ALBERT R. MANN LIBRARY New York State Colleges OF Agriculture and Home Economics AT Cornell University Cornell University Library TS 2020.S9 The world on wheels; or, Carriages, with 3 1924 003 597 071 Cornell University Library The original of tiiis book is in tine Cornell University Library. There are no known copyright restrictions in the United States on the use of the text. http://www.archive.org/details/cu31924003597071 THE WORLD ON WHEELS AND ITS ASSOCIATIONS. THE WORLD ON WHEELS; CAREIAGES, WITH THEIB HISTORICAL ASSOCIATIONS FROM THE EARLIEST TO THE PRESENT TIME, INCJ^UDIKO A SELECTION FROM TUB AMERICAN CENTENNIAL EXHIBITION. EZRA M. STEATTON, PKACTICAL CARRIAGE-BTTILDEE, EDITOR OF THE "NEW YORK CrtAOH-MAKEE's MAGAZlfIB," AND nONORAET MEMBEK OF THE CAHBlAGE-BriLDEKS' KATIONAL ASSOCIA'ilOK. fftarlg Jfoirr PunirMb dlksirations. ' This is the rattling:, rowling, rumbling age, and tUe World runnes on WhecleB." Tatloe, The Water Poet. NEW YORK: PUBLISHED BY THE AUTHOR, S25 EaBT ElGHTKKNTH StKEBT. 1878. coptbight : By EZKA M. STKATTON, A. D. IMS. Blectrotyped and lyinled by Alfbed Hodse & Soir, BoBToir. ALL ADMIKEUS AND LOVERS COACH-MAKER'S HANDIWORK IN ALL LANDS, S^^rs 0olura£ IS MOST SIXCEEELY IXSCRIBED BY The Author. PEETACE. EARLIEST allusion to wheel-carriages is found in the Book of Genesis, where Pharaoh commands his prime minister, saying, "Take you wagons [chariots V] out of the land of Egypt, for your little ones and for your wives, and come." More than thirty-five centuries have since passed away, during which carriages, under a multitude of forms, have rendered man important service, either in business, for his comfort, or at his decease. More than this, they have served as thermometers in recording the rise or fall of civilization in every stage of its progress. To point out how they have persistently pushed their way through opposition from fierce enmity to present popularity has been a potent incentive to the compilation of this volume. Several attempts have heretofore been made to write the history of carriages, generally limited in the treatment, or chiefly confined to mechanical instruction, of very little inter- est to general readers. The cream of some of these, a study of years, con amore, added to the experience "of a lifetime, has here for the first time been collected for the special benefit and amusement of all lovers of the coach-maker's 4: PBEFACE. handiwork. The numerous illustrations, drawn on the bloct from the author's designs or reduced native originals, by our son, E. Washington Stratton, serve to show the progress and condition of art in different countries much more effectually than could be done in the most finished essay under any circumstances. If in outline some of these seem at variance with Hogarth's "line of beauty," we trust the public will still accept them as a sacrifice we have been compelled to offer at the shrine of historical impartiality and undisguised truthfulness. In addition to the kindness of friends elsewhere acknowl- edged in this volume, the author would mention with special thanks Messrs. George M. Hooper & Co., of London, Coach- makers to the Queen and H. R. H. the Prince of Wales, for a variety of favors; and T. Farmer Baily, Esq., Sunnyside, Eyde, Isle of Wight, for the liberal use of his scrap-book, " Collection of Coaches," recently on exhibition in the South Kensington Museum, London, without which much of the interest given to this work would have been lost. New York, March 27, 1878. TABLE OF CONTENTS. CHAPTEE I. Egtptian. — Man's necessities the primary cause of inventive action. — The lower ani- mals subjugated by him. — The sledge an inceptive idea in coach-making. — Egyp- tians the inventors of chariots. — Egyptian funeral ceremonies and early use of the sledge. — Improved sledge-wagon. — A leaf from the history of Menepthah I, whereon are described the ceremonies attendant upon the surrender of an enemy to the victor. — The chariot and furniture described. — General remarks concern- ing the bass-reliefs found on monuments. — Sketches of the life of Eameses II, showing the cruelties of the Egyptians. — Egyptian horse-blankets and yokes. — Carts of the Tokkari. — Conquests of Eameses III in Central Africa and portions of Asia. — Chariots of the period, their beauties and defects examined. — The reigns of Menepthah II and III. — Military organizations of the Egyptians. — Baggage-cart. — Ceremonie,s observed in honor of Amun. — Hunting as pursued by the Egyptians. — Rameses IV and his deeds as recorded in the Temple at Luxor. — Description of a chariot in the Elorentine Museum, and the fragments of another in the New York Historical Society's Collection. — Extracts in praise of the horse. — Illustrations showing the different modes of building chariots in Egypt Pages 17-68 CHAPTER II. Assyrian. — The reclaimed treasures of Assyrian art preserved in the Louvre and British Museum. — Probable introduction of chariots into Assyria by the invading army of Sesostris. — Water transportation of the king's army. — Reasons for the chronology adopted in this chapter. — Comparison of Egyptian with Assyrian rules of scientific art. — Peace treaty with an enemy. — The monarch of Assyria hunting the monarch of the jungle. — Critical examination of Assyrian chariots. — Thorn in the lion's tail. — Chariot from Khorsabad in a battle-scene. — Assyrian horse-trappings. — Chariots of gold, silver, and costly woods. — Probable use of iron wheels. — The king's wheel-chair borne on the shoulders of eunuchs. — Char- iots captured from an enemy. — Sennacherib in a chariot before Lachish, guarded by soldiers. — Harness of the Assyrians. — Conjectural chariots of the Trojans. — Was art among the Assyrians of home growth, or was it imported from Egypt? — Elamitish, Armenian, and Susianian carts, drawn by horses, mules, and oxen, taken by "the great king "in battle Pages 69-92 CHAPTER III. Peksian. — Assyrian character of the earlier Persepolitan vehicles. — Bass-reliefs found at Persepolis, representing chariots. — Persian belief in auguries. — Idol-car from Persepolis. — Scythe-chariots in the army of Ninus. — Cyrus abolishes the 6 TABLE OF COI^TENTS. old chariots, and invents new ones with scythes. — Xenophon's description of scythe-chariots. — Abradatus adds four perches, which induces Cyrus to build a chariot with eight. — Scythe-chariots proved failures ia an encounter with Egyp- tian soldiers. — Curtius describes an encounter between Alexander and Darius. — LeClerc's criticism of Curtius on scythe-chariots, in which he indorses the specu- lations of John Scheffer. — Lxvy and Diodorus on hooked chariots. — Labors of Scheffer to reconcile Curtius to "common-sense." — Ginzrot pronounces the savaiis at fault, owing to a defective education in carriage-building, and animadverts on the ignorance of Vegetius, Stechevius, and others. — Scythe-chariots fail when tried against the legions of Alexander. — The barbarians under Porus meet Alex- ander in India. — Alexander by strategy defeats the Thracian object with chariots. — Pharmaces attacks Cassar's army with scythe-chariots near Ziela, and is beaten. — The currus-falcata of Antiochus. — Scythe-chariots despised by Alexander Seve- rus. — Persian harraamaxa, used by the ladies. — Description of Alexander's state funeral-car. — Modern farmer's cart Pages 93-115 CHAPTEE IV. Grecian. — Invention of chariots ascribed to Mars and others, Erlchthonius being credited with first using four horses to vehicles. ~ General employment of vehicles throughout Greece. — Materials used in the construction of diphrons. — Plato's description of a chariot. — Grecian trophy in the Vatican Museum. — Spoils of victory dedicated to the gods.