The Sun.
London, England, 1863-03-02 00:00:00

SPORTING NOTES.

The taste for sporting literature has increased materially
of recent years, and the public are no longer satisfied with
the bare records of the professional turf reporter, who for-
merly told his story in plain unvarnished English, or more
familiarly and properly speaking, in unadulterated slang.
Like every other class, racing men have become more cul-
tivated, and they wish for something more than a mere
" tip" conveyed in the language of touts and horse
watchers. The Sun newspaper was one of the first to adopt
a special turf correspondent, whose aim it was to convey
instruction in the easy diction which obtains among sports-
men and gentlemen. It is the intention of the conductors
of this journal to strengthen their columns in this respect,
and I am willing to accept an invitation to write weekly
articles which shall treat of the current topics of the turf
and its market, and, at :the same time, indicate, as far as
stable information and practical knowledge can be available
for such ends, the probable issue of races to come. The
system of prophecying has been completely revolutionised
within a few years past, and when money rules everything,
as in the present day, the most careful calculations
of the predictor may be upset. Still, my resources aro of
such a peculiar and valuable description, that your readers
may depend that no suggestion will be made that shall not
have been first tested in the crucible of patient judgment
and sound and genuine information. It has been my satis.
faction to address the public for some years in this capa-
city, and occasionally through these columns, but for rea-
sons that your readers may anticipate I prefer to come be-
fore them with a new name, and henceforward shall court
the suffrages of the sporting public under the none de plume
Of PEGASUS. This title was adopted by the late Mr. Frank
Clark, the contemporary of Ruff, and one of the most suc-
cessful feuilletonists of his time; but now that the title has
fallen into disuse, I can be infringing no privilege in reviv-
ing a signature so appropriate to the purpose. Further
preface is unnecessary, and I may at once lead your readers
to the discussion of the prevailing topics of the turf.

