Colne to Harefield Common; then headed back to Woodcock Hill, on for Rickmansworth, thence to Mill-end, on the right for Bullock's Farm, away in the direction for Chenies; then headed back to Charleywood Common, when it was secured after a good hunting run of an hour and three-quarters.-About seventy saw the finish.

March 17.-Holtspur Gate, and a Field of nearly one hundred.Uncarted near Loudwater, the deer making for Wooburn Green, crossing the hills in the direction for Littlewood Common; then on nearly to Beaconsfield, to Longbottom, thence to Hedgerley, leaving Hardiman's Bottom to the right, by Hedgerley Park to Stoke Common, where the deer again headed back to Hedgerley, and was taken on Mr. Hall's Farm in the Bottom, after an hour and three quarters, the first and last parts very fast, but in the middle of the run the scent was slack.

March 20.--New Lodge, with a Field of about one hundred.-Uncarted on the right of the Bracknall-road, going away straight for Hawthorn Lodge, then to the left pointing for Warfield; headed back near the Church, to the right of Lady Malcomb's, on to Jealous Hill in the direction for Binfield; leaving the village to the left, crossed to Billingbear Park, on to Surlick Street, over the fields to Lawrence Waltham and White Waltham, where it was taken after a capital run of one hour and a half.

March 22.-Salt Hill, and a Field of one hundred and fifty.-Uncarted "Beauty" in Stoke Lane; making for Farnham Royal, then to the Common, across the Beaconsfield-road to Burnham Beeches, for Littlewood Common, across Longbottom, through Old Barn Park, to Holtspur Gate, along the Bottom to Loudwater, over the Wycomberoad in the direction for Lord Carrington's Park to near High Wycombe, where they took, but poor Beauty dropped dead in a few minutes after being captured.

March 24.-Bulstrode Park, with a Field of one hundred and fifty. -On uncarting an untried deer, she went off for the Bull End, and going round the farm, made her exit over a seven feet wall, which completely "stopped" the Field, who sought a more easy egress; on over Gerrard's Cross Common to Duke's Wood and Fullmer Bottom, then to Stoke Common, down by the Dog and Pot to Stoke Park; headed back to Farnham Royal, on between Farnham Royal and East Burnham, crossing the Great Western Railway, and away to Cippenham Green and Dorney Common, the hounds, from the severity of the pace, having it all to themselves, not even a Whip being able to live with them made for Boveney Church, to the River, both deer and hounds crossing near the New Lock, the Field taking Windsor Bridge: the deer landed near Surley Hall, making for Dedworth Green and St. Leonard's, on to the Forest, where the hounds were at fault, with the exception of one couple that had outstripped the rest of the pack, and stuck to her haunches: this being observed by two Gents who had taken a different line, the five went at a killing pace for New Lodge, then heading to the right, on the left of Fyfield to Hollyport Green, where the deer was secured after a most severe run of upwards of two hoursnone of the Field, with the exception of the "lucky twain," being up, or even going the distance.

THE CHESTER CUP.

I KNOW of no Meeting which has of late years sprung more into notice than that annually held over the Roodee of the ancient city of Chester, and if the liberal additions to the different Stakes be continued, the races cannot fail to maintain their present palmy state of prosperity. It is greatly to be regretted that by some unhappy misunderstanding these races are fixed to commence on the same day as those at Bath-a measure which must inevitably prove very detrimental to the interests of both Meetings; and to this cause may we assign the falling off in the acceptances for the Chester Tradesmen's Plate, decidedly the greatest and most important Spring Handicap of the year. Surely this should have been better arranged!

Of sixty-eight nominations for the Chester Cup, thirty only accepted on the 1st of February, one of whom (Arcanus) has since paid forfeit. Last year there were thirty-eight acceptances out of sixtyfour entries! This sad decrease is principally to be ascribed to the cause above alluded to, but I believe that many owners of horses have been frightened out of the field by the menacing aspect of The Corsair, who, if his running in public be fairly considered, certainly appears to be extraordinarily well in.

Alice Hawthorn, 5 yrs, 8st. 8lb., stands now (Vulcan and The Squire having paid) at the head of the poll in point of weight, which elevated position is no more than what she is entitled to, as all who saw her beat Sally for the Northallerton and Richmond Cups are able to testify. But those who are sweet upon her (and they are many) must not forget that Heseltine has three other nags in his stable, to each of whom she has to give lumps of weight-viz. Eboracum, Millipede, and Brother to Harpurhey. The former of these cannot give away his year to Millipede, who is a stout and honest runner, and can stay his course. I should be inclined to prefer him to Brother to Harpurhey, who, though a fine animal to the eye, and in at a feather, has about the worst temper in Christendom, and is a regular wastrel. The best of the four is sure to be there or thereabouts; so it would be policy to back the lot, and not run the risk of burning one's fingers by standing on any individual member of it.