— Unfaithfulness of Myrtilus, the charioteer of CEnomaus. — Chariot-races in the Olympian gaihes. — Contested by kings. — Cynisca a victor in the chariot-race. — Nestor's instructions to Antilochus. — Anniceus, a skillful driver, experiments before Plato and his scholars. — Poetical description of a chariot-race. — Chariot of Eos. — Curious picture from a vase. — Flight of Priam from Troy. — Mars and his bloody work. — Chariots in use by the females of Greece. — Homeric chariot-building. — Hesiod on felling timber. — Bass-reliefs from Mycense. — Etruscan chariots from the vases, similar to the Grecian Pages 116-136 CHAPTEE V. llOMAN.— Royal highways all leading to Rome. —Early introduction of the lectica into the empire from the East, followed by the basterna, a slow mode of travel. — Carpentum and its special uses. — Messalina brings it into disgrace. — Carpentum Pompaticum, or state-carriage. — Pilentum popular in sacred processions. — Cisi- um, the post-coach, stigmatized as the "gallant's carriage." - Monachus, the lady's pony-phaeton. — The birotum. — The arcora. — The carrus, called by Caesar a plaustrum, in use by the Helvetians. -Difference between the ourrus and plaus- trum explained ; how constructed and employed. — Dogs attendant on oxen. — Plaustra majora, plostellum, curriculus, and pegma. —Chariots, how distinguished in the Vatican Museum. — Poles, yokes, etc. — Bigas. — Circus Maximus and the race-course. — Eoyal punishment for free opinions. —Nero a charioteer. — Cos- tume in the race. — Upset quadriga. — Virgil's description of the race. — Wild ani- mals trained for the circus. — Triumphs of PauUus iEmilius and of Titus. — Cre- mation. — A sportsman's funeral. — Rhedas described. — Vehicula meritoria. — Carruca. — Authors on the Thensa. — The "rustic" benna.— Names of Roman vehicles. — Carriage-part. — Odometer. — Myrmecides' carriage and horses "no larger than a fly." — Modern Roman carriages .... Pages 137-182 TABLE OF CONTENTS. 7 CHAPTEE VI. Italian. — Our knowledge of carriage-building at Pompeii dependent on the truthful- ness of painters. — Chariot of victory. — Parrot car in charge of a locust. — Fune- ral elegy over Corinna's parrot. — Cupid as charioteer for his mother's swan team. — Lion and tiger team managed by Love. — Griffin and butterfly, typifying strength and weakness. — Mixed team. — Apollo's car and griffin team. — Plostellum from Ilerculaneum. — Minerva mounts her car as "the slayer of heroic men." — Love with a swan-necked car. — Diana's deer team. — Goat team from the Temple of the Dioscuri. — Bigas ftom Herculaneum. — Ludicrous chariot-race. — Plaustrum. — Pompeiian wine-wagon. — Pompeiian carriage-road. — Carroccio of the Lom- bards. — Italian cochio. — Neapolitan sedans and carriages in immense numbers. — The calesso Pages 183-199 CIIAPTEE VII. OaiBNTAL. — Chinese sedan traveling. — Cab. — Chinese carriage drawings, by a native artist. — 'Single omnibus in the empire. — Japanese jin-eik-sha. — Indian hecca. — Gujerat village-cart — Bullock transit carriage. — Travel in India. — Car of Juggernaut. — Scythian movable houses. — Tartar cart. — Singular Scythian fhneral rites. — Tartar cart music Pages 200-209 CHAPTEE VIII. French. — What nation invented coaches? — How were they introduced into Europe? Citizens' wives forbidden to use carriages. — Oldest Gallic vehicle extant. — En- trance of Queen Isabella into Paris in a litter. — Horse-litters. — Charles VI views his Queen enter Paris sitting on his horse. — Tardiness of art in the four- teenth and fifteenth centuries. — A royal cart. — Close carriage of Frederic III. — Three first carriage-owners in France. — Queen of Navarre enters Amien€ in a litter, her husband riding "a goodly genet." — The still mooted question is, Where did coaches originate? — Coach of Henry IV, and his assassination therein. — Men ashamed of coaches. — Picardy cart. — Twin coach-bodies. — Parisian fia- cres. — Omnibuses. — Eound coaches — Mus^e de Cluny collection. — Antique phaeton. — Corbillard. — Carriages works of taste, probably caprice. — Carocli, borline, chariot, diligence, chaise, and brouette. — Boxed-up wives. — Ancient carrosse. — Patents : Simon's, for hanging off bodies ; Groberl's, for relieving horses; Leclerq & Crombette's carriage-head; Avril's triolet and Tellier's non- upsetting vehicle. — Monocycle. — Smuggler's trick. — Char-a-banc adopted from the Swiss. — Vis-a-vis, tapissi^re, dog-cart, brouette, boguet, coup6, demi-caleche, braeck, wicker phaeton, mylord, landau, caleche, and pompe . Pages 210-247 CHAPTEE IX. English — Caesar on landing is opposed by chariots. — Queen Boadicea. — Covina and esseda. — Relics of British scythe-chariots from battle-fields. — Anglo-Saxon char- iot. — Hammock wheel-bed. — Anglo-Saxon carts. — Horse-litters. — Chares. — Whirlicote. — Long- wagons. — Chariots. — Carriages at coronations. — Coaches before Queen Elizabeth's time. — Queen Elizabeth's coaches. — Cost of coaches. — The knight and his trumpet. — Coaches satirized. — Stage-coaches introduced. — Fyn.e Morrison's journal. — Buckingham's coach-and-six. — Taylor's diatribe.— Capt. Bailey's hackney-coaches. — Coaches' overthrow. — Sedans. — Dispute be- 8 TABLE OF CONTENTS. tween Coach and Sedan, with a Beere-cart moderator. — Polyglot inventor. — Coach pictures for ladies' faces. —Post-chaises. — Coach-springs. — More litters. — Glass windows. — Kying coaches. — Lover of his Country versus Stage-coaches. — Bad roads. — Coach- makers' arms. — Boyle's soliloquy. — Earl Darnley's char- iot. — Bill Jingle's coach for hooped ladies. — Tattler versus Coaches and Chaises. — Queen Anne in state to St. Paul's. — Sedan chariot. — Gay's trivia. — Aristo- cratic carriages. — " Old Chariot's " chariot. — Sedan-cart. — "Unpleasantness " between a lord and a lady's chairmen. — Taxing coaches. —Friction annihilated. — — Gigs. — Patent coaches. — Tale of an antiquary. — Hogarth's stage-coach. — Lord Mayor's coach and show. — Brouette. — High-fliers. — State-coach. — Flying machines. — Barouche. — Streets of London and coach obstructions. — Embryo omnibus. — Cummings on wheels. — Lord Chancellor of Ireland's coach. — Col- linge's axles. — Road protector. — Combined cart and wagon. — Brights and blacks. — Feeing coachmen. — Town and country coaches. — Crane-neck coach. — Landau. — Sociable. — Post-chaise. — Town chariot. — Landaulet. — Sulky. — Phaetons, a variety. — Umbrella sociable. — Curricles. — Whiskies. — Builders' lease of car- riages. — Traders' naughty tricks. — Coach and post-chariot, 1805. — Jaunting- car. — Barouche, 1805. — Telegraph buggy. — Elliott's inventions. — Detachment of horses from carriages. — Stanhope, Tilbury, and curricle phaeton. — Acker- man's axle. — Britzscha chariot. — First English railway coach. — Charvolant. — Traveling coach, traveling, composite, and post chariot. — Alliterative