The Cruise of the Branwen

THE OLYMPIC GAMES the first English team which competed in Paris, when Lord Desborough also took part, and, to the surprise of Continental swordsmen, they defeated the Belgians. It must have been very gratifying to him to witness the still greater success of his latest venture in captaincy, although he had no opportunity of wielding the epee himself. There were no fewer than eight entries of teams of four, England, France, Germany, Holland, Belgium, and Greece being all worthily represented, but the Austrians and Italians did not appear. Owing to the number of entries, it was necessary to arrange that any team once beaten was to be considered elimi– nated; otherwise the competition might have gone on for a fortnight. On April 24 the fight– ing began between the British and German teams in the open air at the gymnasium, an enclosed garden near the stadium, shaded by a grove of trees and provided with dressing– rooms. A piece of ground had been well prepared by watering and rolling till it was flat and hard as a billiard table under the brilliant sunlight. "King Edward, who thoroughly under– stands and is an enthusiast for fencing, had signified a wish to see this contest, and with him came our Queen and the King and Queen of Greece, the Prince and Princess of Wales, and the Greek Crown Prince and ·Princess, as well as the·Grand Duke Boris of Russia. The British team consisted of Lord Desborough, Sir Cosmo Duff Gordon, Mr. C. Newton 108