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who had betted heavily on Mons. G. at this period endeavoured to bring about a wrangle, by declaring that Shephard had only proceeded round twenty-nine times. Mr. Leech, the backer of the Yorkshireman, on hearing the dispute, immediately went to his man and informed him of the circumstance, which Shephard no sooner heard, than out of bed he jumped, ran out of the house, and proceeded round the circle for the thirtyfirst time, and before his opponent had completed his twenty-ninth round, thus winning the match in a truly manful manner. The ac

clamations of the immense crowd that greeted Shephard on his entering the house were beyond description.-The Sun, June 20.

REMARKS ON ARABIANS AND RACING IN INDIA.-We extract the following from the British Sporting Magazine for August last. Our readers will no doubt be glad to perceive from it that the deeds of our cattle are thought worthy of notice even in England.

"SIR,It is generally understood in England that the Arab horse, though possessing the highest blood, is an indifferent performer on the race-course. Such has proved the case with the few tried in this country; but at the same time it should be taken into account, that those horses which have been brought forward have never established any claim, by previous performances, to be ranked as racehorses, and that they have suffered from a long sea voyage, which irremediably cramps the limbs: farthermore, that total change of diet, system, and climate must make so great an alteration, that the Arab has to contend against insurmountable disadvantages. It is not my intention to put him, even with everything in his favour on his

own ground, in competition with. the English racehorse for speed; but the running of some of the best Arabians, attested, as far as timing is a criterion, by steady observers, would be considered not bad even in England, and extraordinary in point of lasting qualities.

"Within the last twenty years the Arab blood has gone very much out of fashion with our great breeders; and the reason we must attribute to the number of inferior Arabs imported by individuals, who have chosen them, not from any superiorities they have shown, but merely from their beauty and appearance of blood, usually small, and adapted only for your Park horse. This description of Arabs, of which great numbers are to be met with in India, are a species of horse held in no estimation for the Turf, as, from frequent trials, they have been found to possess great speed for a short distance, but they can rarely maintain it beyond a mile. It is, therefore, to be expected that their stock have inherited their failings, and have therefore disap, ointed the breeders, who naturally calculated on on lasting qualities from the Arab blood.

As

"No Arabs can be considered thoroughbred but those who have justified their claims to this distinction by true running. there are no means of ascertaining the purity of blood, all other rules must be a matter of fancy and opinion, in which the best judges are liable to error. Those horses, which within the last few years have been conspicuous on the turf in India, accord but little with the received idea of the form of Arabs--all showing great bone or muscle, and partaking much more of the shape of the English racehorse. Such was Buckfoot, the best horse, perhaps, that ever ap

peared in that country: his powers of maintenance were particularly striking-he could run his three miles, carrying 9st., in six minutes and eight seconds; and he has been known to run two miles in three minutes and fifty-six seconds. The horses which have come out as winners lately at Bombay are remarkable as differing totally from the small prancing Arab, some of them being nearly fifteen hands high, with lengthy quarters, depth, short forelegs, and powerful gaskins. Such were Beningboro', Fitz-James, and Sussex; and the smaller horses, Don Juan and Tom Thumb, were remarkable for these points, combining with them perfect beauty. Fitz-James was beat but once: he ran his two miles in four minutes and three seconds; and in the second heat of a singularly hard contested race of two miles and a half, he beat Tom Thumb only by a head, in five minutes and eleven seconds. Don Juan, the most beautiful little racehorse that ever started, was not quite 14 hands high (but remarkable for symmetry and muscle), and could run his mile and a half in two minutes and fifty-nine seconds. Slyboots, a very extraordinary horse, has been winning his races of two miles in four minutes and one second, and doing the same in

a second heat; and a horse of great bone, but not showing much breeding, apparently a Persian, sent round to Bengal, called Spartan, has done the same distance in three minutes and fifty-seven seconds.

