shire, and the date of the event was the 20th of September, 1811. Tom Crib, the plebeian, had been monopolised for three months before the great day by one of his aristocratic backers, who took him with him to Scotland, in order to get him into the best possible training. Crib had to submit to all the fancies of his trainer, and at the end of the three months avowed that he would willingly fight any battle rather than go through a similar course of discipline a second time. On the eve of the great event it was not possible to obtain a bed at any price for twenty miles round the scene chosen for the contest, and in the morning there were twenty thousand spectators on the spot. A number of the most muscular pugilists of the day were appointed to guard the ring. An account of the battle would be out of place here, but the following extracts from the bulletin of the day will serve to show its principal features :—

"18th round. The champion of England struck his opponent on the breast with his right hand, and Molyneux answered with a blow on the head. In return the black received a hit on the forehead, which staggered him; but with the violence of his own blow, Crib fell. Both were in a state of extreme exhaustion.

แ "19th round. Impossible to distinguish the features of the combatants. Their faces are horribly bruised, but the difference of colour in the men enables us to distinguish them."

Among those present were the Marquis of Queensbury, Lord Yarmouth, Lord Pomfret, General Grosvenor, Major Mellish, Captain Barclay, who gained ten thousand pounds that day by the victory of the champion, who, on his side, got four hundred pounds. The total betting on the event reached over a million of money.

Crib's return to London was a triumphal progress. A

young gentleman "about town" took him back in his carriage, drawn by four horses, adorned with flags and ribands, and in the towns through which they passed Crib was received as a successful general who brings the news of his own victory. The approaches to his house in White Lion Street were crammed with a multitude, who kept up an incessant hurrah for the champion of England.

About this time an Edinburgh journal, remarking with some severity upon the money expended in entertaining Crib after his victory, said that a subscription opened for the purpose of sending help to the English prisoners then detained in France had not been responded to with an equal degree of generosity. Crib did not find the remarks of the Scotsman to his taste, so he replied, saying that he would have the honour of "making acquaintance with the writer of the article on the occasion of his approaching visit to Edinburgh,"

-an announcement which no doubt fluttered the Scotch editor not a little. We hear, however, no more of the affair.

The demonstration in honour of Tom Crib was calculated to have more effect upon his head than all the thumps of Molyneux. He was entertained to a great banquet at which gentlemen of title made speeches in his glorification and sang songs in his praise. A silver cup worth fifty guineas, together with its contents, raised on the spot, and amounting to eighty guineas, was presented to him. Immediately afterwards another banquet was got up for him, and the same silver cup went round the company with a highly favourable result. On the lid of the cup the arms of the county of Gloucester were engraven, and underneath was a shield, the four quarters of which represented the scene of the battle, &c. The well-known line from Shake

speare, "Damned be he who first cries, hold! enough!" was written below by way of legend.

Prize-fights, which are now virtually abolished, were really not so dangerous to the combatants as they would appear. It is well known that in some cases the whole programme of the battle was previously arranged by the principals, and for a certain sum of money one of them consented to lose. In such a case the fight was only the representation of a play or farce that had already been rehearsed, and of which the actors are quite well prepared in their parts. "First blood," "first fall," &c. were all assigned; and the public were thus defrauded of the money they had betted upon men who, they really believed, were doing their best to win.

Captain Cook was surprised to find that boxing was practised among the islanders of Polynesia. After stating that their contests did not differ from those that took place in England, he goes on to say that he was considerably astonished to see a couple of stout young women advance and commence to box, without the least ceremony, and with as much skill as the men. The engagement was of short duration, for at the end of half a minute one of the ladies was hors de combat. The winner was as warmly applauded as the boxers of the other sex who had fought for a much longer time. Good humour continued to prevail on both sides, though many of the champions, both male and female, received blows from which they could not recover for many a day. Cook was ignorant, no doubt, that fistic encounters between females occasionally took place even in England, as is proved by an announcement which appeared in the papers of 1772, and reproduced in "Boxiana," to the effect that Elizabeth Wilkinson, of Clerkenwell, having had some words

with Anna Hyfield, and desiring to obtain satisfaction, invited her to come up on the stage, where they would box together; both holding half-a-crown in each hand, the first who let the coin drop to lose the battle. In answer to this challenge, came the following reply, stating that Anna Hyfield, of Newgate Market, having seen the challenge of Elizabeth Wilkinson, accepted her defiance, and would do her best to give her satisfaction. She only wanted one or two blows at her adversary. No dodging! Elizabeth

Wilkinson had only to stand up!

Amongst the many celebrated prize battles fought in later days was the encounter between the redoubtable Tom Sayers and the American, Heenan, called the "Benicia Boy." The ring had fallen very low in public estimation by reason of the malpractices of its professors. Here, said the chief sporting journal of the period, was an opportunity of raising it once more to honour, and making it the sport of princes, poets, authors, and the educated classes of society.

Sayers was originally a bricklayer, and had already fought many battles, being always victorious, except once with the famous Nat Langham. Heenan had recently beaten a Californian "digger" named John Morrissey, now a member of the American Congress, and one of the wealthiest gaming-house proprietors in the United States. Both possessed high reputations, and were supported for large sums-Heenan on account of his great size, for he stood over six feet in height, and was remarkably muscular; while Sayers was noted for his "game" qualities, determination, and skill. Tom measured but five feet eight inches in height; still he was a big man, large shouldered and strong loined. The battle took place on April 17, 1860, at Farnborough, near Aldershot camp, before many thousand