The dak or travelling system prevailing in India in the year 1857 was almost wholly arranged by the Post Office and was available for private individuals as well as for officials. When a traveller contemplated a journey he applied to the local postmaster for means of transport, giving, as a rule, two or three days' previous notice. Horse daks, i.e. wheeled conveyances drawn by horses, were available only on the great trunk roads, which were metalled. On other roads, the journey, when not performed on horseback, was accomplished in a palanquin or palkee, a kind of wooden box, about six feet in length by four in height, fitted at the sides with sliding shutters and suspended on two poles borne on the shoulders of four men. The pleasures of travelling in this fashion have been described by Bishop Heber and other writers. The traveller provided his own palanquin, and the postmaster supplied the palkee-burdars or palanquin-bearers, eight in number, as well as two mussalchees or torchbearers and two bhangy-burdars or luggage porters. The charges, about one shilling per mile for the entire set of twelve men, had to be paid in advance, the traveller notifying the time and place of starting and the duration and localities of halts. There was also an extra charge for demurrage or delays on the road attributable to the traveller himself. For these charges the postmaster undertook that there should be relays of dak servants throughout the whole distance, and, to ensure this, he had to write in advance to the different villages and post stations ordering relays to be ready at the appointed hours. The stages averaged ten miles each and were accomplished in three hours, at the end of which time the twelve men retraced their steps, having been succeeded by another twelve; for each set of men belonged to a particular station. The horse daks were established on the same system, several pairs of horses or ponies being kept at the different stages as relays. The bullock train, which was intended chiefly for baggage and parcels, was largely used for conveyance of troops during the Mutiny. There were one or two private companies in existence, but the public as a rule preferred to use the Government vehicles, as they were considered more reliable.