124 



OUR DOMESTIC ANIMALS 



Rkady to Start 



move only by daylight. These chariots had two 

 wheels ; the carpoituvi had a hood, and the 

 piloitiini was uncovered, or, at most, had 

 a canopy. The triumphal car of victors 

 and the racing chariots, harnessed often 

 with three horses, also had two wheels. 

 The carruca, an elegant carriage for luxury, 

 adorned with gold, silver, and ivory, had 

 four wheels. Its name has come down to 

 the present day in many languages : car- 

 niccio, Italian ; karos, ka?\ karrikcl^ north 

 f)f Europe ; carrossc, carroiisck Fi'ench ; 

 carnage, English. 



In consequence of the bumps experi- 

 enced on rougii and stony roads it was 

 thought advisable, after a time, to suspend 

 the seat between four wheels by leather 

 straps. In the sumptuous seventeenth 

 century they used a sort of artistically 



decorated swing, slowly drawn 

 by proud and splendid Anda- 

 lusian horses, flanked on each 

 side by two servants, whose 

 business it was to hold up the 

 machine when it threatened 

 to fall, or to right it if it fell. 



The use of leather straps 

 for the purpose of lessening 

 rough shocks is still continued 

 in Holland, though steel 

 springs have long since taken 

 their place elsewhere. There- 

 fore the few Dutch carriages 

 of this kind that still exist 

 may be regarded as curiosities. 



In our day it has become 

 an art, and even a science, to 

 drive a coach or carriage. The 

 art consists in going whereso- 

 ever we desire, in guiding the 

 horses by reins, whip, and 

 voice in a way to make a good 

 appearance, and in so manag- 

 ing that the horses suffer as 

 little as possible from their 

 work, and that the equipage 

 goes forward so regularly and 

 tranquilly that the people 

 within it do not perceive the pace at which it 



A Nor.i.ic BreI'.d 



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