H.R.H. THE PRINCE OF WALES 



General Sir Dighton Probyn kindly acting as 

 cicerones of our little party. These boxes form a 

 quadrangle, within easy distance of the house, and 

 could scarcely be more perfect in every detail. 

 They are built, like nearly all the cottages in the 

 neighbourhood, of carstone — a sort of ironstone 

 which is obtained in the district — the effect pro- 

 duced being exceedingly good, and their dimensions, 

 arrangements, and system of ventilation could not 

 possibly be improved upon. Certainly their size 

 and height somewhat dwarf their occupants, but 

 this is not a matter of the smallest consequence, 

 except from a dealer's point of view. There 

 were fifteen mares in the stud at the time of my 

 visit, though the death of Thais, which occurred 

 a few weeks later, reduced this number to four- 

 teen. In the first box was Fanchette, dam of 

 Eventail ; she is by Speculum out of Reticence, 

 and is a whole chesnut, rather on the small side, 

 but possessing plenty of length. One would 

 never have guessed her to be eighteen years old, 

 and there seemed no reason why she should not 

 produce three or four more good foals. Perdita 

 II., the famous dam of Florizel II., Persimmon, 

 Sandringham, Diamond Jubilee, etc., was another 

 that carried her age wonderfully well, for, 

 although the daughter of Hampton and Hermione 

 was a trifle dipped in the back, this was the only 

 sign she gave of having been foaled as far back as 

 1881. Unrefined, by Mask out of Brown Sugar, 

 was purchased under a misapprehension, and 

 lacked the quality that was so conspicuous in 

 nearly all the others, but it seemed probable that 

 the mistake will prove a fortunate one, for her 

 bay filly foal by Ladas was a real beauty. Lord 

 Rosebery's horse having imparted all his own 

 exquisite quality to it. Laodamias wonderful 



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