are the parents of all our racing stock-the Shem, Ham, and Japheth of their race-the tria juncta in uno of the British Turf. As a general rule, perhaps it may be said, though we doubt whether speed and stoutness are not often synonymous terms, the descendants of the former are famous for their gameness and speed; those of the second persevering endurance, but less speed; and the last for their speed rather than anything else. The descendants of the Byesley Turk number eleven generations, including twenty-six names of renown_on the male side, and ending in five representatives of as many branches in the present day, viz., Pyrrhus the First, Windbound, Kingston, Sweetmeat, and Wild Dayrell. The several links in this chain are composed thus: The Byesley Turk, Jigg Partner, Tartar, King Herod, Woodpecker, Buzzard, Selim, Langar, Epirus, Pyrrhus the First, in the first branch. The second-Buzzard, Castrel, Pantaloon, Windbound. The third-King Herod, High Flyer, Sir Peter, Walton, Partisau, Venison, and Kingston. The fourth-Partisan, Gladiator, and Sweetmeat; and the fifth, Sir Peter, Sir Paul, Paulowitz, Cain, Ion, and Wild Dayrell.

Nine generations do the same for the Godolphin Barb, consisting of two main branches, and containing only about twelve links, ending with West Australian and Tomboy, viz., Godolphin Barb, Cade, Matchem, Conductor, Trumpetor, Sorceror, Humphrey Clinker, Melbourn, and West Australian in the first branch. The second branch-Sorcerer, Smolensko, Jerry, and Tombey.

Between the Darley, Arabian, and Stockwell are twelve generations, which diverge out into eight branches, and number altogether nearly fifty names of renown, viz., Darley Arabian, Bartlett's Childers, Squirt, Marshe, Eclipse, Pot8os, Waxy, Whalebone, Sir Hercules, I. Birdcatcher, The Baron, and Stockwell for the first branch. The second-Whalebone, Camel, Touchstone, Orlando, and Newminster. The third-Whalebone, Whisker, Economist, Harkaway, King Tom. The fourth-Eclipse, King Fergus, Whitelock, Blacklock, Voltaire, and Voltigeur. The fifth-Blacklock, Brutandorff, Hetman, Platoff, and Cossack. The sixth-Brutandorff, Physician, and The Cure. The seventh-Eclipse, King Fergus, Bessingboro', Orville, Emilius, and The Hero; and lastly, the eighth-Eclipse, Joe Andrews, Dick Andrews, Tramp, Lottery, and Weatherbit.

In this small compass lies the whole history of the British Turf, here is comprised the essence of our breeding stud; all the rest is undoubtedly leather and prunella, and may be dismissed accordingly. Having myself no connection with the Turf, and taking little or no interest in its proceedings, except so far as it is connected with the breeding of my favourite animal the horse, I have no means for the reasons already assigned of tracing the pedigrees of these several horses on the dam's side to the parent stock. But to show the probability of the third proposition I have ventured to put forth, I will mention a few instances, as my memory and the limited means I have for so doing will enable me at the moment. In the first place there is the Marquis by Stockwell, out of Cinizelli by Touchstone-both sire and dam running up to Whalebone, the union horse of the link. Then, amongst stallions, we have Weatherbit, Rifleman, Annandale, Mountain Deer, Touchstone, Sir Hercules, and Blacklock emerging

in that of Eclipse, Epirus, Elis, The Flying Dutchman, Bay Middleton, Sultan, and Partisan in that of Herod. All horses, be it observed, not only remarkable in their day for superior racing powers, but many of them in their turn becoming links in that golden chain of turf celebrities who have handed down their race to the present day. Now this is a fact of the highest importance, and deserving the deepest consideration, for many a horse has glared like a metior for a moment in a brilliant short-lived career on the turf, and then vanished for ever into the dark gloom of oblivion; these, however, have succeeded in leaving an indelible footprint in the sands of Time, have indissolubly associated their names with the annals of our turf, and have accordingly had them ineffaceably engraved by the hand of Fame, as it were, with an iron pen on its rock for ever!

What then is the conclusion of the whole matter? What information may we derive from the above facts? What inferences may we draw from them? What lessons do they teach? How readest thou? To my mind they show pretty conclusively that no horse of celebrity has ever been got by an unknown or unsuccessful sire, or one who has not been connected directly with the main links in the chain we have set out. Secondly, that no mare or sire, whose immediate parents are not so connected have ever, or are ever, likely to produce a foal having the remotest claim to a niche in the Temple of Fame; whilst, lastly, horses whose pedigrees on both sides run up to, and emerge in, one of these golden links, have not unfrequently proved, and are much more likely to prove themselves not only superior as race-horses over others not so bred, but to extend that chain another length, and so contribute to the permanent stability of the stock.

