146 ANNALS OF THE ROAD. 



be greatly aggravated in a dark or foggy night. When 

 a horse of this description is put into the traces, he is 

 always put in at the wheel that in case of his hanging 

 back, the other horses may drag him on. Now although 

 it is possible that he may go along pretty orderly on the 

 level road, yet when he comes to descend the hill and 

 feels the weight of the carriage pressing against him, 

 he is almost sure to swerve, or to throw himself down 

 on his hind quarters, the consequences of which, if the 

 wheel is not locked, may sometimes be very fatal.' 



Nimrod used to blame coachmen for getting too near 

 the pitch of a hill before pulling up ' to drag.' On this 

 subject, an ' Old Subscriber ' of the ' Sporting Magazine,' 

 relates the following occurrence : — 



' Some few years past I was travelling to Brighton, 

 I think by the " Alert," at the time driven by a coach- 

 man named Pattenden. On pulling up at the extreme 

 point of Reigate Hill, and being anxious to get the drag 

 on, he did not do it securely. On starting rather brisk, 

 whether it came in contact with a stone, or from what 

 cause I know not, but it flew from the wheel it was 

 placed on to the opposite one, and fixed as properly and 

 securely as if placed by hand ; in which manner we pro- 

 ceeded down the hill, in my opinion, a providential and 

 singular circumstance, which perhaps, prevented a serious 

 accident.' 



The difference between the ordinary break block in 

 use on most of the present stage-coaches, and that used 

 by the proprietor of the Ross and Chepstow stage, the 

 " Old Times," illustrated by the accompanying diagram, 