"If it be borne in mind that these horses have not the advantage of a spongy turf, but usually run over heavy courses, their performances cannot be deemed despicable. The following race will give our readers some idea of the bottom of good Arab horses :- -Sussex, Advocate, and Reveller, started for the Bombay Subscription, a distance of three miles: Sussex won the first heat; the second was a dead heat between Sussex and Advocate; and Reveller won the two last: they did their best each heat, running over twelve miles. Such horses as these have alone a chance of redeeming the celebrity of the Arab blood. It is only by breeding from proved horses that a fair chance can be given; and if Don Juan, Tom Thumb, or Fitz-James were sent home to cover, we might reasonably hope for a change in the opinion, justified by experience, that the Arab stock cannot go a distance.

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THE

ORIENTAL SPORTING MAGAZINE.

No. 4. APRIL, 1829.

A FEW LINES TO NIMROD, AND A WORD OR TWO ON GUZERAT SPORTING.

To the Editor of the Sporting Magazine.

SIR,
Allow me to congratulate you
upon your having started; keep
moving, Sir, and I have no doubt
but that in this age of velocity
we shall find you "somewhere."
Your having such an important
supporter as Nimrod makes me
entertain the most sanguine hopes
for the success of your Magazine,
for though perhaps not so great
as his namesake in the "West,"
I have little fear of his not being
able to find a sufficiency of sub-
jects to dilate upon, which, in his
hands, will prove highly instruc-
tive and amusing to the coves on
this side of the water. They say,
Mr. Editor, that you should
never look at an Arab walking,
he trips so cursedly; well, I must
say I have not found it a general
rule; yet there are exceptions-
one thing I am sure of, Nimrod
was not on the outside of a horse
when he penned that part of his
letter regarding Guzerattees,"
because he must be (from the
productions of his pen) one of
them "as knows how to do the

66

trick!" consequently not fond of going at a walk, ergo not liable to trip; but trip he did! and tripped he has, as far as my slender knowledge of hunting in "Goojrat" goes. Not many years ago there were two Hunts in the North of Guzerat; the "Saburmuttee" and the "Wartruk.” I have been out with the former; well, their time of hunting was (your readers say) of course gun-fire? No, no! verily I say no!

Any man who has ever been at the renowned city of Ahmedabad has either seen or heard of Surkej, some three or four miles distant to the West; had he ever been that road he must have passed a bheer of Dhab Grass, extending for miles on the bank of the Saburmuttee to his left, and if he was a sportsman (having his eyes in full play at all times and in such a neighbourhood) he could not have missed seeing a well! Oh, Mr. Editor, excuse my weakness, but the mention of that well shakes the innermost fibres of my heart throb; stirs up those kindly re

membrances of old friends, days gone and past, pleasures and regrets, happiness and sorrow; it is no use now making a bother about it, so I will try and keep on my course. I ran riot at a well; true enough, this said well was the fixture of the Saburmuttee Hunt for a long time, when hunting in the immediate vicinity of Ahmedabad, and the circulars ran thus: "Saburmuttee Hunt. To-morrow morning at sunrise, at the well, on the road to Surkej." In those days the hunters chiefly were gentlemen of the Civil Service, holding situations which required their attendance at office by eleven or so-the time of hunting became subservient to the same, but by that time three or four bristly gentlemen or ladies had bit the dust. As the hog became scarcer the time of hunting was prolonged (how far official duties thrived I cannot say), and two or three o'clock often became the hour for departure from the field of glory. Eventually the society of hunters became enlarged, and I have seen circulars to the following effect:-"Swift steeds, sharp spears, bold riders; and attendance required at the Snake and Mosque, on the road to Surkej; breakfast on table at eight to-morrow morning precisely, after which an adjourn ment will be proposed to the well! Wagries in abundance!!!" Kolud and Jajpoor can say what hour of the day their plains then rang with the clangor raised by the hoofs of the mighty Nimrods' steeds. Tiffin often was the word for the hunters retracing their steps, and nightfall saw them enter the Rakur Durwazn of Ahmedabad. Some of the first members of the Wartruk Hunt used to frequent the Koolud ground, and I am sure never left it without a day's sport. The

