The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1876-02-05 00:00:00

CAIRO RACES DESCRIBED.

The Correspondent of The Times writing from utdro, under
date January 15, says :

This is always a week of festivity in Cairo. The
18th is the anthversary of the accession of the Khedive
to the Throne; the aristocracy, official and non--
official, wait upon him with their congratulations,
and the city is given over to loyal rejoicing. But the
new regime of economy has kept the rejoicing within
very moderate bounds this year. . . . A couple of State,
breakfasts, of some hundred guests in All, have been
the limit of the State display.. The Races, however,
have not shared the common lot. The encourage-.
ment of the breed of Arab horses is one of the
hobbies, and not a bad one, of the Khedive, and
the prizes and emulation of the Cairo Races are
deemed by him legitimate means for the attainment
of this end. I went to see what was to be seen the
first day. The road had an interest of its ownbut
there was no crowd either of carriages oesfoot pas-
sengers to denote any great event. I passed out of
the city, under acacias, near the tombs of holy men,
under the walls of a ruined palace where, 20 years
ego, Abbas Pasha, Ruler of Egypt, dwelt in hourly
fear of assassination, with men always on the look,
out and dromedaries always saddled and ready for
flight; past a busy camp of soldiers on one side and
a great school for Arab children on the other, out
into the desert, leaving Lieutenant Waghorn's over-
land route highway to my right, with the disused
Suez Railway in the distance; while immediately
in front of me were some booths, with the crescent
on its crimson ground waving from their roofs. This
was the grand stand, and a circular track some two
miles in length, marked out in the desert by a railing,
constituted the racecourse. A couple of miles away
in the tawny desert., under the shadow of the Mokal-
lam Hills were the tombs of the Mamelulle Sultans,
who ruled in Egypt 500 years ago, and beyond them
again rose the Citadel Mosque, with its fairy minarets
standing out against the sky. But it was by no means
a day for picturesque effect. The Khedive had not
the Queen's good fortune in the weather. A cold
wind, loaded with sand, was blowing from the desert,
and gave the atmosphere all the appearance of a
London fog. The Egyptians dread a wind even more
than rain, and they had all stayed at home. The
enclosure set apart for hareem carriages was empty,
and the visitors who had gone to see Circassian
beauties in close broughams were disappointed. A
.sprinkling of people on the benches of the Grand Stand,
a few carriages of travellers from the hotels, a handful
of Arabs attracted by a chance of bach,sheesh, looked
very small in the great desert. It was a strange con-
trast to the vast crowd which annually gathers on
E psom Downs on the occasion of London's great carnival.
The chief excitement of the day was the arrival of
Royalty. It made one think of Ascot as the cortege
passed up the course with its English horses, scarlet
postillions, and scarlet outriders. The band played
the Egyptian National -.44.nthem, but there was no
cheering. Hurrahs are :not in the Egyptian fashion.
The Oriental prefers a passive enjoyment, and he must
have his shouting, like his-dancing, done for him. On
this occasion, however, there were no Orientals to shout
The races were much like other races, except that the
heavy sand kept down the 15ace and gave an advantage
to the light Arab horses over the more strongly-built
English racers. The race of the day was the Grand
Prix National of £7OO, for three-year-old horses, bred
in Egypt. Eleven horses ran, and an English horse
bred by the Khedive was the easy winner. Only five
English horses appeared in the card of the day. The
rest, 34 in number, were of Arab blood, and most
of them spoke very well for the breeding of horses
in Egypt. But racing will never become a national
amusement here. A sunshiny day would not have
brought the natives • it would have only tempted
more foreigners. As I walked among the spectators
I heard scarcely any other language than English (or
American). An Englishman acted as starter, a knot
of Englishmen watched the saddling, the best horses
were English; even the jockeys were of British im-
portation; and it seemed like Epsom over again when,
as a horse fell in the chief race, I heard a voice in the
crowd cry out, "Hallo, there's Jim down—won't he
catch it."