178 HORSE-RACING IN TEXAS. 



away for a few miles he did nothing, and was very quiet after 

 that. 



We made two more camps on this creek, as feed was good 

 and game of all kinds close at hand ; and then we moved 

 north, stopping where we could find game, ducks and geese 

 being in thousands, as they had now all arrived from the 

 north. I used to do most of my grouse-shooting from the 

 saddle, when I rode Polly, who would always stop suddenly 

 when I raised my gun to fire, and who very often saw game 

 hefore I did. 



Hearing that we had brought her with us from the north, 

 everyone thought it must be for racing purposes, and many 

 horses were brought to camp to run against her ; but we 

 refused to race, as it nearly always led to some unpleasantness, 

 and frequently to a fight with revolvers. All races in that 

 part of the country -were very short, from three to six 

 hundred yards, and the horses started at the report of a 

 pistol. 



While in Galveston I saw a heavy-looking, badly bred 

 animal, belonging to some gamblers, which required a whip 

 when being ridden as a hack, but which when on a race-track 

 I did not recognize, being all fire and spirit ; it ran a quarter 

 of a mile in eighteen seconds, and beat a fine chestnut 

 thoroughbred, which had a great name as a mile horse. 

 This kind of racing is most unsatisfactory and leads to a 

 great deal of trickery and cheating, so that we never went 

 in for it, after our first trial. Everything depends upon the 

 start when running so short a distance, and the gamblers, who 

 are nearly always the racehorse owners (l out west/' will take 



