We have been to many countries and have seen many modes of travel, but there are still places, scattered over the globe, which have not been visited and yet which have strange and interesting vehicles of their own. Let us imagine, then, that we are taking a hurried voyage round the world, stopping here and there for a few moments to see those lands which we have left out on our previous tours.
We will start from Plymouth, and sail southward until we come to the beautiful Portuguese island of Madeira, and here some very curious conveyances are to be seen. These are the carros, light carts made of basket-work, which, instead of having wheels, are mounted on runners like sleds.
It seems very strange at first to think of sledges in connection with a country which boasts a semitropical climate, and where, except in the mountains, ice and snow are unknown, but the quaint carro is well-suited to its conditions and slides smoothly over the steep, paved roads.
BULLOCK CARRO, MADEIRA.
Two kinds of these sleds are used in Madeira. The bullock carros, which are comfortably provided with springs, awnings, and curtains, and the more simple carros da monte, that look like large toboggans and run at a great speed down the hills. Hammocks are also used in the island to carry travellers into districts where rough and winding paths make the carro impracticable, and bullock carts are to be seen on the farms and vineyards. Some of these carts are very picturesque, especially those on which huge casks are carried.
TRAVELLING HAMMOCK, MADEIRA.