1464 A USTRALASIA ILL USTJ^ I / I'D. 



The game of bowls is played in most of the Colonies, but in Melbourne and 

 Sydney clubs have been formed, and the game is taken up with enthusiasm by the 

 elders of the population. Some of the provincial towns have also their local clubs ; 

 and a friendly rivalry existing between Sydney and Melbourne has resulted in an inter- 

 colonial contest every year since 1880. 



Foot-racing and pedestrianism in its various forms have always been popular 

 branches of Australian sport, and here, again, the climate of the Colonies is found specially 

 favourable to this description of athletic exercise. Walking-matches, hurdle-racing and 

 other sports of the kind have always been actively encouraged in Sydney and Melbourne. 

 Pedestrians from England have at different times visited the Colonies, and revived the 

 interest in the pursuit of these popular forms of amusement. Bicycling has hundreds 

 of votaries throughout Australasia, and the principal contests of the season are always 

 looked forward to with a lively interest. 



Within the past ten years boxing has obtained a great hold in all the Colonies, and 

 professional and amateur contests for large stakes are almost as numerous as in the 

 United States. Most of the cities have well-managed boxing clubs. Two Australians, 

 F. P. Slavin and W. Murphy, in 1890, carried all before them in England and America, 

 Slavin defeating the English champion, and the other colonial representative winning the 

 feather-weight championship of America. At New Orleans, in the beginning of the 

 year 1891, the New Zealand boxer, Fitzsimmons, defeated the American middle-weight 

 champion, Dempsey, the holder of a hitherto unbeaten record. Peter Jackson, the 

 coloured champion, also hails from Sydney. 



Aquatic sports have found a field for their exercise on the Parramatta and Nepean 

 Rivers and Sydney Harbour in New South Wales; on the Yarra River and Albert Park 

 Lake in Melbourne ; and on the harbours of most of the other important Australian and 

 New Zealand cities. In this connection it is almost unnecessary to mention the victories 

 of Trickett, Beach, Searle, Kemp and Stanbury, who have obtained a world-wide reputa- 

 tion, and earned for Australia the aquatic championship of the world. The achievements of 

 these, and other famous New South Wales scullers, have brought the Colonies prominently 

 before the Old World, thus indirectly attracting population and contributing to the de- 

 velopment of the country. The victories of Australian rowers in England have also brought 

 ex-champions to the Colonies in search of their lost honours, and their unsuccessful efforts 

 to re-capture the laurels which had been carried away from them, drew the eyes of Europe 

 and America in this direction. The case of Hanlan, for years the world's champion, is an 

 instance of this ; the results of contests in which he was engaged on the Nepean and 

 Parramatta Rivers were flashed to all English-speaking peoples within a few hours of the 

 events themselves. Yachting, also, has always been a favourite recreation in the Colonies. 

 The romantically picturesque Harbour of Sydney is in the season white with the sails of 

 various craft, gliding to and fro across the bright waters of the bay like the white wings 

 of graceful sea-birds, and making the pleasant scene instinct with life and movement. In 

 the Centennial Year a gold cup, valued at ,500, and known as " The Hundred Years' 

 Challenge Cup," to be won twice by the same yacht, was offered by the Government of 

 New South Wales. For this trophy the Era, Magic, Mistral and Waitangt competed, 

 the first-named being the winner. The most important regatta of the year takes place 





