men greater pleasure than lending their equine
favourites to their lady friends. Therefore, a visitor who is fond of
riding, need never be at a loss for a mount, as I found during my four
years' residence in that hospitable land. I can truly say that I did not
understand what real hospitality is, until I went to India, and shall
always remember the great kindnesses my husband and I received from
Native Princes. For instance, the late Maharajah of Vizianagram, who was
devoted to horses, invited us to visit him, placed a furnished house,
servants, horses, carriages, food, wines and every other comfort at our
disposal, and considered our month's stay much too short. Ladies in
India who ride, obtain so much practice as a rule on various kinds of
animals, that they soon become expert horsewomen. It is the custom there
to ride twice a day: In the early morning after _choti haziri_ (little
breakfast), which usually consists of a cup of tea, a boiled egg, bread
and butter; and in the evening. There is no law of trespass in India,
and it is delightful to canter for miles while sharing the freedom of
the Son of the Desert who is carrying you. There is nothing like these
lonely scampers as a cure for petty worries, for you can put them so far
behind you, that on your return you have forgotten their existence.
Calcutta is an ideal riding city, with its beautiful _maidan_ (plain),
where there are miles of springy turf for galloping, a large race-course
with well-kept training and hacking tracks, and hurdles for those who
desire jumping practice. There is also a Red Road, which is the Rotten
Row of the place, for afternoon hacking among the beauty and fashion, so
what more could the heart of man or woman desire? During the misnamed
"cold weather," women who are fond of cross country work, can ride once
a week over made fences in the paperchases. The course is usually about
three miles long, well supplied with fences, chiefly hurdles and stiff
mud walls from three feet six to four feet six high. As the start takes
place at about seven in the morning, and as the meets are some distance
from the town, the devotees of sport have to be up at about five
o'clock, dress by lamplight, send on their chasers, and drive or hack to
the trysting place. Two "hares" carry the paper in bags slung across
their shoulders and receive a quarter of an hour's grace in which to
plant their burden, where they know the coloured slips will take some
finding. The