The Beasts of Burden

From the earliest days, man has needed the power to carry out the tasks of transportation and agriculture. Primitive man used the power of his own muscles, but the human body is inadequate for prolonged and heavy work. So eventually, natural forces were harnessed in a simple way. Water wheels provided power for crude machines and irrigation, and the sails of windmills, an alternative source. Bu the main step forward was the training and ‘domestication of certain animals which could be set to work, the beasts of burden.

Certain animals proved suitable and amendable to training — elephants, camels, horses, donkeys, mules and oxen, and in countries not yet industrialized, they can all be seen at work even today. Of them all, the horse proved the most important. the horse is quick, strong and intelligent. He can carry a rider or a burden, pull a cart or a plow. So widespread was the use of the horse that the ‘horse-power’ became the unit of power and engines are assessed today according to their ‘horse-power’. Perhaps, the elephant is the most dramatic beast of burden. Immensely strong, he can uproot trees and drag the logs to rives where they float down to papermills. He can be used for clearing forests, carrying enormous loads, and, of course, for carrying passengers, particularly on ceremonial occasions in India. His disadvantage is that though highly intelligent, he is rather slow and stately and immensely expensive to feed.

The African elephant, his cousin, is untamable. Those who know the Middle East are accustomed to the familiar sight of camel and donkey trains, the caravans of the itinerant traders. Like horses, camels have been used as charges in desert battles, and their descendants today for racing. Their plodding brethren, however, have the ability to carry heavy loads through the arid countryside for days on end without water. The accretion of fat and liquid on their two humps and the dromedary’s one makes them independent of liquid refreshment for long periods.

The humble donkey can also show surprising strength, and the cross-bred mule, used so often in ancient military campaigns, has the added advantage of being an able climber and extremely sure-footed. He also has the disadvantage of being very obstinate, bad-tempered, and sometimes violent! Those who live in the Far East value their Friend, the ox. In the countryside of Malaysia, he is to be seen pulling the bullock-cart, and wading through the padi-field, while in India, he treads out the corn and turns the water wheel. He is kindly, amenable, and very strong.

Those who make use of animals grow to love them, almost as members of the family, and the community thinks very poorly of those who ill-treat or neglect their beasts of burden. They must be well and suitably fed, properly housed, kept warm and dry, never overworked, and given veterinary attention when they are sick. There is nothing more pathetic than an ill, staved, or ill-treated animal. The animal gives its loyalty and strength, but cannot speak or fight back against cruelty.

For all animal lovers, it is a matter of regret that the beast of burden is slowly disappearing from the scene, and this is largely due to the fact that his work is superseded by the machine and an economic necessity in these modern days of industrialization. His disappearance is also a loss to the fertility of the land. Artificial manure is a poor substitute for natural variety.

The animal as a means of transport has long been displaced by the bicycle, motor car, bus and railway. People nowadays, ride animals only for pleasure and on ceremonial occasions. Most transport is mechanized nowadays for reasons of speed and power and as the result of the widespread use of machinery.

This has also largely displaced the functions of the beasts of burden on the land. Ploughing is done by tractors, and the combine-harvester can carry out a variety of different agricultural functions at the same time with an enormous saving not only in time and efficiency but also in manpower. Sot he beasts of burden are today largely relegated to the remote, agricultural areas and even there they are becoming more and more scarce.

All this is inevitable. But the disappearance of the beast of burden will be a sad loss to man, whose faithful friend and servant he has been down the centuries.