1 62 HIGHWAYS AND HORSES. 



trying in vain to check the galloping steeds, and 

 we had got within a few yards of the critical spot, 

 when the guard, crawling over the roof, managed 

 somehow or other to get on the footboard, when, with 

 a spring, he threw himself on the back of the near 

 wheeler, and with a giant's grasp checked the horses 

 at the very moment the leaders were about to charge 

 the tree. Down they came, but the guard never 

 yielded an inch, and with the assistance of the country 

 people nearest at hand, the leaders regained their 

 legs without the slightest damage to man, horse, 

 coach, or harness. A subscription for our gallant 

 preserver was got up on the spot." 



Many other anecdotes this writer tells of the road ; 

 of all the books which have been written on the 

 subject of coaching there is none more interesting. 

 He remarks how in October, 1816, English stage- 

 coaches were introduced into France, they started 

 from Dieppe and ran between St. Denis and Paris ; 

 but the undertaking was not successful, the Parisians 

 preferring their lumbering diligences to the well- 

 appointed English coach. 



Travelling by the mail rather than by the stage- 

 coach had one advantage ; all other coaches and every 

 vehicle encountered on the road had to make way 

 for the mail, it changed horses every eight miles, 

 and time had to be kept with extreme punctuality. 

 It was a royal way of travelling, in every sense of 

 the word, since it carried the royal mails ; there was 

 no vast collection of luggage on the roof, nor a crowd 

 of passengers all anxious to secure the best places. 



Captain Haworth has written a book called '' Road 

 Scrapings," having to do with coaches and coaching ; 

 the illustrations are evidently home-made, which makes 



