292 STARTING CH. XIV 



paper expression, ' the coachman cracked his whip 

 and started off,' is entirely due to the imagination 

 of the reporter ; no one ever cracks a four-in-hand 

 whip. 



On a public-coach, it is the business of the guard 

 to see that the passengers are seated, and when 

 all is ready for the start, he comes forward, on the 

 off side as far as the wheelers' shoulders, and says 

 ' Riofht, sir !' to the coachman. 



Since on a drag there is no guard, the coachman 

 must be sure that no one on the coach is standing 

 np when he is about to start, and if there are per- 

 sons on the back of the coach where he cannot 

 readily see them, it is well, as a warning, to say 

 ' Sit fast !' before starting. 



If a coach has only one servant with it, or if one 

 of the two is driving, the man on the ground should 

 hold both the wheelers and the leaders, by grasping 

 the coupling-reins of the wheelers and the lead- 

 reins together, with his hand passed under the off 

 wheeler's neck. He can thus restrain the whole 

 four ; but if he holds the leaders only, by their heads, 

 and the wheelers start, they may push the leaders 

 over the man and set the whole team off. 



If a team standing still, starts suddenly, when no 

 one is on the box, a bystander should seize the 

 heads of the wheelers and not run to those of the 

 leaders, as people generally do. If the wheelers 

 are held, the leaders cannot well run away with 

 them. 



