May 15, 1685.] 



♦ KNOV^/LEDGE ♦ 



411 



hours, as the moon does who is so near us 1 And should 

 not coiuots, which aro strangers in our vortex, and which 

 run courses so dill'crent one from the other, and with such 

 unequal rapidity, bo excused from turniui; round us in 

 the same space of twenty-four hours '! But no matter, 

 fixed stars, and comets, and all must turn round the 

 earth in twenty-four hours ; yet, if there were some 

 minutes' ditVereiice in these motions, we might be con- 

 tented : and they all must make them with the most 

 exact equality, or rather the only exact equality which 

 is in the world, and not one minute more or less allowed.* 

 In reality, this matter is strangely to be suspected." 



" 1 " says the lady, " since it is possible that this 

 grand equality shoidd be only in our imagination, I am 

 intirely convinced it is derived only fmrn thence. I am 

 very well pleased, that any position, which is against the 

 genius of Nature, should fall entirely upon ourselves, and 

 Qjat she should stand discharged, tho' at our expence." 



{To be continued.) 



TRICYCLES IN 1885. 

 Bt John Browning. 



(Chairman o/ the London Tricycle Ciuh.) 

 A TRICYCLE RIDE. 



OXE morning towards the end of last autumn I started 

 for a day's tricycle ride. Mr. Arthur Salmon, one of 

 the best riders in my club, accompanied me. We started 

 together fiom Reigate Hill at seven minutes past six in the 

 morning, at which time it was only just beginning to get 

 fairly light. 



As we ran through Reisrate, the little market-place of the 

 town looked very pretty with the sun rising on it through 

 a slight mist. I can remember Reigate for nearly thirty 

 years, and I do not know any town which has been so 

 little injuied by alterations in that space of time. We 

 saw in the roads only a few men going to work. The 

 town itself looked asleep. Riding easily up the Woodhatch 

 Hill and swiftly down the further side, we quickly found 

 ourselves crossing Earlswood Common. The morning was 

 cool, with a strongish wind blowing from the north east. 

 This was somewhat a cross wind, but still considerably in 

 our favour on the whole. Cattle were seen grazing on the 

 common thr.iugh the mist, which, say what we will about 

 our climate, gives atmospheric effects which are the greatest 

 charm of an English landscape. 



Fiuding the ironstone road in very perfect condition, I 

 expressed a wish that my machine could be geared up 

 higher. " Shorten your pedals," said my ready companion ; 

 and together, in a minute or two, we shortened them to 

 4i in. The effect was so pleasing, that very soon I 

 shortened them as much as possible to 4 J in., at which 

 length of crank I have ridden ever since, even on a 

 machine geared in. higher than I was then riding. 



In less than an hour from the time of our staiting we 

 had passed through the long, straggling village of 

 Crawley, and under the sign of the old coaching hnuse, 

 " The George," whose sign-board spans the road, and 

 turning sharp round by the side of this hotel, we were in a 

 narrow way which a stranger would suppose to be a bye- 

 street of the villaoe, but is really the main road, through 

 Horsham to Worthing. 



From Crawley to Horsham, our road ran through St. 

 Leonard's Forest. The greater part of the distance it 

 was strongly undulating, with a beautiful surface, neither 



• He might have said " not one-tenth of a second." — E. P. 



muddy nor dusty, and being made of a very rich iron- 

 stone, its colour was a deep red, which contrasted finely 

 with the thick foliage on either side. As the sun was 

 now gftting through tho mist, the shade was delightful, 

 and wo were sonn gli<ling along Roughey street, surc^ly 

 badly named, for it is an unusually smooth road, rutming, 

 for the last mile or more, mostly down hill, from Maple- 

 hurst into Horsham. 



As we entered the old town, a few tradesmen were 

 taking down their shutters. We passed across a broad 

 green into a moderately wide street, and then found that 

 wa should have taken a narrow one, the br.ad stniet 

 leading out of the town, not into it. The plan of Horsham 

 is so ingenious that, although I have been there about 

 twenty time.s, I often make a mistake in passing through it. 



Wo reached Horsham at 8.G a.m., having been just about 

 1 hour and 48 minutes, allowing 1 1 minutes for stoppages, 

 in riding the seventeen miles from Iteigate Hill. 



Breakfast was ordered, and while it was being got ready 

 we went out and bought as many large peaches as we could 

 stow away in our wallets. 



After breakfastii)g leisun^Iy, wc left Horsham at S..'!8, 

 taking the main road to Worthing. From llorsham we 

 went over a hilly road, through South water, to West 

 Grinstead, though we saw little of this village, as the 

 principal part of it lies just oil the main road. 



Again, we rode on from West Grinstead, through Dial 

 Po.st and Ashington, to Washington Common, and here we 

 encountered the long steep hill which goes over the Downs. 

 Up this we rode — on my own part, though, assisted by my 

 hill-gearing, with ditHculty. When we had reached the 

 top, we thought we deserved our peaches. I should think 

 it is very seldom indeed that peaches are so delicious as 

 ours were. 



As we were ascending the steej) hillon our left, right above 

 us lay Chanctonbury Ring, an old entrenchment, in a most 

 commanding position, surmounted by a fine clump of trees, 

 which can be easily seen on any fine day from Reigate, 

 a distance of upwards of thirty miles. While we were 

 riding up the hill, some farmers, who passed us in gigs, 

 offered to assist us. To their evident surprise, we overtook 

 them, said a few words to them, and then bade tiiem good- 

 bye. On a broad, loose road in this locality, I snid to my 

 companion, " Arthur, I think the other side of the road is 

 the best." " Oh, it's no use changing for that," he replied ; 

 "whichever side of the road you ha])pen to be riding on, the 

 other side is always the best." 



Next we passed through Finden and Broadwater, over a 

 good road, mostly down hill, and rolling rapidly alt.ng the 

 High-street, our feet on the rests the greater part of the 

 way, we were soon at the pier of pretty httle Worthing. 



Our time of arrival being 11.20, we found we had taken 

 rather more than two and three-(iu.irter hours to ride the 

 twenty miles from Horsham. This was the s'owest part of 

 our journey, but it was one continual succession of hills, 

 culminating in the steep climb over the South Dovins. 



After a walk along the esplanade, through and round the 

 town, we had an excellent dinner of cold meats, tomatoes, 

 ic, at the Stejne Hotel, which I can strongly recommend. 



Having been one hour and ten minutes iu the town, we 

 started again at 1 2 30, and rode on through Broadwater, 

 Hangleton, and Prtston, about thirteen miles to Li'tle- 

 hampton. This was about twelve miles of excellent road; 

 but, being desirous of getting another glimpse of the sea, 

 we found ourselves on the sea-beach, and had to ride 

 about a mile into Littlehampton, over shingle. Then we 

 rode up from the beach, wldch is about half a mile from 

 the town, through the High-street, past the queer old 

 Brewery, which resembles a wooden building on a Thames 



