atter pursuit, their
views are distinctly peculiar. A sudden, murderous rush in a crowded
bar, a quick, sly blow, and a run away--that is their notion of a manly
combat. In the days of the Tipton Slasher two Englishmen would fight
fairly like bulldogs for an hour at a stretch; no man thought of crowing
about a chance bit of bloodshed, or even a knock-down, for it was
understood that the combatants should fight on until one could not rise;
then they shook hands, and were friends. But the brutes whom I now see
are transformed Englishmen; they know that a fair upstanding contest
would not suit them, and their object is to land one cunning blow, then
to make as much noise as possible so as to attract attention. It is
cruelly funny to see a gaping blackguard, who has chanced to give
someone a black eye or a swollen nose, swaggering round like an absurd
bantam, and posing as a sort of athletic champion. The gang are nearly
always full of stories about their miserable scrambling fights, and
anyone might fancy he had got among a regular corps of paladins to hear
them vapour. One marvellously vile betting person haunts me like a
disease. The animal has a head like a sea-urchin, his lips are blubbery,
his tongue is too big for his mouth, and his face is like one that you
see in a nightmare. The ugly head is stuck on a body which resembles a
sack of rancid engine grease. This beauty is a fairly representative
specimen of our bold sportsmen. He is a deft swindler, and I have gazed
with blank innocence while he rooked some courageous simpleton at
tossing. The fat, rancid man can do almost as he chooses with a handful
of coins, and the marvellous celerity with which sovereigns or halfpence
glide between his podgy fingers is quite fascinating. On the subjects of
adultery and fighting this object is great, and his foul voice resounds
greasily amid our meetings of brave sportsmen. He is accompanied by a
choice selection of gay spirits, and I take leave to say that the
popular conception of hell is quite barren and poor compared with the
howling reality that we can show on any day when a little "sport" is to
the fore. I am tolerant enough, but I do seriously think that there are
certain assemblies which might be wiped out with advantage to the world
by means of a judicious distribution of prussic acid.

Among my weaknesses must be numbered a strong fancy for keeping dogs of
various breeds. When you come to understand the animals you can m