One morning I met Elspeth in the street of James Town, and she cried laughingly that she looked to see me at the races.

After that I had no choice but go; so on the Monday morning I dressed myself with care, mounted my best horse, and rode to the gathering.
'Twas a pretty sight to see the spacious green meadow, now a little yellowing with the summer heat, set in the girdle of dark and leafy forest.

I counted over forty chariots which had brought the rank of the countryside, each with its liveried servant and its complement of outriders.

The fringe of the course blazed with ladies' finery, and a tent had been set up with a wide awning from which the fashionables could watch the sport.

On the edge of the woods a multitude of horses were picketed, and there were booths that sold food and drink, merry-go-rounds and fiddlers, and an immense concourse of every condition of folk, black slaves and water-side Indians, squatters from the woods, farmers from all the valleys, and the scum and ruck of the plantations.