POLO IN INDIA 283 



suppleness that characterises Orientals, no mean advantage in a 

 game. They lack combination, however, and each man plays 

 too much for himself. It is a pity that one of these teams does 

 not visit Hurlingham, and see if it could hold its own against 

 such players as the Messrs. Peat, John Watson, &c. The 

 betting would certainly be in favour of the Englishmen, but 

 the contest would be one worth going a long way to see. That 

 history repeats itself is a truism, and it is strange that a game 

 once so universally popular in India should have been practically 

 reintroduced by its conquerprs, and that some of the descend- 

 ants of the Moghul horsemen who exhibited their skill at the 

 Imperial Court of Agra and Lahore centuries ago, should now 

 be amongst the most noted players of our Indian Empire. 



The Nizam of Hyderabad gives an open challenge cup which 

 is played for annually on the polo ground at Secunderabad, and 

 there is a polo tournament held annually at Poona which bids 

 fair to rival that at Bombay. Others take place at Allahabad, 

 Nusseerabad, and Calcutta, besides the Infantry Tournament 

 and the Native Cavalry Tournament, in which latter only one 

 native per team is allowed to play. 



And so north and south, east and west, in our great Indian 

 empire the national game of its former rulers has again 

 blossomed forth, and, like a green tree, grows and flourishes, 

 nearly every station having its polo ground and club. Umballa 

 in .particular boasts of no fewer than fifteen polo grounds, where 

 play and practice take place most days in the year, and it 

 is noteworthy that in 1884 the three great contests played 

 at Umballa the Inter-Regimental Tournament, the Infantry 

 Inter-Regimental Tournament, and the Native Cavalry Cup 

 were all won by regiments quartered at that place. 



Polo grounds in India differ greatly from those at home, 

 being very hard and fast, though very level, and easily found. 

 During the hottest months of the year, viz. March, April, and 

 May, the grass all dies down and the surface is little better 

 than a dusty plain. Once the monsoon bursts, however, the 

 grass springs up like magic, and though during the rains the 



