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 owino- 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 



