WE

E have the pleasure of presenting our readers with a very spirited engraving by Cook, from a picture by LAPORTE, which we may with justice say reflects great credit on both those highlyesteemed Artists. It is a representation which must claim the notice of every sportsman, delineating, as it does, that Eastern blood to which our now incomparable racers owe so much, and which has brought the English thorough-bred one to a state of perfection beyond the reach of rivalry. In this stallion contest you see the blood of two races: in the grey may be seen the powerful compact form of the Bedouin and some other tribes closely connected with him, contrasted with the Egyptian, which, though externally evincing a near affinity in blood to the other, yet has by chance, and inferior crossings in the Desert, degenerated in blood, though his power of enduring fatigue, and that too on scanty fare, is great, as is well known amongst the different tribes of Mamelukes. Perhaps the Montefic may be considered the most symmetrical in form, the Nedgedde the largest, and the Bedouin the most powerful. What sight to a lover of the horse can be more gratifying than the magnificent Arab? How beautiful his proportions! the small muzzle, which could drink from a

goblet; the nostril wide, arched, and of a rich carnation hue inside; flat, wide, and lean check bone; eye, like that of the gazelle, large, dark, and full of sensibility: ears forward, erect, and ever in motion; flat forehead, head nobly set on, small arched neck, graceful as that of

"The swan that swims upon the lake :" the rising lean wither, and scapula well back in the waist; legs perfectly straight and flat, the arm long and muscular: from the knee to the pastern, short and strong; a blue hoof, as hard as the ground he flies over : the back flat, wide, and prodigiously short: loins high, and strong croup in a line with the tail, which the Arab of all horses carries out with the most grace: ribs, large and round; body, from the top to the hock, lengthy; and outer feet about a foot asunder: his skin thin and fine as the gossamer; flesh firm, bones solid and smooth, resembling ivory, and of iron strength: veins, full and visible on the whole, his blood, bone, wind, and bottom, are unrivalled. This is a true description of the unstained Arabian, whose disposition answers well to the beauty of his figure: for he is docile, affectionate, and as gentle in the family of his master as a pet lamb; but when roused, as fierce and as dreadful as the monarch of the forest.

:

SIR,

and expansive plains of the Continent, touched at the plains of Roscommon (and as it was touch and Kk

go there), detailed the splendour of the Oriental chase, its pomp, its difficulties and dangers, and ventured, descending "du sublime au ridicule, to court a smile by a few merry anecdotes, I beg leave to present my friends with a faithful description of horseracing in the West Indies, where Occidental expense vies with Oriental pride and luxury.

The period of my first Sporting Reminiscences, abroad and at home, was that when the velvet cap in England had succeeded to the gold-laced hat, and when the spencer was introduced as a curtailment of the skirts of the town, and when the jack-boot on the Continent shrunk into a minor leathern calf-case, albeit still of huge proportions; these were the trappings of hunting. On the Turf, gentlemen jockeys were all the rage, and rank and fashion were more numerous, as riders of their own horses, than they have ever been since. In Great Britain our late Monarch largely patronised the race-course. In France, the Duke of Orleans was at the head of all sporting: there I saw Dukes and Counts weighed for the approaching heat, who fell in the scale afterwards, and (some) sunk, never to rise again. The Dukes of Lauzun and Pienne were amongst the successful gentlemen jockeys of their day; and I used to admire a dozen forgotten Lords, together with Sir John Lade, the Honorable Butler Danvers, the handsome George Parkhurst, Count O'Kelly (such was his nom de guerre), and others of the same date, at Newmarket and elsewhere.

Whilst these sports and sportsmen were flourishing in our Northern climes, and whilst wild beast hunting, racing, and cockfighting were carrying on in the East, our planters and rich proprietors in the West Indies pursued (after a fashion) our sports of the field. A number of very fine thorough-bred English horses were exported to Jamaica and to other islands, which, however, were found to grow weak, and not, in an unmixed breed, to answer the purposes for which they were bred; but, when crossed with the Spanish blood, made very fine animals, less fleet, but still of great speed and considerable beauty, and being better fitted to the climate than ours. Of these race-horses, bred in the country, Major M— (now sitting at my elbow) had six, and a very rich Creole (a Mr. Davis) had at least a score, amongst which a horse called Blackbird was one of the most famous. It is of his performance that I am about to speak, giving at the same time a transient view of the scene, its company, localities, and a description of the Negro jockeys.

The stud of Mr. Davis was superintended by a Newmarket trainer, that of the Major by a man of colour, who had served a complete apprenticeship in English racing-stable. Both these gentlemen's horses started, together with four others of different transatlantic sportsmen-a few more having been entered, but were drawn, and paid forfeit. The scene was splendid, a number of booths, with white and striped drapery to protect the

spectators from the sun, being erected, which had a very pretty appearance, besides the grand stand filled with the fair sex, sitting imperiously distant from females of colour of every grade and cast, with whom they nowhere and never mingled in any shape. The gentlemen amateurs and knowing ones would have been completely in the Newmarket, Epsom, or Ascot style, but for the immense parasol hats, equal in dimensions, although differing in form from the Spanish sombrero, which reminded the stranger that he was far from home, and that the black colour prevailed in the population, of which hue there were many extremely high-dressed dames aspiring to a place in the ranks of ebony beauties.

But what had the oddest appearance of all was the Negro jockeys-boys, who certainly rode with great courage and dexterity, being schooled under British teachers, but whose dress and modus agendi were the most grotesque, unjockey-like, and antiAnglican imaginable. These little manikin monkeys were dressed in tight jackets, not unlike our racing ones, and of the colours of their masters' choosing; but instead of a cap, a kerchief, turbanlike, was secured round their head, which by the way was not operated on by the wind; and as their eyes were accustomed to view the sun, the shade of the jockey-cap was less necessary. Instead of leathern small-clothes, they had muslin trowsers, fixed tight at the ancles; and, instead of a boot, their birth-day stockings stood as a jetty substitute, a spur being strapped round the foot; whilst, not content with depend

ing on the stirrup by the pressure of the sole against it, the toes of the little blackies were interlaced with it, adhering as close as wax. The boys were very proud of their occupation, and most zealous and pains-taking in its execution.

The race-course was as fine and even as a race-course could be, not exceeded by Newmarket Straight Mile, by Doncaster, Fontainbleau, nor the so boasted pelouse or tapis verd of Chantilly. It is true that the solar-beam acted a little on its verdure, but excessive care and frequent watering kept it in very high order.

The weighing, mounting, and starting at the race were exactly similar to those preparations on our own courses, only that the racing boys seemed to cling like monkeys to the rigging of a ship when seated in their saddles, and that they "grinned horribly a ghastly smile" at each other whilst awaiting the word, their hearts being elate, and every man being expected to do his duty. The start was fair and offhand, and the heats were run all straight forward: it was no waiting race, nor was there much jockeyship; no deep manoeuvring, nor desperate trial of strength, so heart-stirring and surprising, when that consummate jockey Chifney makes one of his unequalled rushes; no making the most of a horse, nor keeping expectation on aching suspense: it was, however, a pretty race, although the chief contest was between Blackbird, the Major's bay horse, and a horse got by Eclipse, the property of an Officer of the Garrison; the other three horses were not placed. My friend the Major's horse won the first