How the World Travels

India is an immense country, extending as it does from the Himalayas in the north to Point de Galle in the extreme south of Ceylon, and if we travel through the country we shall find many curious vehicles. Some of them are exactly the same as those which were in use hundreds of years ago, for India is a conservative land, and, although there are railways and tramways there now, while fine motor-cars speed along the roads, most of the natives are content with old ways, and travel through the country districts in the quaint bullock carts and palanquins that satisfied their ancestors in the days before the powers of steam and electricity had been discovered.

We will begin with Colombo, as that is usually the place where travellers land on their journey to the East. When we go ashore from our steamer we either take rickshaws, which were introduced into the island from Japan in 1883, or else engage one of the little bullock carts and drive through the picturesque, tree-shaded streets of the town. These bullock carts, or gharis, have two wheels and can be driven very quickly. They are provided with hoods, as the sun is very hot in tropical Ceylon.

The bullocks are often decorated with elaborate patterns cut or branded into their hides, and the natives excuse this cruel practice by saying that not only does it distinguish the animals from each other and prevent their being stolen, but that it also protects them from rheumatism.

There are many larger carts with quaint, palm-thatched roofs to be seen in Colombo. These are called hackeries and are found in many parts of India. It is often strange and amusing to see the numbers of natives, men, women, and children, who are able to pack themselves into one of these vehicles.

There are a great many different varieties of bullock carts in India. Those in Coonoor, for instance, have very high, narrow hoods, while in Bombay an awning is provided which stretches out over the bullock's back and shelters both passengers and driver. Another type of cart has four wheels and curious cage-like sides, while the wooden cover is provided with blinds and there is a rack for baggage on the roof.

In Madras the raikla, a vehicle of quite a different description, is seen. It appears to consist merely of two wheels and a tiny seat for the driver. These carts are very swift, and are used when great speed is required.

Besides bullocks, ponies are used in India. They draw the ekkas, which are light, hooded carts, and the tongas, generally used by European travellers.

In some districts of India camels draw carriages, and we have a picture of a brougham into which two of these ungainly animals are harnessed. Very strange it looks, with the drivers seated on the humps of the camels and a rather unnecessary coachman perched on the box-seat of the vehicle. A more imposing equipage is the state carriage of the Begum of Bhopal, for this is drawn by four camels, splendidly caparisoned, and each with a helmeted rider, while other servants in quaint and gorgeous costumes are in attendance. The effect is very striking.

Elephants, however, are not always decked in this fantastic fashion, and often the howdah is a very simple affair rather like a huge basket in appearance. Sometimes the mahout, as the keeper of the elephant is called, sits on the animal's broad neck or rides on a rough wooden saddle.

One of the most curious conveyances to be seen in India is a travelling theatre, which consists of a large, railed platform fastened across the backs of two elephants which walk side by side. This strange moving stage figures in wedding processions and other festivals, and during its passage through the streets of a town dancing girls give performances on the platform, which is brightly illuminated.

Elephants are strange animals and need to be very carefully trained and kindly treated. There is a story that once in Ceylon a newly-caught elephant, when required to draw a wagon, felt this to be such an indignity that he lay down between the shafts and died!

Perhaps his relations in India are not quite so proud and sensitive, for in that country we find them doing a great deal of hard work. They move large logs of wood, carry heavy burdens, and also drag cannon. At times, even, they may be seen taking the place of steam-engines and drawing railway trucks along the line. In fact, there is nothing in the way of hard and heavy work that the elephant cannot do.

CHAPTER V
THE CONVEYANCES OF CHINA AND JAPAN

One is always accustomed to think of China as a strange, topsy-turvy country, where everything is marvellous and unexpected, so that it is no surprise to find there many queer conveyances and modes of travel. Even in very early times China, or Tartary as it was called then, was looked upon as a veritable wonderland, and Marco Polo, who explored the country more than six hundred years ago, gives us a very interesting description of how the Emperor travelled when he went on one of his hunting expeditions. This is what he says:

"The Khan upon his journey is borne upon four elephants, in a fine parlour made of timber, lined inside with plates of beaten gold and outside with lions' skins. Sometimes, as they go along, and the Emperor from his chamber is discoursing with his nobles, one of the latter will exclaim, 'Sire! Look out for cranes!' Then the Emperor has the top of his chamber thrown back, and having seen the cranes, he casts one of his falcons, and often the quarry is struck in his sight, so that he himself has the most exquisite sport as he sits in his chamber or lies on his bed. I do not believe that there ever existed a man with such sport or enjoyment as he has."

