l88 ON THE TRACK OF THE MAIL-COACH 



When the well-known Mr. George Ticknor,* of 

 Boston (Mass.), paid his second visit to Euro^De, he 

 reached Liverpool on June 25, 1835, after what is 

 described as ' a prosperous voyage ' of twenty-five 

 days from New York. This was not held to be a long 

 passage at that time. 



After steam had come, the great geologist Sir 

 Charles Lyell voyaged by the Britannia more than 

 once. On February 1, 'in the winter of 1844,' writes 

 Lyell — 'in the winter of 1840-41,' says Mr. Hodder 

 — the Britannia was beset by ice at Boston. A frost 

 of unusual intensity had caused the sea to be frozen 

 over in the harbour, although the water is as salt 

 there as in mid-ocean. The ice was seven feet thick 

 at the wharf where the Britannia lay, and two feet 

 thick at a distance of seven miles out. 



Twice a day the tide, rising twelve feet, uplifted 

 this vast sheet and let it down again ; yet the surface 

 remained even and unbroken. No sooner was it 

 understood that the mail was imprisoned, than the 

 public spirit of the whole city was aroused. At their 

 sole cost (refusing a subsequent offer of repayment) 

 the citizens cut a canal, seven miles long and 100 

 feet wide, through the ice ; and on February 3, only 

 two days after her appointed time, the mail-steamer, 

 amidst the cheers of a concourse of people, passed 

 through, and, breaking up as she went a newly-formed 

 sheet of ice two inches thick, stood out to sea. 



It may be remarked in passing that the high- 

 * ' Life of G. Ticknor.' Sampson Low, 1876. 



