ENGLISH SCENERY.

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this nineteenth century of steam-and-iron horses still, as erstwhile, open their hospitable doors to the traveller by road, and, what is much more to the point, make him exceedingly comfortable.

The English country, how happily it blends peaceful scenery with the associations of man! How changeful, too, it is! Every few miles reveals fresh. beauties to the wanderer in it, and now and then fairly astonishes him by some wholly unexpected scenic surprise. Now the traveller passes through a restful, pastoral land; now by way of contrast he traverses a lone, wild, wind-swept heath, so suggestive of the highwayman of old; now his road takes him through waving, many-tinted woods, or for a while alongside a rippling, winding river, now through sleepy villages, now through quaint, irregularroofed sunny towns, anon across a gorse-bestrewn common over which blows a bracing breeze; now he gets a glimpse of the distant sea, and so the prospect ever varies as he journeys on. There is no country in the world that has such varied scenery in the same space as England.

Now, as I write this in the cheerless, sunless winter weather—I wish that I could add fogless— my vision in imagination wanders back to many a bright summer scene; first one mind-picture rises before me, then another, pleasant memories of happy sunny days crowd fast upon me, memories that are a precious possession as long as my life shall last. Not the least delightful part of travel is the remembrance of the pleasant hours spent amidst the beauties of nature. And this fair land of Britain is

made doubly beautiful by the time-hallowed structures raised upon it by our long-departed forefathers -peace be to their ashes!-and by the mellowing influence wrought upon it by the ceaseless cultivation of centuries.

Now, as I close this record of our old-fashioned tour, my thoughts wander back; in a delightful daydream memories come to me

from all their far-flown nooks,

Singly at first, and then by twos and threes,
Then in a throng innumerable, as the rooks
Thicken their twilight files

Tow'rd Tintern's grave repose of roofless aisles.

CHAPTER XXII.

On the Road-Hints upon Driving Tours.

I HAVE often been asked, How did you manage about this and that when driving across country? What did the journey cost? Did your horses ever go lame? What did you take with you? What sort of accommodation did you find at the rural inns on the way? and so on. I think, therefore, that a few hints about roadwork and how we managed generally will possibly prove acceptable to those of my readers who may be induced to follow our excellent example and spend their summer holiday on the road, having all the pleasure of exploring a fresh country without leaving their own.

First of all, then, it is wise before starting to have your carriage and harness thoroughly overhauled. Nothing is more annoying than the necessity of being obliged to get your harness cobbled up by a rural workman, or your carriage wheels, say, oiled by the 'prentice village hand who, after doing this, may not recollect to replace the linch-pin, a fact that you will discover afterwards to your sorrow.

It has been stated by authorities on such matters that no horse can go day after day a distance of twenty miles without breaking down. I can only say

that this depends upon the horse and its treatment when on the journey, and very greatly on the driver, for of course you must to a certain extent consider and look to the welfare of your animals if your tour is to be successful. By walking them up the worst hills, and moderating your pace when the going is heavy, you save your horses wonderfully, for it is speed rather than distance that tells upon them, and who, when out on pleasure bent to see the country, would care to hurry? As for horses not being able to go day after day for a distance of twenty miles or so, I can only say that I took my useful little pair of cobs-useful, but nothing out of the ordinary wayto Scotland and back, going a round by the Lake District, and covering altogether about a thousand miles of ground, that we averaged twenty miles a day on the journey, and brought our horses home again, not only well and sound, but fresh enough to shy at the first London omnibus they met, and I even think better able to perform such a journey than when they started. Facts are more conclusive than statements. And it must be remembered that some portions of our way took us over a very 'hard' and trying country, some of the roads across the wild Yorkshire moors being stony, rough, and severe upon horses, the stabling, too, in many out-of-the-way places by no means all that could be desired, and as luck, or rather ill-luck, would have it, just where the roads and accommodation were the worst the weather was very stormy.

We always take a copy of Paterson's Roads' with us, a truly wonderful work, published in the

ABOUT DRIVING TOURS.

397

heyday of the coaching age, and which we have always found of the greatest service; for however the country may have changed since it was compiled, the roads remain the same, even frequently the very inns made mention of still exist under the same titles. In this most useful book, every highway in England is given, also nearly every cross road; even the bridges are set down, and the chief objects of interest passed are duly noticed. The work is, unfortunately, becoming rare, but now and again copies may still, I believe, be picked up at second-hand bookshops. We always take with us Smith & Sons' shilling 'Reduced Ordnance Maps;' these are very clear and correct, though some of the minor country by-ways are not marked thereon. The maps are mounted upon linen, so that they are not liable to be torn into shreds if opened in the wind, as those of paper; moreover they fold conveniently for the pocket.

It is well before starting on a driving tour to get, say, five pounds' worth of small silver in a bag from the bank; the possession of this convenient change often saves giving a shilling where a sixpence would suffice, and so on. We keep our spare silver with sundry other articles, such as sketch-books, spiritlamp, maps, books for a wet day (which on this journey we never opened), spare brake blocks, and candles for lamps, in the driving-box, which is provided with a good lock.

A brake is really needful; it not only wonderfully saves the horses going downhill, but may prevent an accident: it should be remembered that it takes nearly as much force to keep a carriage back running