STRANGE VEHICLES OF EUROPE
It is not only in the far-away countries of the world that we must
travel in order to discover curious conveyances. Some are to be
seen quite near at home, even in England itself. We must remember
that as a rule it is because things are unfamiliar that they seem
quaint and curious, so let us try to imagine for a few moments that
we are natives of some distant land who have come to pay a visit to
Great Britain.
We land at Dover, perhaps, or Newhaven, and go along the coast
until we come to Brighton. It is quite a commonplace seaside town,
no doubt, but, in our characters of observant foreigners, we
shall notice many interesting things, and among them are several
extraordinary little vehicles which are drawn up in a row along the
parade.
What can they be, these tiny carriages, each with its wheels,
shafts, and box-seat complete? Then we see that instead of a pony
or donkey, the little conveyances are drawn by shaggy, long-horned
goats.
[Illustration: SEASIDE CARRIAGE DRAWN BY GOAT.]
The stranger stares with amusement at the dainty goat-chaises
as they drive away filled with merry loads of children. Then he
travels up to London and goes for a stroll in one of the poorer
districts of the great city.
It is a Bank Holiday perhaps, or a fine Saturday in the
summer-time, and the costermongers are off in their donkey-carts
for a day's outing on Hampstead Heath. What a noise and clatter
there is as the heavily laden little vehicles trot past, the
donkeys looking so smart with their well-groomed coats and bright
harness, and the drivers in the festive costumes decorated with
pearl buttons that, surely, no foreign city in the world can rival!
We leave Whitechapel or the Old Kent Road behind us now, and
journey out into the country, where, in some narrow green lane or
on a breezy common, we overtake a yellow-painted gipsy van, hung
about with baskets and brooms, and drawn by a sturdy, sleepy old
horse. The owner of the van walks at his horse's head, or sits
comfortably on the shaft, and through a little muslin-curtained
window we catch a glimpse of his wife's dark face and long
earrings. The gipsy children, ragged, bright-eyed urchins, lag
behind, gathering flowers from the hedges, or run through the dust
of the road to beg for pennies.
Certainly England has its own share of strange vehicles, and there
are others even more curious still to be seen in out-of-the-way
districts. One of these is the two-wheeled cart used for farm-work
in some parts of Wales, which, in shape, is almost exactly like the
ancient chariots that were found in Britain by the Roman invaders
when they landed between Walmer and Sandwich nearly two thousand
years ago.
Across St. George's Channel the quaint-looking Irish jaunting car
is to be found, and then we travel back again to the continent of
Europe. If we landed at Ostend or Antwerp before the War, most
likely the first thing we should have seen would be a neat little
cart loaded with vegetables or bright milk-cans, and harnessed to
one or two large handsome dogs.
In England most dogs, except those owned by farmers or sportsmen,
lead idle lives, but this is not the case on the Continent.
The dogs of Belgium, Holland, and Germany are quite content to
work--and to work hard, too--for their livings. There are numbers
of them in the towns and villages, bravely dragging heavy loads, or
lying down between the shafts and taking a well-earned nap in some
shady corner of the cobbled street.
[Illustration: BELGIAN DOG-DRAWN CART.]
In Belgium dogs were employed, not only for peaceful purposes, but
in times of war for drawing ambulances, little ammunition wagons,
and machine-guns.
[Illustration: SEDAN CHAIR, CONSTANTINOPLE.]
Oxen are also used to draw carts in most of the European countries,
and very picturesque some of them are. In Turkey most elaborate
bullock carts are used in some districts as mourning carriages,
and in them women are conveyed when they wish to visit the
grave-yards. These carts are usually drawn by two animals which
wear, fixed to their collars, large curved pieces of wood hung
with tassels. The carts themselves are elaborately decorated, and
while one man leads the bullocks another, staff in hand, walks at
the side of the vehicle.
[Illustration: TURKISH MOURNING CAR.]
There are many other strange conveyances to be seen in Turkey,
perhaps the most curious of all being the sedan chairs which,
although they have quite disappeared from other cities of Europe,
are still used at night or on snowy days in the streets of
Constantinople. In the eighteenth century sedan chairs were common
in England, and in them the powdered and patched ladies went to
their balls and routs, but it is strange to think of the quaint
old-world conveyances being carried by stalwart Turkish porters
along the dark, muddy streets of an Oriental city. These chairs,
like the agricultural carts of Wales, come down to us from a past
age, and another strange survival is seen at Schiessel, a village
near Bremen, where the peasant girls drive to weddings and other
festivities in large wagons that, painted and decorated with
garlands of flowers, are exactly like the old carts and charettes
of the Middle Ages.
Russia is a country where the carriages appear very strange to
English eyes, for there three horses are driven abreast, and while
the two outer animals gallop, the one in the centre is trained to
trot. As may be imagined, a very skilful and experienced driver is
necessary to guide these droskeys, as they are called, along the
rough country roads or through the crowded streets of a city.
[Illustration: SCHIESSEL CART.]
Among other curious vehicles which may be seen in Europe are
the small two-wheeled omnibuses of Portugal and the quaint,
gaily-decorated carts of Sicily. These latter conveyances are
picturesque and interesting, for they are covered with paintings
of figures and landscapes, while even the wheels are ornamented and
carved. Donkeys draw these brilliant little carts, and they are
usually used by fruit-sellers, but often they may be seen with a
heavy load of passengers.
[Illustration: SICILIAN CART.]
Before the time of railways large public travelling carriages,
called diligences, were used in France, Switzerland, and other
European countries. They were great, cumbrous vehicles carrying
many passengers with their luggage. In out-of-the-way country
districts, and among the mountains, these old-fashioned diligences
are still to be seen, clattering along the dusty roads or toiling
up the steep passes across the Alps.