Long Running Jump. —For which the following entries were made:—John Ryan, Chas. M'Carthy, and M. Calloo. The latter was nowhere, and the contest lay between Ryan and M'Carthy, when M'Carthy cleared the astonishing distance of 18 feet 2 inches. R A C E O F 200 Y A R D S . — F o r which eight entries were made, viz.:—J. Pinkerton, P. Ryan, J. Gregory, W . Weston, J. M'Laren, W . Copeland, H . H a m m o n d , and W . Baker. T h e whole made a fine start, but Pinkerton soon shot ahead and increased his distance from his rivals as he neared the flag; he was followed within two yards by Ryan, w h o could not overhaul him. F O O T B A L L M A T C H . — T h i s was unfortunately left to the last, and amidst heavy rain and a pelting gale of wind did the adventurous lovers of field sports persist in the amusement. T w o teams were chosen. M r . Dalmahoy Campbell chose ten for his side, and Mr. Were an equal number. Sometimes the apple, or rather ball, of contention, was flopped into the middle of a pool of water, and the whole lot got a good ducking. T h e event was not concluded, owing to the bad weather, and the stakes were returned.
PRIZE-FIGHTING.
Fisticuffs, not the regular pugilism, which, when scientifically learned, constitutes as justifiable an acquirement as any of the other arts of self-defence, but the besotted and brutalizing inter-punching, known as prize-fighting, was an early coloniser of Port Phillip—though mostly indulged in by stealth, and apparently beyond the purview of the police—a protective corps disposed to wink at it oftener than not. Prize-fighting was, no doubt, introduced by the early expiree convicts and ticket-of-leave holders, for it was an accomplishment m u c h cultivated by the prison portion of the population of N e w South Wales and V a n Diemen's Land. O n e feature of it, however, must be recorded in its favour, when compared with the early duelling, for there was no such sham about it as blank-loaded pistols,firingin the air, or shivering with fear when on the ground. T h e prize-fighters set to work in sober seriousness, with fists, and they had before them the bad example of their supposed superiors, for thefirstduel came off in Port Phillip on the 2nd January, 1840. There was also more "claret" tapped in a pugilistic engagement than in an "affair of honour," for it is an amusingly remarkable fact, that in all the would-be pistollings of which anything is known, in no instance was blood drawn, except the first, when one of the principals shot a fragment off the top of one of his o w n toes. Public prize-fighting was a luxury not often indulged in—but, n o w and then a " mill" would be heard of after it was over, as having taken place at the Brighton Beach, the Saltwater River, beyond Williamstown, or at Keilor, when the newspapers would raise a hubbub, and inveigh against a demoralizing custom, and an inactive police. Sometimes thefighters,bottle-holders and backers would be bound in recognizances to answer any information that might befiledagainst them; but nothing was ever heard of any further prosecutions. I have no intention of scheduling the various engagements of this kind, and will present only two as samples :— O n the 16th August, 1847, there was a considerable turn-out of " T h e Fancy" at a place known as " T h e Springs," some ten miles from town, on the Keilor Road, to witness a " set-to " between a Scotchman named Lovet, and Whelan, an Irishman. Five hundred persons formed the ring, within which the two combatants pummelled each other unmercifully for two mortal hours, doing no less than fifty-six rounds, or about one per every two minutes. T h e conflict was at last terminated by what is known in pugilistic slang, as a " nose-ender" from the Paddy, which led Sandy to momentarily believe that not only his nose, but everything attached to it, was ended as far as this world went. T h e sponge was immediately thrown up for him, for he was unable to throw it himself, and the principals and bottle-holders having shaken hands, the motley crew returned to town. Whelan was the favourite, and (as so stated) ,£250 was won on him. T h e police heard nothing of it until hours after all was over. O n the ioth January, 1848, a morning's brisk work was gone through within three miles of Melbourne, on a skirt of swamp over the Saltwater River, and opposite the Flemington Racecourse. The following notice of the field-day is copied from a Melbourne newspaper of the n t h : — " A
