ii3 HIGH IV AYS AND HORSES. 



keep the horses going and apply the break.* One 

 might go on writing of the various coaches for any 

 length of time, as there is no end to the information 

 that can be acquired upon this subject : but I feel 

 disinclined to do so, not having lived in the days 

 of coaching, and knowing as I do how very many 

 books of a superficial and anecdotal character have 

 been written on coaching. As this book is intended 

 to be upon driving and all connected with the road, 

 I could not ignore a subject so vastly requisite to 

 a true and comprehensive history of highways and 

 horses, although I am anxious to pass on to matters 

 in which I feel sure the present generation, like 

 myself, will evince greater interest. 



Captain Haworth in his book "Road Scraping," says 

 that the weight of a mail-coach was one ton ; but 

 it often weighed much more than this. It was painted 

 red, and had the royal arms very conspicuously em- 

 blazoned on its panels. It carried four persons inside 

 and four out, besides the guard and coachman ; on 

 the roof were thrown the mail-bags, and the luggage 

 of the passengers was frequently placed inside a 

 huge basket, as I have mentioned before. The guard 

 always carried pistols or a blunderbuss as a protection 

 against highwaymen. I am, of course, speaking of 

 the early coaches, not of those of later date, close 

 upon the introduction of the locomotive. Tenders 

 for horsing the mails were invited at the expiration 

 of the contracts which were generally entrusted to 

 the same person or persons. Mr. Vidler, of Millbank, 

 Westminster, was the contractor who supplied the 

 mail-coaches. He used to receive from the pro- 



* A break may be applied to a coach when the horses are 

 resting during their ascent of a steep hill, as it prevents the coach 

 running backwards. 