last time I was out in search of

hog was in company with one of the first sportsmen in Guzerat ; we breakfasted at Surkej, and beat the whole of the Koolud and Jajpoor bheers. Evening had closed when we reached Ahmedabad. I have entered so widely on this subject because Nimrod has a sly rap at the effeminacy (as it strikes me) of the "Guzerattees —a hint regarding the heat of the weather, &c. Every one knows Mr. V. (how he must have laughed on perusing Nimrod's letter when he came to the paragraph alluded to). I never was out with him hunting except in the middle of the day! and I think it is one of his grand maxims that if you want to kill hog that the hotter the day the better the sport, and that no man should think of going about the same with an empty cupboard. He acts up to it accordingly! I hope I have proved in a measure that the Guzerattees do not always hunt at midnight! or without a supply of that necessary article under the belt commonly denominated prog, and under this impression I dismiss the subject with the end of the paragraph.

I was quite delighted on perusing the schedule of the Deesa Races. There must be some royal sport before nags can be entitled to enter for the hunter's plate, and I hope your contributors, correspondents, or subscribers in that quarter will not fail to forward their lists of killed and wounded, first spears, splendid runs, &c., &c. I know one or two "raal good uns up there at anything of this kind. I am confident, therefore, I shall not be disappointed in the expectation of seeing a page or two of your next publication filled with a description of their sport during the ensuing Season.

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There are some "friends of the trigger" in Guzerat; a day's performance of theirs now and then would prove highly acceptable to those who have bagged game in that country, and moreover be an interesting record of the abundance of game in India, and worthy of perusal by an English sportsman!--not to mention the astonishment it would create in the minds of the battue shooters!

With regard to the arrangement of that part of your work dedicated to the noble sport of Racing, were it to form a distinct part at the end of your Magazine (in the same manner as in the English Sporting Magazine) I think it would be generally considered an improvement. It would admit of a person's forming a sort of Indian Racing Calendar, by separating it from the Magazine, if inclined.

I hope your correspondent "Novice" will profit from the hints conveyed in your second number. I suspect he is a bit of a "wit;" those who have come forward to assist him in his difficulties are decidedly so, no mistaking the thing-your correspondent Gambado forgot to say whether or not the turnips should be mashed with butter (the natives generally use ghee in their recipes for fattening beasts of all descriptions); I consider this a most material point in the success eventually of the system proposed to be adopted.

With regard to Racing, I see no reason why I should not record a few remarks of mine on the same in your Mag. Every man has his own way of training, yet in one point I believe they all unanimously agree-if a horse's legs can stand it, give him lots of exercise. With regard to food, some weigh their hay and grain, and measure the water; others allow nature to dictate the quantum requisite:

few horses refuse grain for grass, and that which has the most substance in it must afford the greatest nutriment and consequently gives stamina, which in other words is called "bottom." Here, then, is one grand point in racing gained; but without speed what use is "bottom"? some people will say. people will say. All very true at first sight. But I ask, how many Arabs yearly turn up speedy horses? Perhaps one or two, and they nothing particular: most of the races run on this side are races of heats, two miles or so; and how are they generally won? By those horses who show that their bellows are free and their ribs firmly cased; not those who can go the fastest-this looks something like an attempt at logic, a sort of confused arrangement of ideas, yet what is meant and which will be found to be the case, is that it is not the speediest horse always that wins the race, but the horse that is best trained.

In selecting an Arab for the turf a man generally looks to point: what else can he have to guide him? He sees one which in his opinion ought to go; he buys him, trains him; if any. thing of a trainer, the horse proves he can go at a certain rate, but perhaps cannot do his two miles in 4m. 6s.; he runs him-a 4m. 6s. or so horse takes the first heat from him, ten chances to one but he wins the second and perhaps the third. Why? Because his "bottom" comes into play in lieu of speed. Look at Harlequin and Slyboots' performance last season. I have heard Harlequin was not right; had he been well it must have turned up otherwise; and, if heats had been run, is there any person who is of a different opinion to me when I say Harlequin would have been the winner positively? Slyboots' subsequent

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