12 HORSE-EACING IN FRANCE 



middle of the Downs, intersected by three hills in parallel lines ; 

 in the vales between these hills the champions entered the list ; 

 the spectators came in coaches, which, without the least bustle 

 or dispute about precedency, were arrano-ed in three or four 

 lines on the first of those hills ; and on the top of all was a 

 scaffolding for the judges who w^ere to award the prize. This 

 scaffolding was the goal which bounded the race, and the start- 

 ing-post was at the head of the outer vale of the second hill. 

 Four horses starting from thence ran in this valley, about the 

 length of a mile ; turned round by the next hill, to the height 

 of the starting-post, and at length reached the hill on which 

 stands the scaffolding, where he that came in first was declared 

 the victor. The prize is not adjudged till after three heats ; 

 and to him only who has won two out of three. There are 

 neither lists nor barriers at these races. The horses run in the 

 midst of the crowd, who leave onl}^ a space sufficient for them 

 to pass through, at the same time encouraging them by 

 gestures and loud shouts. The victor, when he arrives at 

 the goal, finds it a difficult effort to disengage himself 

 from the crowd, who congratulate and caress him with an 

 affection of heart which is no easy matter to form an idea of 

 unless you have witnessed it. The deference to the victors is 

 not confined to these transient honours. All the houses of the 

 country gentlemen, all the inns, are lined with pictures of 

 horses, painted or engraved, in various attitudes of strength or 

 agility, with an account of the victories they have won, their 

 names, those of the jockeys by whom they were trained ; in 

 fine, those of the noblemen to whom they belonged, and from 

 whom they experienced all the care and tender treatment which 

 favourite children can expect from a parent. So great was the 

 crowd which covered the place where the horses ran that I 

 could not see them except upon the ridge of the second hill. 

 They kept upon the full stretch, without rising or darting for- 

 ward, and seemed to resemble wooden horses fixed in full 

 stretch upon the rim of the great horizontal circle, moving 

 round upon its axis with the utmost imaginable rapidity. 

 These race horses do not show their worth by their outward 

 appearance ; they are gaunt and meagre, and an awkward 

 manner of stretching out their necks deprives them of all their 



