"As we were about to take horse all those savages, men, women & little children, came to return our visit. Those who had been able to procure jerkins from the Christians were wearing them, as also the women who wore some kind of petticoats, others wore some pieces of shabby cloth from which were made the blankets they had traded on some ships in exchange for deer skins. They had a hole in the center to put their heads through & fastened it around their body with deer-thongs. The women were wearing theirs as a mantilla, like the Egyptian women in Europe, & their children were entirely naked. They had taken to adorn themselves some kind of pure white fishbones, slipping a strand of hair through a bone, & so on all around their head. They also wore necklaces & bracelets of small grains which are found in the country." _HORSE RACING_ Horse racing was the most popular form of amusement in Virginia in the seventeenth century. The lower counties of the Northern Neck were the center of horse racing in the colony at that time. These races had many spectators, including women, but only gentlemen could participate. Racing was considered "a sport for gentlemen alone," and records show that if one not of that class presumed to enter his horse in a race he was heavily fined. The races were taken seriously and conducted with fairness, even if it might be necessary to be assisted to this end by the courts. There are many records of contested decisions decided by jury. Saturday was the customary day for the races. These occasions when a crowd was gathered together were used by the public authorities for making announcements to the people. In 1696 citizens of Northumberland complained to the House of Burgesses that the races on Saturday often caused the Sabbath to be profaned. The races may have been carried over into Sunday, or they may have ended in drinking and fighting bouts which continued on that day. There were three racing tracks in the lower Neck: Coan Race Course, Willoughby's Old Field, located in Richmond County, and a third course at Yeocomico. Of these the principal and the most popular was the Coan track. These race-tracks were kept in good condition. Early race-courses were not always oval. Some were over "race paths." The "quarter race" was the outcome of this--where two horses ran a straight quarter of a mile. The stretch was sometimes a quarter and a half-quarter of a mile. Smoker, owned by Mr. Joseph Humphrey, was one of the most famous race-horses in the colony. He was later owned by Captain Rodham Kenner, who was High Sheriff of Northumberland. Prince, owned by Captain John Haynie, II, was another noted race-horse. In 1695 Smoker was run in a race against Prince on Coan Race Course. The stake was four thousand pounds of tobacco and forty shillings. The race was won by Smoker.