THE HUMOURS OF THE RACECOURSE 109 



listening to some instructions. " There's four on ye 

 all right ; so ride 'ein out, and bust 'em." 



' I heard no more, for we were off. 



' The steeplechase was like most others, with the 

 usual amount of mishaps and falls. However, we 

 got off pretty well, and managed, as my friend fore- 

 told, to " pull it off," running first and second. As 

 to the other fellows riding us out, they never had a 

 chance ; for we came away, and beat them as we 

 liked in both heats.' 



The French officers serving in Algeria have had 

 chances of seeing a little more of horse-racing than 

 falls to the lot of most of their countrymen ; for, as 

 has been said, the Arabs are fond of horse-racing, 

 and often practise the sport, though their notions of 

 jockeyship differ from those prevailing at Epsom. A 

 Derby Day with the Arabs has been humorously 

 described by John Ormsby, Esq., of the Middle 

 Temple in his book entitled Autumn Rambles in 

 North Africa. ' Gathered together to witness the 

 sport and make a harvest of the spectators were to 

 be seen,' he tells us, c the analogues of the Ethiopian 

 serenader, the barrel-organ, the comic orator, and 

 the other humorous features of our Derby Day. It 

 must be confessed, however, that any comparison 

 between our nigger melodist and the gentlemen who 

 perform the corresponding services for the Bedouin 

 sporting world would be very much to the disadvan- 

 tage of the London Arab. Owing, perhaps, to the 



