THE CHARIOT 107 



the warrior free to use his weapons. At least 

 it brought the warrior, after a long march, 

 at a decent speed fresh into action ; and, 

 although he fought afoot, he had the chariot to 

 rally upon, for cover and a position when hard 

 pressed. The British warrior ran along the 

 shaft to the attack, retreated behind the dash- 

 board for defence. 



The Ridden Horse. Many a time have I 

 seen the pony herd drift out to pasture, or trail 

 down of an evening to the water hole ; but I do 

 not remember a herder going afoot. For boys 

 to ride on herd was only natural, and I have no 

 doubt that ponies were both ridden and packed 

 from very early times. We may find guidance 

 here from Red Indian practice. 



The Blackfoot nation were a woodland 

 people, and, as first known to the white men, 

 lived on the head waters of the North Sas- 

 katchewan at the southern edge of the Great 

 Northern Forest. In the earliest years of the 

 nineteenth century some Kootenays crossed 

 the Rocky Mountains from the west, and 

 arrived in the Blackfoot hunting grounds with 

 the first ponies ever seen there. They made a 

 good sale to the Blackfeet, which started a 

 steady trade. Moreover, the Blackfeet made 

 no bones about taming and riding these feral 



