46 THE HORSE IN AMERICA 



ceding them. The drivers were, naturally, much 

 enraged at this accident; but it seemed a neces- 

 sary consequence of the crush and hurry of the 

 day, and nobody could be blamed for it. The 

 party that I was with, seeing there was no chance 

 of riding, was compelled to foot it. But after plod- 

 ding some way, we had the luck to fall in with a 

 returning carriage, which we chartered to take 

 us to the course. On arriving, we found an as- 

 sembly which was simply overpowering; it was 

 estimated that there were over one hundred 

 thousand persons upon the ground. The con- 

 dition of the race were four-mile heats, the best 

 two in three; the course was a mile in length. A 

 college friend, the late David P. Hall, had pro- 

 cured for me a ticket for the jockey-box, which 

 commanded a view of the whole field. There was 

 great difficulty in clearing the track, until Eclipse 

 and Sir Henry (the Southern horse), were 

 brought to the stand. They were both in brave 

 spirits, throwing their heels high into the air; 

 they soon effected that scattering of the multi- 

 tude which all other methods had failed to ac- 

 complish. And now a great disappointment fell, 