Modern tourists in China cannot see quite such wonderful equipages as this, but the Emperor's state palanquin, which was still in use in 1880, was a very gorgeous affair, and it was carried by no less than sixteen bearers.

China has always been a land of ceremony, and very strict etiquette is maintained with regard to the conveyances of the mandarins. Sedan chairs are used, and these vary in colour, decoration, and number of carriers, according to the rank of the owner. If the mandarin is of a very high class he is accompanied on his journeys by a whole retinue of servants. One of these carries a large open umbrella, a second has a fan attached to a pole, while others bear tablets on which the insignia of his rank are displayed. It is a great offence if a man has more coolies in attendance than those to which he is entitled.

In a wedding procession a beautiful palanquin is used to take the bride from her parents' house to the home of her future husband. It is painted red and ornamented with kingfishers' feathers. The little Chinese lady only travels once in this gorgeous conveyance. After her marriage she has to be content with an ordinary sedan chair, the curtains of which are always tightly drawn so that she can neither see nor be seen as she is carried through the streets.

When an important mandarin travels everyone makes way for him and his imposing retinue, but with those of lower rank this is not the case, and it is one of the duties of his bearers to keep up a constant succession of loud shouts and commands such as "Mind your back!" "Move to the right!" "Get out of the way!" As may be imagined the streets of a Chinese town are very noisy, for they are narrow and crowded with a motley throng of people, among whom are porters with heavy packs on their shoulders, itinerant merchants carrying their wares in baskets slung on long poles, beggars, and children of all sizes and ages.

Besides these private sedan chairs there are others which may be hired. These are fairly comfortable, being provided with cushions and having a narrow shelf on either side on which the passenger can rest his arms. In country districts, however, the traveller has to be content with a simpler conveyance, consisting of a roughly made bamboo chair attached to long poles.

In China, rickshaws, which are wheeled chairs drawn by one or more coolies, are also used, their name coming from the Chinese word jin-li-che, which means "man-power-carriage." These little vehicles are convenient, but in many cities the streets are so narrow that they cannot be employed. Then it is that we find the quaint wheelbarrows, which are, perhaps, the strangest conveyances in the whole world. These wheelbarrows are used both to carry passengers and merchandise. Those intended for the former purpose have a very large wheel, on either side of which is a seat arranged rather in the fashion of an Irish jaunting car. Below the seat a cord is suspended on which the feet of the travellers can rest. Two, four, six, or even, sometimes, as many as eight native women can be carried, and the coolie who pushes the barrow has a strap across his shoulders which eases his arms of some of the weight. Occasionally hooded wheelbarrows are seen, and for them a second coolie in front is employed.

In Northern China donkeys and bullocks often drag these strange, one-wheeled carts. The roads are so bad that it is almost impossible for larger vehicles to be used, although sometimes we see a native family with their household goods moving from one place to another in a rough wagon drawn by an ox and a donkey harnessed side by side.

From China we travel still further east, and in Japan, the Land of the Rising Sun, other curious and picturesque conveyances are to be seen by the fortunate tourist who is able to journey so far afield.

Horses are very little used in this country, and the Chinese jin-li-che is the principal conveyance, its name being now changed into jin-ri-che or jinricksha. Very charming these little vehicles look, as they careen through the streets of a town, or under the blossom-covered cherry-trees of a country road, especially if the wheels are painted scarlet, and if the passengers are two dainty little Jap maidens, with gay obis round their waists and flowers decking their smooth, dark heads.

The coolies who draw the jinrickshas are also picturesque in their blue cotton clothes, and in winter-time they wear most extraordinary straw cloaks which make them look like small moving haystacks.

Another interesting Japanese conveyance is the kago. This is a small, hammock-shaped litter made of cane and bamboo, suspended to a strong pole. There is an awning overhead, and on this the light luggage of the passenger—a pair of straw shoes, a bouquet of chrysanthemums, or a bundle tied up in a brightly coloured handkerchief—is carried.

The bearers of a kago are two stalwart, bare-legged men, and they always carry long sticks in their hands.

