Page:The Boy Travellers in Australasia.djvu/500

476 return on foot. The race-course is at Flemington, three miles from Melbourne; it covers three hundred and sixteen acres of ground, and is considered one of the finest racing-tracks in the world. From the grand-stand the towers and spires of Melbourne are distinctly visible; the whole track lies directly in front, and altogether the scene, as the horses come in at the finish, is one long to be remembered.

Horses from all the colonies may compete for the cup. It is a curious circumstance that of all the competitors for the Melbourne Cup in 1887 not one was bred in the colony of Victoria.

Though Doctor Bronson and the youths were not in Melbourne at the right time for the cup race, they had abundant opportunity to witness games of cricket, the sport for which the Victorians are famous. The game is universally popular in the colony; in and near Melbourne there are two or three cricket-grounds splendidly equipped with everything that players or spectators could desire, and when notable games are played they are sure to draw large crowds. The interior cities and towns have their cricket-grounds, and every vacant lot in Melbourne large enough for a game is the resort of "larrikins" and other youths, from seven years old and upwards, all intent upon cricket. In fact, the game is to Australia what base-ball is to America.

The "Australian Eleven," and its successful competition with the "All-England Eleven" and other British clubs, is too well-known to cricket-players to require more than passing mention. It is no more