I asked him of the rest of the road, foreseeing we must travel in the night. He told me there was a bad river to ride through, which was so very fierce a horse could sometimes hardly stem it : but it was narrow, and we should soon be over."

The post-oflSce scheme for British America was first devised in the year 1700, by Colonel J. Hamilton, of New Jersey, and son of Governor Andrew Hamilton. He obtained a patent and the profits accruing. He-

1 "Foot-prints of a Letter-Carrier," by James Bees.

MANNERS AND CUSTOMS.

afterwards sold it to the crown. The first regular post-office established in the colonies by Parliament was in 1710.' The chief office for North America was established in New York. The necessity for increased postal facilities had been represented to the home government in 17U4, by the Governor of the province of New York, who wrote that ' " The post that goes through this place goes eastward as far as Boston ; but westward, he goes no further than Philadelphia : and there is no other post upon all this continent." As late as the year ISIO the mail between Canandaigua and Genesee River was carried on horseback-- part of the time by a woman. In 1730 the postmaster of New York published a notice inviting application for the office of foot-post to Albamj this winter. Letters to distant places, however, were generally carried by messengers on horseback. At first a satchel or a pair of saddle-bags sufficed ; then a light vehicle was required ; finally the stage coaches, which were first started for the benefit of travelers, became the proper means of transportation for the