This curious type of litter is much used by the Japanese themselves, but not by Europeans, as the occupant of a kago has to sit with his knees doubled up in what seems to Western ideas a most uncomfortable position.

There are other strange conveyances to be seen in Japan, one of the most interesting of all being the Imperial chariot which has its place in great religious processions. It is drawn by a black bull, and is decorated with the Mikado's crest, a sixteen-petalled chrysanthemum.

CHAPTER VI
JOURNEYS THROUGH AFRICA

"From the Cape to Cairo." We have all heard of the wonderful railway which some day is to run all the way from Table Bay to Egypt, and is to carry passengers in ease and luxury through the heart of Darkest Africa. That will be in the future, no doubt; but, even if the railway were already finished, it would surely be more interesting to travel in the old-fashioned ways, and, even if it necessitated hardships and fatigue, see something of the great continent and of its inhabitants.

Let us suppose, then, that we start on our journey from Cape Town, and, ignoring the railway which already could carry us far into Central Africa, put the clock back for fifty years, or more, and engage one of the great bullock wagons in which the old colonists made their adventurous pilgrimages.

A traveller who journeyed through South Africa in 1846 gives an interesting account of his conveyance and experiences.

"In travelling by wagon one gets along slowly," he says. "Twenty miles a day is reckoned moderate, and two and a half miles an hour is the usual rate of progress. Cooking utensils, as a kettle, a gridiron, and a pot, accompany the wagon. Bedding is also a part of the travelling appurtenances, and is either made up at night in the body of the wagon or in the open country, according to the weather."

This description sounds pleasant and comfortable enough, but the men and women who in those days set out across unexplored country in search of new homes often had to endure hardships and face terrible dangers, for the Kaffirs and Zulus were fierce and warlike, and they often attacked and murdered the newcomers.

As a safeguard against these enemies the colonists used to arrange their wagons at night in a circle, and within the primitive fort, or laager as it was called, they would make their camp and light watch-fires to frighten away lions and other beasts of prey.

South African wagons are very large and have canvas hoods. Whole families can travel in them comfortably, and sometimes as many as sixteen oxen are used.

North of Cape Colony is Natal, the oldest of the British possessions in South Africa, and now we will leave our quaint, old-world wagon and pay a visit to the port of Durban as it is to-day.

Here we shall see careering along the streets or waiting to be hired, some very strange little vehicles indeed, and shall hardly recognise them at first as our old friends the rickshaws of Japan and Ceylon. When we look more closely, however, we shall see that the rickshaws themselves are just the same as those which speed along the red roads of Colombo or under the cherry blossoms of Yokohama.

It is the men who drag them that are extraordinary, for the Kaffir rickshaw boys of Durban wear the most amazing costumes and deck themselves out in queer finery of all sorts. Beads, scraps of ribbon, feathers, all these are pressed into the service, and very often as a finishing touch of grandeur the boys fasten buffalo horns on to their woolly heads.

Leaving Natal behind us, we will go up country beyond the reach of railway lines. There travellers have to make their journeys in Cape carts, which are two-wheeled vehicles drawn by a pair of mules and driven by a Basuto. These natives are among the finest drivers in the whole world, and they will whip up their mules and dash recklessly up hill and down dale, no matter how rough the road may be, or even, as often happens, if there is no road at all.

There is no brake to a Cape cart, and the harness is frequently rotten or mended with scraps of string or tape, but nothing seems to matter, and the Basuto will generally manage to bring his passengers and the piles of baggage safely to their destinations.

Occasionally in these districts a more ambitious conveyance is provided, this being a coach, much like the old stage coaches of England in appearance, drawn by ten mules instead of four smart, prancing horses.

Further north we notice many strange modes of travel, such as a white man riding a bullock with saddle, harness, and stirrups complete; or a Masai family on the move, the woman leading an ox which carries not only her husband but all the household goods and chattels.

At Beira we reach the boundaries of civilisation again, for here a little tramcar may be seen running through the streets. It is, however, rather a primitive affair and consists only of a light car or trolly, on which is room for one passenger, the whole being pushed along by a scantily dressed native.

