PALANQUIN, or PA LIK I, the vehicle commonly used in Hindustan by travelers, is a wooden box. about 8 ft. long, 4 ft. wide, and 4 ft. high, With wooden shutters which can be opened or shut at pleasure, and constructed like Venetian blinds .for the purpose of admitting fresh air, while at the same time they exclude the scorching rays of the sun, and the heavy showers of rain so common in• that country. The furniture of the interior consists of a cocoa mattress, well stuffed and covered with morocco leather, on which the traveler reclines; two small holsters are placed under his head, and one under his thighs, to render his position as comfortable as possible. At the upper end is a shelf and drawer aucl at the sides are nettings of larger dimensions than the ordinary pockets in carriages, for containing those articles which may be necessary,to the traveler during his journey. At each end of the palanquin, on the outside, two iron rings are fixed, and the hammals, or palanquin-bearers, of whom there are four, two at each end, support the palanquin by a pole passing through these rings. Traveling in this mode is continued
both by clay and night. (See DAwK.) The palanquin is also used at the present day in Brazil, with the prominent exception of Rio Janeiro. — Similar modes of traveling have been at various times in use in western Etrope, but only for short distances. Time Roman "litter," the French " chaise a port curs," and the "-sedan-chair" were the forms of vehicle most in use, and the two latter were in general use in towns till they were superseded by hackney coaches. The Roman "litter" was one of time criteria of its owner's wealth, the rich man generally exhibiting time pros perous condition of his affairs by the multitude of the bearers and other attendants accompanying him.