20 'OLD q' 



and Avhalebone; the breechings of the horses were 

 wholly made of the latter, while silk was used 

 entirely for the traces. The latter were ingeniously 

 housed in boxes, regulated by a kind of check-spring, 

 so that should one of the horses — wheelers presumably 

 — have 'held back,' the 'slack' of the trace would 

 have run into the box and prevented entanglement. 



The total weight of carriage and harness was two 

 and a half hundredweight ; a mere feather for four 

 horses to draw, even though ridden by postillions. 

 The horses by which this match was to be won or 

 lost gave just as much concern to the noble lords as 

 the vehicle. Here, again, the favourable conditions of 

 ' time and place ' on which Lord March had based the 

 difficulties which Avould beset him, gave ample oppor- 

 tunity for trials and training. This fortunate clause 

 was ' his own time,' perhaps somewhat hazarded by a 

 two months' notice as to the week the match should 

 take place in, but with liberty to select any day or 

 time specified in that. Therefore, when horses able 

 to undergo the ordeal were found, the only thing 

 required was to keep them fit and well for two 

 months ; not by any means so easy a task as it ap- 

 pears. It is said that some six or seven horses died 

 during training, at a loss to the co-partners of six or 

 seven hvmdred pounds. 



