DAXGERS OF THE ROAD. 61 



Edinburgh mail started with six horses, and the Holy- 

 head and Halifax were drawn by four horses with 

 postilions. The stables of the coach proprietors in 

 and around London were completely exhausted of cattle, 

 owing to the non-arrivals from the country. As it was 

 doubtful whether any of the mails would start, the pro- 

 prietors of the principal coach inns in London refused to 

 book passengers. The guard of the Exeter mail (by 

 Yeovil), which started from Exeter on the night of the 

 26th, stated that they were buried in snow at five different 

 places, and had to be dug out ! The town of St. Albans 

 was completely full of mails and coaches which could 

 neither be got up nor down the road. It was said that 

 on the 27th there were fourteen mail coaches abandoned 

 on the various roads. In all cases the bags were re- 

 moved, and the horses extricated, the mail coach being 

 then abandoned until the change of weather commenced. 

 In open parts of the country all trace of the mail road 

 was lost, and the coachman was obliged in several 

 instances to travel by guess, or trust to the instinct of his 

 horses. 



The great exertions made by the guards and coach- 

 men of the mails on all the roads throughout the country, 

 and the unparalleled privations and fatigues which they 

 underwent, called forth the following thanks of the Post- 

 master-General : — 



' To the mail guards — to be delivered by the Post- 

 masters — 



' I have hourly proofs of the great exertions made by 

 the guards to get the mails forwarded through the snow, 



