304 HORSE-TIACING IN FRANCE 



merits of the native or ' natural ' Arab (or ' son of the 

 Desert ') and of the English thoroughbred, and there 

 are still Englishmen (and espec^ially Englishwomen, 

 thinking the Arab ' arch ' so ' pretty ') who, whether 

 openly or secretly (notwithstanding Iambic and Asil, 

 Avowal and the Prince of Wales's up to that time un- 

 beaten Alep in 1877, &c. &c.), believe in the former 

 rather than in the latter. In France (where the Arab 

 has always been cultivated, and whence, as we have 

 seen, England obtained some of her best early Arabs 

 or Eastern sires, such as Saint- Victor's Barb, the Thou- 

 louse Barb, the Belgrade Turk, the superexcellent bay 

 Barb of Mr. Curwen, and the legendary Arabian of 

 Lord Godolphin) the ' Arabian heresy ' has apparently 

 not been so prevalent, has even been exploded almost 

 entirely at ' head-quarters ' ; but, on the other hand, 

 the ' half-bred heresy,' the belief in the superior stay- 

 ing powers of the ' cock-tail,' has always been en- 

 couraged by the Administration des Haras (and its 

 officers for the most part), and appears likely to be 

 never wholly eradicated from every French bosom. 

 Yet proof positive has constantly been forthcoming 

 against the soundness of it, from the days of the 

 Viscount Guy de Montecot and his friend and co-cham- 

 pion of ' pur sang ' Viscount Guy du Bouexie. The 

 former riding a light ' weedy ' bay thoroughbred mare 

 (called Pateen, it is said, but probably Poteen) and the 

 latter a thoroughbred (called Grey Hercules, by Sir 

 Hercules), rode eight turns round the Champ de Mars 

 (that is, about 16,000 metres, or 10 miles) against Count 

 Lancosme-Breves on his half-bred hunter (called Eoi 

 des Bohemiens and much esteemed) ; and the two 

 ' thoroughbreds ' finished their journey, weighed in, and 

 came out to see how the other was getting on. This 



