178 DRIVING. 



having a small seat behind all to himself ; he also had a sword 

 and a blunderbuss, and a 'yard of tin,' which he could blow 

 with sufficient expertness to make himself heard at a great 

 distance. The motto on the forepart of the mail was ' Nemo 

 me impune lacessit.' A coachman one day asked me what it 

 meant, and I explained to him ; but I added, ' On the u Quick- 

 silver " it means, " Nobody ever gives me the go-by," ' and no- 

 body ever did ; for even when we were last out of London 

 we were nearly always first into Hounslow. When going into 

 Devonshire I got on to the mail at half-past eight in the even- 

 ing, and got off it again at four the next afternoon, thus 

 occupying twenty hours, driving all sorts of distances. When 

 I went to Exeter by the ' Telegraph ' we left London at five 

 in the morning and reached Exeter at half-past ten at night 

 176 miles in seventeen hours and a half! We breakfasted 

 at Bagshot, dined at Deptford Inn, and had tea at Ilminster. 

 We changed horses nearly twenty times. There were three 

 guards belonging to the ; Telegraph,' all first-rate men, who 

 carried small twisted horns in their pockets, as the passengers 

 were troublesome in trying to blow the usual long horns. 

 These guards frequently managed to jerk the drag from under 

 the' wheel without stopping the coach, but this was very 

 dangerous ; a guard on another coach was killed in attempting 

 it. There was a four-mile stage from Wincanton to Last Gate. 

 A friend of mine, a first-rate coachman, asked the professional 

 the shortest time in which he had ever done the distance, and 

 he replied fifteen minutes. My friend, who was driving, said, 

 'I think it might be done in twelve.' He started at a gallop 

 and did the four miles just under twelve minutes. The next 

 day the professional tried to do the same, but, unfortunately, 

 when at full speed one of the horses put his foot into a hole 

 near the side of the road and broke his leg, which spoiled all. 

 I never heard that he tried it again. 



When I went into Dorsetshire I used to go by the old 

 Exeter mail. I drove to Salisbury, eighty-six miles ; some- 

 times to Dorchester, 120 miles. One evening I met this mail at 



