ornamenting his head with hairs from his tail; while on the other hand, though an Englishman considers a pair of nags that will go a mile in five minutes a great prize, no man in America who is a horse fancier would look at a pair that could not do the same distance in four; nor would he think them worth speaking about, if they could not do the distance in a very few seconds over three minutes.  On one side of the water, pace is almost the only object; on the other side, shape and appearance are weighty matters.

The habits of the Americans being essentially gregarious, and business teaching the truism that a cent saved is a cent gained, hackney coaches are comparatively little used by the men; for it must be remembered that idlers in this country are an invisible minority of the community!  The natural consequence is, that they are clean and expensive.  The drivers are charmingly independent and undeniably free-and-easy birds, but not meaning to be uncivil.  One of them showed his independence by asking two dollars one night for a three-mile drive home to the hotel.  I inquired of the master, and found the proper charge was a dollar and a half; but, on my sending out the same, Jarvey was too proud to confess he was wrong, and, refusing the money, drove off—­nor did I ever hear more of him.

Their free-and-easiness can never be better exemplified than in the old anecdote told of so many people, from an ex-prince of France, downward; viz., the prince having ordered a hack cab, was standing at the door of the hotel, smoking his cigar, and waiting for its arrival.  When Cabby drove up, judging from the appearance of the prince that he was “the fare,” he said, “Are you the chap that sent for a cab?” And, being answered with an affirmative smile, he said, “Well, get in; I guess I’m the gentleman that’s to drive you.”

The next means of conveyance to be spoken of is the omnibus.  I was told by a friend who had made inquiries on the subject, that there were upwards of a thousand, and that they pay twenty-two per cent.  They are infinitely better than ours, simply because they are broader:  the most rotund embodiment of an alderman after a turtle-soup dinner, even if he had—­to use the emphatic language of Mr. Weller—­been “swellin’ wisibly,” could pass up the centre without inconvenience to the passengers on either side; and as a good dividend is a thing not to be despised, they do not employ a “cad” behind.  The door shuts by a strap running along the roof, with a noose in the end, which Jehu puts on his foot.  Any one wishing to alight pulls the strap; Jehu stops; and, poking his nose to a pigeon-hole place in the roof, takes the silver fare; and, slipping the noose, the door is open to the human “fare.”  Doubtless, this effects a very great saving, and, dispensing with a cad in this country might enable the fares to be lowered; but I question if there be not very many objections to our adopting the plan; and I should miss very much that personification of