THE V.R.C. AND FLEMINGTON 131 



Let us take a survey of the course and its surroundings, and you will 

 then appreciate what the famous raceground has been, and what it is destined 

 to become. 



If you stand upon the top of "The Hill," you can take almost a bird's-eye 

 view of the arena and the features of the surrounding country. 



The ground which the V.R.C. received from the Government at a 

 peppercorn rent, and additional land which they acquired subsequently by 

 purchase, lies at the foot of, and on the north-eastern side of, a huge cup. This 

 cup on the south side, that farthest away from the wnning post and stands, 

 has a large piece bitten out of it, and then resembles the teacup which Tenniel 

 represents the Mad Hatter in "Alice in Wonderland," carrying about in his 

 hand. 



To the north-west, between the Flemington and the Footscray Hills, a 

 considerable chip from the edge of the cup has also disappeared, and through 

 the gap thus formed flow the sluggish waters of the Salt Water River. 



Here on the Hill there is accommodation for an enormous crowd of race- 

 goers, and from this high eminence, and from the stands which crown it, a 

 magnificent view of the racing can be obtained. It is the choicest portion of 

 the whole ground from which to enjoy the spectacle, and the top of the hill 

 itself is nearly fifty feet above the race track as it passes the judge's box. 

 From here you see the Yarra, "dank and foul," but deep and wide enough 

 for two great ocean-going steamers to pass one another, flowing dow^nw^ards 

 to the bay, ere, "strong and free," it reaches "the foaming Rip and the infinite 

 main," as in Kingsley's song, and becomes as a "soul that has sinned and is 

 pardoned again." And here, too, at the w^ide gap in the cup, the Salt Water 

 joins it and increases the Yarra's volume on its course to the bay. 



There is a little bit of commercial romance connected with the acquisition 

 of the Hill, and some other portions of the grounds, by the Committee. In the 

 beginning of the 'eighties of the last century the Club did not own the Hill, and 

 the Railway Department was compelled, from lack of land, to take an 

 inconvenient and even dangerous sweep of the line to the right, just before 

 entering the platform. The blocks on which the Hill stands, and where the 

 railway now runs, were for sale at this period — 100 acres of land — and the 

 price w^as £ 1 00 an acre. The Committee met and considered the advisability 

 of making the purchase, and turned it down. But at this time the Royal 

 Agricultural Society was located in a miserable spot which was half a swamp, 

 and was on the look out for fresh fields. The V.R.C. Committee, having 

 definitely refused to buy the 1 00 acres, Mr. Byron Moore, on his own account, 

 now secured the lot. Thirty acres of this he sold to the Agricultural Society 

 at £150 an acre, and the rest of it — the Committee now having its eyes 

 thoroughly opened — he disposed of to that body at cost price. On this land 

 the railway found room enough to straighten out the line; the Members' Drive 

 now sweeps majestically through its avenue of trees; the Hill provides a 

 glorious site for the accommodation of racegoers; and an entrance is provided 

 into the back portion of the saddling paddock. 



You can see from where we stand the Members' Drive, with its long line 

 of trees, winding its way up to the edge of the cup at the Melbourne end of 

 the course, and there disappearing into the general traffic. The public drive 

 runs up to the same vanishing point, but on a lower level. Follow the edge 

 of the cup round to the great gap, and you see, on the low-lying lands there, 

 the abattoirs, from which, unfortunately, when the breeze blows direct from 

 that quarter, a somewhat disagreeable odour reaches the senses of the crowd. 

 Over the abattoirs, through the mists of winter, or the haze of the hot summer 

 days, you see innumerable derricks and the funnels of the great fleets of 



