no COACHING. 



down hill at an awful pace, which, of course, 

 brought the passengers to grief. An inveterate 

 kicker or a giber added to the dangers of the 

 road, and a heavy snow-storm, in which the 

 passengers had to descend and make their way 

 to the nearest wayside inn or cottage, did not 

 improve their condition. 



Of course when due precautions were taken, 

 the accidents were, comparatively speaking, 

 few. I have travelled at a tremendous pace by 

 the " Hirondelle" — irreverently called the " Iron 

 Devil " — by the " Wonder," between Shrews- 

 bury and London, and by almost all the fast 

 coaches between London and Brighton, Lon- 

 don and Oxford, London and Southampton, 

 London and Bath, and have never met with the 

 slightest accident. 



In bygone days it was very agreeable, albeit 

 rather expensive, to travel post, especially in 

 your own hght chariot or britchka ; but to be 

 dependent upon hack chaises on the road was 

 far from pleasant. These chaises were not very 

 well hung on springs, the windows seldom fitted 

 closely, and the rattling noise reminded one of 

 a dice-box in full play upon wheels. There 

 was generally straw enough at your feet to 

 bold a covey of partridges. Although these 



