tly thinking the Strand was getting too
plebeian, confined their evening drive to a place in the stately
procession up and down the Red Road, which thus became "the course."

EARLY-MORNING RACING.

That term must not be taken in its modern sense, however. If one spoke
about "the course" to-day, it would be understood to mean the
racecourse, but in those days it meant the venue of the evening drive,
There was then, as now, a racecourse in Calcutta, but, though on the
present site, it was, as might be expected, nothing like so elaborate.
There was only one stand, and that was opposite the old jail; there
was no totalisator and no book-makers. The Racing took place in the
early morning, from about 7 o'clock till 9 or 9-30. The only public
form of gambling on the racecourse then were the lotteries, which were
held the night before at the race-stand, and they were quite big ones,
numbers of them on each race. In addition, there was, of course,
plenty of private wagering between one man and another. Very often in
the cold weather racing would be held up by dense fogs so that for a
time it was difficult to see across the breadth of the course, the
consequence being that we were on those mornings late for office. Even
in those far-off days professional jockeys were employed, but
principally in the cold weather. The riding at the monsoon meetings
was mostly confined to G.R.'s.

SOCIAL AND OTHER CLUBS.

Of other sport there was not much. There was no football, and no
tennis clubs; but there were cricket clubs (Calcutta and Ballygunge),
and the Golf Club, which had the course and a tent on the site of the
present pavilion on the maidan, but there were few members and they
used to spend their time sipping pegs and chatting more often than
playing golf. Of course, there was polo for those who could afford it,
but there was no Tollygunge Club, no Royal Calcutta Golf Club, and no
Jodhpore Club.

As regards social clubs, there was the Bengal, which was then very
much more exclusive than now, and into which it was difficult to
obtain an entrance unless you had been a long time in the city and had
a certain standing. The old _Qui Hais_ who were members looked askance
at young men. There was also the United Service Club which was at
first confined strictly to I.C.S. men and military officers, but
subsequently financial considerations led to its being thrown open to
members of other services.

[Illustration: Distant view of Rac