XV. 



ON STEEPLE-CHASING. 



The origin of this sport is by no means 

 so remote as that of flat-racing ; in fact, 

 steeple-chasing, as we understand it, is 

 hardly yet seventy years old. The earliest 

 form of it was, as the name suggests, the 

 point-to-point. A church spire or steeple, 

 by reason of its height and shape, is very 

 often the most conspicuous point in a land- 

 scape ; and to this selected point, from some 

 other given point affording a convenient 

 view of it, the competitors had to make the 

 best of their way across country, the only 

 proviso being that no one should ride one 

 hundred yards of roadway at any one time. 

 The line chosen in the very hard-riding 



days in which the sport was instituted was, 



289 19 



