Vol. XVIII, No. ii WASHINGTON November, 1907 



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QUEER METHODS OF TRAVEL IN CURIOUS 

 CORNERS OF THE W^ORLD 



By Hon. O. P. Austin 

 Chief U. S. Bureau of Statistics 



NO feature of tropical or oriental 

 life more impresses the traveler 

 from the temperate zone Occi- 

 dent than the methods of travel and 

 transportation which greet him at every 

 hand. Whether it be upon the mountains 

 or tablelands of Mexico and Central 

 America, the Cordilleras or plateaus of 

 South America, the islands of the Carib- 

 bean, the deserts or jungles of Africa, the 

 sandy wastes of Arabia and the Holy 

 Land, the densely populated plains of 

 India, the mountain passes of Tibet, the 

 jungles of Siam, the islands and water- 

 courses of the Philippines, the crowded 

 cities and highwa}s of China, the rugged 

 hills and narrow valleys of Korea, or the 

 coastal cities and mountainous interior of 

 Japan, the methods by which man travels 

 and man's requirements are transported 

 are ever strange, ever changing, ever 

 fascinating. To the man or woman who 

 has been accustomed to travel by the 

 comfortable methods of our own country 

 a marked contrast is found in the burro 

 of Mexico, the llama of South America, 

 the sledges of Aladeira, the saddle ox of 

 Central Africa, the camel of the desert, 

 the donkev of North Africa and Arabia, 



the bullock cart and the "dandy" of India, 

 the 3'ak of Tibet, the trotting ox of Cey- 

 lon, the elephant of Siam, the carabao of 

 the Philippines, the wheelbarrow and 

 sedan chair of China, the pack bull and 

 palanquin of Korea, and the jinricksha 

 and kago of Japan. From the moment 

 the traveler leaves the temperate zone 

 countries of the Occident and plunges into 

 the tropics of the orient he finds as a 

 poor substitute for that noble animal, the 

 horse, the donkey, the llama, the camel, 

 the elephant, the ox, the carabao, and, 

 finally, man, in those densely populated 

 sections where labor is cheap and land 

 cannot be spared to suppoi"t animals for 

 transportation. 



Of the 100 million horses known to ex- 

 ist in the world, 8o millions, or four-fifths 

 of the entire number, are found in the 

 temperate zone and nearly all among 

 occidental people, while the remaining 20 

 millions, scattered through the tropics, 

 are largely employed in the service of 

 temperate-zone visitors or residents, and 

 are but feeble representatives of that ani- 

 mal as he is known to the people of Eu- 

 rope or America. 



In the United States and Canada we 



■ Notes from an address to the National Geographic Society, 1907 



