XIV. 



The Ladli*.- Horse Lylee. — Runjeet Singh's Passion for Horses. — The Bat- 

 tles foui'ht for Lylee. — Description of him. — Lady Blanche. — Awful 

 — His Race with Screwdriver. — Blanche, Snowdrop, and Beppo. — Death 

 of Blanche. — Ajax and Oneida Chief. — Their Road-Race to Sleighs. — 

 Brown Rattler. 



ALTHOUGH Topgallant was the most remarkable 

 instance of extraordinary trotting power and endur- 

 ance, when at a great age, that ever came under my notice, 

 lie was not the only one. Most of those which have been 

 celebrated for this capital excellence were of the Messenger 

 blood; and it will be remembered that I noticed this point 

 in that strain of horses when mentioning them in the prior 

 chapters of this work. Singularly enough, it happens that 

 I took up an old book of travels a day or two ago, which 

 made mention of a very celebrated horse, one who is indeed 

 historical, that had all the external points of that family. 

 I do not, of course, pretend to say that he was of the blood, 

 for the horse in question was in the East Indies ; but, as he 

 was undoubtedly produced by a union of the Arab or other 

 Eastern breed with some horse either English or of English 

 origin, he may have been more nearly related to Messenger, 

 Mambrino, and Engineer, than one would at the first sup- 

 pose, when I say that he lived and died on the banks of the 

 Indus. I allude to the old horse Lylee, the prime favorite 

 of the Maharajah, Runjeet Singh, the old " Lion of the 

 Punjaub"as the British called him. This great warrior 

 prince had, in common with many other remarkable men. 

 an extraordinary passion for horses. It was so strong, that 



1.36 



