302 ANNALS OF THE ROAD. 



which turns his head away from his partner, and 

 shoulders the pole ; and secondly one which, when he 

 feels the weight pressing upon him, begins to canter or 

 jump — as coachmen term it ; when holding back, to any 

 effect, is out of the question. With such cattle as these, 

 the drag-chain must be had recourse to ; or when there 

 is the least reason to suspect the soundness of the 

 harness. Some coaches that load heavily in hilly coun- 

 tries take the following precaution, and I saw it adopted 

 last year with the North Devon coach, which was chang- 

 ing at Taunton, as I passed through the town — and 

 famously horsed it was : — A small round strap, suffi- 

 ciently strong for the purpose, passes under the throat 

 of the wheelers' collars, and the pole-chain is run 

 through it. Thus in case of the ring of the hames giving 

 way — which too often happens — the horse is not only 

 prevented from getting back on the splinter bar, which 

 is almost certain to make him kick, but he is enabled by 

 this strap, to keep his side of the coach in its place, and 

 thereby prevent an accident. It must be recollected that 

 these rings of the hames resist all the pressure of the 

 load ; and when it is considered that they are not half 

 the. substance of the pole-chain, and are as single links, 

 to the pole chains double one's, it is almost miraculous that 

 they do not oftener give way. The strap I am speak- 

 ing of is no annoyance to the horse, as it works in a part 

 of his collar that never touches him, and the trouble of 

 running the pole-chain through it is not worth speaking 

 of with a slow coach ; and these are the coaches that 

 most require such precautions, from the weight they 