literature. — Cabriolets, omnibuses, gigs, Dennets, mail-phaetons, and Hansom's cab. — Equirotal carriages. Broughams, Clarences, sovereign, and basterna coaches, Harvey's cabriolet, pony, dog-cart, sporting phaeton, wagonette, improved Han- som, family omnibus, coup6, open town barouche, and Elcho sociable landau. — Display in Hyde Park Pages 248-389 CHAPTER X. NoKTHEKN Edropean. — Eusslau vehicles. — Droschke, kibitka, and tarenta described. — Norwegian cariole and travel. — Danish Holstein- vogue. — English coach in Sweden. — German karen and duchess's wedding-present . . Pages 390-395 CHAPTER XI. AMBRIC.4.X. — Litters of the aborigines. — Colonist wheelwrights. — English carriages in America. — Carmen's contempt for aldermanic ordinances. — New York and Philadelphia post. — John Clapp keeps a hack for hire. — Albanian ordinance regu- lating "slees and horses." — Removal of posts from the Broadway. — New York and Boston post. — Skelton's and Carpenter's chairs. — Importation of chaises. — James Hallctt's cards. — New York City amusements. — John Butler's "waggon" and the Bordentown stage. — Philadelphia and Annapolis stage. — Flying machine. — Improvised hacks. — Mrs. Shoemaker's Recollections. — Curricles. — New York coach-owners. — Burning of Colden's coach. — The Deanes ftom Dublin. — New York and Boston stage. — Pennsylvanian carriage-owners and carriage-builders. — Travel in Revolutionary times. — Importation forbidden. — Washington's coach. — Henry's coat-of-arms. — McGowan's sledge. — Coach-makers' procession. — New York carriage-makers. — Powell's coach. — Tax on carriages. — Early trav- eling. — Chaises. —Beginning of carriage-making in Newark, Albany, etc. —Early carriage-makers in New York City. — Country wagons and sleighs. — Parker chal- TABLE OF CONTENTS. 9 lenges Quick. — Volantes. — Parker's "blower." — Connecticut and New Jersey carriage-makers stigmatized as thieves. — Buggies, gigs, phaetons, and chariotees. — The accommodation and public sociable early passenger vehicles In New York. — Barouches, travoling-coach, coachee, dickey-seat phaeton, traveling chariot, double Stanhope, Newark buggy, cabriolet, sulky, and omnibus. — Street-car. — Stage-drivers' bad conduct. — Parker's vehicles. — Butchers' carts, express and business wagons, cabs, Kockawaj's, Southern coach. — Perch-couplings. — Clip king-bolts. — Jenny Lind, physician's phaeton, square buggy, road sulky. — Strat- ton's patent mail-axle. — Concord and New Rochelle wagons. — Teuton Kockaway, pony-cart and phaeton, gentleman's road buggy. — Six-seat and cut-under Kocka- way. — Clarence, cabriolet, caleche, phaetons, demi-landau, coupd, coape-Eocka- way, Clarence, landau. — Velocipedes. — Trade statistics . Pages 396-467 CHAPTEK XII. Supplemental. — Carriages in the American Centennial Exhibition, French, English, American. — Commissioner's report. — M. Guiet's remarks on Centennial carriages. — Carriage-builders' national association. — Col. Delanccy Kane's drag. Pages 468-482 Index Pages 483-488 LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS. PAGE An Outside Bakbakian among the Celestials Frontispiece. Initial Wokd to Pkefaoe .... 3 Author's Aittogkapii 4 Egyptian Hunting Scene and Ini- tial M 17 Primitive Sledge 18 Primitive Sledge-wagon 19 Aristotle's SrcTALiE 19 An Egyptian Funeral Cortege. — The Undertaker comes for the Body 24 Egyptian Sledge-hearse 26 Elegant Sledge-hearse 26 An Egyptian Funeral Cortege. — The Body carried to the Tomb 27 Wagon and Boat prom a Mummy Bandage 30 Surrender op an Enemy to Menep- tiiah I. — Temple of Karnak . . 31 The Vi&torious Menepthaii I on the Homeward March 32 Egyptian Whips 33 Whip suspended from the Wrist . 34 Triumphal Procession op Menep- thaii I- — Temple of Karnak . . 35 Rameses II IN Battle. — From Bei- TUALLi, IN Nubia 36 Egyptian Horse-blanket 37 Egyptian Yoke 38 Captured Carts of the Tokkari . 38 Rameses III in his Chariot. — Bass- relief FROM A Temple at Aboo- SIMBEL 40 Fully equipped War-chariot ... 42 Menepthaii III marching against an Enemy. — From MEDEi;NET Hab6o 44 Egyptian Baggage-cart 46 Menepthaii III proceeding to the Temple op AMUN.MEDEiNET Hab6o 47 page Egyptian Hunting-chariot .... 50 Rameses IV conducting Captives to THE Temple of Amun 52 Battle-scene from the Temple op Luxor 54 Chariot of the Rot-u-n 55 Egyptian Plaustrum 56 Chariot from the Florentine Mu- seum 57 Ancient Egyptian Wheel .... 57 Spoke 58 Wooden Tire 59 Completed Chariot-wheel .... 60 Fragment of Shafts 60 Chariot End Rave 61 Chariot Side Rave 61 Rimming a Wheel 65 Bending the Timber for a War- chariot 66 Making the Pole and other Parts of the Chariot 66 Binding or trimming a Chariot-body 68 Initial Letter F 69 Tub King of Assyria crossing a River in Pursuit of an Enemy. — NlMROUD 71 Assyrian War-chariot. — Nimroud . 73 Assyrian Treaty of Peace — Nim- KOUD 76 Assyrian Lion-hunter — Nimroud . 78 Assyrian Warriors in Battle. — Khorsabad 80 Eunuch with Horses 81 The King's Chair borne by Eunuchs. — Khorsabad 83 Chariot captured by the Assyrians. — Khorsabad S* Chariot and Charioteer of Senna- cherib IN waiting before Lachish. — Kouyunjik 86 12 LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS. PAGE Sbnitachekib in his Chakiot before Lachish. — Fkom a Bass-eeliep in THE Bkitish Museum 88 Supposed Jewish Captives in a Cakt 90 Supposed Susianian Mule-team . . 90 Elamitish Cart in the Sekvice op Assyrian Soldiers 91 Mule-team and Partt at Eest . . 92 Xerxes orders the Sea chastised (Initial A) 93 Chariot from the Ruins of Persep- OLIS 94 Chariot from Niebuhk 95 Another Chariot from the Euins OF Persepolis 96 Supposed Persian Chariot from the Lyons Collection 97 Persian Idol-car 98 Persian Sctthe-chakiot 99 Ancient Scythe-chariot Wheels. — Prom Scheffee 104 Gallican Covinus. — Prom Ginzrot 104 Scythe-wagon by a Modern Inventor 105 Ancient Scythe-wagon. — From a Rare Print 106 Persian Harmamaxa Ill Alexander's Funeral Car . . . . 113 Interior View of Alexander's Fu- neral Car 114 Persian Farmer's Cart 115 Chariot Race (Initial I) . . . . 116 DiPHHON 118 Grecian Chariot 119 Grecian Chariot, a Trophy to Rome 120 Side View of Grecian Chariot . 121 Chariot from the Pediment op the Partheon 123 Ancient Grecian Racing Chariot. 126 Eos, Goddess of the Morning . . 129 Horses guided ey a Staff . . . 130 Grecian Wain, from a Vase . . . 131 War-chariot of Mars 132 Grecian Lady's Quadriga .... 133 Grecian Lady's Biga 135 Etruscan Biga 136 Initial Letter L 1.37 Carpentum, Temp. Caligula . . . 139 Carpentum, Temp. Domitian . . . 139 PAGE Carpentum. — Carrying off the Bride 140 Carpentum Pompaticum 142 The Pilentum 143 CisiUM 144, 145 monachus 146 Roman Post Birotum 147 Arcera 148 The Carrus 149 Carrus for Liquids 151 Carrus Claeularius 152 Hay-plaustrum 154 Roman Wine-cart 154 Plostellum 156 The Curriculus 157 Roman Chariot 159 Front View of Roman Chariot . 160 Roman Yokes 160 Circus Chariot 161 Roman Coliseum and its Surround- ings 163 Racing Quadriga 165 An Upset Quadriga 166 Chariot and Tigers 168 Chariot and Gazelles 169 Triumph op Titus 172 Portion op a Funeral Cortege ._ 173 Two-wheeled Eheda 174 Military or State Rheda . . . . 176 Hungarian Carriage. — After Ginz- rot 177 The Carruca 178 The Benna 179 Roman Carriage-part 180 Curricle-bar and Horses (Initial C) 183 Victory. — Pompeii 184 Parrot Biga. — Pompeii 185 Swan Car. — Pompeii 186 Mixed Team. — Pompeii 187 Biga and Gripfin. — Pompeii. . . 