118 BREEDING PONIES. 



sire of Eclipse, out of a mare by Bajazet, 



a son of tlie GodolpUn Arab, thus tracing 



directly back to two out of the three 



great founts of pure blood in this country. 



Shales too, foaled in 1755, was another 



aristocratically descended trotting stallion, 



his sire being Blaze by Flying CUlders; 



the dam of Blaze, known as the Confederate 



Mlly, having also Barb or Turkish blood 



in equal proportions with English. Thus, 



the Norfolk trotter at any rate, so far as 



lineage goes, should have stoutness enough 



for anything ; and, indeed, M. de Thaumherg, 



for forty years connected with Government 



breeding studs in Prance, declared in 1873 



that the Norfolk sire had transmitted, not 



merely good action, but high courage and 



power of endurance as well. If, therefore, 



the strain has deteriorated since then I should 



be inclined to attribute it to the same cause 



as the degeneration of the thoroughbred — 



viz., injudicious treatment. Probably neither 



