HERO OF MANY FIGHTS.

Wairarapa Age, Volume XXXII, Issue 3194, 20 May 1909, Page 7

HERO OF MANY FIGHTS.

THE LAST OF AN OLD CHARGER. An old New Zealand £war horse, Major, the valuable charger of Colonel Porter, C.8., died last week at Gisborne from the effects of a severe chill. Major was -an exceptionally fine stamp of horse, possessing all the best points of strength and endurance. The Dominon's contribution -to the remount horses sent to South Africa during the war numbered 10,000, and of this large number Major was the only one that returned to New Zealand after escaping all the hardships of the campaign, and the sickness peculiar to South Africa. During tnis campaigning he trekked through the Portuguese territory from Beira to Rhodesia and Kimberley, Orange River Colony, Transvaal, .Ngtal, Zi'JulHnd C-Rpe Colony, during' Which he was twice wounded, onre in the knee and once iV the shoulder, but otherwise was never on the sick line-;. The wound in the knee nearly caused his being destroyed, as being o,i trek all disabled horses had to be shot rather than be left to the enemy. In the evening the veterinary officer reported he must be shot, but Major was given until the morning, by which time the bullet which had bdged in the joint worked out, and no saved his life. The wound in the chest was from a long range, and the bullet did not penetrate the bone, being cut out. On another occasion during an engagement against General Botha, the horse had a narrow escape, receiving several bullet scratches. When Colonel Porter left South Africa, to command the Coronation Contingent, Lord Kitchener, who had much admired the horse, gave instructions to send him by a troopship to England from the Cape. He was ridden by Colonel Porter during the Coronation celebrations. From England ho returned to New Zealand, and was quarantined three months on Somes Island, thence being taken to Canterbury and used by Colonel Porter during his command of that district; thence to Wellington, and [ finally to Gisborne.