Page:Wanderings of a Pilgrim Vol 1.djvu/245

 starting, and shot ahead of the other, keeping him in the rear until he very nearly gained the stand at the end of the three miles; of a sudden his speed relaxed, the other horse came up, and passed the post just before him. Sultan looked wild; the jockey dismounted; the horse fell, regained his feet three times, reared with pain, and, falling again, died in the space of a minute.

The Cawnpore races have been unfortunate; two years ago, a jockey was thrown, and broke his neck on the spot. Last year, the favourite Arab broke his hind leg and was shot: this year, Sultan has been killed, and two other horses have gone lame.

13th.—I accompanied some ladies to the riding-school of the 11th dragoons, and, being much pleased, requested to be allowed to take lessons with them; afterwards, riding there during those hours that the school was unoccupied by the dragoons, formed one of our greatest amusements. As for the corporal, the rough-rider of the 11th dragoons who attends in the riding-school, his affections are quite divided between my horse Trelawny and myself; I heard him say the other day, speaking of the former, "I like that little chap, he looks so innicent."

My sā'īs cannot accomplish putting me on my horse after the English fashion; therefore, he kneels down on one knee, holding the horse in his left hand, and the stirrup in the right; I step from his knee to the stirrup, and take my seat on the saddle; rather a good method, and one of his own invention.

Christmas Day.—The house is gaily decorated with plantain trees, roses, and chaplets of gaudy flowers, but no holly; we miss the holly and misletoe of an English Christmas. The servants are all coming in with their offerings,—trays of apples, grapes, kishmish, walnuts, sugar, almonds in the shell, oranges, &c. The saddler, who is also a servant, has brought five trays in honour of kishmish (Christmas); these presents are rather expensive to the receiver, who returns kishmish bakhshish (Christmas boxes) in rupees; the apples au naturel, brought down at this time of the year by the Arab merchants from Cabul, are rather insipid, yet the sight is very grateful to the eye; they are large, fine, and of a roseate hue. The grapes,