FOUR-IN-HAND DRIVING 137 



It has fallen to me to drive queerish teams 

 over indifferent roads in India, and this has 

 made me somewhat sceptical as to the value 

 of some of the rules laid down by modern 

 professors of driving- as a ^w^ art. When we 

 get into savage surroundings w^e are apt to fall 

 back into barbarous, if not unpractical, customs 

 and ways. It is not wise, however, "to differ 

 from the kindly race of men," and therefore if 

 I were driving in London I should observe all 

 the little customary rules, many of w^hich, 

 however, belong rather to the etiquette than 

 to the necessities of driving. But for those 

 who read this book, and who may, for the love 

 of the thing and want of cash, have to drive 

 awkward horses ov^er rouo^h roads, I will 

 suo^o^est some little variations from established 

 practice that I have found useful. In the first 

 place, as to the use of the whip, if you carry 

 the thong folded over the crop in the orthodox 

 fashion, it takes an appreciable time to unfold, 

 and it often happens with a sticky leader in 

 bad ground that it is necessary to hit hard and 

 hit quickly. On these occasions I have followed 

 the plan adopted by the old coachmen, and 

 caught the point under my thumb ; then the 

 lash can fly out in a second, and a leader will 

 spring forward into his collar at the critical 

 moment. 



