loo ANNALS OF THE ROAD. 



London and Liverpool, 203 miles in 20 hours 50 

 minutes. 



On one occasion the Devonport mail (the ' Quick- 

 silver ') travelling- with foreign and colonial letters, accom- 

 plished the journey of 216 miles, including stoppages, in 

 21 hours and 14 minutes. 



The guard of the Devonport mail, who had travelled 

 with it on December 27, 1836, from Ilminsterto London, 

 a distance of 140 miles, stated that the journey was a most 

 trying one to both men and cattle. The storm commenced 

 when they reached Wincanton, and never afterwards 

 ceased. The wind blew fresh, and in crossing the plains 

 the snow and sleet drove in their faces so as almost to 

 blind them. Between Amesbury and Andover two pairs 

 of leaders were employed instead of the usual pair, for here 

 the snow-drifts were mountainous, and the drifting would 

 have turned the coachman's leaders. Between Andover 

 and Whitchurch the mail stuck fast in one of the snow- 

 drifts, and the horses, then driven by the coachman, in 

 attempting to get it out were nearly buried. 



