The Australian at Play 183 



It has been said that when an Australian settle- 

 ment is planted, the first care of the pioneers is 

 to mark out the site of the cemetery, the second 

 to plan a race-course. Horse-racing in Australia, 

 however, is not the constant and absorbing pur- 

 suit made of it by its devotees in Great Britain, 

 but an amusement that concentrates public at- 

 tention during certain seasons of the year. For a 

 week, it becomes a consideration and is made 

 a leading topic of conversation, and then little is 

 heard of the subject until another racing carnival 

 comes round. During the first week in each 

 November, for instance, the city of Melbourne is 

 devoted to horse- racing; for the Melbourne Cup, 

 the most important event in the Australian racing 

 calendar, is then decided. It is remarkable how 

 many gatherings, necessitating the presence of 

 visitors from other states, are held in Melbourne 

 at that season. The Australian fleet of warships, 

 usually stationed at Sydney, may invariably be 

 found in Port Philip, and from all corners of the 

 continent, visitors find their way to Melbourne 

 for the great Australian reunion. Bronzed squat- 

 ters from Queensland, lean prospectors from the 

 sands of Western Australia, and traders who have 

 exhausted all the possibilities of the South Sea 

 Islands, may be seen renewing old acquaintance 

 on the spacious lawns of the Flemington race- 

 course. Everybody is there, from the Governor- 

 General to the newest music-hall favourite. 

 People who would not entertain the idea of 



