REMINISCENCES OF SONEPORE. 



one would stand him liquor, and eventually went to the 

 gutter, so when Mr. Gasper returned from his trip to 

 England, and went straight to Jaintpore to see his new 

 horse, all he saw were extracts from Melbourne sporting 

 papers hinting at what really had happened. So Sonepore 

 in spite of the vaunts made at the supper table the previous 

 meeting, did not promise big licks in the racing line, for 

 Jimmy had no new plums and Gwatkin not a ghost of a gee. 

 Mr. Gasper had made Harry a present of a very neat little 

 Australian filly called Edith, which the latter had fallen in 

 love with at Weekes' sale. She was small, but very breedy, 

 .with perfect action, and she proved the soundness of his 

 judgment by winning him a very big lump at Lucknow, 

 where she beat the speedy Cuba, having sold in five lotteries 

 each of a thousand rupees, at an average of Rs. 100, backed 

 by Harry in all. So this mare with Major Prior's Nereus and 

 Caulfield and Mr. Mullick's Sir Greville, Miss King and his 

 countrybreds, all at Jaintpore, were about the only decent first 

 class nags in the local stables. 



The much considered, long talked of, and from which so 

 much was hoped, meeting came and went ; and in the re- 

 trospect thereof the Stewards may be credited with having 

 scored an undoubted success. Divided, to suit racing men, 

 rather too long from the native fair, merely holiday folk and 

 strangers lost much that was novel and much that was curious, 

 but the sporting part of the community gained by the com- 

 parative quiet obtained in consequence, and settling down 

 to work made racing the order of the day throughout. 



The compact character of the English camp and its 

 contiguity to the course and ball room rendered locomotion 

 comparatively easy, for there was no absolute necessity of 

 turn-turns or ticca garries, and the furthest camp was barely 

 a quarter of a mile from the course. Mozufferpore, Chumparun 

 the iyth N.I. ha^ each a camp. Hospitable little Chupra 



