"Achilles detained the people, and from the ships brought forth prizes-goblets, tripods, horses, mules, and sturdy heads of oxen, and slender-waisted women, and hoary iron. First he staked as prizes for swift-footed steeds, a woman to be borne away, faultless, skilled in works, as well as a handled tripod of two-and-twenty measures, for the first; but for the second he staked a mare six years old, unbroken, pregnant with a young mule; for the third he staked a fireless tripod, beautiful, containing four measures, yet quite untarnished; for the fourth he staked two talents of gold; and for the fifth he staked a double-vessel, untouched by the fire. Erect he stood, and thus addressed the Greeks: The prizes lie in the circus awaiting the charioteers.' Then the swift charioteers arose, Eumelus, Diomede, Menelaus, and Antilochus. The father of the latter (who was evidently an artful dodger ') thus advises his son: You have been taught, though young, all kinds of equestrian exercise; wherefore there is no great need to instruct thee, for thou knowest how to turn the goals with safety; but thy horses are very slow to run, wherefore I think that disasters may happen. Their horses, indeed, are more fleet, but they themselves know not how to manœuvre better than thou thyself. But, come now, contrive every manner of contrivance in thy mind, lest the prizes by any chance escape thee. By skill is the woodcutter much better than by strength; and, again, by skill the pilot directs upon the dark sea the swift ship tossed about by the winds; and by skill charioteer excels charioteer. One man who is confident in his steeds and chariot turns imprudently hither and thither over much ground, and his steeds wander through the course, nor does he rein them in. But he, on the contrary, who is acquainted with strategem (up to a thing or two' would be the phraseology of our Turf), driving inferior steeds, always looking at the goal, turns it close, nor does it escape him in what manner he may first turn the course with his leathern reins; but he holds on steadily, and watches the one who is before him. But I will show thee the goal. A piece of dry wood stands over the ground and two white stones are placed on either side in the narrow part of the way, but the racecourse around is level. Approaching the monument very closely, drive thy chariot and horses near, but incline thyself gently towards the left of them (the steeds) in the well-joined chariot seat, and, cheering on the right-hand horse, apply the whip and give him the rein; let thy left-hand horse, however, be moved close to the goal, so that the nave of the wheel may appear to touch the top of the post; but avoid touching the stone, lest thou both wound thy horses and break thy chariot in pieces' ('floor the coach' would be the modern slang expression)." Then they ascended their chariots and cast losts. Achilles shook, and the lot of Antilochus leaped forth; after him King Eumelus was allotted; then followed Menelaus, and Meriones; Diomede, by far the bravest, was allotted to drive his coursers last. Then they stood in order, Phoenix acting as judge. Then all at once they raised their lashes over their steeds, and cheered them on incessantly with words. Sometimes the chariots approached the earth, and at others bounded aloft; but the drivers stood erect, and the heart of each of them eager for victory palpitated. When now the fleet steeds were performing the last course the speed of the horses was put to the stretch, and then the swift-footed steeds of Eumelus led the way, fol

lowed closely by those of Diomede." Here the latter lost his whip. Eumelus also " came to grief," as his pole broke and he was pitched from his driving-seat upon his head. After some jostling between Menelaus and Antilochus, and a wrangle between Ajax and Idomeneus, the judge placed Diomede first, Antilochus second, Menelaus third, Meriones fourth, Eumelus last. A regular row then ensued between Menelaus and Antilochus, in which very unparliamentary language was used, but which was shortly afterwards made up, and the parties shook hands. Thus ended the chariot race for the Grand Prix D'Achille, Homer too gives the following similitude of a horse twice over in the "Iliad":

"Freed from his keepers, thus with broken reins,
The wanton courser prances o'er the plains;
Or in the pride of youth o'erlcaps the mounds,
And snuffs the females in forbidden grounds;
Or seeks his wat'ring in the well-known flood,
To quench his thirst and cool his fiery blood;
He swims luxuriant in the liquid plain,
And o'er his shoulders flows his waving mane;
He neighs, he snorts, he bears his head on high,
Before his ample chest the frothy waters fly."

Thus, even more beautifully rendered, by the Earl of Derby:

"As some proud steed, at well-filled manger fed,
His halter broken, neighing, scours the plain,
And revels in the widely-flowing stream
To bathe his sides; then tossing high his head,
While o'er his shoulders streams his ample mane,
Light borne on active limbs, in conscious pride,
To the wild pastures of the mares he flies."

Turn we from the Greek to the Latin poet. Virgil's description is much fuller than the foregoing, which are only similes applied to Priam's son Paris, when he with rapid step seeks "Hector of the glancing helm;" whereas Virgil treats of the nature of the horse:

"The fiery courser, when he hears from far

The sprightly trumpets and the shouts of war,
Pricks up his cars, and trembling with delight
Shifts pace and paws, and hopes the promised fight.
On his right shoulder his thick mane reclin'd,
Ruffles at speed, and dances in the wind;
His horny hoofs are jetty black and round,

His chine is double; starting with a bound,

He turns the turf, and shakes the solid ground.

Fire from his eyes, clouds from his nostrils flow,
He bears his rider headlong on the foe."

There is a line in Virgil which for strength and conciseness can scarcely be surpassed :

"Collectumque premens volvit sub naribus ignem."

Thus translated:

"And in his nostrils rolls collected fire."

Oppian's lines too are very spirited:

"How firm the manag'd war-horse keeps his ground,
Nor breaks his order, though the trumpets sound;
With fearless eye the glitt'ring host surveys,
And glares directly at the helmets' blaze.
The master's word, the laws of war he knows,

And when to stop, and when to charge the foes."

The following noble images of swiftness from Nemesian and Virgil deserve to be recorded:

"In flight th' extended champion to consume."
"In flight to cross the meads."

"When in their flight the champion they have snatch'd,
No track is left behind."

In Pope we find the following:

"Th' impatient courser pants in every vein,
And, pawing, seems to beat the distant plain;
Hills, vales, and floods appear already cross'd,
And, ere he starts, a thousand steps are lost.".

And Lucan carries out the same idea with spirit:

"So when this ring with joyful shouts rebounds,
With rage and pride th' imprison'd courser bounds;
He frets, he foams, he rends his idle rein,

Springs o'er the fence, and headlong seeks the plain."

Steeplechasing seems to increase every year in popularity. The original object was to test the merits of the hunters across the country; that has long since been given over, and racehorses are now as regularly trained to jump as they were in bygone years for flat courses. This is to be attributed to the love of gambling, which has increased awfully of late years, and now the odds on steeplechases are regularly advertised, and thousands of pounds change hands at all the great meetings. Whether the present system is an improvement upon the old we will not pause to inquire.

ENGRAVED BY E. HACKER, FROM A PAINTING BY C. B. SPALDING.

If excitement be the test by which to estimate the comparative merits of any sport, hog-hunting must rank before every other. Try it by another standard, its universal popularity, the enthusiasm of its followers, and the preference given to it in a country where the tiger even is less noticed than the boar, and it must be granted that there is some peculiar fascination in this noble sport. Men who have followed hounds at home, and shared in all the field-sports of Europe and Asia, talk of it with rapture; and such a scene of animation, of generous