We travel on northward again and reach Khartum, whence a finished section of the Cape to Cairo railway will carry us to Wadi Halfa. Here, as throughout Egypt, donkeys are an important means of transport, and very smart the little animals look with their red leather, humped saddles, large stirrups, and the blue bead necklaces which are worn to protect them from the Evil Eye. The poorer inhabitants of Egypt and the Sudan have to be content with more simply attired mounts, and they either use a rough pad as a saddle or else ride bare-back.

In Cairo, the old capital of Egypt, we find vehicles of all descriptions, for this city is a strange mixture of East and West. In the crowded streets motor-cars and buffaloes, splendid private carriages and long strings of clover-laden camels jostle each other, while steam tramcars carry tourists to the Pyramids and old Arabs on their tiny donkeys jog contentedly along the road in front of the great European hotels.

The equipage of a rich Egyptian or high official is an imposing sight in the streets of Cairo. It is preceded by two or more gaily clad servants, or saises, who run in front of the horses with long sticks in their hands and shout to the pedestrians and the more humble conveyances to get out of the way.

Among these latter, which halt and draw back against the wall at the sais's command, we see some of the most curious of all the vehicles of Egypt, the little flat, two-wheeled carts on which native women of the poorer classes are conveyed. These carts are drawn by a mule or donkey, led by an Arab, and each carries a group of crouching women, who sit closely together with their black veils drawn over their faces. "An Arab taking out his wives for an airing"—that is how tourists often describe these quaint vehicles, but really they are public conveyances, and the native women, having paid their fares, are going on shopping expeditions to the bazaars or to visit their friends in some distant part of the city.

Nowadays, however, these picturesque conveyances are beginning to be considered old-fashioned, and the natives crowd into the electric trams which run in all directions through the town and into the suburbs beyond.

Alexandria is even more up-to-date than Cairo, for there not only tramcars but motor-omnibuses are to be seen.

Morocco, another country of North Africa, although much nearer to Europe, is still very much behind the times, and therefore even more interesting, perhaps, than Algeria and Egypt. In Tangier, for instance, the streets are so steep and rough that only very primitive vehicles can be used, and most people, natives and Europeans alike, ride either on donkeys, mules, or ponies.

CHAPTER VII
JOURNEYS IN THE NEW WORLD

From the Old World we go to the New, and see if we can find any curious vehicles in the great continents of America and Australia.

Beginning with America, as that was the first of the new lands to be discovered, we will go back to the days when Red Indians lived in the forests and rode their wild, hardy ponies across the prairies. The Indians had no wheeled conveyances, but they harnessed their ponies to strange little sleds, which dragged on the ground and supported the long tent poles and heavy loads of household gear.

These Red Indians were very brave but savage and treacherous, and they bitterly resented the coming of strangers into their land.

The early settlers lived in constant dread of attack and massacre, and they were always armed when they cultivated their clearings in the forests or ventured further and further afield into the undiscovered country of the West.

The conveyances used by the colonists of North America were large, hooded wagons, very much like those to be seen in Africa, and in these prairie schooners, as they were sometimes called, the pioneers carried their wives and their children out into the wilderness.

Even when they did travel in company the colonists were not always safe, and a man who went to the West in 1850 tells a terrible story of his adventures.

On this occasion Indian guides were employed to lead the way across the passes of the Rocky Mountains, and these guides proved to be untrustworthy and treacherous. One night, when the camp was pitched in a forest, nearly all the horses were stolen, together with the stores, and then, when the emigrants were in this helpless position, they were attacked by a band of Indians. After that, the story seems like one of the cinema plays with which nowadays we are all familiar, for the writer tells how he and another man were chosen to ride for help to a neighbouring fort, how they were pursued by the savages, how they escaped, and how, finally, when they returned, it was to find that they were too late, and that during their absence the wagons had been burnt and the hapless people murdered.

Even disasters like this did not, however, daunt the brave adventurers, and thirteen years later we hear of a huge convoy starting westward from Chicago. On this occasion many, who could not afford to purchase wagons, set out on foot for the long journey of more than a thousand miles, dragging their possessions on little two-wheeled handcarts.

Times have changed now, and there are many railways crossing the great continent. The Indians have disappeared from the forests, and in the Rocky Mountains gay parties of holidaymakers can be seen in the summer-time, riding in the same woods where, a century ago, their ancestors, grimly alert and with guns in their hands toiled along on the weary journey that was to bring them at last to the wonderful "El Dorado" of their dreams, where new homes and fabulous riches were to be found.

