214 THE HORSE. 



have had the benefit of five dozen, tastefully and ef- 

 fectively laid on by one of those capital artists in the 

 line, a black drummer. This brutality, I suppose, 

 belongs to the new era. We are no longer to boast 

 that " we can whip them sound," but that we can 

 broomstick them sound ! According to what I daily 

 see, we are far more in need of strong and substantial 

 reins and powerful arms, than of either broomsticks 

 or whips, with a sound team in good condition. If 

 the " certain coach proprietor" was privy to this dis- 

 graceful fact, and grinned at it ; with my hearty 

 good will, he also should have had his turn at the 

 halbert. Suum cuique. 



Night work, of which Nimrod has had his share 

 as an amateur, he observes, " If I were to go upon 

 the road, I would be a night coachman through a 

 well inhabited country. For six months of the year, 

 it is undoubtedly the pleasanter service ; and I never 

 found any difference between taking my rest by day 

 or by night. Fit, however, only for a man in the 

 prime of his days, as all his energies are wanting. 

 He ought to know his line of road well, for lamp- 

 light is treacherous, not only in fogs, but the steam 

 from the horses bodies often obstructs the lamp- 

 light. Accidents often occur from coachmen neglect- 

 ing to light their lamps in going into a town, where 

 obstructions may occur from rubbish or stones left in 

 the streets." 



The following rules, as Nimrod warrants, are 

 truly worth observing by a night coachman ; indeed, 

 can never be neglected with safety, or an honest sense 

 of duty in the man. " Take your rest regularly, or 