Lincoln races opened the season en Wednesday and
Thursday last, and with a degree of success quite unusual
at the first meeting of the season. Lord Stamford, Lord
Westmoreland, and other noble sportsmen who do not cus-
tomarily appear until Northampton, were tempted out
by the genial weather and the certainty of seeing fields
of horses at the post fully prepared for their
engagements. Those who followed the example of the
patricians had no cause for regret, as the sport from be-
ginning to end was most interesting, but the general tend-
ency of the results was decidedly adverse to the interests of
backers of horses, who could scarcely light upon their feet
throughout the whole meeting. The lot that came to the
post in the Trial Stakes were worse than indifferent, and
Manrico galloped so free and well in his preliminary can-
ter that many of the backers invested a few stray sove-
reigns for the off-chance, and they were well rewarded, as
the Woodyeates horse won in a canter; but the owner was
so incredulous of his merits that he did not back his horse
for a penny piece. Manrico, when a two year old, met with
a curious accident at Goodwood, for the floor of his stabling
gave way, and he was precipitated into a well, from which
perilous position he had to be literally dug out after much
exertion. William Day despaired of ever making him
worth training afterwards, but as he had "tried" him to be
pretty good at home prior to the accident, he turned him
out for some time, and at last got him round, and he is now,
I believe, perfectly sound. Tho Brocklesby Stakes, from
the strength of the field, was quite a surprise, as probably
it was the first time in the history of the Turf that twenty
young ones had been got together at so early a period
of the year, and taking them altogether they were a very
fair looking lot. The reports of Lord Adolphus's good
looks, which had preceded his advent, were by no means
exaggerated, as he has great propelling power, and like all
sons of The Cure seems all over like stoutness and staying.
John Osborne was quite warranted in engaging the colt as
heavily as he has done, for he is sure to play a conspicuous
part if he trains on, and does well. Corsica, who was all
the rage when the betting opened, is a light chesnut, of
good length, though certainly somewhat weak, but it is no
secret that Lord Stamford's other string, Chiequot the
Jester, had been tried much the better of the two, but
the last-mentioned was prevented from fulfilling his first
engagement from having gone amiss. Sister to Tomyris
and Lady Nichol were nice, thick, level fillies, and they
finishefl first and second, the Baron's winning a very clever
race by a good length. Baron Rothschild and young
Daley thus won the first important two-year-old race of
the season, but the owner, who was not present, merely
sent a commission to have "a pony" on at the post. On
Thursday the weather was much colder, but not bleak
enough to mar the enjoyment of the sport, while the num-
ber of the spectators was greatly augmented by the at-
tractions of the principal handicap. Tho field
for the chief event was not quite so nuraer.
ous as had been anticipated, nevertheless it was
strong enough to afford ample room for speculation, and
amuse the holiday seekers. Nothing would go down with
the majority of the backers but Hubert, who became a tre-
mendously warm favourite, and who, despite his " melt-
ings" in the Turkish bath, seemed as fit as could possibly
be desired. Lopcatcher, too, seemed as ripe as a cherry,
but, as usual, he ran a thorough cur, dropping his ears the
moment he was asked to run through his horses, and turn-
ing it up, although half-way from home. Libellous ran
just as ho might be expected, seeing that he is the property
of one of the most unlucky men on the turf, and George
Fordham asserted that the horse crossed his legs in the
first 300 yards, and before he could be got in his proper
stride was out of the race, so that after all we may hear of
Libellous some future day. The result was directly in ac-
cordance with the opinion of all the best judges, for none
of the 3-yr-olds were in the race at the finish, the old ones
having it entirely to themselves. Manrico, who had been
sold prior to the race for 300 guineas to Lord West-
moreland, had the race in hand from start to finish,
and won, in a common canter, from Flash in the
Pan and Peignoir. Manrico , has gone to William
Goater's new quarters at Michel Grove for a few
weeks, and after trying one or two of his lordshi2's there,
he will return to William Day's at Woodyeates, Satellite's
beating for the Hurdle race was the great sensation, as he
had been backed on all the London lists at 5 to 4 and evens
for a deal of money prior to the meeting. His running was
just the kind of thing that no fellow can understand, but it
had been said that the owner and his friends were dissatis-
fied with the average of their price for the Grand National,
and that they intended a ruse. This seems partly confirmed
by the present state of the market, as the horse is still backed
at 12 to 1 for the Liverpool event. Nor must it be forgot
ten that Weathercock was similarly beaten for the Lincoln
Hurdle race, and afterwards as nearly as possible won the
Grand National. Rook the Gardener was a great
favourite for the Hunt Steeplechase, but was
compelled to succumb to Victress, a very
clever hunter, by Augur, who has since been
sold for £2OO to Mr. Holmes. She was bred by the Earl
of Zetland from his favourite pony, and measures barely
15 hands. The present week will be occupied with the
midland meetings of Northampton and Derby, which alone
will interest the main body of racing men, although there
are some little "jumping" meetings at Brackley, Chipping
Norton, and Woolwich. Mr. Bradfield, of Nottingham,
has been fortunate in securing large entries; I say fortu-
nate, because it is almost notorious how partial his handi-
caps always are to horses belonging to certain " legs." Still,
the gathering in the Forest is sure to be successful, and
good fields may be relied upon. The list for the three
days includes 13 events, the majority of which have paid
forfeit, It is quite uncertain what may come to the post, but
" the cream of the lot are, in my estimation, Donne canne?
Rapparee, Interduca, and the Mountain Maid filly. Should
Mr. Barber back Donne Came in earnest, I shall quite ex-
pect his victory; the next dangerous one being the Moun-
tain Maid filly, who, according to reports from Newmarket,
is remarkably well,
and we all know how formidable God-
ding invariably is in handicaps. The Innkeepers' Plate
must fall to Mrs. Somerville, or Bedford (late Peneus).
The Stand Plate seems to lie between Peignoir and Abron.
The Little John Stakes will be the principal item of the
second day's racing, and according to the Brocklesby Stakes'
running Lady Nichol or Faith should win, the first men-
tioned being, of course, entitled to the greatest respect. The
Great Hurdle race will rest between Sinking Fund and
Nosegay, one of whom will doubtless win. The remaining
events will depend so much upon the first day's running
that I can offer no opinion thereon. The Derby Meeting
I shall notice in a communication for Wednesday evening.
Monday Morning. PEGASUS.

The individual who threw a shell under the win-
dows of the royal palace at Naples on Feb. 1, when
the Duchess of Genoa gave a ball there, has been disco-
vered and is in custody. He is an old officer of the Bourbon
army, named Pioletti. He was let into the precincts of the
palace by certain servants, who still keep their places, al-
though they conspire on behalf of the taller dynasty.

