REMINISCENCES OF SONEPORE. 159 



jaunt to Calcutta. Besides which the Behar Light Horse were 

 booked for inspection during the exhibition week at Calcutta, and 

 the boys wanted what bawbees they had for the bigger show. 

 So for the first time since its initiation Sonepore was abandon- 

 ed, and only a few Chupra officials camped under the trees, a 

 desolate, wretched crew. Early in the year Mozufferpore had 

 been very successful, though the lotteries were not up to those 

 of 1882, when thirty thousand rupees worth filled on the Dur- 

 bangah Cup alone. Gwatkin Williams had sold his entire 

 string to Nawab Kajeh Ahsunoola, and Durbangah had now 

 formed a confederacy with Lord William Beresford, and though 

 this of course ensured his having a. powerful stable, it drew his 

 horses away from district racing. 



The Planter -s' Gazette wrote of tint fiasco of 1883: 

 "We hear that the number of horses and cattle flocking 

 this year to Sonepore is, if anything, beyond the average, and 

 that, in spite of the absence of the European camps, prices are 

 likely to rule excessively high, as not only have the Calcutta 

 Tramways Company bespoken agents to purchase for them, but 

 the horse dealing firms in the same city will also be strongly 

 represented. It seems indeed a sin to sound even a temporary 

 requiem over one of the oldest, most unique and most pleasant 

 meetings in India; but it was inevitable, as we have in previous 

 issues fully pointed out. Looking back to old turf records, we 

 find that the Hajeepore Races were amongst the first ever 

 held in Behar, and that as far back as 1839 the locale was 

 changed to Sonepore. We hope to be able later on when 

 space presses less strongly on us than it does now, to produce 

 a series of reminiscences of Sonepore, which we are perfectly 

 certain will prove of interest to the many readers of our 

 journal who may have either retired to the dear old country of 

 their nativity, or still growl under Indian heat and Riponian 

 misgovernment. Take one instance alone to show how those 

 who love and know the meet regularly visit it ; this will be the 



