1462 AUSTRALASIA ILLUSTRATED. 



another, taught the rowers both of England and America that they have yet a great deal 

 to learn before they can hope to stand against the material Australia has to show. The 

 consequence of all this is, perhaps, that we have a tendency sometimes to boast unkindly 

 critics may say, to boast overmuch of our victories in the fields of sport. But it is a 

 characteristic of healthy sport all over the world to be proud of success, and to enjoy 

 in the fullest measure the keenness of the race of emulation in the first instance, and 

 the reality of victory when the course is run. This is the very essential element and 

 true aim of all sport, and after every allowance has been made for the disappointment 

 of defeat, the worst outside critics can say of us is that our healthy enjoyment and 

 whole-hearted appreciation of our victories are as genuine as the struggle we make to 

 excel and to avoid being beaten. The first sign of our decadence as a sport-loving people 

 will be the decline of the pride we take in the triumphs of our representatives ; and all 

 who look on athletics, or field-sports of any kind, as the best means to develope a hard} 

 and manly race of future Australians, will see in the pride we take in their achieve- 

 ments the best hope for the perpetuation of the old sturdy type of the energetic 

 manhood of the country. 



To speak of sport in Australia is to imply horse-racing, and to suggest at once 

 the famous breed of Australian horses. In this connection the mention of the turf 

 associates itself in the most intimate way with Flemington and all the glories of " Cup 

 Day." This is the greatest of Australian festivals the season when the representatives 

 of the fashion and the wealth of all the Colonies gather by scores of thousands on the 

 principal Victorian race-course at Flemington, just outside Melbourne, to witness the great 

 racing event of the year in Australia. This magnificent race-course is the best of its 

 kind in the Colonies, but its well-appointed grand-stand and reserve, with the spaces 

 known as "The Flat" and "The Hill," are taxed to their utmost capacity by the masses 

 of people who crowd to see the " Cup " race, and each other, on that day. At Caulfield 

 there is another well-known race-course, while Randwick and Rosehill in New South 

 Wales are the corresponding courses in that colony. To describe " Cup Day" at Fleming- 

 ton, and to give the history of the Australian turf in detail, would require a volume of 

 itself, while even to name the horses of the various years, and tell the story of their 

 triumphs, would be a lengthy task. Horse-racing is the national sport of Australia, and not 

 only every metropolitan city has its race-course, and its regular meetings at stated periods, 

 but almost every little township and hamlet can boast of its local race club and its 

 periodical gatherings for this popular sport. The following are the fastest times on 

 record in Australia: Half-mile, 48 seconds; five furlongs, i m. \y 2 sees.; six furlongs, 

 i m. 14 sees. ; seven furlongs, i m. 2/3/ sees.; one mile, i m. 40 sees, (run by Boolka and 

 Kingfish) ; one mile one furlong, i m. 55^ secs - ' one m[ \ e an d a quarter, (run by Car- 

 bine in 1890) 2 m. 7 sees.; one mile and a half, 2 m. 35^ sees.; one mile and three- 

 quarters, 3 m. 4 sees.; two miles (run by Carbine, "Melbourne Cup," 1890,) 3 m. 28^ 

 sees.; two and a quarter miles, 3 rn. 59*^ sees.; three miles (run by Trident), 5 m. 253^ 

 secs. The fastest time for the "Melbourne Cup" (two miles) was by Carbine. 



The history of Australian cricket dates from the first intercolonial match between 

 New South Wales and Victoria, played in Melbourne in March, 1856. From that time 

 these intercolonial matches were repeated every year, with alternations of success from 



