ARAB AND ENGLISH RACEHORSE 131 



the Agricultural Society of New South Wales in August 

 1873 made the following remarks : — 



" Though the best judges regard the English blood-horse 

 as the most perfect of its kind, it must be admitted that in 

 this Colony the Arabs have produced some of the most 

 useful animals we have had on the Turf. However, both 

 here and elsewhere, the English blood has always occupied 

 the premier position. Some years ago, Recruit, an English 

 horse of moderate reputation, easily beat Pyramis, the best 

 Arabian on the Bengal side of India, It will be admitted, 

 also, that the Walers have held a very successful place 

 on the Turf in India and China : most of the horses sent 

 from here have held the first places on the Turf in Madras, 

 Calcutta, and Hong-Kong." 



My correspondent's letter recalled an incident in the 

 career of Admiral Rous, which I daresay is unknown to 

 most Englishmen. In Australia "The Admiral" is still 

 mentioned with affection as one of the founders of the 

 Australian Turf. " It may be," says Sir John Lackey, 

 " that there are some who have only a slight knowledge of 

 the fact that before he became the court from whose judg- 

 ment on sporting questions there was no appeal, he was 

 doing his best to show us, in the infancy of sporting life 

 here, how to make our field sports the pursuits of gentlemen 

 and men of honour and the great entertainments of the 

 public. He came to this country as a young man. He 

 only obtained his command in the Navy a few years before 

 he anchored in Sydney Harbour, and in those seas he 

 remained for several years. He came here as commander 

 of the frigate Rainbow, in 1825, when he must have been 

 less than thirty years of age, and he made use of His 

 Majesty's ship, even in those distant days, for the purpose 

 of introducing an accession to the blood stock of the 

 country. From the time of his arrival he took an active 

 part in all sports which he could support, as if he had 

 been sent out, not to command a war-ship, but to give the 

 benefit of his peculiar knowledge to the formation of a 

 very important feature of our national character." 



Admiral Rous's interest in Australian sport took a more 

 practical form than personal sympathy and encouragement. 



