ACCIDENTS. 199 



Nevertheless, I continued to toil on in 

 my vocation, in the exercise of which I 

 fancied I must have improved in my 

 knowledge in the art of driving by the 

 experience I was gaining. I continued 

 it, too, without any accident, and conse- 

 quently acquired the confidence of the 

 proprietors and the public. Indeed, I 

 considered myself very fortunate, for ac- 

 cidents were not very infrequent; and it 

 fell to my lot to witness two one of 

 the "Manchester Cobourg," the other of 

 the " Liverpool Umpire." 



I met the former coach, on my jour- 

 ney up, between Redbourn and St. Albans. 

 The coachman, Foster, kept on the wrong 

 side of the road to avoid the gravel, 

 which was so heaped on as to raise the 

 middle of the road to an unnecessary 

 height. The coach (Manchester-built, and 

 very inferior to those turned out from the 

 factories at Clerkenwell or Little Queen 



