at might have been the forerunner of the bicycle, 'a huge
hollow wheel made very light, withinside of which, in a barrel of
six feet diameter, a man should walk. Whilst he stepped thirty
inches, the circumference of the large wheel, or rather wheels,
would revolve five feet on the ground; and as the machine was to
roll on planks, and on a plane somewhat inclined, when once the vis
inertia of the machine should be overcome, it would carry on the man
within it as fast as he could possibly walk. ... It was not
finished; I had not yet furnished it with the means of stopping or
moderating its motion. A young lad got into it, his companions
launched it on a path which led gently down hill towards a very
steep chalk-pit. This pit was at such a distance as to be out of
their thoughts when they set the wheel in motion. On it ran. The lad
withinside plied his legs with all his might. The spectators who at
first stood still to behold the operation were soon alarmed by the
shouts of their companion, who perceived his danger. The vehicle
became quite ungovernable; the velocity increased as it ran down
hill. Fortunately, the boy contrived to jump from his rolling prison
before it reached the chalk-pit; but the wheel went on with such
velocity as to outstrip its pursuers, and, rolling over the edge of
the precipice, it was dashed to pieces.

'The next day, when I came to look for my machine, intending to try
it upon some planks, which had been laid for it, I found, to my no
small disappointment, that the object of all my labours and my hopes
was lying at the bottom of a chalk-pit, broken into a thousand
pieces. I could not at that time afford to construct another wheel
of that sort, and I cannot therefore determine what might have been
the success of my scheme.'

He goes on to say: 'I shall mention a sailing carriage that I tried
on this common. The carriage was light, steady, and ran with amazing
velocity One day, when I was preparing for a sail in it with my
friend and schoolfellow, Mr. William Foster, my wheel-boat escaped
from its moorings just as we were going to step on board. With the
utmost difficulty we overtook it; and as I saw three or four
stage-coaches on the road, and feared that this sailing chariot
might frighten their horses, I, at the hazard of my life, got into
my carriage while it was under full sail, and then, at a favourable
part of the road, I used the means I had of guiding it easily out of
the way. But the