country place to another, after a night or
two's performance; which make their entry
into the town by a grand parade, the
company all tinsel, and gold, and spangles,
and feathers, and buff boots, and cotton
velvet trains, Neptune driving eight cream-
coloured horses, and holding on very tight
to his trident, which is his only support
in his very shaky car, and the clown, in
full paint and motley, riding on a donkey,
with his face to the tail, and making
hideous grimaces, to the intense delight
of the village boys. These tenting people,
as they are called, have a regular route
marked out for them, taking two or three
months to get through, and sometimes
only give one performance, rarely more
than two, and then both in the same
day in one place. Their parade is made
early in the morning, about eleven o'clock,
and they go straight to the tent, which
has already been prepared for them by
their "agent in advance" and his men.
The turf has been cut away for the ring,
the seats are placed, and the lamps hung,
the waggons for conveying the tents, poles,
implements, and properties, and the living
carriages of the proprietors and the
company, are all drawn up together in one
corner of the field, the carriage covered with
hideous dragons, containing the band, is
wheeled into its allotted place, a hasty
dinner is partaken of, and at two o'clock
the performance begins. At four o'clock
it is over, to begin again at seven; and
immediately after the night's work the tent
is struck, and at early dawn the company
are on their road again.

The establishment of my friends Messrs.
Jacobus and Eves is superior to any of
this kind; they have some three or four
places only, which they visit during the
course of the year, each having its
regular season, when "business" there
may be supposed to be at its best. In
these places they generally manage to
secure the same piece of ground on which
to erect their circus, and for which they
sometimes have to pay a heavy ground-
rent, in some cases as much as forty pounds
a month. This rent is naturally variable,
being governed by the position of the
locality, but my informant tells me there are
instances in which no rent at all is asked;
for instance, where the vacant space is the
property, as is sometimes the case, of the
proprietors of adjacent taverns, who are
willing to lend the ground, for the sake of
the custom which the circus is sure to
bring to their establishment. The ground
secured, Mr. Jacobus (who has the
management of what may be called the before-the-
curtain arrangements, matters pertaining
to the horses, riders, and the ring generally
coming under Mr. Eves's care), or his
agent proceeds to look among the builders
of the place for a likely man to run up
the wooden erection, which is to last
some two or three months. The cost of
this varies from one hundred and fifty to
four hundred pounds. The larger sum
includes, of course, all the fittings, and my
friends are always very particular about
their fittings, the reserved seats being
covered with red velvet, and every portion
of the house, down, or rather up, to the
threepenny gallery being light, bright,
comfortable, and well situated for viewing
the performance. The material of the
circus is never carried away, but at the
end of the season is sold for what it will
fetch.

The establishment of Messrs. Jacobus
and Eves consists of thirty-seven horses
and ponies, between fifty and sixty
performers, and seven grooms and stud-grooms.
The horses and ponies are picked up anywhere,
Mr. Eves being always on the look-out
for anything to suit his purpose, and
having a wonderful eye for "a bit of stuff'
which is likely to turn into money." The
more highly trained the circus horses, the
more valuable do they become, and many
an animal which was purchased at a cost
of twenty pounds, is, after a long course of
training, worth two hundred pounds to the
circus proprietors. Those animals known
as " ring-horses," the cream-coloured or
the piebald steeds, which, with the large
well-chalked saddle on their back, canter
steadily round the arena, bearing the young
lady who jumps over the ribbons, originally
cost from thirty to forty pounds a
piece; but when thoroughly broken, and
accustomed to their work, are almost
invaluable.

The test of a ring-horse's goodness is that
it should be perfectly faultless in temper,
that it should never be put out by any noise
or applause, that it should understand every
word of command, and, above all, that it
should never "go false," that is to say,
that it should always canter with its inside
legs, that is, those nearest the circus, first.
The riders are of both sexes, and of all
classes. Star riders, acrobats, trapezists,
ring-masters, stud-grooms, clowns, and all
those wondertul youths, who are only seen
together by the public in the "grand vaulting
act," when each one throws a somersault