INLAND CONVEYANCE. 



in many parts of Canada are very unsuitable for 

 any species of travelling, it happens that sleighing 

 over the hardened surface of the snow in winter is 

 by far the best mode of communication in that 

 country. 



From the rude sledge, drawn with an incalculable 

 degree of labour over the rough ground, the next 

 important step in mechanical construction is to 

 apply wheels, for the purpose of lessening the 

 friction of the moving body. The first application 

 of wheels to carriages is beyond the reach of 

 record. Wagons are spoken of in the book of 

 Genesis, from which it may be inferred that a 

 knowledge of wheels was common in a very early 

 age. It is further known that the making of wheels 

 formed a distinct trade among the citizens of Thebes 

 in ancient Egypt, three or four thousand years 

 ago. The most elegant of the Egyptian carriages 

 was a kind of gig, or light open chariot, on two 

 wheels, called the plaustrum, drawn by a pair of 

 oxen instead of horses. The annexed engraving 

 represents an Ethiopian princess, who is on her 

 journey in such a chariot through Upper Egypt to 

 Thebes, where the court then resided. 



by taskmasters with their wands of office [but 

 which we have not had space to include]. On 

 the knee of the figure stands a man, who claps his 



From the researches of Wilkinson, we are 

 enabled to form some estimate of the enormous 

 trouble incurred by the ancient Egyptians in the 

 transport of the heavy stones which they employed 

 in building their temples. Some of these blocks 

 weighed three or four thousand tons, and were 

 usually conveyed from the quarries from which 

 they were cut in flat-bottomed boats on canals 

 made for the purpose. Occasionally, however, 

 when this mode of transport was unsuitable, the 

 stone was drawn on sledges, perhaps some 

 hundreds of miles, by oxen, or by human labour. 

 The accompanying wood-cut represents, in an 

 abridged form, the mode of conveying colossal 

 figures in stone from the quarries to the temples 

 in which they were to be set up. ' One hundred 

 and seventy-two men, in four rows of forty-three 

 each [we represent only as far as twenty each row], 

 pull the ropes attached to the front of the sledge ; 

 and a liquid, probably grease, is poured from a 

 vase by a person standing on the pedestal of the 

 statue, in order to facilitate its progress as it slides 

 over the ground, which was probably covered 

 with a bed of planks, though they are not indicated 

 in the painting. Some of the persons employed 

 in this laborious duty appear to be Egyptians ; the 

 others are foreign slaves, who are clad in the 

 costume of their country. Below are persons 

 carrying vases of the liquid, or perhaps water, for 

 the use of the workmen, and some implements 

 connected with the transport of the statue, followed 



hands to the measured cadence of a song, to mark 

 the time, and insure their simultaneous draught 

 The height of the statue appears to have been 

 about twenty-four feet, including the pedestal. It 

 was bound to the sledge by ropes, which were 

 tightened by means of pegs inserted between them, 

 and twisted round until completely braced ; and 

 to prevent injury from the friction of the ropes 

 upon the stone, a compress of leather or other 

 substance was introduced at the part where they 

 touched the statue.' 



TRAVELLING IN PAST TIMES IN BRITAIN. 



The modes of travelling and conveyance in 

 Britain were of a comparatively rude and primitive 

 kind till the latter part of the seventeenth century ; 

 and anything like comfortable and quick travelling 

 cannot be said to have been known till a century 

 later, when mail-coaching was introduced. In 

 old times, people of a humble rank travelled only 

 on foot, and those of a higher station on horse- 

 back. Noblemen and gentlemen, as much for 

 ostentation as use, kept running-footmen a class 

 of servants active in limb, who ran before them 

 on a journey, or went upon errands of special 

 import. The pedestrian powers of these footmen 

 were often surprising. 



When the matter of communication was of par- 

 ticular importance, or required to be despatched 

 to a considerable distance, horsemen were em- 

 ployed ; and these, by means of relays of fresh 

 animals, and great toil of body, would proceed 

 journeys of some hundreds of miles to accomplish 

 what would now be much better done by a post- 

 letter. Some journeys performed on horseback in 

 former days would be considered wonderful even 

 in modern times, with good roads. Queen Eliza- 

 beth died at one o'clock of the morning of 

 Thursday the 24th of March 1603. Between nine 

 and ten, Sir Robert Carey left London after 

 having been up all night for the purpose of con- 

 veying the intelligence to her successor, James, 

 at Edinburgh. That night he rode to Doncaster, 

 155 miles. Next night he reached Witherington, 

 near Morpeth. Early on Saturday morning he 

 proceeded by Norham across the Border ; and 

 that evening, at no late hour, kneeled beside the 

 king's bed at Holyrood, and saluted him as 

 king of England, France, and Ireland. He h:ul 



