The horse still runs wild in large herds over the central Asiatic plains whence the domestic horse is assumed to have been derived. It appears to have been the earliest domesticated animal in Japan where it was ridden, not used for draught, and its westward spread altered the history of Europe, both political and social. Stray horses running wild over the plains and horses deliberately let loose in America soon produced wild herds both in the northern and southern continents, and profoundly influenced the mode of life of the American Indians. The horse is rarely used by the Afri can native, except by those in close contact with the Arabs; drought and heat in the north and the tsetse fly to the south retarded its distribution and use. Human carriers (men, not women) are the usual means of transport over the greater part of the continent south of the equator as far as the cattle areas, where their place is taken by the ox.
The reindeer provides not only transport, but milk, flesh and skins as well, and a herd of them constitutes wealth in Siberia. Moreover, they support themselves on the "reindeer moss" (Cladonia rangiferina) wherever it is not too deeply buried in snow. The Lapp deer are much stronger and more heavily built than those of the semi-wild Chukchi herds in eastern Siberia, which are not strong enough to carry a man, and are not so high ly valued for draught. Lapp law forbids a heavier load than 13o lb. on the back and 190 lb. on the sledge. Enormous distances are travelled by Tungus traders with their well trained teams. In early winter, when in good condition of ter their summer pasturing, a good team will keep up a speed of 10 to 12 miles an hour all day long, and a good bull will travel i5o miles a day if the snow is hard and the temperature some 3o to 4o degrees below zero. No attempt was ever made by the Amerinds to train the American reindeer.
The camel, whether the wild Bactrian camel or the domesticated Arabian (whose ancestry is unknown), with its thirst-defying stomach, its capacity for thriving on desert herbage, and its flat feet spreading out over, instead of sinking into, the soft sand, has made life and wealth possible in the oases of the Sahara. It rivals the horse in the drier districts of Asia from the Holy Land to China, and it has rendered invaluable service in the exploration of the deserts of Australia. The camel fails—apart from the ab sence of suitable climate or fodder—in the tenderness of its pads over rough, stony, rocky or icy ground. It cannot be shod like a horse, though its feet are often protected by artificial shoes, or pieces of leather are stitched on to its tough soles. The camel pro vides not only transport, being surpassed in strength only by the elephant and surpassing all other animals in endurance ; it supplies milk, flesh, skins, wool and hair. A good riding camel will cover 15o miles in a day, and the baggage camel may carry over i,000 pounds.
The wild guanaco or mountain camel of South America has a wide range over the higher lands of the continent, but the llama and its relative the paco or alpaca were domesticated and trained for transport only in the Peruvian area. The llama can carry only
about ioo lb., and cannot be used for draught, but as they are very docile, a large herd of several hundreds was sent out with merchandise in charge of a few herdsmen, and in the absence of larger animals their value was very high. They still hold their own in high altitudes in competition with mules or donkeys.
The domestication of the African elephant is doubtful, but the Indian elephant was early trained for transport and for use in war. Its great strength and intelligence can be used to advantage, especially in pathless jungle, and for transporting heavy weights for road and bridge building, but owing to its enormous appetite, which can only be satisfied where vegetation is lavishly abundant, and the delicacy of its constitution compared with ox, horse or mule, its economic value and range therefore are definitely and narrowly limited.
can drag more than he can carry on his back, and where the surface of the country is suitable some contrivance is made for hauling. The American Indians, if they had no sledges, dragged skins sewn into bags along the frozen ground, and though over the whole of Arctic America packs are carried on the back (human and canine) in the summer, as soon as the ground hardens, sledges are made and far heavier loads can be transported. The Eskimo sledge consists essentially of three pieces, the sides and cross pieces of wood lashed together with raw hide, and the runners or shoes. These are typically of whalebone or walrus ivory (now replaced by iron) pegged on. For winter travel a layer of mud or lichen mixed into a paste is smeared on, coated with ice.
The western sledge is 31 to 4f t. long; the eastern type 12 to 24ft. long according to the locality, with five to nine crossbars. This can carry a load of i,000 lb. and keep up a steady pace of two miles an hour, drawn by a man, his wife and a couple of dogs. South of the frozen land the toboggan takes the place of the sledge, and in the bison area the special method of packing led to the development of the travois. Here the tent poles were fastened into bundles, one on either side of a dog—later a horse—with the ends of the poles trailing on the ground; the skin cover rolled into a bundle was tied on transversely across, and any household goods piled on the top. This suggested the fixed V-shaped framework known as the travois. Some such primitive construction preceded the wheeled cart of the Old World, and its last surviving descend ants are farm sleds for hauling timber, the sledge on runners used for carting furze in the north of England, or the slide-car used for carting turf in Antrim. The wheel is not a primitive invention as applied to transport, and although wheeled chariots, especially for war, were familiar in early historic times in Assyria and Egypt, there was no wheeled vehicle in America before the discovery of the continent by Europeans.