George Tomkyns Chesney

“ That favourite station being situated in a sandy plain which extended in perfect flatness for many days' journey in every direction, covered at one season of the year with luxuriant corn in fields quite unenclosed, and separated by marks distinguishable only by the villagers, and for the rest a sandy desert dotted with villages and thinly sprinkled with acacia-trees — a country of this sort was not favourable for the development of hunting, and had witnessed hitherto no more lively sport than coursing. ”

“ Scurry's horse was clearly declared the favourite, being bought in by the owner for thirty gold mohurs, while Lunge's fetched only fifteen; the confederates' mare was purchased by her owners for ten, and Yorke's horse by Colonel Tartar for five. "Can't do much harm by losing twenty chicks," observed the colonel, in Anglo-Indian argot, as the lot was knocked down to him; "and after all, there is a good deal of uncertainty about steeple-chasing." ”

“ His announcement evidently took the company by surprise; for although the hurdles in his compound told a tale to his neighbours, his recent purchase had not attracted much attention, and the fact of his ownership of a horse of any sort was not generally known. "It's not a tattoo race, young man," observed M'Intyre, who was standing by the little table at which Westropp of the irregulars, the honorary secretary, was recording the entries; "ain't you making a mistake?"
"There's nothing against tats in the rules," said Westropp, before Yorke had time to speak ”