thorities do at the
gates of Paris, and it's still worse for a touring automobile to be
stopped at the barrier of a town like Evreux in Normandy, or Tarare
in the Beaujolais. Whatever does the humble (and civil, too) guardian
do it for, except to show his authority, and smile pleasantly, as he
waves you off after having brought you to a full stop at the bottom
of a twisting cobble-stoned, hilly street where you need all the
energy and suppleness of your motor in order to reach the top.

There are not many of these abrupt stops, outside the large towns,
and nowhere do they tax you on your oil or _essence_ except at
Paris--where you pay (alas!) nearly as much as the original cost.

At Rouen the guardian comes up, looks in your tonneau to see if you
have a fish or a partridge hidden away, and sends you on your way
with a bored look, as though he disliked the business as much as you
do. At Tours, if you come to the barrier just as the official has
finished a good lunch, he simply smiles, and doesn't even stop
you. At Marseilles you get up from your seat and let the official
poke a bamboo stick down among your _chambres d'air_, and say
nothing--provided he does not puncture them; if he does, you say a
good deal, but he replies by saying that he was merely doing his
duty, and meant no harm.

At Nantes, at Rennes, at Orleans, and Bordeaux, all of them _grandes
villes_, every one is civil and apologetic, but still the procedure
goes on just the same.

At Lyons the _octroi_ tax has been abolished. Real progress this!

In the old coaching days road speeds fell far behind what they are
to-day in a well-constructed and capable automobile, but, as they put
in long hours on the road, they certainly did get over the ground in
a fairly satisfactory manner. Private conveyances, with private
horses, could not hope to accomplish anything like it, simply because
there is a limit to the working powers and hours of the individual
horse. With the old mail-coaches, in England, and the _malle-poste_
and the _poste-chaise_, in France, things were different, for at
every _poste_, or section, was a new relay; and on the coach went at
the same pace as before.

[Illustration: Days Gone By]

The London-Birmingham coaches in 1830 covered the 109 miles between
the two points at an average speed of 15.13 miles per hour, the
highest speed being eighteen, and the lowest eleven miles.

In France the speeds were a little better. From Lyons the old