ENGLISH VERSUS ARAB THOROUGHBREDS 21 



their horses and stake their money against anything 

 the English could put in the field. 



One of the first intimations Englishmen had of 

 the fact that the Egyptians were inclined for sport 

 was the appearance of the following letter in Bell's 

 Life, in October 1849 : 



6 Sir, A challenge has been sent through me, on 

 the part of the Pasha of Egypt, to the English Turf, 

 which I first communicated to the Jockey Club, and 

 now wish to notify to the public through the medium 

 of your paper. It was my intention to have sent 

 you the letter of our Consul-General, in which this 

 challenge is conveyed ; but I have unfortunately 

 mislaid it, and, after the most diligent search, have 

 been unable to find it. I remember, however, the 

 contents of it with sufficient accuracy to answer 

 every purpose. Mr. Murray states that his Highness 

 the Pasha is convinced that his Arab horses are 

 superior to our English racehorses over a length of 

 ground, and he proposes to test their relative merits 

 by a match to be run in Egypt, the distance to be 

 ten miles, the stake 10,000?., which he thinks might 

 be increased to 15,000?., no limitation as to age or 

 weight. The ground over which the match would be 

 run is sand with a good many stones in it. He con- 

 cludes by saying that if there is a disposition here to 

 make the match, he will proceed to adjust the pre- 

 liminaries. Upon the receipt of this letter, I wrote 



