2-888-151 - The Print Collector/Heritage Images

Gujerat Village-Cart, [India], 1850. 'Without so much as a single mile of made or metalled road in the whole country, these carts, by having the wheels proportioned so as to fit the ruts exactly, move as if on tramways, and are drawn about from village to village by one or two pairs of bullocks, carrying heavy and bulky loads, weighing from twelve to eighteen hundredweight...Round about, and forming the sides of the cart, there is, attached by ropes, a plaited basket-work, made of cotton plant stalks. The wheels are the most important parts of the whole, and exhibit great ingenuity and mechanical skill in their construction...It will be observed that the feet of the bullocks are not visible; this is because they walk in the ruts made by the wheels....The bullocks used in agriculture are remarkably fine, docile, and powerful animals'. From "Illustrated London News", 1850.