1 3 8 Tally ho. 



self — in thinking it an extremely pleasant way of 

 passing a summer^s day. 



Not being of a nautical turn of mind^ Portsmoutli 

 does not delight me, so I went by rail to Brighton, 

 having determined to return to town by the coach 

 which runs on alternate days. 



Now at the City by the Sea there is always some- 

 thing going on, therefore by visiting the Aquarium, 

 which alone is worth the journey from London, 

 walking on the pier in the cool of the evening, and 

 partaking of the abundant hospitalities of the place, 

 the time passed pleasantly enough until the appointed 

 hour for joining the coach at the Old Ship. Precisely 

 at 11.45 a.m. the exceedingly well-appointed "stage,^' 

 driven on this occasion by John Thorogood, drew up 

 in good form to take up its load of passengers, and as 

 the clocks sounded the hour of noon we trotted 

 merrily away, passing through Preston, a rising 

 suburb of Brighton, away through Albourne and 

 Handcross, until we reach the Chequers at Horley, 

 where a quarter of an hour is allowed for lunch. 



At this stage we starb with a very spic}^ team — two 

 sturdy, active wheelers, strong enough to draw the 

 coach by themselves ; a dark-brown, nearly black, 

 hunter-like horse, and a skittish bay mare as leaders. 

 Full of condition, as blooming as peacocks, and as 

 playful as kittens, they start with a rush and a bound; 

 but as they are in the hands of a thorough workman 

 they are admirably handled, and Thorogood, who is 

 one of the quietest and neatest coachmen I have seen 

 for many a day, soon settled them down to their work, 

 so that they did the stage with a will, making light of 

 Redhill, and drawing up at the Feathers at Merstham 



