A CO A CHIANG STRONGHOLD 309 



The sonorous note of Great Peter, the great bell 

 of the cathedral, sounding from the south transept 

 tower is in admirable keeping with the black-browed 

 gravity of the close, and keeps tlie gaiety of the 

 surrounding hotels within the limits of a canonical 

 sobriety. 



Elsewhere are ancient hostelries innumerable, with 

 yawning archways under which the coaches entered 

 in the byegone days. The ' Elephant,' the ' Mermaid,' 

 and the ' Half Moon ' are the chief among these, and 

 have the true Pickwickian air, which is the out- 

 standino- note of all inns of the Auo-ustan ao-e of 

 coaching. It must have been worth the journey to 

 be so worthily housed at the end of the alarums and 

 excursions which more or less cheerfully enlivened 

 the way. 



Exeter and the far West of Eno-land were the last 

 strongholds of the coaching interest. The Great 

 Western Eailway was opened to Exeter on 1st May 

 1844, and up to that time over seventy coaches left 

 that city daily for London and the cross-country 

 routes. Nor did coachino- lanouish towards the close. 

 On the contrary, it died game, and, until finally ex- 

 tinguished by the opening of the railway, coaching 

 on the old road between London and Exeter was a 

 matter of the utmost science and the best speed ever 

 attained by the aid of four horses on a turnpike road. 

 Charles Ward, the l)est- known driver of the old 

 * Telegraj)h ' Exeter coach, driven from his old route, 

 retreated westwards and took the road between 

 Exeter and Devonport, retiring into Cornwall wdien 

 the railway was opened to Plymouth on 1st May 



