The Sun.
London, England, 1863-09-21 00:00:00

►SEPTEMBER.

Listowel 2l I Jenkinstown Park ....
Limerick 2l

OCTOBEIL

Curragh

..23

EGYPTIAN HALL.—On Saturday morning sixty
of the boys from the Foundling Hospital, by a free
invitation visited Mr. Lord's entertainment" At Home in
the Wilderness." The little fellows were evidently much
pleased with their visit to this interesting and instructive
entertainment. Mr. Lord's graphic description of hair-
breadth 'scapes by flood and field in Oregon, British Colum-
bia, and amid the Rocky Mountains, with the scenery and
songs, much interested the youngsters. Mr. Lord
announced his intention to give a series of free invitations
to the charitable institutions of London.

The fund for the Stonewall Jackson monument
amounts to £1,500. Mr, Foley is to be intrusted with its

execution.

~~..,`

Grand Match of Ball at Biar ri tz.

A correspondent writing from Blare itz on the
17th says :—" You must not imagine that the
fashionable circles alone find amusemen is here--
there is food for every taste. We two days back had
a tremendous irruption of peasants, male an, 3. female,
from the Basque country, attracted by a pul lie noti-
fication that a grand match of ball was to lae con-
tested by four of the most celebrated player:l of the
Soule against four others equally noted from the
Lallond, two districts long famous for producing
splendid players. A Basque peasant, whether of
France or of Spain—for the name applies to por-
tions of both countries—cannot imagine any
greater glory than to be first-rate at the noble
game of plume. There have been many instances
of a farmer selling his horses or cows to raise
funds to bet on some extraordinary player; end
Whenever a solemn contest takes place, vast
ore l n
sums of money change hands. The game is
played in two ways, either against a wall, as in
iesi lam
alor/k/gedite,cuwth, enanadlotnhge
narrowEtig lan
dand I d, or
piece f
ground a
hall is sent from one end of it towards the other, a
hard as the player who gives the service can con-
trive to propel it. This latter mode is considered by
far the nobler game, and was that selected on the
present occasion. There were four combatants at
each side, and every one of them had frequently
distinguished himself in previous matches. The
principal heroes of the Soule were two brothers
named Mathieu, whilst the champions of the Lal..
loud were Moulin and Benjamin. Of the whole
eight this last was the only one married, the rest
being scarcely more than from 19 to 22. In
fact, when once a player enters into the bonds of
matrimony, he generally abandons the game of
a public player, and contents himself with the
glory of his former exploits. The players wear
on the right hand a sort of scooped glove, about a
foot long, made of dried leather and whalebone, and
with that adjunct they send a ball an immense dis-
tance. Whenever the ball in the course of the
service, overpasses the extreme line of the play-
ground, that event in itself cfnstitutes the gain of
a point, and is always greeted with shouts of ap-
plause. Only twice during the whole of the match
at Biarritz did the ball overleap the extreme line,
and in each case it was shot out as if from
a catapult by Moulin, who for the rest of
the day was addressed by the pet name of Mou-
linet, a token of admiration and affection. Both
blows were struck at the very commencement of
the play, and it would almost seem as if the
exertion was too prodigious to be often repeated.
As the game proceeded, the excitement became
extreme, and the agitation of the spectators pre-
sented to the uninitiated something almost ludi-
crous. One thing only saved the scene from ridi..
cule, and that was, that the various occupants of
the tribunes were beyond any doubt terribly in
earnest. The sutes they wagered were extra-
ordinary, and I saw near the spot where I stood, a
man whose whole attire was not worth twenty
francs, pull out a handful of silver and gold and
stake it on the Lallond. The mode of making the
bets is curious ; when a wager is accepted the
two parties place their money in the hands
of a third party happening to stand near, and
when the game is over the winner receives the
double sum. Of course the person applied to
for the office of stakeholder can decline, but if
he refuses another is found the next instant, and
scarcely ever does an instance occur of trust being
betrayed. I had next me a boy of 15, well-dressed,
and from his conversation liberally brought up ; he
told me he had been saving all his pocket money
for the last three months to risk it on the Soule,
as his confidence in Moulinet was unbounded,
Whenever a good blow was struck by the men of
the boy's own party, his enthusiasm was uproarious,
and a companion of his—but who, I could under-
stand, had not possessed any money to stake—even
exceeded him in vocal demonstration. I fear, how-
ever, that they both went home in a melancholy
mood, for when I left the ground, after looking at
the proceedings for about two hours, the brothers
Mathieu were gradually turning the scale, and vic-
tory for the other party seemed almost possible. I
think it right, of a faithful chronicler, to declare
that the play was pronounced by the best connois-
seurs to be first-rate, and that if Moulinet and Ben-
jamin could not succeed in changing the fortune of
the day, it was not owing so much to any want of
skill as to a series of mischances which will some-

Jnes set in unaccountablyagainst a particular side.

the scene was a curious one from the bright colours
worn by the women, and the large sums ventured
by the men ; and I have no doubt that the great
match of paume at Biarritz in 1863 will long afford
theme for conversation over the winter fire in many
a village of the Basque country."—Ga/ignani.