TILE CAPE MAIL.

(REUTER'S EXPRESS.)
PLYMOUTH, Feb. 28.

The Union Company's Cape royal . mail steamer
Dane, Capt. Hoffman, arrived hero this afternoon;

Her dates are—from Table Bay, Jan. 21 ; St,
Helena, Jan. 30; and Ascension, Feb. 3.

She brings the following passengers :—From the
Cape: Dr. Tancred, M.L.A., for Clanwilliam ; Mr.
and Mrs. Brown and two children, Miss Clark,
Clark, Miss Dean, and Messrs. Dickson, Norman,
Evett, and Kisch. From Ascension : Dr. Jenkins,
R.N., and Dr. Ryan, R.N. Her mails consist of
37 bags. Her cargo consists of 300 bags copper
ore ; 2 hhds., 5 ankers, 1 aum, 13 aums, 1 octave, 3
quarter casks, 4 cases wine, 117 bales of wool, 480
bundles hides, 740 bags seeds, 28 bags argol, 14
cases feathers, 100 bales sheep skins, 6 casks seal
skies, 28 bales silk, 279 bags edict!, 35 packages
jute, 287 bags cloves, 2 eases old silver, 1 case coins,
and several CLASC6 of sundries.

At the Cape there wee no political news of
im-
portance. The legislators resident in Graham's
Town had been speculating on the chances of get-
ting the next session of Parliament held in the
Eastern Province, but this was considered to be a
very improbable step for the Government to take.
The question of the annexation of British Kaf-
fraria to the Cape Colony :was again under discus-
sion. The Kaffrarians, it was said, were not by any
means so resolute in their anti-annexation policy as
they were last year. The home authorities having
written out to say that while they would not be an-
nexed to the old colony without their own consent,
yet, if they persisted in holding out for indepen-
dence, they must ho prepared to pay for it by the
maintenance of all its establishments from its own.
unaided resources. The Kaffrarians were also said
to have become very much dissatisfied with the acts
of their own Government. The Cape colonists were
not very anxious for this proposed alliance, and
seemed to think the imperial authorities should be
prepared to arrange with the Colonial Government
for bearing a fair share of the responsibilities likely
to be incurred in the maintenance of peace along the
Kaffrarian frontier. The civil war in the Transvaal
had been concluded. Pretorious st:11 indulged a
hope of annexing the Transvaal Republic to the
Free State, but he had lost the confidence of many
in both States by his wavering and dubious policy.
On one side it was considered that he had no chance
of being re-elected president of the Free State, but
on the other side it was declared that the majority
still considered him as their leader, and refused to
hear of his resignation: Mr. Allison, the State
Secretary, had been requested by an influential body
of the inhabitants to stand for the presidency, and
was a candidate.

On the frontier all was quiet amongst the various
native races, but a disturbance was rumoured to be
brewing in the Amaponda country. Umquikeld,
the eldest son of Faku, the paramount chief, being
very anxious to get rid of Damas, a younger brother,
who was very popular among the Pondas, the fol-
lowers of both parties were preparing for a dupe-
rats contest.

No intelligence had come this month from Dr.
Livingstone or the Zambezi mission, but it was
known that the small pox had been raging with
violence about Moselikatse's country, and the disease
had spread with such rapidity among the Bamang.
watos as to almost decimate the tribe. The people
were so reduced as to be unable to inter their dead,
and the bodies were left to be preyed upon by the
hyenas. This had so emboldened these animals that
they had taken to stealing the living children from
out of the villages of the tribe.

The wife of Mr. Bachberg, a missionary at Se•
cheli's, had died a few days before the last news left.
The long drought in the northern and eastern
frontier districts had at length broken up. The
South. African Advertise, and Mail says :—" The
rivers now roll down in tropical torrents; the
mountain veldt,' revived by heavy rains, affords
abundant pasture to the sheep and cattle formerly
famishing ,from thirst and hunger; and among
Europeans and natives alike the promptest means
have been taken for cultivating the new watered
soil. In some isolated tracts even still the
drought holds out. But over the country gene-
rally there is a marked change for the better,
and should things continue as favourably as
they are promising now, within another year
we may have quite recovered the leeway of the
last 12 months, and re-established ourselves in
even more than our former prosperity." To
meet the recurrence of such an unfavourable season
at any future year, considerable progress was mak•
ing and being provided for in irrigation.
The weather at the Cape was exceedingly hot, the
thermometer frequently rising to 94 degrees in the
shade, and 140 to 150 degrees in the sun.
In the western province the wheat harvest had
been good, and the forage crops very successful.
Fruit and vegetables had been seriously injured by
swarms of caterpillars. The vintage was late, and
the oidium had again appeared amongst the vines,
but the losses were not likely to be greater than
those of the previous year.

