is replaced after a time by another, which is probably only the same material rearranged and dressed up, and too often manages to pass into the stables when supervision is accidentally relaxed.

The grain used for feeding horses in the greater part of India, and the whole of the north, is what is generally known as gram. It is produced by a small plant of the pea tribe, with a purple or violet-coloured flower. Before it is eaten it has to be crushed or ground; and large and weighty stones for its preparation form part of the equipment of all mounted corps. In the Madras Presidency another grain is made use of, called coolthi-a small grey or brown bean; and this also, like gram, has to go through an elaborate process of preparation before it can be eaten. It is not ground, but must be carefully boiled for at least two hours; and the necessary huge metal boilers, with their large requirements of fuel, are an even greater encumbrance and anxiety than the grinding-stones of the other Presidencies.

There is no occasion to indicate the weak points of these systems of feeding horses-they are only too evident; and no one will re quire to be told how fearfully mounted troops must be hampered on a campaign when rapid move mert may at any time be essential, by the alternative evas of deĝõent and ill prepared food for ther horses, or the slow progres that is entailed by the following ef crowd of grass cutters and rack an mals or carts carrying the mate al for preparing the horses pain,

De subject long as oven, and still is under cæterol co?NDER, OR in India, but to teď 10 VOYON N

necessity for a considerable expenditure. In the first place, all grass-cutters employed with troops, both in the north and south, must be men, who should be provided with reasonably good ponies, purchased by Government, and under military control and supervision— not, as is at present too often the case, any wretched animals which can be provided by the natives themselves, so weak and uncared for that they are in cantonments the probable originators of contagious disease, and would certainly break down if required to accompany a corps on a campaign. Then, in the neighbourhood of all military stations, tracts of country should be set aside for the supply of really good and nourishing grass, which tracts might also well receive, and would most surely well repay, a certain amount of cultivation. But the necessary bulk in forage, of reasonable quality, may generally be procured, even without additional elaborate and expensive organisation, in any country in which mounted troops are likely to be employed. The grain question remains the grand difficulty, and the getting rid of the necessity of preparing the horses' food en service is the great desideratum. If such could be found, some species of grain food which could be compressed and carried on the horse, would add a hundredtold to the efficiency of the mounted portion of our army; and any man who is successful in seling this problem will have dore much to ensuring our success " be cam od grs of the future. The whole question of horsebeas, as we began by ore of exceptional importSas beex shown that seny d' our present warcred across the

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 vice, 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."

ser

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 bulwark 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

breeding 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.

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

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

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 bulwark 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