MATCH BETWEEN RECRUIT AND PYRAMUS 103 



succeeded in producing our English thoroughbred 

 horse, which no horse in the world can excel or equal 

 in quality or speed. This latter has been proved from 

 time to time, and years ago in the time of a horse 

 named Recruit, an English horse of but moderate 

 reputation, which beat the celebrated Arab Pyramus, 

 the best Arab in the Bengal Presidency. 



The countless herds of wild horses in South 

 America are said to be descended from but two 

 stallions and four mares, therefore an even smaller 

 importation would have been sufficient to horse a 

 country of but one-tenth the size. 



For over a hundred years the strictest attention has 

 been paid to the pedigree of our thoroughbred horses, 

 and, therefore, those of the present day should be 

 absolutely perfect. 



Neither Samson nor Bay Malton were innocent of 

 a slight suspicion of plebeian blood, albeit their shape 

 and performances went far to disprove the fact ; though 

 it was beyond dispute, still, it was nevertheless very 

 difficult to detect its presence as far as appearance 

 or performances went. As a rule the very slightest 

 admixture of impure blood is discernible, and 

 evidences its presence by the absence of the pluck 

 and ' bottom ' which is so marked a characteristic of 

 the clean bred animal. 



The Darley Arabian, the ancestor of our racing 

 stock, was purchased by Mr. Darley's brother at 

 Aleppo, and was bred near to Palmyra. From the 

 description given of his shape he must have been 

 as perfect as a horse could well be. Amongst his 

 immediate descendants may be mentioned Flying 

 Childers, Bartlett's Childers, and Almanzor. The 



