S KEN ES BOROUGH. 
283 
was not started with any degree of serious¬ 
ness, for we could not have supposed that a 
tall meagre fellow, upwards of six feet high, 
and clad in a pair of thin nankeen breeches, 
would very readily bestride the raw boned back 
of a horse, covered with the profuse exuda¬ 
tions which the intense heat of the weather, 
and tlfe labour the animal had gone through, 
necessarily excited. As much tired, how¬ 
ever, with our pleasantries as we were of Iris 
vehicle, and thinking of nothing, I believe, but 
how he could best get rid of us, he eagerly 
embraced the proposal, and accordingly, hav¬ 
ing furnished himself with a switch from the 
adjoining thicket, he mounted his harnessed 
Rosinante. in this style we proceeded: but 
more than once did our gigantic postilion turn 
round to bemoan the sorry choice he had 
made; as often did we urge the necessity of 
getting out of the woods; he could make no 
answer; so jogging slowly along, we at last 
reached the little town of Skenesborough, much 
to the amusement of every one who beheld 
our equipage, and much to our own satis¬ 
faction ; for, owing to the various accidents 
we had met with, such as traces breaking, 
bridles slipping off the heads of the horses, 
and the noble horses themselves sometimes 
slipping down, &c. &c. we had been no less 