These are lessons which, as it seems to me, lie on the very surface of Turf History, yet they are truths which few breeders, probably from the disjointed way in which the evidence is presented to them in the records of the day, have as yet been able to learn. If they had, we should scarcely see the announcements we do, or the numbers annually brought to the hammer as yearlings, whose chance of distinguishing themselves in a great turf career, putting their physical conformation altogether out of the question, if there be an atom of truth in the above propositions, must be absolutely nil. Only the other day I noticed a stallion advertised, whose recommendations were entirely of a negative character, himself, sire, and dam being altogether unknown to fame; in fact, his greatest qualification, according to the advertisement, being that he was altogether unconnected by blood with the most numerous and successful branch of the Darley Arabian family, enumerated above. With some the recommendation had evidently had its weight, for I saw several of what I should call this worthless produce advertised in the Doncaster sales during the St. Leger week! When such gross ignorance in the first principles of their trade is evinced by breeders, and when such recommendations can go down with the racing public, can we wonder any longer at the result? Shall we be surprised to find that of the thousand specimens of this terribly high-bred cattle annually produced, not half ever see the post in a threeyear-old form, that another year again divides them in twain, and that whole generations pass away leaving not a wreck behind, or more than one or two to claim attention beyond the passing interest of the day?

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No, we may or may not be wrong in our idea that the great chains of turf genealogy should be kept clear and distinct-we may or may not be wrong in our notion that the most likely way to ensure present and permanent success is to breed from two branches of the same family tree, as indicated in the notable examples we have specified above; but of the other proposition we have laid down with regard to horses unknown to fame, or whose parents are unconnected with the direct line of the great catenary of turf celebrities we have drawn out at length, being utterly useless for breeding purposes, we have not the shadow of a doubt. Every page of the Racing Calendar proves it beyond dispute, all experience endorses the conclusion, and the sooner it is recognised as a leading principle by breeders, the better will it be for themselves, and the better will it be for the turf!

But if this be the case-if our surmise be correct, that breeding from the most noted branches of the same stock is the most likely way of developing to the fullest extent the natural capabilities of the race-if it be true that the close affinity of family relationship, so long as not actually incestuous, has no deteriorating effect upon the offspring-if pureness of breed be the first essential qualification in every stage of the process of improving and maintaining any given breed of the animal creation-in short, if our interpretation of the divine command, "Let it bring forth and multiply after his kind," be correct-then it appears to us this further inference must needs obtrude itself upon our notice, and we are bound to conclude that no cross-bred stock can ever hope to arrive at perfection, or maintain the position to which it may possibly temporarily attain for any lengthened period of years.

We have already shown that amongst animals feræ naturæ there is no such thing as a cross-breed, and that, even when chance or design has produced a hybrid in those under the care of man, the breed is either restricted to the immediate produce, or dies out in one or two generations at the most, from sheer impotence and necessity. The reason evidently is, because it is a direct infringement of the divine will, and utterly at variance with the uniform laws of Nature. Why man should claim any exemption from this plain, universal law, and endeavour to join together what an all-wise Creator has manifestly designed should be kept asunder, and expect a blessing on the attempt, we cannot understand. The same reason which applies to the one case must surely apply to the other; and, notwithstanding all the efforts of organised societies offering prizes for the breeding of crossbred stock, we may safely challenge the world yet to exhibit a single successful instance of a permanently-established new breed brought about by such means. If it be said that the Leicesters amongst sheep and the Shorthorns amongst cattle are notable instances to the contrary, I reply that their real origin is very doubtful; but, if they are the results of crossing two or more different breeds, yet neither have yet established their claim to be considered permanent, successful breeds of our land; that both have already exhibited unmistakeable signs of degeneracy and decay-viz., tenderness of constitution, frequent barrenness, and difficulty to rear their young; and that many of us may yet live to see the day when, notwithstanding their vaunted excellence, and the numerous prizes they annually receive at Smithfield, "Ichabod" shall have been written on their name, and the old

despised Longhorn, whose brindled hide clad our forefathers when the Romans first set foot upon our shore, and a pair of whose enormous horns, taken from an animal bred or fed by a member of my family, in the lordship of Firsby, one hundred and ten years ago, still decorate the walls of my mother's house at Billesden, to testify to their gigantic stature, and pure breeds of which may still be found in the same county, shall again have taken the place which their antagonists have usurped for a time. No: we don't believe such a thing possible as the permanent establishment of any cross-bred stock, whatever may be its excellence for a time. The thing, at best, can be regarded only as a temporary freak of Nature, and must, from the necessity of the case, do one of these two things-either absolutely die out of itself, from the innate inability of its representatives to continue the breed, or else be absorbed in the stronger of the two breeds with which it was originally begun.

