Bell's Life in Sydney and Sporting Reviewer (NSW : 1845 - 1860), Saturday 21 May 1853, page 2


Whitsuntide Sports at

Canterbury.

A dim recollection having crossed our mind that wo had either seen an advertisement, or heard some one sjieak to tho effect, that the Annual Canterbury liners (!) would take place on Whitmondny, wè cogitated deeply within our ' heart of hearts,' whether it wore not moro in onr legitimate sphoro to attend them, than, as we had promised ourselves, tho meeting of tho Parnunuttn Pigeon Club. Not being able, after a prolonged internal discussion, (viz, treating each resolution to a /of,) to decide the impor-tant question, wc tossed up for it-heads, Can-terbury - tnilt, Parramatta 1 Up skiod the (we were aliont to say copper, but silver is nure genteel) haif-butt, and landed with head np ! Í ' You didn't namo Newmarket,* whispers thu

Parramatta side of our conscience, ' so toss again 1" We acknowledged . the soft impeach-ment,' and gammoned oar other self that it ought to hnve been two tut of three - but it was no usc : h«ad turned up again, and Canterbury was an honorable winner. Being fortunate enough to fall in with a pair of sporting friends, wliO had also determined as we had done, we charteret! n cab, and started for our destination. It should be mentioned, that we were nil devout-ly ignorant of thu whereabouts of tho said sporting township, but putting implicit confi-dence 1n our ' cabby,' louked forward to a quick, and comfortable ride. Alas! for human fore-

thought and speculation 1 . Nb sooner did our road branch from the main highway, than we had to go through a scries of inflictions in tho shape of ' bumps and thumps, shocks and knocks,' sufilcient to cause the most pious of couventiclers to wish the District Bond Board in -

or, equally disagreeable, to travel perpetually over their own neglected ways. At the rate of about three knots on hour we journeyed on and on, till a fear arose in our usually undaunted bosoms that we must be benighted in the scrub, unless speedy relief were presented to us in the shape of a Pub! At length our ' grief was driven into madness' of joy by the exclamation of our driver, 'hallo! you blokes inside, there be a flag at last !' Sure enough, a bit of bun-ting, that, if it bad not braved a * thousand battles,'

Had braved a precious lut of breezes,

Was flaunting o'er the big gum trees-es,and guided us to the head hoEtelrie of the apogçiatura for thc city of Canterbury. Having

wetted our whistles, ns in dury hound, and re-ceived a complicated mass » f instructions from thc Boniface to turn left; and then right-left again-straight forward-right again, &c.-wc made off for thc race-course ; our friends, mean-while counting over their ßnntir* and specie, and calculating the chances of clearing their dar's expenses. After strictly obeying the direc-tions received, we found ourselves in the heart of a wat, and clo=c to a tolc.uldy sized imita-tion of a gunya, which was evidently doing duty for a liooth.' Around this Orianrt" Strutt were as-cmhled exactly twenty-three individuals <>f the rfcmii homi. but mandy consisting of * small boys.' Five or six sorry nags were being led about, and on alighting from our . wtbicl?,' we were informed they were thc racers. Our arri-val delayed the sport for some time, for an event of so wonderful a nature as thc presence ofn pair horse-carriage in the township was so novel and unexpected, at to quite upset thc equilibri-um of its natives. Fathers, who had enjoyed the ndv.intage of a trip to tho metropolis, explained to their children the curious mechanism mid uses of a hackney coach, and the children stood si-lently gaping in mingled admiration mid awe. At length the ba.iness of the day commenced, and thc following rucos were ran round a cjur-e through the midst nf the hush, of which only about two hundred yards ff the running were

visible.

. FinsT KACK - PCBLIC.INS' PCT.SE, £5.

Mr. Hall's Sandclla . 1 1 " Francis' Templar . 2 2 " Wcl.-h's Micky Free. 3 3

SECOM/HACK-Pena*:, £3.

Mr. Welsh's Pheasant . 1 1 " Francis' Templar . .2 2

MATCH FOK £5.

Mr. Hall's Sandella . t 1 " Welsh's Pheasant. 2 2

WIND-UP STAKES, X2.

Mr. Harper's Cock lljbin. , 1 1

" Jlanslow's Scratch. li 2 " Welsh's Bceswirg. 2 3 " Mr. Johnson's Creeping .lane . O 0 P. S.-On returning to thc township, wc found .there was to bc a bull and supper, to which we were pres=ed to stay. Consulting together, we made np our minds to stand for one quarter of an hour in front of the house, and, if we saw three petticoat*, to remain. But alas ! we saw only one woman of about sixty, and a girl of about six, and the induceinent'was not strong enough. Wishing the Canterbury folks all fu-ture pleasure, but that ol' our presence, we bade them adieu, and, to the praise of Jehu, arrived safely home.