useful remounts in India, and they take their place both in the ranks of cavalry and in gun-teams. They have more power and size than Arabs, with much of the same constitutional good qualities, and—a matter of great importance to the State-they are generally cheaper in price. The available supply, however, is small, and it is only in the Bombay army that they are found in any number. There, besides filling the ranks of the cavalry, the batteries are generally provided with Persians as the centre and lead horses; but these have not sufficient weight to be placed as wheelers, and the severe work of the teams in that position is done by the more solid and weighty Australians.

The name "Northern," though an official Indian term in horse classification, is vague. The Northern horses really come from either Herat or Cabul, which were formerly the two great markets for Asiatic horses; and to these two places horses from all parts were sent for sale from Biluchistan and Turkistan, from the valleys between Herat and Cabul, and from beyond the Hindoo Koosh.

Many people think that the Government of India or their responsible agents have made a mistake in discontinuing, to so large an extent as they have done, the use of this source of supply. In the days when Northern horses were bought freely, and when a great proportion of the cavalry in India (both British and native) were mounted on them, there was no lack of them. Dealers went annually to Herat and Cabul, marched their purchases down to Kurrachee, and shipped them to Bombay and Mangalore. There was a temporary check in this trade, no doubt, at the time and on account of the Afghan war; but it might very

easily have been encouraged and again developed into a most valuable source of horse-supply, if the Government of India had seen fit to do so.

One of the breeds of horses which are classed as "Northerns" deserves special notice; and it must always be with a feeling of deep regret that we see the Turcomans, "that splendid and enduring race of Arabs, which, from the peculiarities of the soil, now equal English thoroughbreds in size and resemble them in appearance,' permanently in the hands of a rival Power. All travellers in Turkistan have agreed in the opinion that, for war service, the horses of the Tekke Turcomans know no equals. Colonel Baker (now Lieutenant General Valentine Baker Pasha) was especially struck by their excellence, and used the words which have been quoted-adding, that "it is singular that the magnificent breed which is to be found in such numbers among the Turcomans, has never made its way on any large scale into Hindostan."

Few indeed, and comparatively indifferent in quality, are the Turcomans which we have seen in our ranks; but few as they are, they have well maintained the character of the steeds which have rendered the rapid and far-reaching Tekke chapaoul or raid, a name of dread to the dwellers in the heart of Persia.

In very recent times, before the Russian dominion had made such enormous forward strides in Central Asia, the Turcoman tribes were the strongest bülwark which resisted its onward wave; and experienced politicians advocated the idea that England should not only cherish the friendship of Afghanistan, but that the Tekke tribes should be encouraged to attach themselves to that Power as a semi-independent state, a com

bination that would have delayed indefinitely Russia's acquisition of Merv, and prevented her from assuming the threatening position which she now holds. A magnificent force of over 200,000 of the finest light cavalry in the world would have operated with instead of against us in our next great struggle in the East; and lastly, by establishing friendly relations with those wild tribes, we should have had a practically limitless source of supply from which to draw remounts for our own horsemen.

The term "country-bred" includes all the horses which are produced in the peninsula itself the distinct races Kattyawars, Deccanees, &c.—the horses bred under the encouragement and by the assistance of native rulers, and the supply which owes its existence to the initiative and liberality of the English Government. Of the old distinct races of the country, probably the Kattyawars were among the best, as they were marked by extraordinary powers of endurance; but the breed has not been maintained in its original purity, and as there were never very many of them, they may almost be considered to have ceased to exist. The same may be said of the old stout and compact Deccanee horses-on which, in times gone by, so many warriors in the clouds of Mahratta horsemen were mounted -and of the minor distinct strains of blood throughout India.

To replace these practically extinct races, some of the native rulers have made considerable efforts, and the Nizam especially has been conspicuous for the money and energy which have been expended in his dominions. It is understood that he has bred some very good horses, but not in sufficient numbers to be worth consideration in connection with the gen

eral question. If success in horsebreeding in India is to be looked for on any great scale, it must be due to the efforts of the English Government-and it is no new thing that this subject should be considered of the highest importance; and the power of providing in the country to a great extent for the wants of its own army has always been looked upon as a most desirable object to be attained.

It has been far too much the custom to decry the old system of breeding carried on by the stud department, which cannot fairly be said to have been a failure. The horses which it provided were very good, of great endurance and blood, and sufficient numbers were produced to mount British cavalry and artillery in the North-west Provinces. Some of these horses were among the best in the service; and as a proof of their good qualities, it may be recorded that, as late as 1870, there were still to be found efficient animals in artillery teams, which had taken their part, and done their duty well, in the long marches and severe work of the Mutiny campaigns. The operations of the stud department were abandoned on account of the very expensive system which was allowed to be carried on, under which each remount cost an enormous sum-sometimes as much as Rs. 3000-before it entered the service; but there can be no doubt that the errors and defects of the old department might have been removed or amended, without finding it necessary entirely to sweep away an organisation whose final results presented so much that was good and satisfactory.

It is very doubtful whether, under present Government arrangements, horse-breeding in India will ever produce the desired result of

a permanent and trustworthy supply of good animals.

