Riding men will be interested in some further particulars of the remarkable ride from Vienna to Paris of which mention was made in my last letter, M. Cottu, it will be remembered, accomplished the whole of the journey, 745 miles, in 12 days 14 hours, representing an average 62 miles per day. He and his mount, Trish Lass, finished in first-rate condition. In the absence wf records of long distance riding it is difficult to say exactly what rank HI. Cottu's achievement. should take, but he has at any rate accomplished a record on the route selected by him, Some time ago Lieut. Zubowitz, a Hungarian cavalry officer, performed the Same journey in what was then considered the remarkably good time of 14 days 5 hours, but his mare was completely used up when she reached Paris, When any feat out of the common is accomplished, it is always interesting to know how it's done." In a conversation Thad with him, M. Cottu was good enough toler me into the secret. "Thechief thing," he said, is to avoid overhoxting your horse. 'I was never more than an hour in the saddle without getting off. I never kept Irish Lass at the trot for more than emile. I always dismounted at inclines andied her quietly up them, In hilly eyions our speed did not exceed 4} miles an hour and on flat roads we did not go beyond 6 miles an hour. Immediately on reaching our stopping place I unsaddled her, rubbed her back gently for five minutes with the bare hand to restore the circulation in the parts weighed upon by the middle, and groomed her carefully. I fed her three times a day and gave her between 20 and 24 litres of oats and between 15 and 18 litres of milk per day (a litre is exactly a pint and three-quarters.) I let her drink water whenever she wanted it, but she took comparatively little. To' escape the heat I gave her her principal rest in the middle of the day and only about two hours at night. She lay right down in the stable as soon as she had finished her food, but she was always ready to start again and I never had to do more than call her when the time came to get on the road. She did not cast a shoe throughout the ride and there waa nothing
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.