s, and breakfast in the morning.

There did not appear to be any professional bookmakers, but the betting
was carried on quite happily in the tavern booths and shops everywhere by
everybody. Towards twelve o'clock the company began to arrive and get
into place alongside the course, the four-in-hands drawn up, and
carriages of every description, mostly taking out the horses to the
stables in the tents, and formed a row two deep. The vans and other
vehicles forming lower down in the same way, but further from the Grand
Stand, and taking out the horses and tying them to the wheels, hundreds
of loafers thus being busy selling pails of water and forcing their
services to rub down and generally to extort a fee.

There was almost everything to be had on the course in the way of
eatables and drinkables; occupants of carriages and drags began to have
their lunches spread on the top of those vehicles; corks began to pop and
a general onslaught was made on the provisions by everybody. The
entertainments commenced their business. Sharpers in plenty, roulette
tables, dice, three-card trick, pea and thimble, and the pricking in a
curled up strap, and every phase of gambling without let or hindrance.

At about one a bell rang, the horses were brought out on to the course
for one of the minor races, the course cleared by the few police there
were, and the race run with very little excitement, for there did not
appear to be much interest taken in the three or four races that were run
before and after the great event of the day, the Derby, that was run
about half past two or a quarter to three, when the company had fed and
had got pretty well primed with wine, and the noise became furious and
the excitement immense.

There was a great concourse of people, and standing on the hill just
before the Derby was run it looked one black moving mass, and you could
see almost the whole of the course from start to finish. The races after
the Derby did not appear to attract the visitors so much as the early
ones, and drinking and the other amusements appeared to be all in full
swing and had plenty of patrons, and there was gambling of every form. I
tried my luck at it with varied good and bad luck, but about five in the
evening had spent about two shillings and a penny. I found I had only
sevenpence halfpenny to carry me home out of my sixteen shillings and
threepence which I had started with, so someone was thirteen shillings to
the good;