148 COACHING. 



south were twenty-four hours proceeding to 

 Douglas Mill, and the mail from Glasgow to 

 Edinburgh only proceeded three miles, though 

 drawn by six horses. The guard and coachman 

 set forward with the mail-baofs on horseback, 

 and with great exertion reached Holytown, 

 seven miles further, in as man}' hours. 



On the following morning another attempt 

 was made, but, after proceeding a mile, both 

 coachman and s^uard were obliged to return to 

 Holytown. A number of men were then em- 

 ployed to clear the road, and at three o'clock 

 in the afternoon they made a second attempt, 

 but could only reach Shotts, as the men engaged 

 in cuttino- the road were oblio^ed to desist, in 

 consequence of the wind filling up the path as 

 fast as they cleared it. Next morning they 

 started again at half-past five, and only reached 

 Edinburgh, in a very exhausted state, in about 

 twelve hours. 



Again, in 1837 one of the heaviest falls of 

 snow ever remembered in this country took 

 place on the Christmas night. It extended 

 over every part of the kingdom. So deep 

 were the drifts of snow that in some of the 

 lower grounds it was from forty feet to fifty 

 feet deep; thus in many parts of the country 



