could not be controlled, even by a committee
comprising the very best men for the purpose, and zealous in their work;
and lastly the racing itself, for spirit and for speed, and for that
exciting interest which is caused by equal excellence sustained during
well-contested struggles, was never surpassed.

But this grand exhibition of water athletics was not seen by more than a
few hundreds of persons, so that "Tribunes," richly draped, and with
streamers flying above, and seats below for 1000 visitors, often had not
three people there at a time.

The French oarsmen must have been absent at some "better" place, and of
the French public you might see more of them assembled on the roadside
round a dancing dog. The Emperor could not come--perhaps Bismarck would
not let him, and as the Prince of Wales had to be in his proper place as
the representative of England, receiving the Sultan in London, this
important duty prevented His Royal Highness from enjoying the pleasure he
might well have counted upon after the trouble he had taken in connection
with the British Regatta in Paris.

But after stating this disappointment bluntly, it will be remembered by
all who were at St. Cloud, that there was a great deal of real amusement,
as well as of hard work, and the whole had a strange novelty both in its
charms and its troubles.

For crews in "hard training" to sit down to _bifteck_, and Medoc,
omelette, and _haricots verts_, with strawberries and cream, and bad
French jabbered round, was certainly a novelty. To see a group of London
watermen, addressed in unknown tongues, but perfectly self-possessed,
visiting the Exhibition in the morning and rowing a race in the
afternoon, was new; and to observe the complete bewilderment of soldiers
and police at the whole proceedings, which came upon them of course with
surprise in a country where no one reads the papers for an advertisement,
except about a new play, or an infallible pill--all this was very amusing
to those who could listen and look on.

The English rowing-men soon made themselves as comfortable as they could
in their new quarters, and suffered patiently the disagreeables of French
lodgings. They repaired their boats, often broken by the transit from
London, and behaved with good humour in proportion to their good sense.
Even the grumblers were satisfied, because they were provided with a new
set of grievances; and so things passed off better than was expected by
those wh