187 Car op Apollo. — Herculaneum . 188 Plostellum. — Herculaneum . . , 188 Minerva's Chariot. — Herculaneum 189 Mule-car. — Pompeii 190 Car of Diana. — Pompeii .... 190 Female Goats and Chariot. — Pom- peii 191 Male Goats and Chariot. — Pompeii, i 9i LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS. 13 PAGE She-ocats and Chariot. — Pompeii 192 BiGA. HEliCCLANEnM 193 ]{aCIN0-CHAE10T. — IlEECnLANEUM . 193 Grotesque Chariot-race. — Pompeii 194 The Plaustkhm. — Hercdlaneum . 194 WlNE-WAGO^f. — Pompeii 195 Italian Cochio 197 Neapolitan Sedan 198 Chinese Cart (Initial A) . . . . 200 Royal Cart, by a Chinese Artist 201 Coachman of the Emperor of China 202 Indian Hecca 203 GujERAT Village-cart 204 Scythian House on Wheels . . . 207 Tartar Cart 203 French Diligence (Initial T) . . 210 Ancient Flemish Carriage . . . 212 Litter. — Isabella's Entrance into Paris 213 French Horse-litter 214 French State Chariot 216 Coach of Henry IV of France. . 217 Picardy Cart 218 Ancient Twin Carriage-bodies . . 219 Parisian Fiacre 220 Ancient Coach, 1067 221 Antique Phaeton 223 French Cokeillard 224 The Coach (Fr. Caeoch), 1771 . . 226 The Berhne 227 Chariot 228 Diligence 228 Chaise 229 Brouette 230 Ancient Careosse-body 232 Sijion's Patent 234 Grobeet's Patent Cabriolet . . . 235 Extension Head for Carriages . 236 Avril's Triolet 236 Telliee's Patent Safety Carriage 237 monocyclb 237 ClIAE-A-BANO 239 Vis-\-Tis 239 TAPISSliRE 240 French Dog-cart 241 BOGUET 241 Coupi 242 Demi-Caleche 242 Braeck 244 PAGE Wicker Phaeton 245 Mylord 245 Single-horse Landau 246 French Caleche 247 PoMPE 247 Scroll and Initial V 248 British Covina, with Implements OF Waefare 250 British Essedum 252 Essedum. — After Ginzrot . . . . 252 Fragment of a Wheel 253 Saxon Chariot 254 Hammock Carriage 255 Anglo-Saxon Cart 256 Anglo-Saxon Truck 257 Cart, with Anglo-Saxon Harvest- scene 257 Horse-litter of the Ti.me of Ed- ward III 255 Long-wagon of the Fourteenth Century 261 Queen Elizabeth's Coach, Hippon, Makek 26f Queen Elizabeth's French Coach . 266 Queen Elizabeth's Coaches. — From Hoefnagel's Print 267 English Coach of 1616 271 Taylor's World on Wheels . . . 273 Sedan of 1635 293 Coach of 1635 294 Horse-litter 299 Coach-makers' Arms, 1667 .... 306 COACII-AND-Six OF 1688 . . . . 307 Coach of 1696. — From a Print in THE British Museum 308 Chariot of the Earl of Darnley 309 State Coach of 1713 311 Sedan Chariot of 1713 312 Carriage of the Aristocracy — Temp. Georges I and II . . . 314 Sedan-cart 315 English Sedan-chair, 1750 .... 317 English Private Coach, 1750. . . 318 English Gig, 1754 319 English Stage-coach, 1755 .... 321 English Brouette 325 English High-flier Phaeton . . 325 State-coach op England, 1762 . . 326 English Barouche, 1767 329 14 LIST OF ILLUSTBATIOKS. PAGE Ctlindkical Wheei, 331 Coned Wheel 332 Coach of the Lord Chancellor op Iebland 332 EOAD Pkotectoe, 1796 333 Cakt AND Wagon combined, 1797 . 334 Town Coach, 1796 336 Traveling Coach, 1796 337 Ckane-neck Coach, 1796 338 English Landau, 1796 338 Town Chariot 339 Landaplet, 1796 340 Chariot, 1796 341 Phaeton, 1796 342 Pont Phaeton 342 Sociable 344 Curricle Proper 345 New-pattern Curricle 346 Gig Curricle 347 Caned Whiskt 348 GKASSHOPPEK-CHAiaE WhISKT . . . 343 Coach, 1805 353 Post-chariot, 1805 353 Improved Curricle 354 Jaunting-car, 1805 354 Barouche, 1805 357 Telegraph, 1805 358 O. Elliott's Chariot, 1805 .... 359 Stanhope Gig 360 Tilbury 361 Tilbury Spring. — Rear View . . 361 Curricle Phaeton 362 Ackerman's Movable Axle . . . 362 Post-chaise, 1825 363 Beitzscha Chariot 363 First English Railway Coach . . 364 ViNET & Pocock's Charvolant . . 365 Traveling Chariot 366 Continental Traveling Coach . . 366 Composite Chariot 367 Post-chariot, 1829 367 Private Cabriolet 369 First English Omnibus, 1829 . . . 370 English Gig, 1830 371 Cab Dennet 371 Cabriolet 372 Mail-phaeton 372 Hansom's Cab 373 Adams's Equirotal Phaeton - . . 375 PAGE Adams's Equirotal Omnibus . . . 375 English Brougham 376 Clarence Coach 376 Sovereign 377 Basterna Coach 377 Harvey's Cabriolet 378 Pony (Victoria) Phaeton .... 379 Shamrock Doo-cart 381 Sporting Phaeton 381 English Wagonette 383 Improved Hansom Cab 385 Gentleman's Family Omnibus . . 386 English Coupe 387 Open Town Barouche 387 Elcho Sociable Landau .... 389 Russian Droschkb (Initial C) . . 390 Norwegian Caeiole 393 German Karen 394 Duchess op Lothringen's CoAcri . 395 Drive in Central Park (Initial W) 396 Sleigh op 1783 413 The Powell Coach 416 The Chaie op 1790 419 Country Pleasure-wagon .... 422 Early American Sleigh .... 423 Albany Sleigh 423 American Stage-coach, 1830 . . . 424 Spanish Volante 427 American Buggy, 1826 429 Fan-tailed Gig 430 Slat-side Phaeton 431 Gig Ciiariotee 431 American Ciiauiotee 431 The Accommodation 432 Public Sociable 432 American Barouche 433 C-spRiNG Barouche 433 American Traveling Coach . . . 434 c-spring coachee 434 Dickey-seat Phaeton 435 Traveling Chariot 4S5 Double Stanhope 436 Carter's Newark Buggy .... 436 American Cabriolet 437 Sulky 437 Brower's Omnibus 433 American Street-cab 440 American Clarence 440 Parker's Coaohee 441 LIST OF ILLUt^TBATIONS. 15 PAOE BnTCHEK's AND Geocer's Cakt . . 442 Improved Butciiee's Cart .... 442 Ameeican Expeess Wagon .... 442 American Cab 443 Phaeton 443 Impeoved Business Wagon . . . 444 eookawat 445 Geemantown 445 Southern Coach 446 Cut-undee Buggy 447 Everett's Peech-coupling .... 447 Haussknecht's Pbech-ooupling . . 448 Another Hausskneoht Coupling . 449 Kevnolds's King-bolt 450 Phelps's King-bolt 451 Jenny Lind 452 Physician's Phaeton 452 Square Buggy 453 EoAD Sulky 453 Steatton's Patent Mail-axle . . 454 Mail-axle Collae-plate 454 Concord Wagon 455 New Eochelle Wagon 455 Fenton Eockaway 456 pony-caet 456 Pony-phaeton 456 Gentleman's Eoad Buggy .... 457 Six-seat Eockaway 457 paog Ameeican Clarence 458 Cabriolet 458 American Caleche 459 Cut-undee Eockaway 460 Modern Omnibus 460 Gig Phaeton 461 Canoe Phaeton 461 Demi-landau 462 ClECULAR-FEONT CoUPE 462 Improved Scroll-speing 463 Six-seat Coupe-Eockaway .... 463 Theee-quarter Clarence .... 464 Fkame-woek of Hind Cabeiage- PAET 464 Bonnee Buggy 464 Top Buggy 465 Ameeican Landau 465 American Velocipede 466 Gompert's Drasina 466 Scroll Initial Letter O . . . . 468 Million, Guiet & Co.'s Eight-spring Landau 469 Petees & Sons' Ladies' Phaeton . 472 IIooPEE & Co.'s Deag 472 Beewstee & Co.'s Double-suspen- sion ViCTOEIA 476 McLeae & Kendall's Yis-X-vis . . 477 James Cunningham & Son's Hearse 478 THE WORLD ON" "WHEELS. CHAPTER I. ANCIENT EGYPTIAN SLEDGK-HEAESES, CHARIOTS, AND CUSTOMS. . . . " Nor Thebes so much renowned, Whose courts with unexhausted wealth abound ; "Where through a hundred gates, with marble arch, To battle twenty thousand chariots march."' HOMBR'S Iliad, B. IX, v. 384. AN differs from other animals, for while the lower orders roam about certain dis- tricts in search of food which, when obtained, satisfies their longings, he, with a loftier ambi- tion, is unceasingly oc- cupied in the pursuit of some new discovery whereby he may promote his own interests and increase the comforts of his fellow-man. ' 'Writers in later times tell us that the hundred gates spoken of by Homer iu his inimitable poem were only imaginary, the creations of « poetical fancy. Herodotus is silent on this subject; but Diodorus Siculus (Lib. I) says, "Although there are some who say that it had not an hundred gates, yet that there w^re many large porches to the temples, whence the city was called 'ExarojinoXog {Hecatompylos), a hundred gates ; yet it was certain that they had in it twenty thousand chariots of war, for there were a hundred stables all along the river [Nile] from Memphis to Thebes." Apuleius ("Golden Ass," Lib. IV, Epode 4) mentions the "seven-gated Thebes," and Ammianus Marcelhnus ("Koman Hist.," Lib. XVII, ch. 4, sect. 2) confirms Homer, assuring us that Thebes was celebrated for its "entrances by a hundred gates." Heyne, in reference to this subject, observes, " Numerus centenariiis ponitur pro magna : et portis semel memoraiis, multitudo hominum declaratur per numerum exuntium." 