MAIL-GUARDS 257 



tlie supreme control of them. Complaints con- 

 tinually reached him from one quarter or another 

 of the mails l)eing late, of the guards being 

 impertinent, and of the hind-hoot, sacred to the 

 mail-hags, heing used hy the guards as a receptacle 

 for things quite unauthorised and unotFicial. To 

 stop some of these practices he was obliged to issue 

 this notice, which reads somewhat curiously now- 

 adays : " In consequence of several of the mail- 

 guards having been detected in carrying meat and 

 vegetables in the mail-box, to the amount of 150 

 pounds weight at a time, the superintendents are 

 desired to take oj^portunities to meet the coaches in 

 their district, at places where they are least ex- 

 pected, and to search the boxes, to remedy this evil, 

 which is carried to too great a length. The super- 

 intendents Avill please to observe that Mr. Hasker 

 does not wish to be too hard on the guards. Such a 

 thing as a joint of meat, or a couple of fowls, or 

 any other article for their own families, in modera- 

 tion, he does not wish to deter them from the 

 privilege of carrying." 



Loading the roof with heavy or bulky articles 

 was a thing he could not allow as a usual thing. 

 " Such a thing as a turtle tied on the roof, 

 directed to any gentleman once or twice a year, 

 might pass unnoticed, but for a constancy cannot 

 be suffered." 



In one respect the lot of a mail-guard did not 

 compare favourably with that of his plebeian 

 brethren on the stage-coaches. He rode through- 

 out the night in a solitary position on the little 

 VOL. I. 17 



