POSTING IN ENGLAND. 319 



as a dart, descend from the phaeton, he took his hat off and 

 apologised, pulled his forelock, and said he hoped he would 

 not be reported to his master. 



Such cases as those just related were, however, very rare 

 a better behaved or more trustworthy set of men than the old 

 postboys were not to be found. The modern fly did not exist 

 in those days. If anyone not having a carriage at hand wanted 

 to post, he was obliged to have recourse to the post-chaises 

 kept at the inns. They were familiarly called ' bounders ' from 

 being very light and hung on Cee-springs, and bounding merrily 

 up and down. Many of them had a rail or bar flat at the top, 

 and about four or five inches wide, fixed from one front spring 

 to the other, and when the bounder returned empty the post- 

 boy, who had secreted a pair of driving reins under the seat, 

 mounted the bar and drove home. When there was no bar 

 the postboy often drove home from inside the bounder through 

 the front windows. These carriages were always painted yellow, 

 and sometimes had red wheels. 



When opposition was very brisk I have seen in places, 

 notably at Barnet amongst others, four horses turn out on 

 seeing a carriage coming from London (they could see nearly a 

 mile from the door) from the Red Lion to tempt the travellers 

 to change there. Sometimes they would do so, at others they 

 galloped by to the Green Man at the other end of the town, 

 and the Red Lion horses turned in again. 



As in those days the posting on some parts of the continent 

 was very well done, and the pace at which one could travel was 

 really good, a few words describing it would not be amiss in 

 this work. We therefore propose to give a short account of it, 

 as well as of the travelling by malle-poste and diligence. 



