OLD COACHING DAYS. 



203 



now known as Salisbury Plain, remarkable for very long ranges 

 of hills and deep valleys, extending many miles right and left 

 of the road, and in the month of February of that year a very 

 rapid thaw set in immediately after an exceptionally heavy fall 

 of snow. The 

 ground was fro- 

 zen very hard, 

 the water from 

 the hills descend- 

 ing so rapidly 

 that in seven or 

 eight hours there 

 were streams of 

 a great depth in 

 the valleys where 

 a drop of water 

 had never before 

 been seen, and 

 the current in 

 some in tances 

 was so strong 

 that it did a great 

 deal of damage. 

 Changing horses 

 at Amesbury 

 about twelve o'- 

 clock, the coach 

 should have 

 passed Stone- 

 henge, standing 

 on the summit of 



a steep hill, a deep valley approaching it. At this time the 

 water was running down the valley, and was headed by an em- 

 bankment at the bottom of the hill, which had been thrown up 

 by reducing the hill. On the return journey, about three hours 

 later, changing horses at the next village called Winterborne 



Left behind. 



