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The Theban Chariot.
When in Florence we started for the Egyptian Museum one morning at ten, and got there in about twenty minutes. I was disappointed when I first looked at the chariot. As I examined it I saw how wonderfully it was made. There was no metal in it, and the only substances besides wood were leather and fossil bone. There are very few pieces of wood in the chariot, as you will see in the picture. The collar is like a wishbone with the point down. The tip is round instead of flat, and is of fossil bone. The ends of the yoke are finished with the same bone, and also the heads of the wooden spikes that hold the wheels on the axles.
THE THEBAN CHARIOT.
The pole is about the same length as an average carriage-pole. The yoke is about four feet long, and the wheels the same height. The place where the driver and warrior stood is made of leather, plaited like a split-bottomed chair, and this platform is semicircular. The yoke and pole are held together by a bone-headed spike. The spokes, pole, and hubs were originally covered with birch bark. The authorities say that from the quality of the wood and the absence of metal, it may be presumed that this chariot, formerly belonging to some warrior of the north, had been taken to Egypt as one of the spoils of war over 3300 years ago.
I have seen a photograph of a Roman chariot. It was the same as this, but filled in with bronze, and thirty times as heavy. The pieces of leather which go from the breast-work of the platform to the pole have been put there recently. There is a bow, that was found with the chariot, leaning against it. It used to be covered with leather, and is about five feet long.
John B. Cantley.
Woodburn Sands, Bletchly, England.
A Man-eating Russian.
In the church of St. Alexander, St. Petersburg, are the remains of a Russian general, Hannibal. A guide once said to a traveller, "There lies a Cannibal." This startling remark was all due to the fact that the Russian alphabet is H-less.