The Cruise of the Branwen

THE GAMES IN ATHENS we heard with comparative indifference that, owing to the entire absence of English competitors, those two excellent French players, MM. Germot and Decugis, had got into the final of the lawn tennis. Taylor won the mile swimming for England that afternoon in Phalerum Bay, with Jarvis second to him. That night the British royal party left by sea for Naples, and there was a great torchlight procession round the central square of Athens. Dillon-Kavanagh's expected victory for France with the foils came off right enough on Wednesday, but Casimir, a first-rate all-round fencer, was a good second to him. A great deal of delay occurred before our next heat for the epee teams could begin, so we went into the stadium, where the hot sunshine (which was hotter than it had been at all as yet) beat down with considerable violence on the tiers of white marble seats, and shone in little points of gold upon the circle of soldiers who lined the topmost grade in the big white arena. The big policeman, Martin Sheridan, won the discus (thrown in the " free style") for the United States with a world's record of 41 metres 46 ; a Greek was second, and a Finn came third. This is one of the most appropriate events possible in any Olympic Games, and as the Greeks themselves provided some very curious rules for competitions in the Athenian stadium, it may be as well to state here some of the conclusions arrived at by Mr. E. N. Gardiner, which he published in the 27th volume of the Jo11,rnal 67