8o HIGHWAYS AND HORSES. 



Fourth's reign, and one year before the Queen 

 ascended the throne, there were only six mail- 

 coaches which travelled at a rate of ten miles an 

 hour, and upwards. These were the 



Miles. Furlongs. 



Birmingham and Sheffield to o 



Pontefract and Leeds lo o 



London and Holyhead lo i 



Gloucester and Carmarthen lo 2 



Carlisle and Glasgow 10 4 



Liverpool and Preston 10 5 



As regards the number of horses employed on 

 all the fast coaches, mail or stage, one horse a mile 

 is what was always allowed. 



The guards of the various coaches always had 

 to fill in their time-bill, to which they were forced 

 to sign their name. The General Post Office issued 

 time-bills to their guards and coachmen, upon which 

 was the followincj notice : 



" The time of working each stage is to be 

 reckoned from the coach's arrival, and if any time 

 is to be recovered in the course of the stage, it is 

 the duty of the coachman to be as expeditious as 

 possible, and to report the horsekeepers if they are 

 not always ready when the coach arrives, and active in 

 getting it off The guard is to give his best assist- 

 ance in changing, whenever his official duties do 

 not prevent him." 



Similar rules were issued by all the large stage- 

 coach proprietors, who were not to be outdone by 

 the Postmaster-General in the matter of speed and 

 punctuality. Their guards carried time-pieces like 

 those of the mail guards, and Mr. Harris says that 

 at the foot of the Exeter " Telegraph " there was this 

 notice : 



