150 THE NEW ZEALAND GAZETTE.

1873 being 24,244, whereas in 1863 the returns
showed 22,000, an increase of little more than 2,000
in ten years, which is an inadequate increase for that
of population. The cause of this is difficult to define:
it cannot be decreased demand, as 1,949 were ex-
ported in 1863 and 526 only in 1873, though in the
latter year eight times this number were imported
into the other colonies. Racing has also been de-
clining for some years in the colony, the most suc-
cessful race horses and best sires having been
purchased for other colonies. This combination of
circumstances may probably account for diminution
in breeding. A few persons still breed a large num-
ber, but the supply is not equal to the demand, and
difficulty is experienced in obtaining sufficient for
the mail and other coaches. Some of the best im-
ported sires from England made their début in Tas-
mania, but were disposed of to more adventurous
breeders in Continental Australia. Efforts are how-
ever being made to resuscitate racing. The features
of the country are favourable for horse-breeding,
possessing rich pasturage and undulating ground, the
altitudes varying from 500 to 1,300 feet above the
level of the sea, the air is salubrious, and the tem-
perature more equable than it is in the other colonies.

5. In Victoria horse-breeding is carried on to a
   large extent, and though the value of other stock has
   increased, and the foreign demand been fluctuating
   and uncertain, a gradual increase in numbers has taken
   place. In 1863 there were returned 103,000 horses,
   and in 1873 180,000 were accounted for. A great pro-
   portion of those sent to India are bought in Victoria,
   and the principal exportation is from Melbourne. A.
   large number of entire horses are located throughout
   the colony, and with few exceptions are of high
   breeding and strength, several having been imported
   from England. Many thorough-bred mares are also
   kept for stud purposes. Victoria presents aspects of
   very different character, some parts possessing lux-
   uriant pastures and large plains, others being moun-
   tainous, with less fertile soil. The altitudes also
   greatly differ; in Gipp's land varying from 200 to
   400 feet, and in the western district below the divid-
   ing range, about the same altitudes exist; and in a
   north-easterly direction they vary from 300 to 2,000
   feet. The climate is variable, the country north of
   the dividing range being warmer and having a less
   rain-fall than in the south.

6. In New South Wales, the statistics of horse-
   breeding are imperfect: 328,000 of all breeds were
   returned in 1873, but it is generally believed that
   considerably more than this number exists, exclusive
   of horses that cannot be mustered and are accounted
   as wild. The number of the latter are estimated at
   not less than 30,000. In 1863 the number of do-
   mesticated horses was computed at 273,000. Several
   establishments are kept up in New South Wales for
   producing thorough-bred stock only, and from which
   a great number of colts are purchased for stud pur-
   poses. The colony presents very variable features
   as a horse-breeding country, the south-eastern por-
   tion being many degrees colder than the north and
   north-western. In many parts immense plains exist,
   in others high altitudes are attained, varying from
   200 to 1,500 feet above sea level. The herbage is not
   so luxuriant as in the south of Victoria, but salso
   laceous plants abound, and on which all stock thrive.

7. In the periodical reports forwarded to you, I
   have given a detail of the classes of horses and mares
   met with, and it now devolves upon me to state in a
   more general form the results arrived at, and to lay
   before you my opinion of the prospects, present and
   future, of obtaining a supply of remounts from Aus-
   tralia, adequate in quality and quantity for the army
   in India. And I may be allowed to state that my
   opinions have been based entirely on observation;
   and the several prices mentioned in this report are
   not conjectural, but gathered on the bona fide evidence
   of owners and breeders of horses.

8. Much has been said and written on the hardi-
   ness of the Australian horses, and which has been
   attributed to the effect of climate and food. As
   evidence it is stated that long journeys have been
   performed by horses with no other sustenance than
   grass. Without in any way disparaging these asser-
   tions, I may be permitted to mention that though
   very long journies have been performed in the Aus-
   tralian Colonies, it is not usual to demand more from
   a horse as a day's journey than is required from the
   Cape horse in South Africa or from the English horse
   in Great Britain. Sixty and eighty miles have been
   accomplished by me frequently in Kaffir land and
   the Cape Colony, the horse having no other food
   during the journey than grass. In England sixty
   miles a day is no uncommon distance to ride or drive
   one horse, and eighty have not unfrequently been
   done by me in the hunting seasons. It is urged that
   the horse in England is not fed on grass: this is
   admitted, but the hunter has to endure privation as
   long, and in many instances longer than a horse per-
   forming the same distance in any of the colonies,
   where grass abounds; since he is not allowed food
   during the time he is absent from his stable, which
   sometimes exceeds ten or twelve hours. Therefore,
   these assertions advanced as proofs of the superiority
   of Australian horses, cannot be received as possessing
   absolute weight. That horses can be taken up from
   grass in the Australian Colonies and ridden journies,
   I have had sufficient proof, but to argue that this is
   the result of some superiority existing per se in the
   horse and derived from climate is, I think, fallacious,
   and should be attributed to the fact that the grasses
   are much less succulent and far more nutritive
   than the grasses produced in England,—in short,
   partake of the character of good sound hay. The
   conclusion I arrive at is, that it is not because a horse
   is produced in either Australia, the Cape of Good
   Hope, Arabia, or England, he should possess superior
   powers of endurance and bear greater privation;
   but a horse bred in one of these countries, with a
   conformation adapted for the performance of a special
   task, can accomplish it as readily as one bred in
   another, the circumstances under which it is per-
   formed being equal. In further illustration of this
   I may mention that the 12th Lancers, at the com-
   mencement of their service in the Kaffir war, were
   mounted on horses purchased previous to the arrival
   of the regiment. Many of these, from being totally
   unfit, were cast and sold, and a number were shot
   daily when patrolling, from being unable to proceed
   with the column; so that in less than a year not
   more than a 100 horses were efficient. 400 remounts
   of a different description were then purchased, out
   of which not one horse was shot in consequence of
   inability to continue the march, and they were gener-
   ally considered as efficient as cavalry troop horses in
   England. But it must be admitted that some
   countries offer greater advantages for breeding than
   others; also that certain conformation and qualities
   predominate with one class more than with others.
   For instance, the docility of the Arab is proverbial;
   his legs, though not large, are mechanically well
   formed, the tendons and ligaments consequently
   little liable to sprains or lacerations; his pasterns are
   long and add to his elasticity of gait, but their ob-
   liquity and connection with the bones above are such
   that rupture or extension of the suspensory ligament
   ("break down") is never met with. His ribs are
   round though not deep, and his abdomen not too
   large, hence he retains condition with a moderate
   allowance of food, and speedily recovers from fatigue.
   He is wide at the withers, proving that his anterior