18 EGYPTIAN' WOULD OJf WHEELS. With a special object in view, then, since walking, the primitive mode of locomotion, had been found tedious and painful, after experi- ment, he managed to bring into subjection assistants from " the beasts of the field," such as horses, asses, oxen, camels, etc., for both burthen and draught, thus utilizing such agencies as were at command. One of the earlier modes of travel undoubtedly was horseback riding ; but in process of time the necessities, as well as the imaginary- wants of man's nature, greatly multiplied. He very soon discovered that horseback conveyance of person and merchandise was attended with serious drawback. Stimulated to activity, his inventive facul- ties provided a rem- edy in the form of a sledge, 1 which, with various mod- ifications, is still employed in differ- ent portions of the globe. This prim- itive invention, at first rude and imperfect, was certainly one step in the art of carriage- building, since wonderfully improved upon, — the germ of art be- queathed to man by an all-wise Creator having in the course of time produced an abundant harvest. As art progressed, it required but little reflection to foresee that, by placing this sledge upon rollers, much of the difficulty originally encountered would thereby be overcome, and an increased weight moved by the same force with more ease. This important discovery, eflected by exchanging the rubbing motion of the sledge for the rolling motion of a cylinder, whether accidental or the studied invention of some early mechanic, is of very little consequence now. Primitive Sledge. ' In Europe, sledge is the name applied to a low kind of cart, but in America the word has been abbreviated to sled or changed to sleigh, which in either case involves the idea that a sliding vehicle is meant. In the rural districts, the farmer employs a machine we call a stone-sledge. This is commonly made from a plank, the flat under surface of which is forced along the surface of the ground by ox-power. Its chief advantages are, it is the more easily loaded with the heavier stone. In this, as in many other cases, brutal man has transferred his burthen to the dumb animal, which has not the power to complain. This is a fair illustration of the power of knowledge over stupidity and ignorance ever since. INGIPIENCY OF VHHIGULAB ART. 19 On the walls of a temple at Luxor, in Thebes, is seen an early- representation of the sledge, connected with the germs of an improve- ment. A reduced copy is here given. It exhibits a sledge elevated PitiMiTivE Sledge-Wagon. upon two logs, constituting what may appropriately be called an inceptive sledge-wagon. 'These logs were undoubtedly suggestive of the common axle since in use. The original mechanic needed only to secure these logs to the superincumbent structure, shape the ends into journals, fitted to a hub, when everything, for a practical use, would be complete. Timber for the axle-tree was already at hand ; so was the material for the wheels. These wheels were probably at first nothing more than what are now designated "pauc- wheels,"' cut transversely from the tree, having a hole made in the center for an axle-tree, such as are still applied to the carts of less civilized people in modem times. Although no mechanic of modem times agrees with him, yet it has been claimed by Aristotle that the si/ctalce has many advantages over carts G with axles and wheels, arguing that an axis im- pedes the progress of Aristotle's Stctal^:. wheel-vehicles by pres- sure on the hub. As an example of early theoretical science, this idea has some interest taken in connection with our subject. ' Pauc-wheels were originally so called because in a side view they resembled the head of a drum. Specimens will be seen on some of our Roman carts. 20 EGYPTIAN WOULD ON WHEELS. No student of the Bible but believes that carriage-building had ita rise in Egypt, notwithstanding that profane authors have since claimed that Ethiopia furnished the land of the Pharaohs with the rudiments of her architecture in common with Nubia and India. In those old countries are still found numerous excavations in the rock, of immense extent, furnished with colossal figures, vast masses of building raised from the earth, with a profusion of carving and statuary, besides shrines worked in a single stone, — the whole of these achievements on a scale of such vast extent and magnificence, the apparent results of such wondrous physical or mechanical power, that we are disposed to think of the giants who are said to have lived previous to the flood, rather than of men of ordinary stature, as the authors of all these magnificent works. "No people," says ChampoUion, "either ancient or modern, con- ceived the art of architecture on so sublime a scale as the ancient Egyptians. Their conceptions were those of men an hundred feet high; and the imagination, which in Europe rises far above our porticoes, sinks abashed at the foot of the one hundred and forty columns of the hypostyle hall at Karnak." ^ ' An hypostyle hall is one supported by and resting upon pillars, while the peristyle is one having pillars running around it. The group of ruins known by the name of Karnak lay one and a half miles northeast of those at Luxor, and about one half mile from the eastern bank of the Nile. The chief portion of the ruins stand on artificial elevations, which are inclosed within walls about three miles in circuit. Among these ruins stands the great temple from which many of our illustrations are taken, the temple Itself surpassing in grandeur any other in Thebes. This structure has no less than twelve entrances and numerous gateways adorned with finished hieroglyphics. The great hall in this edifice is three hundred and twenty-nine feet long and one hun- dred and seventy feet wide, the columns supporting the ceilings standing in nine par- allel rows, sixty-six feet high and nine feet in diameter. This temple is very ancient, the name of Osirtessen I, who ruled when Joseph visited Egypt (circa B. C. 1740), being recorded on its walls. The seat of government was changed from Lower Egypt to Memphis, but succeeding monarchs continued to make additions to the records on the walls of the temple many years afterwards. The great hypostyle hall is supposed to have been built by Rameses I, some fifteen centuries before Christ. The sculptures on the exterior of the walls are cut in the same kind of bass-relief as those at Luxor. For seventeen centuries prior to the conquest of Egypt by the Persians (B. C. 525), It was governed chiefly by independent native sovereigns, who are supposed to have ruled contemporaneously over different portions cif the country. Few, indeed, are the records we possess of the many interesting events that must have occurred during her existence. Such as have come down to us are as follows : The arrival of Joseph EGYPTIAN AGE OF GREATEST PBOSPEBITY. 