SITTYTON TO ABERDEEN. 181 



of October, in lots of from seven to sixty weekly, and 

 the supply is generally out by the end of March. 

 About 30s. is the average of expenses to Lon- 

 don by rail or sea, and last year thirty -nine of 

 the best averaged .38, after all expenses were paid, 

 which gave fully 10 a head for nearly eight months 5 

 keep. Three- fourths of them go by the steamer from 

 Aberdeen, and with tide and wind in their favour they 

 sometimes arrive nearly as quickly. In fact, Mr. 

 M'Combie prefers even adverse tides and winds to the 

 eternal shunt, or at times the dreary wait for the 

 missing manifest when they do get to the journey^s 

 end. Still, he has only lost condition so far, and 

 none of his blacks have gone down, as the hapless 

 blood yearling Fandanguero did after the eleventh 

 concussion in the station-yard at York, and fairly 

 yielded up the ghost. They came up sixty-two strong, 

 four and five off, to the great Christmas market last 

 year. Eight more went to Liverpool, and sixty-eight 

 of them sold at all prices from 52 to 36, and the 

 other two for 34, and year after year we have the 

 same report from the Smithfield salesmen that " no 

 other feeder had so many good ones in the ranks," 

 and that they died, as of yore, true to their lean 

 flesh charter. 



