Unfortunately, all our human
freight, terror stricken and without advice, had crowded into one
side of the car; and as this happened to be the side on which we
invariably bumped, we experienced all the worst effects of the
joltings.
"What a dizzy whirl! What a succession of breathless shocks!
What a strain on both muscles and nerves! By the least
negligence or slip, or by the loss of presence of mind for one
moment, we should have been thrown out and dashed to atoms.
"Every collision tries our muscles and strains our wrists or our
shoulders; and every rebound dashes us one against the other,
constituting each individual a tormentor and victim at the same
time. Our flight is so rapid that we can only distinguish an
occasional glimpse of anything. Far, far in the distance we
distinguish an isolated tree. We approach it like lightning, and
we break it as though it were a straw.
"Two terrified horses, with manes and tails erect, endeavour to
fly from us. But we consume distances; we leave them behind
immediately. We skip over a flock of affrighted sheep in one of
our bounds. But now comes the real danger.
"At this moment, when we were perfectly benumbed with fear, and
had lost all power of articulation, we saw a locomotive, drawing
two carriages, running along an embankment at right angles to our
course.
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