At the present time in the western districts the men are great riders, and extraordinary feats of horsemanship are common among the cowboys on some of the cattle ranches.

The vehicles of modern North America are much like those of European countries, but mention must be made of the curious cars used to show off the paces of the celebrated trotting horses. These little two-wheeled carts are very lightly made, and seem to consist merely of two wheels, a small seat, and a pair of shafts.

In Quebec, Canada, a very smart cab may be seen. It is of picturesque appearance, on two high wheels, and bears the French name of "calèche."

In South America there are not many curious vehicles. A great part of the country is covered with tropical forests, and in the south riding is the principal means of getting from place to place. Mules and oxen are used as beasts of burden, and in some districts quaint-looking animals called llamas are also employed. These creatures, which most of us have seen in zoological gardens, are very hardy and can carry heavy loads on their backs.

Not far from the coast of America is Cuba, and here bullock wagons suitable to the tropical climate of the island are used, with shady roofs made of palm-leaves. These are driven by negroes, who urge on the animals with long, iron-pointed goads. The reins are attached to the ends of the bullock's horns.

In the streets of Havana, the capital of Cuba, hooded carriages called volantes, or kitrins, are seen. They are drawn by two horses or mules, one being harnessed between the shafts while the other is outside on the left. Sometimes three horses are driven abreast. These vehicles are very curious in appearance, for they have enormous wheels and shafts that are over fifteen feet in length. The horses are ridden by negro postilions, who sometimes wear gorgeous scarlet liveries ornamented with gold lace, and jack-boots that reach almost to their waists.

From Cuba we can travel east or west, sailing either round the Horn or the Cape of Good Hope, but whichever direction we choose our ship comes at last to the great island continent of Australia. There we find, in the large towns such as Sydney and Melbourne, tramways, motor-cars, and even the old familiar hansom cabs of the London streets.

Australia has not any strange vehicles of its own, for when discovered it was inhabited only by savages, and it had no animals that could be used as beasts of burden. These latter have, however, been imported and acclimatized, and now horses and cattle may be seen everywhere, while, if we travel across the sandy plains of the west, we meet long lines of heavily laden camels that look as if they had marched straight out of the Sahara or the Arabian deserts.

The horses of Australia are now famous all over the world, and the Colonial riders are as celebrated. Indeed, in many districts men almost live in the saddle, for in the great southern continent estates are measured not by acres but by hundreds of miles, and the shepherds and boundary riders often have to ride long distances in their day's work.

There are not, as yet, many railways in the more thinly inhabited districts of Australia, and travellers drive in coaches drawn by two or four horses. Other vehicles are the buggies, light two-wheeled conveyances which can be used where there are few roads and the tracks through the bush are rough and steep.

CHAPTER VIII
TRAVELLING IN THE WILDS

After seeing the strange conveyances and modes of travel in Europe and in the civilised countries of Asia, it will be interesting to leave the beaten tracks behind us altogether for a time. We will go beyond the high roads and the railways, and find out how people make journeys in the great wildernesses of the world, where travellers must be prepared to undergo discomforts and hardships, to meet with dangers, and, very often, to carry their lives in their hands.

If we open our atlases and turn to the maps of Africa, America, Asia, and Australia, we shall find that in each continent there are blank spaces. Sometimes these are called deserts or forests, but often we can only guess at the character of the country from the fact of there being no rivers marked and very few names of towns and cities.

The most famous of all deserts is the Great Sahara, which extends for thousands of miles across the north of Africa. Most people picture it as a huge sandy plain, where there is no water and no sign of life or vegetation; but, in reality, although there are districts where the shifting sandhills stretch away as far as the eye can see, a vast part of the Sahara consists of a stony tableland covered with a scanty growth of low, thorny bushes.

In the deserts there are, moreover, many fertile spots looking like exquisite little green islands set in the midst of a glowing, yellow sea. They are called oases, and are found where there are wells or pools of water. Arabs live in these places, cultivating the land and building mud-houses, while other tribes spend their time in wandering about the desert, seeking food for their animals and trading in the scattered towns and villages. These wanderers, or nomads, with their camels, horses, and herds of sheep and goats, may be seen slowly moving across the great sunburnt plain and pitching their brown tents at night among the sand-dunes.

