48 FISHERIES AND FISHERMEN 



Another project, of somewhat later date, for conveying 

 fish to town by means of post horses, gives us an opportu- 

 nity of comparing the rates of carriage existing about this 

 time with those current at the present day. The company 

 proposed to convey from eight to ten hundredweight of fish 

 daily to the Hercules Inn, on the Surrey side of the me- 

 tropolis, by relays of post horses, and put fonvard an 

 elaborate calculation of the expenses involved. Taking as 

 a basis half a ton, and assuming a rate of six miles with 

 fresh relays at every second hour, we get the following 

 items for the accomplishment of seventy-two miles in 



twelve hours : — 



£ s. d. 



72 miles @; I J-. a mile 3120 



Post boy @ I ic/. a mile 090 



Greasing the carriage 010 



Ostler, 6d. a stage 030 



Total, exclusive of turnpikes (which, says the author) , r q 

 of the proposal, cannot be ascertained) . . . ' 



Upon this scale, therefore, half a ton could have been 

 conveyed 144 miles in twenty-four hours at a rate now 

 sufficient to convey an ordinary parcel by goods train for 

 400 miles ; a contrast not quite so deep as one might have 

 fancied w^ould be the case. 



