Page:Notes and Queries - Series 10 - Volume 11.djvu/141

 10 s. XL FEB. 6, 1909.] NOTES AND QUERIES.

113

the plans adopted by the gods to entice her from her seclusion ; and when this was accomplished, they drew a cord of rice-straw across the entrance to prevent a repetition of the catastrophe. On pp. 105-1 1 is another tale entitled ' The Moon Maiden.'

A. RHODES.

TRAVELLING UNDER HADRIAN (10 S. xi. 10). A perusal of chap. ii. of Gibbon's ' Decline and Fall ' gives us some indication of the rate of travel possible about the time of Hadrian. See p. 57 of vol. i. ("World's Classics ") :

" Houses were everywhere erected at the distance only of five or six miles ; each of them was constantly provided with forty horses, and, by the help of these relays, it was easy to travel an hundred miles in a day along the Roman roads."

In a foot-note we read :

" In the time of Theodosius, Caesarius, a magistrate of high rank, went post from Antioch to Constantinople. He began his journey at night, was in Cappadocia (165 miles from Antioch) the ensuing evening, and arrived at Constantinople the sixth day about noon. The whole distance was 725 Roman, or 665 English miles."

A note on the previous page gives the route which a traveller would have taken in going from Rome to Boulogne. He would have gone by way of Milan, Lyons, and Rheims, covering a distance of 1,254 Roman miles. If we may take the marvellous performance of Caesarius as a criterion, an express journey from Rome to Boulogne would have taken about 8J days. With regard to the Channel crossing, we may bear in mind that Caesar on his first invasion of Britain took roughly ten hours to perform the journey. Cf. ' De Bello Gallico,' Bk. IV. chap, xxiii. :

" Nactus idoneam ad nauigandum tempestatem

tertia fere uigilia soluit, ipse hora diei eirciter

quarta cum primis nauibus Britanniam attigit."

No precise data are given with reference to the return voyage.

When Caesar again sailed across the Channel to invade Britain, his progress was not so rapid, owing to the perversity of wind and tide, and the voyage took about eighteen hours (Bk. V. chap. viii.). On the second occasion, however, the return voyage to Gaul was accomplished in about half the time. A single galley, with every facility afforded it, would, no doubt, have done even better than this. Let us convert our 8J days into 9, and we shall have allowed abundance of time for the sea voyage. In view of the fact that our traveller would have had a far greater distance to cover than Caasarius had, and a very formidable obstacle to surmount

in the Alps, and allowing also for the possi- bility that the posting system had been improved by the time of Theodosius, we shall not be too generous if we add another full day, making up the total to 10 days. We must remember that this is travelling at record-breaking speed. Anybody but a Caasarius would, I suspect, have been more than satisfied if he had reached Britain within the fortnight. I have used Gibbon's remarks as the basis of my computation, but being at present away from books, I am unable to verify his statements. Perhaps others will be able to give more precise references to the time of Hadrian.

C. E. LOMAX. Henbury, Macclesfield.

YEW TREES (10 S. x. 430; xi. 58). Churchyards in former days being less com- pletely enclosed than at the present day, and the adjacent lands then frequently unfenced, trespass by cattle was of constant occurrence, and much injury was done to the graves by the trampling and rubbing of the beasts. Hence another explanation, often given, of the planting of yew trees, so universal in graveyards, is that little pains were taken to keep the cattle out of the churchyards by their owners until it was found that the trespass was a fatal one, i.e., that there were poisonous trees among the graves. The extensive planting of the yew in churchyards may have been " a protective measure," but in another way. R. B.

Upton.

CHAMBER-HORSE FOR EXERCISE (10 S. xi. 49). On a horizontal frame fitted with feet four mahogany pillars were fixed at the corners, and a rail connected the pillars at the sides of the horse. Between the pillars was a seat covered with leather, having pro- jections on each side, which ran in guides between the pillars. The seat was sup- ported on strong spiral springs, and they were concealed by leather facings all round. The weight of the rider brought down the seat considerably ; and with his hands grasping the side-rails, he raised and lowered the seat by the strength of his arms. It was a clumsy machine to enable the lame to get exercise. JOHN P. STILWELL.

If MR. MACMICHAEL will turn up Thomas- Sheraton's book on furniture, 1802, plate 22, he will see an illustration of the chamber- horse. In those days, instead of a man joining the "Liver-brigade" and trotting for an hour or so every morning in Hyde