Many sires, chiefly thoroughbreds, Norfolk trotters, and Arabians, have of late years been imported and distributed in various districts; but the great difficulty that arises is, that very few of the zemindars can afford to keep the young stock for four or five years, when they would become available for Government use; and those that are kept suffer in their development and action from insufficient food and injudicious treatment. There is some diversity of opinion also with regard to the young stock itself, particularly the issue of the Norfolk horses, whose produce, as the sires are of mixed blood, will more than probably be of uncertain quality-some good and some bad.

Horse-breeding has been carried on in the Mysore state with satisfactory results as far as producing horses fit to carry native cavalry is concerned; but the farm at Coongul, where the experiment was carried out, had not sufficient space to make it entirely successful, nor were the original mares large enough to hope for any very high results. Here, as elsewhere, horsebreeding has suffered from the constant changes of supervision which are inevitable to Anglo-Indian life. Horse-breeding is, or ought to be, the work of a man's life; and no institution for the purpose can hope for more than a moderate success when the vicissitudes of service remove a superintendent in the middle of his work, before he can see more than one generation of produce come to maturity, and before he has gained sufficient experience to be able to take advantage of one strain of blood rather than another. In one particular, how ever, the useful lesson was taught

at Coongul that horse-breeding is not necessarily a matter of serious outlay, as the stock were reared and cared for at an expense of seven or eight rupees per month; so that, at five years old, the remount only had cost the very moderate sum of Rs. 480.

The most important source of horse-supply for the present army of India is Australia; and there can be no doubt that, taking them all round, the Australians, or Walers, are now the best horses in India. The peculiar advantage of the race is, that animals of all classes and sizes are equally produced, from the heavy powerful horse suitable for an artillery wheeler, to the small well-bred animal of 14 hands 2 inches to 15 hands for the sowar of native cavalry. We are We are not concerned at present with the magnificent Waler thoroughbreds, sprung from parents of the best blood in the English stud-book, which compete on Indian race-courses, and which take such a high position for objects of sport aud luxury, though it is obvious how far the demand for these, both in Australia and India, must influence for good the quality of the general supply.

The importation of horses from Australia into India only dates back about thirty years, or perhaps a little more, and the present and still increasing excellence of the shiploads which are annually disembarked at Calcutta and Madras is a matter of very recent memory. When the trade was in its infancy, though no doubt good horses were to be found among those shipped, the Walers, as a rule, bore rather a bad character. Their principal defects were coarseness and wildness; and it may easily be imagined how unfavourably these raggedlooking, long-legged animals, with curiously exaggerated powers of

horses for the private market, and thoroughbreds for racing and other purposes. The sea transport is very effectively done, as might be supposed from the long experience that has been gained in the many years during which it has been practised. Formerly sailing-vessels were employed, and if these met with contrary winds and rough weather, much loss was the result, from the long additional time spent on shipboard, and from the severe knocking about in the Indian Ocean. Steamships are now more used, and the extra expense involved is more than compensated by the rapidity and safety of the voyage. The ships are fitted up for horses by taking out the internal fittings, and putting up stalls on the upper as well as the main and lower decks. In some ships the hold is used for sick horses, sawdust being laid down to form a bed. In fine weather it is generally possible to take certain horses out of their stalls and allow them to lie down, which otherwise they are unable to do. The principal food given is bran and what is called oat-hay, which is oats cut by a machine with the straw and grain together. Very little hard food is made use of. A good load for a ship is about 300 horses, but many shipments are of much smaller numbers; and the good management that prevails, and also the very hard work which has to be done by all concerned, may be realised when it is added that only four or five men are shipped for the care of every hundred horses.

The actual average price which the shippers pay for their horses in Australia is of course, to a great extent, a trade secret, but owing to the great local demand in the big colonial towns, there is no doubt that the price of horses

there has increased in late years; so that, taking into consideration the expenses of collecting horses, conveying them to the coast, shipment, and the inevitable casualties and losses on the voyage, it is probable that, unless they can be purchased in the first instance at from £15 to 20 all around, it must be impossible to inake a reasonable profit on the speculation. The limit of price now paid in India on account of Government for any horse purchased is £50 sterling, though of course the purchasers do not give this full sum for all horses. The limit some years ago was Rs. 575, which was reduced to Rs. 550, and has again been raised to £50, partly to meet the constantly depreciating value of the rupee, and partly as a substantial improvement on the profit offered to the shippers. It is a moot question whether the price has not been prematurely increased by the Indian Government, and whether certain minor concessions to the shippers, which would have cost little, might not have ensured an equally good supply without advancing the value paid to a sum from which it will be impossible in the future to recede.

Of all the horses imported from Australia, few comparatively are destined to pass into the ranks of the native cavalry. Practically unlimited as is the supply of small and light animals, it is very little drawn upon, and the shiploads are for the most part made up of horses whose substance and weightcarrying powers adapt them to the needs of artillery and European cavalry, which would otherwise be but ill provided for by the light Asiatic breeds which in India are the alternative resource. To carry the sturdy English dragoon, or to take their places in the teams of