Meantime dawn broke, our faces became partially visible, the morning air
grew colder, and finally cloudy day came on. We found ourselves driving
through quite a romantic country, with hills or mountains on all sides, a
stream on one side, bordered by a high, precipitous bank, up which would
have grown pines, only that, losing their footholds, many of them had
slipped downward. The road was not the safest in the world; for often
the carriage approached within two or three feet of a precipice; but the
driver, a merry fellow, lolled on his box, with his feet protruding
horizontally, and rattled on at the rate of ten miles an hour. Breakfast
between four and five,--newly caught trout, salmon, ham, boiled eggs, and
other niceties,--truly excellent. A bunch of pickerel, intended for a
tavern-keeper farther on, was carried by the stage-driver. The drivers
carry a "time-watch" enclosed in a small wooden case, with a lock, so
that it may be known in what time they perform their stages. They are
allowed so many hours and minutes to do their work, and their desire to
go as fast as possible, combined with that of keeping their horses in
good order, produces about a right medium.
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