economy will be
effected from their being equal to draw or carry
heavier weights, with an activity second only to
that of very select English horses ; 3d. That all
the evidence we have only warrants a conviction
that the decisive experiment, founded on better
knowledge, remains yet to be made, as shown by
our partial success when excellent horses were sup-
plied to the Hussars in Bombay, but at an exor-
bitant price ; and by our partial failure at Madras,
where the price was moderate, but the horses were
condemned; 4th. That the intervention of con-
tractors, brokers, and stablekeepers must be for-
bidden.

He says that very superior horsei fit for the Ar-
tillery and Dragoons, might be landedat any of the
portA of India for 400 to 430 rupees. At the Cape
they would average (inclusive of all charges) £2B
each, and from £32 to £l5 for freight, feed,
and attendance to India. This would be the
maximum for the first year, after which
Captain .Gall. thinks that the price would
descend, and range from 385 to 415 rupees, for
reasons assigned. Lieutenant-Colonel Richard-
son is quoted as giving strong evidence of the fit—
ness of Cape horses for military, purposes.
" Let the Cape horse," concludes Capt. Gall, " be
introduced (and it is my conscientious belief that if
the experiment be fairly tried it must succeed), you
may then boast of a cavalry in this portion of the
Queen's dominions not only averagely' well
mounted with the cavalry at home, but as superior
in horses, as we confessedly are in equipments, to
any army that could possibly be brought against us
through adjacent countries."

SPORTING INTELLIGENCE.

SALE OF LORD DERBY'S HORSES.

In accordance with the advertised announcement
the " entire stud of a nobleman" was put up to
public auction by the Messrs. Tattersall at Doncas-
ter on Saturday last. The sale excited much en-
rioeity, and induced many of the' race visitors to
prolong their stay in 'the town. The catalogue com-
prised 22 lots, the stallion Longbow, brood mares,
and this year's foals being omitted. The proceed-
inga commenced in front of the " Salutation" soon
after 11 o'clock, when a large ring was formed, con-
sisting of persons merely drawn together by curio-
sity and many intending purchasers and breeders
of blood stock. Among the training fraternity were
John Scott, Joseph Dawson, W. Stebbing, H. Lis-
ter, John Dawson, Mat Dawson, W. I'Anson, John
Day, C. Peck, John OsbOrne, Alec Taylor, and
nearly all the jockeys attached to the northern
stables. Among others we noticed Lord Glasgow,
Captain Archdall, Mr. G. Payne, Mr. H. Hill, Mr,
Robinson, Mr. J. Dixon, Mr. R. Ten Broeck, Mr.
IJ. Fisher (an exporter of horses to Australia), and-
Mr. T. Mason.

Mr. Tattersall commenced his address by stating.
that the conditions of the sale would be found' in
the catalogue, and that he need hardly- tell the in-
tending purchasers, that for any of the forfeits in-
curred prior to the sale buyers would not be liable,
but of course any incurred respecting engagements
mentioned in the catalogue would have to be paid
up. Mr. Tattersall also stated that should any
of the engagements be inadvertently omitted from
the catalogue purchasers would not be liable for
them. Reserved prices were placed on nearly all
the animals, and this caused several of them to be
returned to their noble owner.

