CARRIAGE HORSES AND COBS. 181 



and in their first form they appear to have mitigated 

 but slightly the jolting of the vehicle to which they 

 were applied. Pepys speaks of riding in a carriage 

 thus equipped belonging to Colonel Edward Blount, 

 which Pepys found " pretty well, but not so easy as 

 he pretends." 



How far from easy the seventeenth century car- 

 riages must have been is shown by the numerous 

 crude inventions that were made from time to time 

 with the view of improving them. Evelyn, for exam- 

 ple, in the year 1665, records the following in his 

 Diary : — 



" Sir Richard Bulkeley described to us a model of 

 a chariot which he had contrived, which it was not 

 possible to overthrow in whatever uneven way it was 

 drawn, giving us a wonderful relation of what it had 

 performed in that kind, for ease, expedition, and 

 safety ; there were some inconveniences yet to be 

 remedied : it would not contain more than one per- 

 son, was ready to take fire every ten miles, and, being 

 placed and playing on no fewer than ten rollers, it 

 made a most prodigious noise, almost intolerable. A 

 remedy was to be sought for these inconveniences/' 



If this astonishing vehicle was really considered 

 wonderful for "ease and expedition," — and Mr. 

 Evelyn was not given to irony, — it may be imagined 

 what were the qualities of the ordinary chariot, upon 

 which it was supposed to be an improvement. 



But whatever the ancient carriage lacked in com- 

 fort, it made up in splendor. It was richly deco- 

 rated, painted in gay colors, emblazoned with pictures, 

 and fitted with hangings and cushions of silk and 

 velvet. 



