216 THE HORSE OF AMERICA. 



of Messenger was black, but he gives no account of her further 

 than that. Whether Mr. Pick was indebted to Mr. Weatherby, 

 or Weatherby to Pick, I cannot say, but they both give the 

 pedigree just as we have given it in this country. I am not 

 inquiring whether these authorities agree on this pedigree, but 

 whether they knew anything about it, and whether there is such 

 agreement in details between them as will support each other. 



The first question that arises in every man's mind is, whether 

 there is any further trace of this Turf mare, the reputed dam of 

 Messenger, in the Stud Book, by whom was she bred and owned, 

 and by whom was Messenger bred? Pick says the Turf mare was- 

 bred by Lord Bolingbroke, and Weatherby says she was bred by 

 Lord Grosvenor. To test the question whether either is right, 

 I have gone through the English Stud Book, page by page, and 

 pedigree by pedigree, wherever I found the name of Lord 

 Bolingbroke, or Lord Grosvenor, to see if any trace of the Turf 

 mare could be found. I found no shadow of trace. The 

 certificate of pedigree that came across the ocean with Messenger 

 represents him to have been bred by John Pratt, and Mr. Pick, 

 or rather his successor, Mr. Johnson, says he was bred and owned 

 by Mr. Bullock. These clear and explicit declarations gave 

 new hopes of finding something of the Turf mare, and at it I 

 went again, and searched every pedigree that had .the name of 

 Mr. Pratt or Mr. Bullock attached to it, with no better results 

 than before. Now, Lord Bolingbroke, Lord Grosvenor, Mr. 

 Pratt and Mr. Bullock were all breeders, and if any of them 

 ever owned the dam of Messenger and bred from her, none of 

 her produce was ever recorded or ever started in a race. 



Thus, the more we search for the truth about Messenger and 

 his origin, the more dense becomes the mystery. When we find 

 an English authority that seems clear, we find another that con- 

 tradicts him, and probably neither of them knows anything 

 about it beyond uncertain tradition. When we consider these 

 contradictions of authorities in connection with the fact that 

 men were just as prone to lie and fix up a bogus pedigree a hun- 

 dred years ago as they are to-day, and that stud-book makers 

 were just as liable to be deceived then as now, we must conclude 

 that there is room for very serious doubts as to whether 

 Weatherby or Pick knew anything about the pedigree of Mes- 

 senger, or by whom he was bred. 



In pushing our inquiries still further in search of this mare, 



