254 



COACHING. 



arrived there but for a drove of oxen which 

 met us on our way. The result was the 

 accident related in a previous chapter, and my 

 ankle was dislocated. 



My next attempt was when I was on the 

 Staff of the Duke of Wellins^ton, at Cambrai, 

 Frederick Yates, then in the Commissariat 

 Department, afterwards lessee of the Adelphi 

 Theatre, was anxious, like myself, to visit an 

 amateur performance by the officers stationed 

 at Valenciennes ; and it was arranged that we 

 should drive over in my dennet, to which he 

 was to add a leader. 



All went well until we approached the plains 

 ofDenain, when a man leading; a dancinsr bear 

 so frightened our steeds that they set off at a 

 gallop, overturning us in a dry ditch. Unfor- 

 tunately for me, the handle of my sword, which 

 I had stowed away in front of the apron, came 

 in contact with my body and broke a rib ; so, 

 instead of enjoying my visit, I was laid up for 

 a week at a not over-comfortable hotel. This 

 was my second and last appearance in a tandem, 

 and I strongly recommend those who value 

 their limbs never to trust themselves to such 

 a conveyance. In earlier days I have driven 

 four horses many hundred miles on the road 



