120 HIGHIVAYS AXD HORSES. 



The writer, to whom I have referred, says that 

 a mail-coach of the old style cost 140 guineas, and 

 that in seven years' time it would cost in repairs the 

 same amount. "As is the case with railway rolling- 

 stock, the wear and tear depended very much upon 

 the pace at which the coach travelled. But one coach," 

 he goes on to say, " was, as a rule, provided for every 

 hundred miles, in the same manner as one horse was 

 deemed requisite for every mile." Thus, between 

 London and Bath, one coach would work up whilst 

 another worked down, whilst a spare one was kept 

 somewhere in the event of accident. 



Mr. Harris assures us that the profit reaped by 

 the Government on the conveyance of letters by 

 coaches, exceeded ^2000 a year. As regards horsing 

 the coaches, sixpence a mile was paid for horsing 

 the Holyhead mail, but this was afterwards reduced 

 to twopence. This was the average rate for horsing 

 mails out of London ; one advantage, however, mail- 

 coaches had over the stage, they paid no turnpike 

 tolls ; the fact of their carrying the royal mails, 

 exempted them from any such duty. 



The fare for a journey of a hundred miles outside 

 a mail-coach was eight shillings, and twelve shillings 

 for an inside passenger ; but their punctuality procured 

 them a class of passengers who did not mind paying 

 a high fare for travelling upon what was considered 

 an exclusive conveyance. 



The coachmen employed to drive mail-coaches 

 out of town, did not, as a rule, go beyond a distance 

 of thirty miles, and the coach proprietors having their 

 offices, stables, and inns in the metropolis, very 

 frequently did not horse the mail-coaches beyond 

 a certain distance out of town, although their own 



