98 HIGHWAYS AND HORSES. 



get back again on to the beaten track, I gave my 

 horses their heads, and they sagaciously led me back 

 to the road without further mishaps. 



Horses, like other animals, see always better of a 

 night than human beings. This is, perhaps, owing to 

 the fact that their eyesight is never injured by artificial 

 light ; that, when darkness sets in, long hours in the 

 stable (during which they are left without light) 

 accustom them to see when to us everything would 

 be enveloped in gloom. This being the case, coach- 

 men driving of a night should leave a great deal to 

 their horses, since they have a power of observation 

 which is denied to us. 



But to speak of the old coaching inns, these are 

 easily recognisable by their construction. Most of 

 them are entered from the street by a big archway, 

 which divides one part of the house from the other ; 

 the part so isolated from the main building is generally 

 the coffee-room. The passengers usually alighted from 

 the coach or mounted thereon when under the cover 

 of the arch, after which the coach continued its way 

 into the stable-yard, which was behind the inn, or 

 upon the first stage of its outward journey. Many of 

 the old inns had a courtyard, round which ran a 

 balcony giving access to the principal rooms. Oak 

 was extensively used in their construction ; the rails 

 protecting the balconies and staircases were of oak, as 

 also were the mantelpieces and wainscoting of the 

 best rooms. One frequently sees oak wainscoting 

 painted in old inns. This seems a very great pity, as 

 nothino; looks more charminQ- in an old-fashioned room 

 than oak that has become darkened by time ; upon 

 observing which, one cannot but think how many 



