428 PUBLIC COACHING CH. XIX 



do, to get over their ground in the time allotted ; 

 there is no opportunity to slow down in order to 

 cool a fretful leader ; if he will gallop, he has to 

 gallop, or else to be handled with such skill as to 

 bring him down to a trot without materially dimin- 

 ishing the pace ; for minutes are precious. In a 

 coach timed at ten miles an hour including changes, 

 very close to eleven miles an hour must be made 

 while moving, and a minute or two lost, by stopping 

 or going slow, is hard to make up ; so that whether 

 the team is going pleasantly or most disagreeably, 

 there is nothing to do but to make the best of it, 

 and to notice carefully how things may be improved 

 on the run back, or on the next day. Horses have 

 to be shifted from one stage to another to make the 

 best use of them or to counteract their peculiarities. 

 Some horses go best in town, others in the country, 

 a bad wheeler may make a good leader, changing 

 sides may turn a troublesome horse into a good 

 one, and all these matters are interesting and re- 

 quire judgement on the part of the coachman. 



Ouickness at the changes, smartness of the service 

 generally, attention to small details by all persons 

 employed, are points which interest the proprietor 

 and please the connoisseur ; and the coachman 

 never knows but that in his load of strangers there 

 may be a master of the craft, who will express his 

 opinion, on the spot or at a future time. 



The mere driving is of itself much more interest- 

 ing than that of a simple afternoon outing : every 



