THE GUZERAT CUP 179 



" Littleton " (Jack Symons) and his brother " Nick " 

 Symons, mounted respectively on Skylark and 

 Wood Pigeon. The place was Deo Dholera. 



" Are you ready ? Ride ! " shouts the umpire, and off 

 went Wood Pigeon, stealing the start, but closely followed 

 by Skylark. The pig dashed into a thick hedge like the 

 one he had been beaten out of, and both riders crashed 

 through it, but where was the animal ? He had stopped 

 in the hedge and sneaked out at the end of it. Both riders 

 caught view, almost without checking, and then a tremend- 

 ous set-to took place after a fast jinking pig among bushes, 

 but in a fairly open country. After several turns at top 

 speed, now one having the advantage slightly on the turn, 

 and now the other, the boar was in front jinking from left 

 to right, Skylark on the left after the boar, Wood Pigeon 

 on the right riding to cut off the boar as he was crossing. 

 As the boar passed under Wood Pigeon's nose Mr. Littleton 

 speared him in the quarter, and Mr. Symons simultaneously 

 in the shoulder. The pig went on to the right and both 

 riders stopped. Both spears were covered with blood. 

 Mr. Littleton called spear, not having seen the other spear. 

 Mr. Symons called dead heat. It was not disputed, and 

 was counted as a dead heat. 



The dead heat was run off later and won by 

 Mr. N. Symons. 



The first Guzerat Cup won by a Waler was that 

 of 1888, won by Mr. Littleton (Jack Symons) on 

 Albatross. He had previously (1884) won the 

 Bhima Cup on another Waler (Kestrel). The general 

 opinion at the time was, a big Waler would have to 

 be very handy to be able to compete with the Arab 

 and country-bred, but given this, " that a good big 

 was better than a good little 'un." 



A most amusing incident is recorded in 1891 : 



The last morning in camp was productive of what was 

 a dangerous, if somewhat amusing, incident. Just as an 



