136 ON THE TRACK OF THE MAIL-COACH 



for Peiiiyn, Truro, Granipomid, St. Austell, Lostwithiel, Bodmin, 

 Liskeard, Devonport, Pl;)nnoutli, and London and Exeter Eailway. 



' At the best of times, if the work was kept up close to the hour 

 of office -closing, and the North mail got in in good time, I might 

 get out of the office by eleven o'clock, not fit for much, you may 

 well thmk, except for supper and bed. Then at one-thirty a.m. 

 the mail-guard would knock me up for the mails. On several 

 occasions in the depth of winter I have had, when the mail due 

 at ten p.m. had not arrived at one-thirty a.m., to go part way to 

 Truro in the bitter weather, meet the down mail, send the guard 

 back to Plymouth, and bring in the down mails. I wonder who 

 would do this in these tunes ? After despatching the one-thu'ty 

 a.m. mail I was free until seven a.m. 



' This continued until some time after the railway reached 

 Triuro — I think about four j^ears, during which time I never 

 failed to make the appointed despatch on one single night ; 

 which means I never had one fair night's rest during the whole 

 time, and I did more than two days' work for every day, and at 

 least six hours every Sunday'. Here I would add that for the 

 first twelve years of my service I worked double tides — that is, 

 the hours covered were equal to twelve days a week, and 

 Sundays beside ; and for the first twelve years I was ih the 

 service I had no holidays whatever. 



' During several years foreign mails were not only received at 

 Falmouth, but were also despatched thence for the "West Coast 

 of Africa, Cape de Verde Islands, Brazil, and Eiver Plate ; West 

 Indies, Cape of Good Hope, and the United States. For the 

 Brazils we used to put them on board a steam-tug and go out to 

 sea to meet the outward steamer, no matter what the weather 

 might be. 



' The last time I remember weU. Mr. Eobert Fox* was there. 

 The night was coarse and dirty. We stopped out until about 

 six a.m., then, as the steamer did not put in an appearance, we 

 went ashore, and had just comfortably got to bed, when we were 

 roused out and had to start agam with the outward Brazil mail, 

 the steamer having arrived. 



* A member of the great Quaker family at Penjer^-ick and of ^, 

 a firm at Falmouth. 



