All told, there were forty-seven blood stallions imported into Australia between the beginning of things and the end of 1838, and, considering what state the world had been in, politically and socially, during a great part of that period, and remembering the weary length of the voyage, the risk of capture by the French, and all the dangers incident to a sea voyage of some twelve thousand miles in small vessels, ships which could only be described as cockleshells, we did not do so very badly after all. It is interesting, and valuable, too, to mark the chronological order of the advent of such of these as have left a name behind them, in spite of the great gulf of time and all the tremendous events which have taken place on the earth since their brief day.
Blood Stallions of Note That Were Imported Between 1799 and 1838.
1799. Young Rockingham, by Rockingham. 1810. Hector, or Old Hector. 1817. The Governor. 1822. Stride, still alive through Princess, by Gratis from Roan Kit, by Stride out of a daughter of Camerton, from Cleodora, by Hector. 1824. Camerton. (No. 2.) Steeltrap (chestnut), by Scud—Prophetess. Sire of Jorrock’s dam. Satellite (a bay Arab); got great weight carriers and police horses. 1826. Buffalo (chestnut), by Fyldener—Roxana. (No. 13.) Peter Fin (bay), by Whalebone—Scotina. 1827. Skeleton (grey), by Master Robert—Drone’s dam. (No. 2.) 1828. Emigrant (Rous’) (brown), by Pioneer—Ringtail. (No. 4.) Theorem (chestnut), by Merlin—Pawn. (No. 1.) 1829. Toss (bay), by Bourbon—Tramp’s dam. (No. 3.) 1830. Romeo (chestnut), by Partisan—Vice. (No. 1.) 1831. Wanderer (bay), by Wanderer—Ogress. (No. 2.) 1832. Little John (bay), by Little John—Anna. (No. 11.) 1835. Gratis (bay), by Middleton—Lamia. (No. 42.) 1836. Dover (bay), by Patron—Maid of Kent. (No. 15.) 1837. Operator (chestnut), by Emilius—Worthless. (No. 11.) 1838. Lawson’s Emigrant (brown), by Tramp—dam by Blucher. Rubens (chestnut), by Priam—Sister to Portrait. 1838 or 9. Cap-a-pie (bay), by The Colonel—Sister to Cactus. (No. 5.)
Emigrant was the king of them all. If ever you run out the pedigree of an Australian-bred horse of to-day, whose ancestors have dwelt for some generations in Australia, there crops up the name of Rous’ Emigrant. It forms a memorial, far more enduring than brass or iron, to that very gallant sailor and splendid judge of all things connected with the racehorse, the Hon. H. J. Rous, “The Admiral.”
Rous’ Emigrant was a black brown, according to one who actually saw him, although some authorities, including the General Stud Book, describe him as having been a bay. In my own eyes I always frame a mental picture of a rich, glowing, mahogany brown horse, with a bold, generous, manly head, a great full eye, a noble crest, deep, fine shoulders, a barrel as round as any cask, and a tremendous loin. “He carries his flag like a Russian duke” of the olden time, and his quarters and gaskins are immense, with hocks straight, flat and strong. Old Mr. Gosper, of Windsor, N.S.W., is reported to have given the following verdict concerning Emigrant, and in the vernacular, “I never seed an ’orse that I liked better than Rous’ Emigrant. ’Is ’oofs looked as though they war made o’ granite, and at eighteen there wasn’t a blemish of no sort on ’is legs.” A rare horse.
But if the tide of emigration had been a somewhat weak one up to 1839, something had evidently occurred in the history of the colony, or in the world’s politics, so as to entirely alter that state of affairs, and I am not quite sure what that something might have been. The prosperity of Australia about this period was not very startling. The price of cattle was low, the population was not increasing in a satisfactory manner, “boiling-down” had already been resorted to, and yet, between 1839 and the commencement of 1844, fifty-three blood stallions were brought into the country. And the bustle and boom of the gold rush was still in the womb of futurity.
Chapter V.
The Foundation Brood Mares of Australia.
We have examined the foundation stones of our thoroughbred horse, so far as the sires are concerned, and now it is necessary to look at that even more important element in the building up of our racing stock, the early brood mares. We have already noted the arrival of Manto and the birth of Cornelia, the most important events which ever occurred in the chronicles of our Australian turf. None of the mares that followed, between 1825 and the early ’forties of the last century, were nearly so potent for good, although the influence of one or two of these has been sufficiently great.
Here is a brief list of those worthy matrons:—
1825. Manto, by Soothsayer—sister to Lyncaeus. (No. 18.) Cornelia, by Young Grasshopper—Manto. (No. 18.) 1826. Edella, by Warrior—Risk. (No. 3.) Cutty Sark (chestnut), probably by Soothsayer, but pedigree never authenticated. Spaewife (chestnut), by Soothsayer—Rous’ Emigrant’s dam. (No. 4.) 1828. Whizgig (bay), by Whalebone—dam by Canopus. (No. 3.) Lorina, by Smolensko—dam by Whiskey—Hoity Toity. (No. 26.) Dam of Alice Hawthorne. 1830. Lady Emily, by Manfred—dam by Cossack. (No. 29.) Gulnare (grey), by Young Gohanna—Ultima. (No. 17.) 1831. Merino, by Whalebone—Vicarage. (No. 3.) The Cape mare, said to have been by Driver. (No. 24.) Fairy, by Catton—Voltaire’s dam. (No. 12.) Octavia, by Whalebone—Blacking. (No. 5.) 1834. Penelope, by Phantom—dam by Woful. (No. 26.) 1839. Georgiana (Kater’s), by Waverly—sister to Corduroy. (No. 5.) Persiani, by The Colonel—dam by Reveller. (No. 12.)