Modes of Travelling
People travel for various reasons – for business, pleasure and discovery: in different elements – land, water and air, and by different methods, from walking to riding in trains, ships and aeroplanes.
The simplest way of travelling by land is on ‘Shanks’s mare’ – that is, on foot. This is the only mode of travel for the poor man; but some who could afford to tour by train or motor-car, prefer, when travelling for pleasure, to walk.
From the most ancient times, men have trained animals, such as the camel, the elephant, the donkey, and especially the horse, to carry them, or to draw wheeled vehicles in which they could rest in comfort; and in the days before railways were introduced, most travellers rode on horseback, or in chariots, carts, carriages and coaches.
But in these days, mechanical carriages, steam or petrol driven, have largely taken the place of horse-carriages. Even the poor can now travel quickly and comfortably in the railway trains and the well-to-do-tour all over the country in their motor-cars. The humble bicycle, too, is a great help to men of moderate means.
The boat, propelled by oars and the sailing ship is a very old invention, and most of the famous explorers made their discoveries in wooden sailing vessels. But the sailing ship has now been almost driven from the ocean by the great steamers, which enable travellers to accomplish sea voyages in weeks, which formerly took months and even years.
And now in our own century man has conquered the air, and can travel as the birds travel. The wonderful invention of the airship (or dirigible balloon) and the aeroplane enables travellers to cover in hours or days distances which take the fastest steamships weeks.
In all these modes of travel, men by their higher intelligence have harnessed the forces of nature, to carry them over the world – animal strength, wind, steam, gas and electricity.
