CHAPTER IX 



PUNT CARRIAGES, WAGONS, AND HOUSES 



One of the most useful tools in connection with punting is a 

 carriage to run the punt from, and to, her beaching quarters, 

 or in and out of the punt-house. Without such an adjunct to 

 the working of a heavy double-handed punt, especially when 

 the punt is to be moved some distance overland, it is very hard 

 work indeed, no matter how short the distance may be. This 

 is, perhaps, even more evidenced when no extra assistance is 

 available. Rollers and so on are but slow tools, even when 

 going is good, and, although they may be very useful to get 

 a punt out of an awkward place, they do but poor service in 

 the stead of a carriage. Carriages for punts need not be 

 elaborate in any shape or form. A pair of wheels simply 

 rigged on a cross axle of wood will suffice for all ordinary 

 purposes in the use of a single-handed punt. A large double 

 punt, owing to its extra length and weight, should have better 

 support to ride on than a single spar amidships. In such 

 cases punts of large size are apt to sooner or later become 

 strained, which means leakage. 



A carriage of this kind is sufficiently strong, and gives 

 enough bearance to take the punt a few miles by road. For 

 this purpose, however, we recommend a proper punt wagon. 

 At one end of the carriage is mounted a three-inch diameter 

 oak roller. At the other end two cross-pieces of the carriage 

 body are so arranged that a handspike can be inserted between 

 them, so as to lever the carriage up when the nose of the punt 

 is put on to the roller, and thus push the carriage under the 



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