21 Although the Assyrian empire was founded fifteen years earlier than the Egyptian, yet it is to the latter we must accord pre-eminence in chariot-building as well as in many other arts. According to history, the most prosperous age was that of the eighteenth and nineteenth dynasties of Theban monarchs, to which age Manetho assigns the most prosperous period in Egyptian art. Eameses II (Amunmai Eameses, as his name is read in hieroglyphics, and Eameses Miamum, according" to Manetho) , now called Eameses the Great, was the most renowned monarch that ever ruled over Egypt. He is supposed to be identical with the far-famed Sesostris of the Greek writers, his name being found more frequently on the monuments of Thebes, and indeed throughout Egypt, than that of any other king, there being few remains of any city where it is not seen. He is supposed to have flourished B. C. 1500. Thus much we have thought it necessary to say by way of introducr tion to the important as.well as interesting history of vehicular art, connected with the designs we reproduce on a reduced scale from the catacombs' and other monuments of antiquity. in the reign of Osirtessen I (B. C. 1740), mentioned in Gen., ch. xxxviii; the journey of Abraham thither, "when a famine prevailed over all the land," as recorded in Gen., ch. xi; the birth of Moses (B. C. 1571) during the reign of Eameses, supposed to have been the new king ''who knew not Joseph" (Exod., ch. i, v. 8) ; the flight of Moses (B. C. 1531), related in the second chapter of Exodus ; the exodus of the Israel- ites from Egypt (Exod , ch. xii ; B. C. 1491) ; the marriage of Solomon with Pharaoh's daughter (1 Kings, ch. iii, v. 1 ; B. C. 1014) ; the invasion of Judaja by Shishak (2 Chron., ch. xii, v. 2; B. C. 971) or Sheshonk, as it stands in hieroglyphics on the monuments still extant (this king came up to Jerusalem with twelve hundred chariots and threescore thousand horsemen, despoiling the temple of its sacred treasures) ; the defeat and slaying of Josiah, king of Judah, in the valley of Megiddo, by Pharaoh Nechoh — Necho on the monuments (2 Kings, ch. xxiii, vs. 29, 30; B. C. 623); the capture of Sidon by Pharaoh Hophra (Ezek., ch. xxx, v. 24 ; Herodotus II, 161-169 ; B. C. 595) ; and the subsequent defeat of this monarch in an expedition against Nebu- chadnezzar, king of Babylon (B. C. 670). ' The catacombs are thus described by a classical author: " Sunt et syringes sub- terranei quidam et flexuosi secessus, quos (ut fertur) periti vitum vetustorum adven- tare dUuvium praescii metuentesque ne ceremoniarum obliteraretur memoria, penitus operosis digestos fodinis, per loca diversa struxerunt; et excisis parietibus, volu- crum ferarumque genera multa sculpserunt, et animalium species innumeras multas, quas hieroglyphicas literas appellamnt, Latinis ignorabiles." — Ammianus MarcelUnus, B. XXII. ( Translation. — There are certain underground excavations made in different places, with winding retreats, wherein it is said men skillful in ancient mysteries divine the coming of a flood, lest the memory of all their sacred ceremonies might be lost. 22 EOTPTIAN WOBLD ON WHEELS. Among the ancients, particularly among the Egyptians, the death of a relative or friend was an event of the greatest and most solemn importance. All the kindred and friends of the deceased quitted their usual employments, let their hair grow both on the head and face, although until then accustomed to shave, put on mourning from forty to seventy days, according to the rank of the deceased, abstaining from wine, baths, and luxuries of every kind.i The immortality of the soul was an important tenet in Egyptian theology .2 By them sepulchers of the most substantial description were constructed for holding the body after the spirit had fled, with what success time has shown. Many of these were vast underground repositories in which thousands in a mummified state have slept for centuries, awaiting the return of the "living principle" to reanimate it. In these subterranean palaces, on the walls, in bass-relief, have been preserved, in their original state, the records of those ancient times. These, which are the fruit of modern research, will assist us in giving with correctness many incidents not hitherto presented to the world in connection with carriages. On the walls, deeply chiseled, they have cut several kinds of beasts and birds, with countless other figures of animals, which are called hieroglyphical letters, of which the Latins are ignorant ) ' Herodotus, B. II, v. 36. " Infidelity found no advocates among the ancient Egyptians. They considered the present life as a pilgrimage, and their abode here as an " Inn " upon the road. After death they expected to be received into the company of a Being who represented the Divine goodness, should judgment pronounce them worthy. All ranks of the people were considered as equally noble beyond the tomb, neither did kings or heroes rank any higher than the humblest in another life. The respect paid to their memory depended entirely on their good conduct while here, the Egyptian laws wholly prohib- iting indiscriminate praise. Such honor as a respectable burial could only be obtained after the judges, selected for the purpose, had adjudged the subject worthy from an impartial examination of his life. If no crime attached to his conduct, the body was interred in an honorable manner ; if stained, it was deprived of burial. So strictly was this rule enforced that many of the kings, although borne with in life, were for- bidden sepulture thereafter. A favorable judgment obtained, the mortuary ceremonies proceeded. In all panegyrics on such occasions, no mention was made of birth, every Egyptian being deemed equally noble in this respect. No praise was thought just or true except such as related to the personal merit of the dead. "He was applauded," says RoUin, "for having received an excellent education in his younger years, and in his advanced age for having cultivated piety toward the gods, justice towards men, gentleness, modesty, moderation, and all other virtues which constitute the good man." Such virtues gratified the fHends of the departed, since such a life would admit him to Pluto's kingdom and the society of the good in another world. EGYPTIAN FUNERAL CEREMONIES. 