318 OLD PLYMOUTH TRAILS 



very long and would carry a surprisingly large 

 number. All Ponkapoag was wont to come out 

 of moonlight nights and ride upon it, and its fame 

 carried that of the little village very far. To 

 have coasted on the big Ponkapoag double-runner 

 was as much a thing to be mentioned boastfully 

 in certain sections as it was in others to have 

 been presented at court. 



Bob-sled is a proper, dictionary name for the 

 ordinary form of this device and it is used at 

 Davos and St. Moritz for jolly family parties on 

 the straight courses. There they equip it with a 

 bugle to herald its approach with joyous tootings, 

 a bridle of steel wire by which it is steered in 

 combination with pressure on a lever by means 

 of the feet of the steersman, and also with a 

 curious brake -which consists of a nail studded 

 board so rigged to the rear sled that the last man 

 can drop it down to the ice and anchor it by the 

 grip of the nails, thereby retarding its speed. 

 The steersman on the mammoth Ponkapoag 

 bob-sled steered by a rope bridle and the use 

 of his feet on a stout wooden cross-bar, and 

 his position was no sinecure. He had at 

 least a ton of people on board and he had no 

 brake. 



