MORNING OF THE STEEPLE-CHASE. 11 



General and his staff, and all the heads of depart- 

 ments, turned out in grand style, whilst the Dewan 

 and many of the Ameers and native noblemen of 

 Hydrabad, accompanied by some thousands of 

 gaily-dressed retainers, came out to see the tamasha 

 of the Feringhee. Troops of dancing-girls, gor- 

 geously got up, and covered with jewels, mingled 

 amongst the crowd on richly caparisoned elephants 

 or in many-coloured hackeries ; and he must have 

 been a stoic indeed who would not have been 

 fascinated by some of the many lovely faces and 

 graceful forms that met the eye at every turn. It 

 was a pageant such as is rarely seen, except in 

 certain parts of India where the native rulers have 

 not yet been subjugated. 



The momentous day at last arrived when I was 

 to make my dehut in the pigskin as a steeple- 

 chase rider, and I must own the excitement was 

 tremendous, although I tried hard to dissemble my 

 feelings and appear cool. The race was to be run 

 at five o'clock in the afternoon, as by that time the 

 intense heat of the day had passed away, and the 

 power of the sun's* rays was diminished. Soon 