Trade, although it had somewhat improved, is
still very depressed in all its branches. In the wes-
tern province there had been a huge number of in-
solvencies amongst the shopkeepers and small far-
mers. In the eastern province there had been
several insolvencies of larger proportions.
In the customs receipts for the past year there
had been a falling off of £15,170 as compared with
1861. Wool, fine washed, was from ls. 3d. to ls.
sd. per lb.; do. unwashed, 81d. to 91d per lb. ;
coarse washed, 9d. to 11d. ; do. unwashed, 6d to 7d.

In Queenstown division there had been a very
destructive waterspout, which had seriously
damaged several farms.

Mr. Joseph Blackburn, a merchant of Cape Town,
had committed suicide by taking laudanum. He left
about £30,000 to his family. 11l health was con-
sidered to have been the cause of the rash act.
The ship Akbar, 908 tons, Captain Hutton, from
Siam for London, with rice, cassia, sticklac, and
sapanwood, was wrecked in Table Bay, Jan. 12.
Captain, crew, and nearly all the cargo saved. The
Union Company's royal mail steamer Norman, ar-
rived out Jan. 16. The Barossa, 21, screw corvette,
Captain W. M. Dowell, left Simon's Bay, Jan. 12,
for China. Imperieuse, 51, screw frigate, Captain
R. Gibson, left Simon's Bay, January 15, for Eng-
land, and passed Ascension January 30. Eclipse,
4, screw gun-vessel, Commander R. C. Mayne,
left Simon's Bay, January 17, for Australia. Ores-
tes, 21, screw corvette, Captain A. H. Gardner,
and Perseus, 17, screw-sloop, Commander
A. G. Kingston, were in Simon's Bay, Jan. 21.
Wye, iron screw store-ship, Master-commanding
V. G. Roberts, had left Ascension, Feb. 3, for
Sierra Leone, Cape de Verd and Madeira, and ex-
pected to arrive in England about the middle of
March.

The Dane landed her mails here, Which were for-
warded by this evening's mu train, and she left
to-night for Southampton.

JAPANESE TEA..-- The present season's impor-
tations of tea from China has been of a most unpre-
cedented character as regards quantity, upwards of
85,000,00011), having been shipped to England. The fine
and medium qualities are sauce, and necessarily the great
bulk consist of inferior and very inferior descriptions.
There have been considerable imports both of !Assam and
Japan tea. A parcel of Japanese tea lately on sale at Mr.
J. E. Evans's, tea merchant, 134, New Bond-street, was,
for quality, both curious and choice."—Court Circular.
CENSUS OF THE UNITED STATES In the collec-
tion of the details of the census of 1860 there were
employed 64 marshals and 4,417 assistants. Illinois pre-
sents the most wonderful example of great, continuous,
healthful increase: In 1830 Illinois contained 157,446 in-
habitants ; in 1840, 576,183 ; in 1850, 851,470 ; in 1860,
1,711,951. The gain during the last decade was therefore
101.06 per cent. So large a population more than doubling
itself in 10 years, by the regular course of settlement and
natural increase, is without a parallel. The condition to
which Illinois has attained under the progress of the last 30
years is a monument of the blessings of industry, enterprise,
peace, and free institutions. The excess of males over females
in Illinois amounts to about 92,000; and in the United
States, 730,000. The estimated population of the United
States in 1870 will be 42,328,432; 1880 will be 56,450,241;
1890 will be 77,266,989; 1900 will be 100,355,802. While
the middle States have gained in density only 25 per cent.,
the north-western group have gained 100 per cent. Be-
tween Sept. 30, 1819, and Dec. 31, 1860, there had arrived
in the United States from foreign countries 2,977,603 alien
males and 2,035,536 alien females.