318 
MOUNTAIN ARTILLERY TRANSPORT. 
mode of transport is that it would be unsuitable for very rough 
country, for turning sharp corners or descending a sudden drop in the 
track. It has the advantage, however, that the centre of gravity of 
the load is very low and the tendency to upset is very small, being less 
than that of a single pack animal. Also the main roads in Persia, 
along which goods are carried in (< takhtrewans,” are for steepness of 
gradient and roughness difficult to beat in any country and it is sur¬ 
prising sometimes to see how the two horses can manage to pick their 
way along in safety. To bring a gun into action could be done very 
rapidly by running the carriage directly underneath the platform, and 
lowering the gun into the trunnion holes. The shafts should be made 
to terminate at the loop to which the backhand is attached so that the 
length of the whole platform should be as short as possible to facilitate 
turning corners. 
Fig. 3 represents a gun 6 feet long carried on a platform between 
two mules as suggested. 
To divide the weight of the gun equally between the two animals it 
is arranged to be supported by a pivot in the centre of the platform. 
The breech and muzzle of the gun could be fastened by straps to the 
cross transoms of the platform to prevent swinging about when 
travelling. 
It would shorten the length also considerably if it were possible to 
carry the gun in a transverse position with its axis at right angles to 
the line of draught, but with a gun nearly 6 feet in length, similar to 
the 7-pr. and 15-pr. jointed-guns, this would probably occasion a block 
in a narrow road. 
The advantage of using as powerful a gun in mountain warfare as 
the means of transport will allow can scarcely be over-estimated, and 
it seems a distinct advantage to have a means which enables a gun or 
short howitzer to be carried complete instead of in two or three 
sections. This system of draught is already well-known, but there 
seems to have been no trial of it for the transport of Mountain Artil¬ 
lery for which it seems very suitable. Judging from the facility with 
which a Persian “ takhtrewan ” can be managed in a narrow pathway, 
the difficulty of turning corners and going up and down steep slopes 
would not be so great as appear at first sight. 
