464 CHANGES CH. XIX 



and guard must assist if the change is to be other 

 than a slow one, and the o-uard f t i ie English mail- 

 coach was required, by his instructions from the 

 Post-Office, whose servant he was, to assist, in so 

 far as it did not interfere with his mail duties. 



On the modern public-coach, since the guard has 

 no letter bags, and rarely any packages, to deliver, 

 he assists regularly, and with two horse-keepers it is 

 not necessary for the coachman to do anything. The 

 coachman usually gets down, however, and receives 

 the reins as they are thrown over to him. In rainy 

 weather, if there are plenty of people to assist, he fre- 

 quently remains upon the box to keep himself dry. 

 In this case he keeps the whip in his hand, and hold- 

 ing it to the front, the reins are thrown over it one 

 by one as they are drawn through the terrets, when 

 by raising the whip, they slip down to his hand. 

 This was done on the very fast coaches in old 

 times, and saved, at the change, all the time that was 

 required for the coachman to gather his reins and 

 get up. 



The question as to whether or not the coachman 

 should eet down at the change, has been mooted 

 lately in some criticisms on public coaching ; either 

 way is perfectly correct. 



Howsoever the change is made, the duties of 

 each person must be carefully laid down and strictly 

 adhered to, and the drill for it should be uniform at 

 all the stations on the road. 



