1 64 THE EXETER ROAD 



exhibited liiiii the next day at Salisbury Fair, with 

 excellent results in the shape of increased gate- 

 money. 



The passengers on this extraordinary occasion 

 were absolutely terror-stricken. Bounding off the 

 coach, they made a wild rush for the inn, and, 

 reaching the door, slammed it to and bolted it, to 

 the exclusion of one poor fellow who, not active 

 enough, found himself shut out in the road. The 

 lioness, pursuing the dog, actually brushed against 

 him. AVlien she was secured, the poltroons inside 

 the house opened the door and let the half- fainting 

 traveller in. They gave him refreshments, and he 

 recovered sufficiently to be able to w^rite an account 

 of the event for the local papers ; but in a few days 

 he became a raving maniac, and was sent to an 

 asylum at Laverstock. For over twenty-seven years 

 he lived there, incurable, and died in 1843. 



The leader attacked by the lioness was a famous 

 horse, even before that affair. There were many 

 such in the coachino; age. Animals unmanasfeable 

 on the racecourse were frecjuently sold to coach- 

 proprietors, and soon learnt discipline on the roads. 

 'Pomegranate' w^as his name. A 'thief on the 

 course, and a bad-tempered brute in the stable, he 

 had w^orked on the Exeter Mail for some time 

 before this dramatic episode in his career found 

 him, for a time, a home in a menagerie. 



The fame of the affair was great and lasting. 

 That coaching specialist, James Pollard, drew, and 

 E. Havell engraved, a plate showing the dramatic 

 scene, which was dedicated to Thomas Hasker, 



