Transport on land The first form of transport on land was, of course, WALKING! Content Animals Carts, wagons and coaches The bicycle The steam engine and the train The motor car Common forms of transport of people and goods on land today Then, thousands of years ago, people started to use donkeys and horses to travel and to transport things on land. Around 3,500 BC, the wheel was invented. The first wheels were simply solid discs, carved from one lump of wood. The wheel changed the way that people travelled and transported things. Before the wheel was invented, the amount of things people could transport over long distances were limited. Today wheels are used in many forms of transportation such as cars, bicycles and skate boards, but did you know that they are also found in clocks and pencil sharpeners. The Wheel The oldest wheel that archaeologists have found came from Mesopotamia, an ancient civilisation in the Middle East. It is probably more than 5 000 years old. The wheel is one of the most important inventions ever made, and it has helped people to travel faster and further than possible on foot. It has also made it possible to transport big loads. There are many different kinds of transportation that use wheels. Some are drawn by animals, like wagons and carriages, and others are drawn by people, like the rickshaw. Cycles also have wheels, whether it is one, two three or more. Since the end of the 19th century motorcars with wheels have transformed human travel forever. Wagons, coaches and carriages Before people started to use wagons and carts, they would put big logs under goods they wanted to move, and roll the logs along the ground. But that was still a lot of work and probably not that easy. So they invented small vehicles with two or four wheels, which could be pulled along by people or animals. The first kinds of wheeled vehicles were carts (two wheels) and wagons (four wheels). They were drawn by animals like donkeys, horses and oxen. The first types of wagon and carts were found in Central Asia and in the Tigris-Euphrates valley in the Middle East, about 5 000 years ago. Later they were also used in Crete, Egypt, Turkey, Russia and China. Wagons and carts have been described before as 'boxes on wheels'. They could be used to carry a lot of goods over long distances, and to transport people. About 4 000 years ago people began to cover their wagons with leather or cloth. This protected the riders from the sun and rain. Animals used to draw wagons included donkeys, horses and oxen. A carriage is a closed, horse-drawn vehicle with four wheels, used to transport people. Both the carriage and the wagon developed from the sled, which is probably the first land vehicle and was invented in prehistoric times. The sled was used in ancient Egypt to transport building materials such as heavy stones. Today sleds are known for high speed transportation through snow covered areas. From the carriage developed the coach, a big, closed vehicle also used to transport people. A coach could carry up to eight people. Most people believe that the coach was developed in Hungary in the 15th century. The use of these vehicles spread to other parts of Europe and England in the 16th century. There have been many different kinds of carriages and coaches through the ages. Some examples are: Cabriolet, Chaise, Drag, Phaeton and Stagecoach. A stagecoach was a public transport vehicle that carried people, baggage and mail from one station to another, like a train or a bus. Animals as transport A beast of burden is an animal that is used for transporting goods or for doing other heavy work. Since ancient times, people have used animals to get from one place to another, to carry and transport things or to do work like turning mills. Many different kinds of animals have been used, and are still used today. Here are some of the animals that have been used and domesticated by people to help with various tasks: A Homing pigeon. Note the message and the thin message tube lying in front of him. Source: The Pigeon The Homing Pigeon is a bird that is able to find its way home from very far off. This made it possible for people to send messages to others. The message would be written on a very thin piece of paper and put into a small tube. It was then tied to the pigeon's leg. The pigeon would then be thrown in the air to fly back home to deliver the message. It is possible that pigeons have been used to deliver messages as long ago as 1150, in Baghdad. Homing pigeons played a very important role during the First World War. It is estimated that over 100 000 pigeons were used to transport messages during WWI. One of these birds was called 'Cher Ami' which means 'Dear Friend'. He received a special award from the French army for his services during the war. He delivered more than 10 important messages, and was even shot once. Donkeys and mules Donkeys and mules Donkeys are domestic animals that were originally wild donkeys from Africa. Donkeys have been used since earliest times in Europe and Asia to carry riders, their loads, to pull carts and to do heavy work. Today they are still being used in many countries all over the world. In some countries they are not used as beasts of burden anymore, but are kept as pets because they are clever, playful and friendly. In Africa, donkeys were used to carry goods through the desert. This was very important for trade across the Saharan desert. But donkeys cannot survive long without food and water, and from about the 3rd century they were replaced by camels. In