23 We have not room, even had we the disjiosition, to enter fully into the particulars history gives us concerning the mode of embalmino- as practiced among the Egjrptians. Consequently we must refer the reader for details to the interesting pages of Herodotus and Diodorus Siculus. Assuming that the sledge was early used for the conveyance of the dead body at a period when, as yet, no other had been invented, and under circumstances where much honor was confen-ed, and that it was continued ever after on funeral occasions, even after chariots came into use, because custom had rendered it sacred, our theory that such were first constructed is at least made very plausible in the absence of other direct testimony. We are distinctly given to understand by contemporary historians that the Egyptians scrupulously observed their ancient customs, but acquired no new ones.i This, undoubtedly, accounts for the presence of sledge-hearses in all representations showing the removal of the dead throughout every age of Egyptian sculpture. It need not be inferred from what we have written that all bodies were hidden away in the tomb. On the contrary, many were consumed on the funeral pile, some were buried in the earth, while others again, after they had come from the embalmer's shop, were kept in the house for years, until finally they were deposited in the catacombs. The mourning for a good king lasted the sj)ace of seventy days, during which the people sang hymns commemorating his virtues, rending their garments, and covering their heads with mud and dust, some three hundred persons of both sexes coming together twice each day to publicly sing a funeral dirge, the entire nation abstaining from meat and other dainties during the whole time. On the last day of mourn- ing, or in some instances many months afterward, the time for sep- ulture arrived. Supposing that an embalmed king is to be laid away, perhaps in a tomb on which a lifetime of preparation has been bestowed, the body is now brought out from the closet, where it has been carefully stored since the funeral ceremonies were performed, and given to the undertaker, who comes with a sledge-hearse, as shown in the engraving on the next page. The several figures are thus arranged : in the center appear the sacred cows, decked with elegant ' Herodotus, B. II, ch. 79. 24 EGYPTIAN WOBLD ON WHEELS. blankets and ornamental head and neck gear,i which last (of a peculiar pattern) is found at- tached to the heads of all female animals, in Egyptian bass-reliefs, drag-ropes in this case being fas- tened to the horns, evidently "more for ornament than use," two attendants furnishing the motive-power, while a third acts as conductor. In the foreground are four more representatives of the genus homo. First, we no- tice the priest, as indicated by the peculiarity of his dress. He appears in the act of anointing the dead body with sacred oil, or some other liquid, from a ves- sel of peculiar shape. Just in front of the priest, squatting near the earth, we find a mercenary mourner, her hair disheveled, her breasts exposed, and her hands fixed in the position most expres- sive of grief, no doubt crying as sincerely as in hired mourning it has ever been done. Around the third figure centers the greatest interest, since it represents the dead dressed in cerements for the tomb, to which the body is now about to be carried. The fourth, supporting the corpse in a lean- ing position, represents an at- tendant, who, in all probability, officiates both as priest and un- ' The ancient Egyptians reverenced the cow more than any other animal. — Herodotus, B. II, ch. 41. CEREMONIES JJV HONOR OF THE DEAD. 25 dertaker on this occasion. ^ This picture represents a funeral cortege before the house of mourning, from whence a corpse previously em- balmed is about to be removed to a tomb beyond the river, — that is, to the western side of the Nile, — a sort of boat (Egyptian, baris) in which is placed a hearse, resting on the sledge. On a sort of dais in front of the boat is placed the figure of a fox (probably indicative of wisdom) , both the hearse and boat being appropriately ornamented with papyrus flowers. The rituals for the dead being chiefly written on paper made from this plant, we conclude, lacking other testimony, there was something peculiarly sacred about it, and therefore it was used on funeral occasions. In another bass-relief the body is represented as actually on its way to the tomb, stretched upon a bier, placed on the sledge-hearse, the order of procession being thus : first, two sacred oxen travel in advance of the hearse, on which the boat is placed. A rope connects the front of the sledge with the horns of the oxen, one animal following the other, after the manner of the cows on page 24. Th^se oxen are attended by two conductors, the foremost holding up a whip as if about to strike with it, while his companion, with distended arms, at the top of his voice, appears to be hastening their steps. A third follows after, holding some sacred utensil ; then march two more men grasping the cord at the middle ; the sixth figure being the indispen- sable female in the role of chief mourner, as previously observed. These all precede the sledge-hearse. Next, behind the hearse, comes another mourner; then two scribes, having scrolls in their hands, ' " In sacred subjects the law was inflexible, and religion, which has done frequently so much for the development and direction of taste in sculpture, had the effect of fet- tering the genius of Egyptian artists. No Improvements resulting from experience and observation were admitted in the mode of drawing the human figure : to copy nature was not allowed ; it was therefore useless to study it ; and no attempt was made to give the proper action to the limbs. Certain rules, certain models, had been established by the priesthood, and the faulty conceptions of ignorant times were copied and perpetu- ated by every successive artist ; for, as Plato and Synesius say, the Egyptian sculptors were not allowed to attempt anything contrary to the regulations laid down regarding the figures of the gods ; they were forbidden to introduce any change, or to invent new subjects and habits; and thus the art, and the rules which bound it, always remained the same. — Wilkinson's Ancient Egyptians, Vol. II, p. 264. This condition of affairs is said to have continued without much improvement for about throe thou- sand years, or down to the eighteenth dynasty, according to Manetho, — two thousand and eighty-two years previous to the advent of the Saviour. 26 EGYPTIAN WORLD ON WHEELS. followed by two others bearing staves. The scribes are supposed to carry the papyrus rolls, ifl which are written the good deeds of the departed, without which no Egj^tian, as we have seen, could be honorably interred. In one instance, — as in the annexed copy, taken from a tomb in Thebes, — an attendant is shown, pouring some kind of a liquid from a jar upon the ground, over which the sledge is drawn, to facilitate its progress. Examples of this nature are frequently seen in Egj^tian Egyptian Sledge. heabse. bass-reliefs, depicting the removal of heavy loads. On this sledge- hearse the mummy-case, enclosing the corpse, is distinctly observed. With characteristic tenderness, two females steady the mummy as it moves along over the rough surface of the ground; the priest, meanwhile, mounted in front, scroll in hand, recites a panegyric, or perhaps delivers a funeral oration in honor of the dead. The priest, as is proved from the bass-reliefs representing funerals, was an im- portant personage on all such occasions. That they enjoyed much honor and many privileges is admitted by all historians. A very showy aflPair is found in the next illustra- tion, rivaling the mourning equipages of modern times. Among other figures ap- pear emblems of stability BiiEGANT Sledge-hearse. A]:f EGYPTIAN FUNERAL CORTEGE DESCRIBED. 