What with the spirit of the half-tamed beasts and the feebleness of the drivers, accidents were not uncommon, and we passed several unhappy groups who had been tumbled with their property into a ditch, or who were standing in anxious debate round a cracked shaft or a broken axle.
The countrymen who were making for the West were upon the other hand men in the prime of life, with little or no baggage.

Their brown faces, heavy boots, and smockfrocks proclaimed most of them to be mere hinds, though here and there we overtook men who, by their top-boots and corduroys, may have been small farmers or yeomen.

These fellows walked in gangs, and were armed for the most part with stout oak cudgels, which were carried as an aid to their journey, but which in the hands of powerful men might become formidable weapons.

From time to time one of these travellers would strike up a psalm tune, when all the others within earshot would join in, until the melody rippled away down the road.

As we passed some scowled angrily at us, while others whispered together and shook their heads, in evident doubt as to our character and aims.