Let 'em Go: A History of Coaching and Horse-drawn Transportation in the South Island of New Zealand

"Horse-drawn vehicle transport played an enormous part in the development of early New Zealand, both socially and economically. Very few roads existed in the 1860s outside the main towns, and coastal shipping mainly did the transportation of goods and passengers. The discovery of gold in Otago required a quick and safe way to transport hundreds of hopeful miners and settlers to these new sources of possible wealth, and this proved the catalyst for developing the first horse-drawn transportation in the South Island."--Publisher's description.