EARLY HORSE HISTORY CANADA. 147' 



some fools more than a hundred years before the dates here im- 

 plied by Mr. Leavens. It is probable it was first told as a joke, 

 by some wag in Rhode Island, when asked about the origin of 

 the Narragansett pacers. He replied that the original Narragan- 

 sett "was caught swimming in mid-ocean, when a ship came 

 along, lassoed him, pulled him on board, and landed him safely 

 in Narragansett Bay." The vitality of the joke probably had its 

 origin in the experience of Rip Van Dam, when in 1711 he went 

 up to Narragansett for a flying pacer, which is related in another 

 part of this volume. Mr. Leavens speaks of the Rev. Erastus as 

 the owner of the dam, and the breeder of the horse; but he says 

 the horse did not come into possession of Isaac Morden till he 

 was six or eight years old. The date of his death is fixed by Mr. 

 Leavens in 1835, and while he is more definite than our informa- 

 tion from other sources, all agree he died from a kick about that 

 year. 



The next representation that seems to be worthy of noticing 

 is a communication that appeared in the New York Sportsman, 

 written by somebody who signs himself "Dick." Whether 

 "Dick" is in earnest and believes what he writes, or whether he is 

 merely trying to "sell" somebody, we will leave for him to decide. 

 He seems to depend upon Mr. Morden, at one time the owner of 

 the horse, as the source of his information. "Dick" says the sire 

 of Tippoo was imported into New York in 1811, and was called 

 Fleetwood. Why did he not tell us by whom the horse Fleet- 

 wood was imported? If there was a man in New York in 1811 so 

 big a fool as to import an English stallion at great expense, and 

 then send him up to the wilderness of Canada where there was 

 neither money nor mares, his name should be handed down as a 

 historical curiosity. The whole story is a "fake." 



In January, 1883, I received from the Hon. J. P. Wiser, of 

 Prescott, Ontario, the following letter, which he had just re- 

 ceived from the writer: 



WELLINGTON, December 27, 1882. 



As the origin of the Tippoo horses seems to be a mystery to you I will tell 

 you. Erastus Howard was a traveling preacher in those days, and he traveled 

 on horseback. He bought in Kingston a dark chestnut mare and bred her to a 

 horse called "The Scape Goat," brought from Narragansett Bay, in Rhode 

 Island. The horse was a large brown horse, *nd could rack (pace) faster than 

 he could run. The colt was coal black and large, and was sold to Mr. Wilcox, 

 who named him Tippoo Sultan. His gait was like the " Scape " some, but 

 soon squared off to a trot, and the way he could go was dreadful. In June,. 

 1836, he broke his leg and was lost. WILSON SERLS. 



