1 8 THE ARAB THE HORSE OF THE FUTURE 



' Ghora Wallah,' writing in the Australasian 

 (December ii, 1898), quotes an Indian paper as 

 describing Australian horses at the time as ' useless 

 brutes — ill-bred, nervous, ugly, soft-hearted, and 

 sickly brutes.' That is not much to be proud of. 

 He then affirms that the demand for Australian 

 horses in India was owing to the fact that it is now 

 next to impossible to secure a good Arab. This 

 quotation is what may be termed ' a double banker.' 

 It proves, first, that the Australian was in his opinion 

 ' a sickly, useless, ill-bred brute,' and, secondly, that 

 great confidence is placed in India in the Arab. 

 The uselessness and ugliness of the Australian may 

 perhaps here be somewhat exaggerated ; I thoroughly 

 believe that it is. But if Australia seeks to sell horses, 

 it must meet the views of its customers, and, from 

 ' Ghora Wallah's ' remarks, it is evident that if India 

 could get pure Arabs in sufficient number, she 

 would not take Australian horses at all. That should 

 be a strong incentive to Australians to breed Arabs 

 or from Arabs. The accuracy of * Ghora Wallah's ' 

 statement on this will receive abundant verification 

 hereafter. 



A. B. Patterson, in the Sydney Mail, con- 

 fessed that our Australian horses in the Transvaal 

 War were not as good as many sent by other 

 countries, and said that it was a fact that there were 

 no good remounts to be got in Australia now in 

 large numbers, no matter what price was paid. 



* Bruni,' to whom I have referred, wrote in the 