27 and security 1 on the side panels. In this instance the undertaker has removed a portion of the paneling so as to expose the head of the mummy-case. It would seem from this, that the modern prac- tice of showing a coffin through a glass side is of great antiquity. Indeed, we seldom find anything new that has not an antiquarian ori- gin, thus verifying the words of the wise man, " There is no new thing under the sun." 2 In another picture we find a boat-hearse, represented as drawn by a rope attached to the horns of four sacred oxen, driven abreast, the machine being accompanied by six per- sons : first, a priest, with his head shorn and bound with a ribbon, carrying his hands aloft, followed by a driver with a whip, both march- ing abreast of the animals ; behind these, a third person, bearing the record of the de- •" \0) funct man's life in his right, and a skin-bottle or pail in the left hand ; next, another priest in- a leopard-skin cassock, who offers incense from a censer held in the right hand, at the same time pouring out a libation to the gods, or in honor of the deceased, from a cup in the other. The mummy-case is seen through an opening in the side of the hearse near the bottom, behind which the indispensable mourner, with hair disordered and hand rest- ing on her head, but in this case assisted by a male companion with short hair, the left arm, with a spread hand, hanging down by his side. 3 In a third example — illustrative of ancient f^ ^Hv funeral customs among the Egjrptians, like- wise copied from the walls of a catacomb — ' That is, figures representing Osiris as the god of stability and security. " Eecles., ch. i, v. 9. ' Eossellini's Monumenti dell'e Egitto e delle Nubia, PI. CXXVIII. 28 EGYPTIAN WORLD ON WHEELS. the cortege is represented as being on its way to the river, across which it must pass in order to reach its destination. For this purpose the boat has been put on the funeral sledge, the sledge itself being now mounted upon wheels, thus seeming to confirm our theory that the sledge was the original of all the wheeled carriages known. Some idea of the progress of art may be -obtained by comparing the last engraving with that on page 24. These hearses, employed for like purposes, are constructed somewhat differently. In the last figure we see the sacred oxen, the driver, and another man, whose mark of ofiice has been destroyed by time ; next, the priest bearing a censer ; and then another man in the rear, who appears to have the direction of the whole movement. The oars at the stern of the boat indicate that the crossing of some stream is intended. At the prow is the image of a fox, and below an eye, representing the all-wise and all-seeing attri- butes of Deity. In the language of antiquity, the helmsman or pilot was called Charon, from which circumstance is supposed to have originated the fable of Charon and his boat among the Grecians. According to -this fable, Charon, the son of Erebus and Nox, who serves as the ferry-man of Hades, wafts the souls of the dead in a boat over the Stygian Lake, to receive judgment from ^cus, Rhadaman- thus, and Minos, for which service Charon received an obolus from the passenger, friends placing the money in the dead man's mouth for that purpose. 1 Wilkinson thus describes an ancient Egyptian funeral procession : "First came several servants carrying tables laden with fruit, cakes, flowers, vases of ointment, wine and other liquids, with three young ' Virgil puts the following words into tlie mouth of the sibyl, In the infernal regions : — "Portitor has horrendus aquas et flumina servat Terribili squalore Charon ; cui plurima mento Canities inculta jacet ; stant lumina flamma ; Sordidus ex humeris nodo dependet amictus. Ipse ratem cento subigit, velisque ministrat, Et ferruginea subvectat corpora cymba ; Jam senior." _^n., B. VI, 298-304. (Translation. — The ferry-man Charon, offensive with horrible filth, whose abun- dant gray hair lies neglected on his chin, protects these waters and these rivers ; his eyes of flame stand out ; a dirty dress in a knot hangs from his shoulders. A raft sup- plied with sails he guides with a pole, and in an iron-colored boat he carries over the now withered bodies.) COMBINED WAGON AND FUNEMAL-BOAT. 29 geese and a calf for sacrifice, chairs and wooden tablets, napkins, and other things ; then others bringing the small closets in which the mummy of the deceased and his ancestors had been kept while receiv- ing the funeral liturgies previous to burial, and which sometimes con- tained the images of the gods. These also carried daggers, bows, sandals, and fans, each man having a kerchief or napkin on his shoul- ders. Next came a table of offerings, fanteuils, couches, boxes, and a chariot ; and then the charioteer with a pair of horses yoked in another car, which he drove, as he followed on foot, in token of respect to his late master. After these were men carrying gold vases on a table, with other offerings, boxes, and a large car upon a sledge borne on poles by four, superintended by two men of the priestly order ; then others bearing small images of his ancestors, arms, fans, the scepters, signets, collars, necklaces, and other things appertaining to the king, in whose service he had held an important office. To these succeeded the bearers of a sacred boat ; and that mysterious eye of Osiris, as god of stability, so common on funeral monuments, — the same which was placed over the incision in the side of the body when embalmed, as well as on the prow and rudder of the funeral boat, — was the emblem of Egypt, and was frequently used as a sort of amulet, and deposited in the tombs. Others carried the well-known small images of blue pottery, representing the deceased under the form of Osiris, and the bird emblematic of the soul. Following these were seven or more men leaning upon staves or wooden yokes, cases filled with flowers, and bottles for libations ; and then seven or eight women, having their heads bound with fillets, beating their breasts, throwing dust upon their heads, and uttering doleful lamentations for the deceased, inter- mixed with praises of his virtue." ^ A singular instance of the wagon and funeral-boat in combination has been found on the bandage of a mummy, now preserved in the collection of S. d'Athanasi. It is supposed by some modern authors ' The oldest relic of humanity known with certainty is that of Pharaoh Mykerinus (Monkeres), deposited in the British Museum in 1867. This king succeeded the heir of the builder of the Great Pyramid, and is supposed to have lived ten centuries before Christ, and before Solomon was born; about eleven centuries or so after Mizraim, the grandson of Noah, and the first of the Pharaohs had been gathered with their fathers. It is judged that the tide-marks of the Deluge had scarcely become obliterated when this man of the early world "lived, moved, and had his being." The mummy is well prescryfid, in its original burial-robes. 30 EGYPTIAN WOBLD ON WHEELS. that Herodotus, in speaking of the religious ceremonies m honor of Mars, as performed in the city of Pampremis, refers to tins yehicle. Among other things, he tells us that the priests placed an image ma wooden temple, gilded all over, which they carried to a sacred dwell- in