tlie Austro-Hungarian Empire. 345 



straiu of the fainil}-. Take, for instance, the Scliagya, a half-bred Arabian 

 family. A Scbagya mare, for example, is allied to a full-blood imported 

 Arabian horse, and the female iiroduce is then served liy a Schagya stallion ; or 

 a Furiosa stallion serves the produce of an English thorough-bred stallion and 

 a Furiosa mare. If the produce is strong, she receives the full-blood English 

 or Arabian according to her family. If she is sufficiently noble and elegant, 

 sh(! is mated with a half-bred of her own particular type. 



"It is, in iact, a system of breeding from a half-bred stock with the 

 occasional use of thorough-breds when tliere is a tendency towards coarseness. 



" 8th. In answer to the question whether English blood is still likely to be 

 required, the foregoing remark shows that there is still a use for English blood. 



" 9th. In answer to the question, ' Do you hope to establish fixed or per- 

 manent half-bred races which may be bred truly inter se .? ' the answer is. 

 The families of Nonius, Majestosa, Gidran, and Schagya are already constant ; 

 Furiosa, Abngress and Norfolk breeds will require 10 or 12 years more of 

 careful breeding." 



There is great difficulty in obtaining first-rate Arab stallions, 

 as the Arabs will not sell their best blood. Colonel Horvath is 

 now trying to breed a stallion at Mezohegyes for the Schagya 

 family, and showed me three exceedingly beautiful foals, the 

 result of crossing a Schagya mare with a Gidran horse. 



Constant illustrations of the above system of breeding were 

 seen during a long drive. We first examined IGO yearling 

 fillies of all families mixed, and subsequently came upon the 

 following groups grazing in spacious pastures, attended by their 

 csikosen : 36 Nonius mares, with their foals, nearly all bay, with 

 black points ; 4 farm- horses, bred between a Norfolk stallion 

 and half-bred Nonius mares ; 46 fine two-year-olds, all, with the 

 exception of 7, fine greys, bred between Arab and Spanish 

 parents ; 23 mares with foals, and 6 fine hunting-horses, among 

 which was a wonderfully fine mare by Chieftain, a son of Chief 

 Justice, and from a Gidran mare. 



Various lots of horses, of fine type, were also visited, and we 

 also examined the celebrated Mezohegyes herd of Hungarian 

 cattle, and the fine Mangolicza swine. 



The love of horses has taken deep root among the landed pro- 

 prietors of Hungary, and the improvement of the horses of the 

 country is enthusiastically carried on in private studs, as well 

 as in those under the immediate control of the Government. 



On Count John Palffy's estates Mr. Robinson has the manage- 

 ment of 17 to 20 capital half-bred brood mares, and one 

 thorough-bred — Cygnet. These have been allied with Actor, by 

 Leamington out of Actress ; North Countryman by Cotswold, 

 the property of Count Esterhazy ; a son of the celebrated horse 

 Gladiateur ; and other good horses, both of English and Arabian 

 descent. 



Count Antal Esterhazy, of Lanschiitz Castle, near Presburg, 

 has two excellent studs of English horses, managed by one 



