IMPORTED BELLFOUNDER. 129 



him in motion. The running horse had been disposed of some time before, 

 and Bellfounder had received nothing but walking exercise for a long time, 

 and was in no condition to show. However, Col. Jaques ordered him saddled, 

 and he (Boutwell) mounted, endeavoring to trot him in a circle marked out in 

 a large field near the house. He started on a run, and could not be brought 

 down. Finallj*, Col. Jaques, out of all patience, directed him to let him have 

 his head, and run until he was satisfied. This proved successful ; and in a few 

 moments he struck a magnificent stride and trotted, until the gentleman threw 

 up his hands and exclaimed that he was perfectly satisfied, and ready to believe 

 all he had heard or read about him. 



From information that has been more recently made public by the 

 brother of James Boott, it has been definitely ascertained that the 

 horse Bellfounder cost in England the sum of seven hundred pounds 

 sterlino-, from which we may form some idea of the value or estimation 

 that was placed upon him ia the place where he was bred. 



I dismiss this part which pertains to the question of controversy 

 about liis importation — a fact which nobody ever doubted, and turn to 

 the inquiry as to the origin and blood qualities of this horse. 



So little interest has been taken in the trotting horse in England, 

 that it is a matter of difficulty to obtain any light on the blood or 

 ■descent of those animals that have shown adaptation to the trotting 

 gait, notwithstanding that the original and parent stock of our best 

 trotting horses came from England, and there acquired their instincts 

 and mental as well as physical traits, which have in this country devel- 

 oped into such great superiority on the road and track. We have 

 heard much of the Norfolk trotters, and in the card above set forth 

 which accompanied Bellfounder from England, and was undoubtedly 

 printed there, we are told that he was seven years old in 1833, and 

 that his superior blood, symmetry and action excel every other trotting 

 stallion; that he was allowed by the best judges in Norfolk to be the 

 fastest and best bred horse ever sent out of that county; that he had 

 proved himself a sure foal getter, and that his stock w^ere sellino" at 

 the highest prices of any in Norfolk; that he at five years of ao-e had 

 trotted two miles in six minutes, and in the following year was matched 

 to trot nine miles in thirty minutes, and accomplished the feat easily, 

 having twenty- two seconds to spare; that his owner shortly after 

 challenged to perform with him seventeen and a half miles in one hour 

 but it was not accepted; that since that time he had never been sad- 

 dled or matched. Such were the statements made concerning him by 

 his impoiter at the time of his importation, and in this connection it 

 may be stated, that Mr. Gould obtained from another aged gentleman, 



