98 STAGE-COACH AND MAIL IN DAYS OD YORE 



In shape the l)ody varied. Sometimes it resembled 

 a distiller's vat somewhat flattened, and hung 

 equally balanced between the immense back and 

 front springs ; in other cases it took the form of 

 a violoncello case, which was, past all comparison, 

 the most fashionable form ; again, it hung in 

 a more genteel posture, inclining on the back 

 springs, in that case giving those who sat within 

 the appearance of a stiff Guy Fawkes. The fore- 

 most horse was still ridden by a postilion, a long- 

 legged elf dressed in a long green and gold riding- 

 coat and wearing a cocked hat ; and the traces 

 were so long that it was with no little difficulty 

 the poor animals dragged their unwieldy burden 

 along. It groaned, creaked, and luml)ered at 

 every fresh tug they gave it, as a ship, beating 

 up through a heavy sea, strains all her timbers. 

 In 1774 the proj^rietors of the "Original London 

 and Salop Machine, in the modern taste, on steel 

 springs," announced that, among other imjDrove- 

 ments, their coach had "bows on the top." Some 

 consideration of this portentous improvement 

 inclines us to the belief that these " bows " must 

 have been guard-irons on the roof for j^assengers 

 to hold on by, and to prevent them being thrown 

 off. A little further consideration will j^ei-haps 

 bring us to the conclusion that those " bows " 

 would not even then have been placed there had 

 not some serious accident already hajipened. 

 Such protection was not uncommon, as may be 

 gathered from an account of a coach journey 

 written by Charles H. Moritz, a worthy German 



