Such is the
reading-man's day--now for the boating-man's.
Boating is _the_ university amusement, _par excellence_. The expense
of it is small, and the Cam so convenient--just behind the colleges.
At all times of the year you may see solitary men in wherries; while
the boat-clubs for the formal spring-races are a convenient outlet for
college emulation--the 'top of the river' being an honour hardly
inferior to the senior wranglership. Each college has at least one
boat-club; and about nine races take place in the season. They have an
annual match with Oxford, in which they are generally victorious, for
the cantabs are reckoned to be the best smooth-water 'oars' in
England, if not in the world. The Cam not being much wider than a
canal, it is impossible for the boats to race side by side. They are,
therefore, drawn up in a line, two lengths between each, and the
contest consists in each boat endeavouring to touch with its bow the
stern of the one before it, which operation is called _bumping_; and
at the next race, the _bumper_ takes the place of the _bumped_.
To-day, there is to be a race; and the gownsmen--_not_ in their
gowns--are hurrying down to the scene of action, distant two miles
from the town. Bang! There goes the first gun! In three minutes, there
will be another; and in two more, a third; and then for it! We are at
the upper end of 'the Long Reach,' where we have a good view.
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