The Irish division, though not composed of any very prominent favorites, is tolerably strong in numbers, consisting of Bangor, Fireaway, Scalteen, Recompense, and Fidhawn. Bangor ran respectably in Ireland last autumn, and, not being overweighted, will probably do the same at Chester, should all the shine not be taken out of him at Croxton Park, where he has two engagements, for both of which I hear he is likely to run.-Fireaway is not be trusted, though he can run when he will; but the punishment he received in his race with Belcour at Liverpool has completely destroyed his temper, and made him an unsafe horse to back for any race, least of all for the Chester Cup. As for Lord Miltown's two, Scalteen and Fidhawn, the former, a handsome chesnut, has never yet won a race, and the latter could scarcely defeat a good donkey! Recompense, whose name through some mistake was

not published in the original list of acceptances, is to my thinking not without an outside chance, and, being very well in, deserves at least to be thought of.

I have always considered Portrait a stout and useful, though rather lazy horse, but not possessing sufficient speed to live the pace the Chester Cup is usually run at; besides which, his stable companion Marius is the best at the weights. This latter nag has appeared but thrice in public-a winner of two races, and beaten by Vulcan for the last Cup at Cheltenham at weight for age. He consequently must be very fresh, and his owner cannot complain of the weight imposed upon him, 5 yrs, 6st. 8ib.! If he come well to the post, Marius must be one of the very first.

The redoubted Marshal Soult has thrown over his backers too often to be trusted now; and in spite of the asseverations of his friends, I maintain that when he fell over the ropes in last year's race, he was a beaten horse, and consequently, had the accident not happened, would have had no chance of winning. I should give Priscilla Tomboy credit for making him safe with the year between them, inasmuch as she has run a good mare upon two or three occasions, while all the Marshal's great deeds are to come. In fact, I shall expect to see the daughter of Tomboy in a front place at the finish, though I doubt if she can give 24fb. to Re-action, of whom more hereafter.

Sir W. Stanley's two, Vakeel and Forester, possess a great advantage in being trained at Delamere Forest, close to the scene of action. Each of these has shewn some running, and though the latter cut but a poor figure at Liverpool, I think he must have been amiss at that time, as he had previously beaten nearly all the best horses at the Curragh, including Great Wonder, Jolly Tar, and St. Lawrence. If well on the day, Forester will run very forward, though there are others that will be seen by the Judge before him.

The performances of Galanthus at the last Doncaster Meeting were decidedly above par, and the clever style in which he won the Great Yorkshire Handicap shewed him to be a horse of no mean pretensions; nor must his victory over Master Thomas and Mosstrooper in the same week be overlooked, as both his opponents were considered decent nags, and the former especially had been made a great pot for the then St. Leger. Queen of the Tyne, it is true, cut him down at Richmond; but as he then gave her 91b., and in the present race only has to give her 1fb., I calculate that their positions will be reversed.

No one, not even his bitterest opponents, can deny that The Corsair, 6 yrs, 7st. 2lb., is lightly weighted in proportion to his deserts, and when we call to recollection his victories for the Two Thousand Guineas and 300 Sovereigns Stakes, and his running second, carrying 8st. 6b., to Orelia for the great Goodwood Handicap in 1841, his winning this rich prize would seem to be merely a question of health. That the knowing ones think otherwise is apparent from the fact of the horse's position in the odds having shifted several times during the last month, from first favoritism to "any odds you please." He is now at 12 to 1, but without any signs of steadiness. We may therefore conIclude that there is a "screw loose" somewhere, and though it would be scarcely safe to lay against him, still more dangerous would it be to back him, at least until he has assumed a more settled appearance.

Jamie Forest (late The Young-'un) must not be lost sight of by the backers of horses, as he has occasionally, when in the humor, run a good race against decent nags. For instance, in the Cesarewitch 1841 he was a capital second to Iliona in a very large Field, and at the last Leicester Meeting he carried off the Handicap, beating, amongst others, the crack Re-action, to whom he gave 261b.

