CHAPTER XII. 



CHIT-CHAT. 



A private omnibus — A miniature drag — Tlie price of horses — Fifty 

 years ago — The world on wheels— Thompson's cyclometer — 

 The Wealemefna — Nature knows best. 



Whatever a coach may be outside, it must be far 

 from pleasant riding inside on a fine day, as there is no 

 carriage with which I am acquainted that possesses a 

 more gloomy interior. In this respect the old coaches 

 used to be far worse than those built at the present 

 day ; and when George III. was king, it required con- 

 siderable agility and dexterity to mount the steps 

 leading to the interior of a coach, the body of which 

 was hung very high, particularly the mail coaches ; and 

 when the passenger had safely deposited him or herself 

 on the hard, uncomfortable seats therein, the windows 

 being high up in the doors, they found themselves, 

 when the doors were closed, in semi-obscurity. Of 

 course, so far as regards outward appearance, nothing 

 can compare with a coach ; the very shape of a coach 

 conveys to one's mind the idea of four horses, and all 

 the stylish, business-like paraphernalia of the road. 



