268 THE COMING OF MAN 



first simple commerce started, there was need of going 

 farther and of carrying burdens that were too heavy 

 even for those strong men. 



What made them think of taming animals and 

 training them to carry their burdens for them? How 

 did those ancient men learn that they could catch 

 and tame and harness the swift-footed, wild horses, 

 or the fierce and enormous wild elephants, or the 

 camels or the reindeer? We do not know. Yet in all 

 the different countries men have trained the native 

 animals to be their burden bearers. In many of the 

 countries the burdens are still placed upon the ani- 

 mals' backs, but in the more civilized countries the 

 animals draw the burdens behind them. That means 

 that the people have devised some sort of sledge or 

 wagon, and it means, besides, a cleared road for the 

 wagon to go over. 



What do you suppose ever made men think of 

 making wheels and fastening them to an axle so they 

 would turn around when pulled, and so carry the 

 burden along more easily? Yet somewhere the first 

 wheeled wagons began to be used, and somewhere 

 the first roads began to stretch out over the country. 



Then some enterprising men, not content to have 

 only their goods carried, wished to be carried them- 

 selves. So chariots came into use. The first two- 

 wheeled chariots, set upon an axle without springs, 

 were not comfortable, but they were often gorgeous 

 enough to make up for that lack. It has not been 

 very long that people have ridden in four-wheeled 

 carriages, furnished with comfortable springs; and 

 only quite recently that rubber tires upon the wheels 



