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A DANGEROUS DRIVE. 5
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two
wheels, with low axles. It accommodates three passengers; one by the
side of the driver, the other two behind, as in our dogcarts. The pole
passes through the body, and is furnished with an iron yoke that rests
upon the collars of the horses. "Within a quarter of an hour after the
arrival of the train, the mail-bags have been stowed away and a start
is made. If there be room, some of your luggage will accompany you; if
not, you must do as best you can. In any event, if you have much, the
bulk of it must follow you—I need not say at more than an appreciable
distance—borne on the heads of coolies.
But
we are off. The horn tootles as though we were leaving the White Horse
Cellar, Piccadilly, and away we go at full gallop, through the bazaar
and over a bridge crossing the Bhowany river; in the bed of which, by
the way, the natives frequently wash for gold. This crossed, a straight
road of six miles, shaded by large trees, brought us to the first place
for a change of horses. This is Kullar, at the foot of the Coonoor
Grhat; and here the ascent commences.
The
scenery increases in interest, as we proceed at a flying pace up the
zigzag roads. The route here has also the element of a little peril.
Danger does not seem to enter into the coachman's calculation. Whisking
round the sharp corners, skirting the very edge of steep precipices,
escaping as by a miracle the stone posts protecting the wooden bridges
that cross
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