The yearlings were first disposed of.
Lot 1 was a smart chesnut filly, by West Austra-
lian, out of Caricature. After a little time she was'
put in at 30 guineas, and some brisk bidding then
ensued between Mr. Clarke and Mr. James Fisher,
to whose offer of 100 guineas the hammer fell. The
filly by Stockwell, out of Meanee, large boned, and
with much of the appearance of her sire about the
head, rose rapidly from 105 guineas to 150, at which
price she was knocked down to Mr. Clarke. She
accompanied the Caricature filly into the ring,
whom she topped considerably, and was altogether
of much larger size. Stockade, whose engagements
are very heavy, was run up from 150 guineas to
300, Mr. S. Hawke having the last bid, and the filly
returns to John Scott. 290 guineas were offered
for a sister to Toxophilite, who has several heavy
engagements, but it did. not come up to the re-
served price, and she will go back to Whitewall.
A colt by The Flying Dutchman out of Canezou
was much admired ; he seemed strong and muscu-_
lar, and almost as.furnished as a two-yr-old. His
engagements are also heavy. Some spirited bid-
ding took place for him ; he -was put in at 350
guineas, and the offers rapidly reached 470. Here
the bidders stopped and the hammer fell, but the
colt was bought in. When Tom Bowline entered
the circle his superb appearance excited a murmur
of admiration—he was decidedly the handsomest
colt of the lot. The first offer for him was 400
guineas, and after some warm competition he was
knocked down to Lord Glasgow for 700 guineas.
This colt has many valuable engagements, and,
should he train on, Lord Glasgow will possess what
he has long been striving to obtain, a really good
horse. The fate of Voivode, Greenfinch, Lord of
the Hills, Rotherham, and other high-priced year-
lings renders it hazardous to prognosticate the
futre of unbroken animals. The last year-
ling, not a bad-looking colt, but one that turned
in the " toes" of his near forefoot, was knocked
down to the first bidder, who's-entered 300 guineas.
Perhaps, taking them altogether, a finer lot of
yearlings was never brought"to the hammer. Then
came the horses in training. Boomerang, a 2-yr-
old, with heavy engagements, and who ran very
badly on the previous Wednesday, was vainly
walked round the ring. The auctioneer could not
obtain a bid. The next lot, a chesnut colt by Ted-
dington, out of Young Thalia, was also about to be
sent back, when an offer of 20 guineas was made.
He is small and pretty, with a handsome mane and
tail, and would make a beautiful ladies' or park
hack. Mr. Fisher, the Australian dealer, obtained
him for 46 guineas. The Meeanec colt with nothing
particular about him, and with only one engage-
ment, was sold for 50 guineas. Birdbolt, a mean
and not ever-sound looking grey, was sent back, no
one being inclined to render himself liable for the
colt's heavy engagements. Mr. Hodgman obtained
Mutineer for 450 guineas; and the hammer fell to
Mr. Saxon's offer of 250 guineas for Target. No
one would look at Woodnymph, and, after she had
quitted the ring, the "lion" of the sale, Toxophi-
lite, was introduced ; his coat shone like satin, and
he seemed full of muscle. Mr. Payne made the
first offer, and bid 1,000 guineas for 'him ; from this
he was run up to 2,500, when the hammer fell. Mr.
Payne, however, was merely acting for L9rd
Derby, and the horse was bought in. The reserve
price fixed upon him was 3,000 guineas, and, con-
sidering the value of his engagements, which, with
health, he seems certain to win, too high a price
was not set upon him, Streamer was more re-
garded for his great size, but no one would make
the auctioneer an offer for, so notorious a ronn2r.
Antiquary, whom a tout correctly described as " a
three-cornered brute," was sold for 22 guineas, and
an uglier shaped horse never looked through a
bridle. We believe that he was purchased when a
2-yr-old by Lord Derby for £BOO.
The stallions were magnificent animals, but the
money offered for them did not come up to the re-
serve prices. Only 250 guineas were offered
for Paletot. 800 guineas were bid for De Clare,
who seems to possess immense power, but is rather
heavy-shouldered. Mr. Bond bid. 1,300 guipeas
for Fazzoletto, which excited much admiration. He
is low on the leg, strong and muscular, and is,
perhaps, one of handsomest stud horses in Eng-
land ;he was bought in for 1,500 guineas. Mr.
Bond offered to take him at that price. 2,000
guineas, however, are placed. upon Fazzoletto_
quite enough money for an untried horsre,"
ever "fashionable" he may ultimately become, The
beautiful condition in which the animals were sent