SI'] LIGATION OK I ; LOO I) 179 



(Cun'ously enough, (Iio slock of Ivirigston iuu\ Sweet nic.-it, Ii;i\'e l)eeti 

 nMiKirkiiblo rather for pace (liaii stoutness, hut tliis is ])r()hal)ly owing to 

 tho number of marcs put to tliem wliicli were deficient in tho lattcu' 

 (juality. Nevcrtliclesa tliey are hoth still fashional)le, Kingston having 3.'3 and 

 Sweetmeat 19 foals ; Alarm also has 12, but Vatican has only I.) 



"10. Tho Sorcerer blood, now chielly to bo dependiMl on in I\I(>ll)oui-ne 

 (almost worn out in tlio service), and his sons, West Australian, Sir 

 Tatton Sykcs, and Oulston. Tho first of (lie three is more Waxy than 

 Soi-cerer, tho .second is mixed with Orville and Cervantes, and tho third 

 is very mucli tho same combination as that of Sir Tatton. I have fully 

 connnentcd on these horses at paragrajih 272. Large, fast, and loose, they 

 re(iuiro room to display their peculiar ])OwerH, which are calculated to shiiu? 

 over a ilat, or any straight course, rather than a small and confined one. 

 l*\nv of this blood are neat, and some are peculiarly coarse and gaunt, like 

 the INh^lbournes, but yet so well proportioned and truly made as to catch 

 the eye of the connoisseui*. With largo heads, roomy frames, big legs and 

 joints, united to great useful liocks and powerful propellers, they are lit for 

 any work but turning corners, where they are undoubtedly out of Ihv'w 

 element. Such Avero tho Soothsayers, Comuses, Revellers, Humphrey 

 Clinkers, and Melbournes ; together, also, with the last horse's celebrated 

 sons. Sir Tatt(m Sykes, West Australian, and Oulston. All are fast enough 

 for anything, but requh-o time to fill up their fine fi-anu's, and should have 

 been reserved till live years of age, if justice could have been done tluMU. 

 On tho whole, this blood may be considered as infei'ior to none but the thr(>o 

 first described strains, in which it is surpassed in i)ersist(^nce of good 

 (jualities for a series of years, though, taking any single horse against him, 

 Melbourne will perhaps make a good fight for sujx^riorily." 



(I have nothing to unsay here, and I may specially call attention to tho 

 fact that prior to the appearance of West Australian's stock I had i-emai'ked 

 that ho is more Waxy than Sorcerer. Many otlu<r descendants of JNlelbourno 

 in the male line are known in the stud, but Uwrc are none of any gi-eat 

 promise at present.) 



TuuNiNd NOW TO TiiK IJLOOD most suitable for getting hunters, I may bo 

 pardoned for again inserting what I have already written in British liural 

 iS'/xn'ts, comprised in the following words, to which I havo now nothing to 

 add, and in which th(>re is little or nothing which I should wish unsaid : — 



" For this kind of br(H>(ling, nothing answers better than a cross of tho 

 Waxy, Orville, and Sorcerer blood, or of tho two former with any of tho 

 descendants of Sir Peter or Wood])ecker ; hut 'm all c<is<'s proridrd (hey have 

 (j(H)d s/i(iii/(/(;rs, mid are sound. 'J'luis, Drayton has Imh-u I'emarkabhi in this 

 way, as also is Windfall, and Ivetriever promises to be e(jually useful. Of 

 all others, tho Waxy blood seems to be most telling in hunting stock ; and 

 if only it is joined to sullicient size, both of bono and frame, it almost always 

 produces a hunter. The temper, constitution, action, and heai-t are all "-ood 

 in this strain, and nothing is wanted but the above-named element. Defeiu-e 

 is the progenitor of a great numbei- of good hunters, both directly, and 

 through Saf(>guard and IJath, his s(»ns. Chatham, Cotherstone, Ainuindale, 

 WealJiergage, NewminsU^-, John o' (Jaunt, Theon, Tlui Hero, Chanticleer, 

 Harkaway, Connaught Hanger, Footstool, Fugleman, Idle JJoy, Ncwcourt, 

 llavunabuue, and llussborough, arc of the very best blood forgetting hunters, 