:

I see nothing in the running of Aristotle to warrant a belief that he can have any chance at the weight. His best performance was at Liverpool July, winning the Queen's Plate against Portrait and Forester, the former being stale, and the latter anything but fit to run. Gunter cannot get the distance: a mile race over a level course is his forte, and the idea of his being able to manage the Chester two miles and a quarter is quite preposterous. Lara is lightly handicapped he cannot, however, give weight to Marius, whom I expect to beat every other five-year-old. If family connection can avail The Prior, the being own brother to Alice Hawthorn ought to do so, though it far from follows as a matter of course, that, because she won the race last year, he must likewise snatch the laurels on this present occasion, as, if public running (after all the only true criterion) be looked to, his proper place is in the back settlements, where I shall leave him.

Re-action (the Bizarre filly), 4 yrs, 5st. 13fb., must be set down as the decided favorite for this event; and although she is at present almost a dead letter in consequence of the uncertainty and distrust which prevails respecting her sale, her nominal price, at which she would be freely backed could the unhappy dispute respecting her ownership be amicably adjusted, is not higher than 7 to 1. That she is very well in is an undoubted truth, though I must confess I cannot see that her winning is such an absolute certainty as some of her friends would have one believe. In the Craven and Second Spring Meetings, she was beaten in a canter by Dil-bar and Ma Mie, and in the Second October she ran fifth, with 5st. 8fb., to Arcanus for the Cesarewitch. However, as she can stay her course and is turned loose, she must be bad indeed if she cannot attain a place, which I expect she will, though not the first one.

I shall pass over Paragon, Sister to Alexandrina, and Slipshod, and conclude my list with Mr. Bateman's Haitoe, 4 yrs, 5st.! This mare, in the teeth of eleven defeats and not one solitary triumph, has been backed to win large sums of money, and her present price is at only 20 to 1. She appears to have nothing to recommend her to public notice, except being a daughter of Sir Hercules and the lightness of her weight. However, as there are some animals who could not win a race even if turned loose, in my opinion she is one of these.

Having waded through the acceptances, nought now remains for me but to sum up. I leave the race, then, in the hands of Marius, The Corsair, and Re-action, with an eye to Jamie Forest and the best of Heseltine's, but, if compelled to stand on one single horse, it should be Marius.

March 20, 1843.

PETARD

SECOND SERIES OF

SCENES AND SPORTS IN FOREIGN LANDS.

BY LIEUTENANT-COLONEL E. NAPIER.

No. XIII.-CASTING THE DJEREED ON MOUNT LEBANON*.

"Thrice clapp'd his hands, and call'd his steed,

Resign'd his gem-adorn'd chibouque,

And mounting featly from the mead,

His way amid his Emirs took,

To witness many an active deed

With sabre keen or blunt djereed."-Bride of Abydos.

99

It was early in the month of November in the year of our Lord 1840, at the moment when the "russet-mantled morn' was still faintly contending with darkness, and was fast disclosing the distant beauties of the already snow-capped Sanneen and Knessi, those towering summits of Lebanon, that beside a clear fountain, on the first acclivity of that gigantic range, a party of well-mounted horsemen were breathing their panting steeds, apparently awaiting with impatience till the increasing light should enable them to pursue their journey over the rough and rock-strewn path, which now began, with a precipitous ascent, to breast the steep sides of the mountain.

In these sunny regions bright Phoebus lingers not in the embrace of Aurora, but impetuously drives forth his blazing chariot through the portals of the morn, and suddenly overwhelms the firmament with a flood of golden splendor-in plain terms, there is here little or no twilight; and the transition from total darkness to the nearly broad glare of day is most sudden and instantaneous.

It was one of these sudden metamorphoses which disclosed to the view of the spectator (supposing always one to have been found in so lonely a place) the abovementioned group, consisting of three wellappointed Cavaliers, with what appeared to be their attendants or followers on foot.

The rising sun, which now threw a soft saffron hue, delicately tinged with vermilion and crimson lake, on those snowy and distant summits of the gigantic range, whose toppling height confined the horizon of the eastern prospect, soon likewise-to use a painter's phrase "brought out" in powerful relief the motley group at the "Ain," or fountain head: the attendants on foot, from their Oriental garb and darkbronzed features, were evidently natives of the soil: whilst a slight fair-haired youth, with laughing light-blue eyes, habited in a rough pea-jacket, over which carelessly and not ungracefully hung a Scottish

* See Plate.

VOL. 1.-THIRD SERIES, N. S.-No. 4.

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