104 MALLE POSTE CH. VI 



hammer-cloth, like that used on a dress carriage, 

 was put on the box-seat. It was red, like the royal 

 livery of the guard. 



During Vidler's contract, probably few changes 

 or improvements were made in the mail-coaches, 

 but at the outset, the subject seems to have been 

 studied with much care by the Post-Office authori- 

 ties, with the result of turning out a very complete 

 vehicle. 



An exact reproduction of the mail-coach was 

 built by Messrs Guiet & Co., of Paris, in 1892, for 

 Mr W. G. Tiffany, and was used in the drive 

 against time, from Paris to Trouville in July of that 

 year. It has been copied since then for other 

 private persons, and is shown in Plate VII. 



MALLE POSTE 



The French Mail, or ' Malle poste,' was en- 

 tirely different from the English ; it was a britzska 

 with a dickey for the guard. It carried only two 

 passengers, had four horses, and travelled very fast. 

 (Beaufort, p. 327.) 



General Morix, in his Report on the London 

 Exhibition of 1862, says that the malle poste ran 

 on certain stone-paved roads at a speed of from 

 15 to 16 kilometres (9.32 to 9.94 miles) an hour. 

 The stages were short, only five miles. Beaufort 

 states that the changes of horses were made in 

 forty-five seconds. Plate VIII., from an old drawing 

 by Victor Adam, shows this vehicle. 