If any one wants confirmation of this fact or proposition, we have a strong illustration in the case of man, the lord and master of the whole animal creation. In no country, at no period of the world's history, has a mixed race, cut off from the primitive stock, been able to maintain its ground. Where, we may pointedly ask, is that glorious race of godlike men whom Phidias carved, and of whom Homer sung, whose majestic forms and matchless features, blue eyes and golden hair, were evidently due to the result of a cross with Scandinavian blood? Where is now the well-greaved Greek, and the children of his fairhaired, blue-eyed bride of heroic days? They have died out, according to Nature's invariable law, never to reappear. Where is the posterity of the Spaniard and his Indian spouse in the New World, for a time the most lovely of their race, and the most promising to continue of any that were ever seen under the sun? Scarcely a vestige remains, though little more than three cnturies have elapsed since Columbus first stepped upon its shore. Everywhere we behold the primitive races regaining their lost ground, and the mixed peoples obeying this one universal law. In England the Flemish races are fast gaining on the Saxon.

All traces of the Scandinavian and Celtic seem to have left Greece. The mingled Italian races, the product of so many others, seem fast reverting to a primitive race which occupied Italy before Rome was founded! On the other hand, wherever the race has been kept pure, it remains stedfast and unmoved through all time, and in the face of the greatest obstacles. Witness the Saxon, the Celt, the Sclavonian, the Sarmatian (in Europe), the Chinaman, the Gipsy, the Jew (in Asia), the Copt, the Hottentot, the Bosjeman, the Negro (in Africa), the Red Indian (in America). These each remain as vigorous and perfect in themselves as when the oldest historians wrote, or as when the first conquerors invaded their land. After thousands of years, they hold on their way in the face of the greatest obstacles, and yet show no symptom of decay-a conclusive proof, we think, of both the propositions we have advanced, that, on the one hand, no cross-bred race can maintain its ground for any lengthened period of years, and, on the other, that purity of race is the one great essential in any breed of animals we may wish either to continue or improve.

SPORTS ON HORSEBACK AT THE RIVER PLATE.

In a land of horsemen, sports and games on horseback will prevail. Horse-racing is an institution of the people of the La Plata States, from the peon who matches one of his horses (and all have several) against a comrade's for 10p. (1s. 6d.) to the estanciero or aficionado racing man and trainer, who will match his favourite for two or three hundred pounds. Racing, like all other things in the country, has undergone its changes-at least among certain classes; and near to the chief cities there are circular racecourses, grand stands, and all the paraphernalia of British innovation; but in the campo the old style prevails.

The horses are ridden bareback; the distances various, short ones prevailing-300 to 600 or 800 yards. Two horses of renown are matched to run, say 600 or 800 yards, "estilo de plais" (custom of the country). From far and near men of all grades assemble; the justice of the peace, who holds the "articles" of the match, presides as umpire, surrounded by chiefs and generals, estancieros, squatters, and gaucho peons, to the number of several hundred horsemen. There are caparisoned steeds, sleek and fat, with holiday trappings, silver headstalls, silver chain, or silver-mounted reins of finely-plaited hide, silver-mounted "recados" (native saddles), silver embossed stirrups, and silk embroidered saddle-cloths. Of the ridders, some have costly ponchos, silver-ringed "ribinques" (flat-lashed whip) of finely-plaited hide, and huge silver spurs-beau-ideals of estancieros of the olden time-while the gaucho haragan (roving gaucho) may be seen on his "caballo flaco" (lean horse), with seedy "recade," rawhide reins, and huge iron spurs of two to three inch rowels. Many bring their "parejeros" (racehorses) for the chance of "matches," many of which are made during the day. The horses of the great race appear on the ground, led by their trainers, and having on their muzzles. The would-be critics of the crowd comment upon the condition of their favourites. The ground is measured out. Some of the most interested in the race and the betting dismount, spread out their saddle-cloths and ponchos on the ground, near to the starting-post, and recline thereon. Weights having been adjusted, the order to mount is given. The ridders, stripped to the shirt and barefooted (boots are not permitted, lest "undue " advantage should be taken of heel and toe), having a handkerchief tied closely round the head, swing themselves lightly into their seats. The two horses are brought together and stand side by side; they are then walked forward a few paces and stand again, both riders and horses eyeing each other with the greatest keenness. This process is continued for more or less time, the "partidos" increasing in length, and the speed gradually warming up the horses. They start now from the post at a bound-the two horses, with pricked ears and dilated eyes and nostrils, leaning against each other and are pulled up within their own length after going thirty, forty, or fifty yards; this is continued, increasing the distances of the starts or "partidos," until both riders consent to " go;" they challenge each other, and tempt each other on, as they find their horses