io6 THE CHARIOT 



was the wheel invented, and the first four-spoke 

 pattern gave place to the six and eight-spoke 

 methods of strengthening the rim. The whole 

 process from roller to four-spoke wheel would 

 easily occur to one inventor in his experiments. 



Meanwhile the skin basket in the travois 

 frame was changed to a floor of raw-hide lacing, 

 on which a man could stand with bent knees 

 driving. He needed shelter, so a dashboard 

 was made of oiled bull-hide, quite translucent 

 but proof against spears, arrows and pony 

 kicks. As a curved surface made weapons 

 glance when they hit, this dash-board was 

 rounded at the front, and carried along the 

 sides enclosing the driver's stand. 



So far a one-horse vehicle, a sort of sulky, 

 had been invented ; and it ma}^ be worth noting 

 that the creaky old Red River cart of Mani- 

 toba, although made with steel tools, contains 

 no trace of metal. Its gait is a walk. But it 

 was obvious that by using a pole instead of a 

 pair of shafts, two ponies could be driven, and 

 trotting became quite possible so far as the 

 grass extended. Still one hesitates to use the 

 stately name of chariot for a vehicle on three- 

 foot wheels, drawn by shaggy ponies from the 

 milch herd. Yet it had use in war because the 

 machine could be driven by a charioteer, leaving 



