POSTING IN FRANCE. 323 



with red facings and edgings to the tails of the same colour, 

 yellow leather tights, and big boots. In many instances the 

 boots were 'jacked.' They were so hard that a carriage- wheel 

 would go over them without making a dent, and were fastened 

 on to the saddle, so that the boy came out in slippers, was 

 chucked up on to his horses, and taking his slippers off, thrust 

 his legs into his boots, which were in the stirrups and attached 

 to the pommel of the saddle. In front of him was his cloak 

 rolled and strapped occasionally it was rolled on the pad of 

 the hand-horse. The riding-horse was called le porteur, the 

 hand-horse le limier. The writer has seen horses fall and lie 

 on their side, the rider's boots being so hard that they were not 

 depressed or squeezed, and if the boy (Postilion, he was called 

 when spoken to) had not hurt himself or knocked himself 

 out of time, he quickly withdrew his legs from his boots and 

 got up. Those boys who did not fasten their boots to the 

 saddles had equally hard boots, and used to come clumping 

 out hardly able to walk in them. The stages w- 'Postes* 

 were all five miles in length, ' une liene et demie? The writer 

 never remembers to have seen one of these Posies of five miles 

 driven without the boys pulling up to refresh. There was always 

 a cabaret about half-way, and approaching this there was a 

 tremendous cracking of whips from both boys ; they were very 

 clever in cracking them above their heads (which, by-the-bye, 

 were covered with a tall, strong, hard, high, glazed hat with a 

 gold-lace band round it), and as you approached the cabaret a 

 damsel in sabots sallied forth with a small tray on which were 

 two liqueur glasses containing schnaps. The stop was only 

 momentary no refreshment for the horses the schnaps was 

 tossed off and away they went. This liquor was most abomin- 

 able stuff, more like vitriol than anything else, and would have 

 choked or burnt the throat of anyone but a postilion. 



The courier was mentioned on the preceding page. These 

 were an extraordinary race of hardy men, capable of any fatigue, 

 who had all the routes of the continent at their fingers' ends, 

 and knew which hotels to avoid as well as those to be patronised. 



Y 2 



