12^ 



OUR DOMESTIC ANIMALS 



Engush Hansom Cab 



not very experienced he is liable to 

 mistake the pairs and thus cause 

 accidents. It is related that an Eng- 

 lish breeder, Mr. Emody, was dri\-ing 

 along the road from Westminster 

 to Greenwich with a carriage full of 

 musicians, drawn by twelve pairs of 

 horses, which he drove himself from 

 the box. Two outriders preceded 

 him as heralds, and two others 

 escorted the vehicle, to be ready in 

 case of accident. Emody seemed to 

 have little trouble in driving his 

 twenty-four steeds, holding the mass 

 of reins in one hand as easil}' as the 



dri\'er of an omnibus holds those of 

 his poor old horses. In spite of the 

 long distance and the many turns of 

 the road, not the slightest accident 

 happened, and the trip was made in 

 two hours and twenty-fi\'e minutes. 

 Any one who takes a bunch of 

 twenty-four reins in his hand will 

 agree that there is no question of 

 really guiding the horses. Hard to 

 hold in any case, how can the driver 

 select the pair he may suddenl)' need .? 

 There are some men, however, who 

 have luck in this world. How often 

 we see a sleeping cartman or a 



A \Vell-H.\kxilssed Hokse 



A Si'.T oi- Six 



drunken cabman arrive safe 

 at his destination to the 

 amazement of on-lookers ! 



The matter is much simpler 

 with an equipage harnessed 

 (7 la DaumoHt, where a postil- 

 ion sits on the left-hand horse 

 of each pair of four, six, or 

 eight horses, as the case may 

 be, and guides his own horse 

 and the one beside him, the 

 coachman being responsible 

 for the wheel horses only ; in 

 fact, it is possible to advance 

 without any coachman at all. 



The harnessing of two 

 horses tandem was originally 



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