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BURMAN RACING. The most primitive racing in the world is probably found among the Burmese, who are paesionately fond of matching their ponies to run against each other, says an English paper. The racecourse is generally a straight stretch of road. The starting post is a line drawn with a naked toe in the dust, and the winning post a bough torn from tho nearest tree and thrown down in the middle of the road. The distance depends on the energy of the man who marks the course, and is generally j a short quarter of a mile. The race is always a j match, and as the jockeys are invariably the j smallest boys discoverable they are often tied to their girths. Each carries a cane about sis feet long, which he flourishes wildly from start to finish, screaming encouragement to his mount. The pair, brought as near the line aforesaid as their own excitement and that of the shouting crowd of wagerers will allow, start by mutual consent, and, of course, gallop as hard as they can drive. To do the Bur-man pony justicelhe needs little driving, for ho enjoys the race, and his infant jockey has generally hard work to pull him up at tbe finish. TheJBuimese, born gamblers by heredity and taste, bet heavily on these races, and large sums change hands over a scurry between any brace of 12-hand rats whose owners agree to match them.fcEuropeans may generally be seen at a Brumese race on a look-out for a likely pony to run at a meeting in one of thejlarge towns of Burma, and often pickjnp, for a trifling sum, a pony which haB been beaten; the owners Disgust at loing and probably, too, his lots of rupees inducing him to dispose ofjthe little beast. As the Bur-man feeds his pony on grass and occasionally a little paddy, unhusked rice, it is in no condition to show to advantage, and frequently a pony which has been bought for a couple of hundred rupees after defeat turns out more than usefulunder English stable management.