South Africa, donkey carts can still be seen in many rural areas. A mule is a cross between a female horse and a male donkey. People have used mules since ancient times. The ancient Greeks and Romans used them to pull carts and to carry loads. In the 20th century, they were used for military transport. They have become less common since the invention of cars and tractors, but they are still useful in areas that are not accessible to cars. Horses The horse has been one of the most important beasts of burden for hundreds of years. They have been used for travel, to draw carts, carriages, trams and other wheeled vehicles, to plough fields and to carry loads. People use a range of different tools to ride on a horse. These include the saddle, stirrups, and reins. Horses were even used to draw boats between about 1630 to about 1850. Horse-drawn boats were also called tow-boats. They would sail on a canal and were drawn by horses walking along special paths along the canal. These paths were called the 'tow-paths'. Horse-drawn boats were used for goods as well as for public transport. Oxen An ox is a bull that has been castrated. The term is also used to refer to any cattle used as beasts of burden. Oxen have many uses. They can be used for ploughing, transport, pulling heavy things, grain-grinding (like donkeys) and to draw wagons. They are usually used in pairs. A yoke is put on their necks, so that the weight of the load being pulled is distributed equally across their shoulders. Oxen are very strong. Although they are not as fast as horses, they do not get injured as easily. In South Africa, oxen have been used for hundreds of years, for example to plough the land. During the Great Trek, the Boer families who left the Cape to go and live in the interior used ox-wagons to travel. These were wagons covered with a sail and pulled by many oxen. In the wagons the Boers had all their furniture and other possessions. With their ox-wagons, they travelled very far – as far as what is today the Limpopo Province, Mpumalanga and even Maputo. They oxen had to trek over the Drakensberg and other mountain ranges, through rivers and veld. CAMELS Camels were first domesticated in Arabia thousands of years ago. Because they can go for a long time without food or water, are strong and can walk easily through sand, they were very useful for transport and travel in the Arabian desert. In the 3rd and 4th centuries, camels spread to the African Sahara. They replaced donkeys, horses and oxen to transport people and goods through the desert. Now, the people from North Africa could trade more easily and regularly with the people south of the Sahara Elephants Elephants are not only found in Africa. The cousin of the African elephant, the Asian or Indian elephant, is slightly smaller and easier to tame. In Asia, elephants have been tamed and used for travel and transport since ancient times. They have also been used in wars. Other animals that have been used for travel and transport through the ages are dogs, llamas, reindeer and water buffalo. Bicycles and Motorbikes The first bicycle was developed between 1790 and 1817. It was a bit different from today's cycles. The pedals are connected to the back wheel with a chain, and as the rider pedals, the wheels turn. The first bicycle did not have pedals, and the rider had to steer it by pushing his or her feet along the ground. These vehicles were not called bicycles in those days. They were given various other names as they developed. The Steam engines, trains and Trams The train was first invented in the beginning of the 19th century. But the idea of a vehicle running along a fixed track is actually much, much older. At least 2000 years ago, the Greeks and Romans had horse-drawn wagons that ran along stone tracks. For many years these vehicles disappeared, but then the Europeans started to use them again around 1550, using wooden tracks. More than 200 years later, they began to make the tracks from iron. This would develop into the world's first public railway, but not as it is known today. It was still drawn by a horse. It was called a tramway, and the horse-drawn cars were known as trams. Motorcars The problem with animal-drawn vehicles is that if something goes wrong with the animals you are stranded. Animals are also expensive, because they need food, medicine and a lot of care. So the ideal would be to develop a vehicle that could be powered by something other than animals, like an engine. The first vehicles that propelled themselves were already invented in the 18th century. They were powered by steam. The first car was invented in 1769, by French inventor Nicolas-Joseph Cugnot. His car could travel at about 4 km/h and was called the 'Steam Wagon'. It had three wheels, two in the back and one in the front. The steam boiler was in front. But in 1771, the vehicle crashed into a brick wall. As far as we know, this was the first car accident, and it was one of the reasons why the experiment with such vehicles was stopped. The first vehicles that propelled themselves were already invented in the 18th century. They were powered by steam. The first car was invented in 1769, by French inventor Nicolas-Joseph Cugnot. His car could travel at about 4 km/h and was called the 'Steam Wagon'. It had three wheels, two in the back and one in the front. The steam boiler was in front. But in 1771, the vehicle crashed into a brick wall. As far as we know, this was the first car accident, and it was one of the reasons why the experiment with such vehicles was stopped.
