182 Countess Branicka [ x 895 



amounted to 450,000 acres. She is therefore immensely rich. The 

 stud also was divided. 



" The history of the stud, of which I have looked over the books, 

 seems to begin authentically in 181 3, though Sapieha claims for it forty 

 years or more of antiquity. It can hardly be called a pure Arab stud, 

 as the stallions then imported stand entered as Turk, Turcoman, An- 

 atolian, Persian, Arab, and even in 1828 English, while the mares are 

 equally mixed. It is clear that they have run too much after size ; 

 and at Uzin the type is nearly lost. Occasionally, however, they pro- 

 duce a first-class horse, and I saw two such, ' Hamat ' and ' Haman,' a 

 bay and a chestnut, of great beauty and ideal action, though 15.2 or 

 more in height. The latter especially is a nearly perfect specimen, and 

 will be retained to breed from. The mares are far inferior in looks 

 to the Sanguscko mares, having coarse heads, long backs, and long 

 legs. They carry their tails, however, generally well. One cannot 

 avoid the conviction about them that they are of mixed origin. I only 

 saw one mare, ' Tamisa,' one would have supposed to be an Arab. 

 They are breeding now largely from an English thoroughbred, which 

 gives more saleable stock. They have, however, a very beautiful im- 

 ported Arab stallion, ' Heyan,' of which they are proud — a dark, full 

 chestnut, compact, strong, and of the highest quality. I should judge 

 him to be a horse from Nejd, as he is not quite of the Anazeh type. 

 But they know no more about him than that he was brought to Warsaw 

 by a dealer. I strongly advised his use for their stud. 



" Countess Branicka is a most amiable woman. Her mother, she 

 tells me, was English, a sister of Colonel Wilson Patten's wife, after- 

 wards Lord Winmarleigh. She is clever and kind, most kind to me, 

 doing everything to make me comfortable, and that I may feel at home. 

 Her daughter Sophie interests me, a strange, original face, with a 

 pretty, delicate figure, and a great look of distinction [afterwards 

 Countess Strozzi]. The other daughter is Princess Radziwill. Sa- 

 pieha (the Countess's brother) was brought up in England, served in a 

 Dragoon regiment, and talks French with a slight English accent, Eng- 

 lish with sporting slang of thirty years ago. His father was con- 

 cerned in the Polish rising of 1830, and had his whole estate in Russia 

 confiscated, worth, Countess Branicka tells me, thirty millions of 

 roubles. His wife, a nice plain woman, had a fortune, and they live in 

 Galicia. He is most amiable to me, showing me all things with great 

 zeal. He is or has been manager of the estate and stud. Altogether a 

 distinguished family, living a large but unpretentious life. The house, 

 Alexandrie, is less than a palace and more than a common country 

 house, and is supplemented with several smaller houses in the grounds, 

 where the guests have their apartments. I should be happy, but that 



