There are no large manufactories for the production of vehicles.
Most of the vehicles used in Chile are primitive in design, crude
in construction and finish. Two-wheeled carts, which are almost
universally used as transports for freight, are manufactured in all the
towns and villages. Most of them are clumsy, with high wheels, heavy,
rough spokes, broad, thick fellies, and wide tires. The box or frame
is fastened to the axle, without springs or other means of relieving
the jolting sensation produced by the wheels passing over the rough
country roads or uneven streets.
In the country, oxen are used almost exclusively for drawing carts. The
pole of the cart is a piece of timber fastened firmly in the center
of the axle, and extending forward a sufficient distance for the
animals to be harnessed to the vehicle. The yoke by which the oxen are
attached, instead of resting upon the neck of the beast, as is common
in most countries, is placed upon the head just back of the horns, and
fastened with strips of rawhide passed around the horns and over the
forehead. This method of harnessing gives to the animal no freedom of
action of the head. The frame of the cart being firmly fastened to the
tongue, all the jarring sensation produced by the motion of the vehicle
comes upon the head, causing great torture.
Vehicles used for transporting goods in the cities and towns are the
same as those employed for similar purposes in the country, except that
they are not so heavy. They are provided with shafts and are drawn by
horses. One horse works between the shafts, and another is attached by
a single trace, upon the left, or near side. A saddle constitutes a
part of the harness of the animal on the left, on which the driver is
mounted.
One of the common methods of transporting cargo in the towns and
cities, is upon the backs of horses. Groceries, meat, milk, in fact all
classes of freight from barrels of oil and cement to huge timbers and
piles of lumber, are carried upon horses. In the country, mules are
employed for the same purpose, as they are more sure footed upon the
hills, and will carry heavy loads for greater distances.