The nomadic Arabs travel in large parties called caravans, for there are brigands in the Sahara who would rob and murder lonely wayfarers. The men in the caravan often ride, and their horses are considered the finest in the whole world. The Arabs prize these horses highly and treat them well, never allowing them to be teased by the children, and, at the end of a long day's journey, giving them their meal of milk and dates before they eat anything themselves.

Horses, however, are only used for riding, and all the hard work is done by the camels, "the ships of the desert," as they are called. It is a strange sight to see a great caravan crossing the desert, sometimes as many as a thousand camels marching along in single file, each with a heavy load on his back.

Camels are strange animals, for although they are strong and have wonderful powers of endurance, they are surly, intractable, and even more obstinate than mules. Occasionally a camel will consider that he is overloaded, and lying down will snarl at his driver and refuse to move. Blows and commands are useless in such a case, but if the driver pretends to remove something from the burden the animal is often completely deceived, and thinking that he has outwitted his master and gained a victory, will rise to his feet and start off contentedly on the journey.

One of the greatest dangers of desert travel is lack of water, for wells are very few and far apart. Camels are particularly suited to these conditions, as they can live for several days without drinking, and when no water is forthcoming, will plod patiently on and on, until their strength is exhausted and they fall down beneath their heavy loads.

Those of us who have seen only woods in our own islands can hardly imagine what one of the great forests of Central Africa, America, or Asia is like, with its huge trees, strange plants, and hot, steamy atmosphere, dank with the smell of rotting vegetation and stagnant water, or heavy with the overpowering fragrance of some tropical blossom. It is almost dark, for the foliage is dense, and the trees are, moreover, hung with matted curtains of creepers, while below is a tangled undergrowth, so tall and thick that pathways have to be cut through it inch by inch.

The Europeans of the party either walk too, or are carried in hammocks slung on poles. An awning is fixed over the hammock, and the occupant can lie down comfortably while he is borne along by two or more negro porters. Wounded men or those ill with fever are often taken for many miles in this fashion, and in Nigeria special hospital hammocks are provided for this purpose on which the familiar red cross may be seen.

The natives of these tropical forests either carry their merchandise and other burdens themselves, or have light conveyances suited to the narrow tracks that are the only roads of the country. The Sobo negroes of West Africa have a very ingenious arrangement, and often three or four of them may be seen walking in single file and carrying a long pole on their shoulders. From this pole are hung jars, bundles, and baskets of fruit and vegetables.

In another district a still more curious device is used. This is a single railway line running between two towns, on which light trucks can travel. These trucks have two wheels each, one behind the other, and to each truck is fastened a pole which projects on the left-hand side. Negroes walk beside the line, holding the poles and thus driving the cars along.

In regions where the forest is less dense and the climate more dry and healthy, animals can be used, and sometimes strange teams are seen—camels, donkeys, and oxen being all pressed into the transport service.

CHAPTER IX
THROUGH ICE AND SNOW

IN the Arctic regions, far beyond the reach of railways, and where even the sea is frozen during many months of the year, we find strange conveyances and means of travel, for in those desolate lands there are no roads. Even if a track is made it may, within a few hours, be covered with drifting snow and entirely lost.

Horses and oxen cannot live in the bitter climate of the north, so carriages, or any other wheeled conveyances, are useless. Travellers, therefore, must needs adapt themselves to the conditions of weather and country, and either invent new means of locomotion or else borrow ideas from the original inhabitants of those bleak, snow-clad lands.

The first Arctic explorers described their experiences in the Polar regions, and life among the Esquimaux has changed very little since those pioneer days when Frobisher and Sir Humphrey Gilbert set sail in search of a new route to India and the East.

"They are a very strong people and warlike," the historian of Frobisher's expedition wrote in 1577. "They go in coats made from the skins of beasts. They travel in sledges drawn by dogs, and move from place to place in quest of food."

The dogs seen then by the adventurous Englishmen and still used by the natives are sturdy, rough-haired animals, rather like large shaggy collies in appearance. They are very strong and hardy, and are able to drag heavy loads for long distances. Esquimaux sledges were often nearly twelve feet long and had runners made of the jawbones of whales or of pieces of wood strongly lashed together.