172 Among Men and Horses. 



and Tientsin are expensive, but the food is good and the 

 liquor unstinted. The captains do the catering and are paid 

 at the rate of three dollars a day for every passenger by the 

 company. As they provide brandies and sodas all day long, 

 beer and claret during meals, and excellent port wine after 

 dinner, as did that charming skipper of the Wuchang; the won- 

 der is how they can possibly afford to be so liberal. With the 

 best of free drinks, any amount of ice, delicious fresh butter, 

 new milk, fish, prawns, vegetables, fruit, and no better meat 

 out of England, combined with admirable cooking and smart 

 attendance, I had on the Wuchang, the best four days I 

 have ever spent on board ship. At the Taku Forts, the 

 steamer enters the narrow Pekin river, up which it goes for 

 fifty miles to Tientsin, which is a small, low-lying English 

 settlement, full of good sportsmen. We arrived just in time 

 for the races, which were well supported. Among the local 

 jockeys, two German gentlemen, Messrs Kruger and Lehmann, 

 were the most distinguished. The natural sociableness of 

 the residents of Tientsin is no doubt increased by its isolated 

 position, and by the fact that, owing to the freezing up of 

 the river, business is suspended for nearly three months, 

 which time is given up to poker, dancing, theatricals and 

 general festivity. To show that they have no ' nonsense ' 

 about them, I may mention that at the race ball we had the 

 pleasure of meeting a real princess, a couple of live barons, 

 several freiherren, and the young man who, that morning, sold 

 me a hat, a pair of boots and a bundle of cigars in the local 

 ' store.' Among many other good sportsmen at Tientsin, 

 we had the pleasure of meeting Dr Irving, Mr Detring, 

 Mr Michie, Mr Fitz Henry and Captain Axen von Brixen. 



During our stay at Tientsin, I had many a discussion on 

 the subject of V Equitation savante with two of its learned 

 exponents, Captain Lehmann, who is an old pupil of Hol- 

 leufer of Hanover, and Mr G. A. Butler, the late private 

 secretary to the Marquis of Tseng, the former Chinese 

 Ambassador in England. I tried my best to profit by their 



