Читать книгу The Child's Pictorial History of England. From the Earliest Period to the Present Time онлайн

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8. They carried these goods in carts, drawn by oxen, to the coast of Hampshire, then crossed over to the Isle of Wight, in light boats, made of wicker, and covered with hides or skins, in shape something like half a walnut shell.

9. The merchants from Gaul met them in the Isle of Wight; and as they brought different kinds of merchandise to dispose of, they managed their business almost entirely without money, by exchanging one thing for another.

10. The Britons were very clever in making things of wicker work, in the form of baskets, shields, coated with hides, boats, and chariots, with flat wooden wheels.

11. These chariots were used in war, and sharp scythes were fixed to the axles of the wheels, which made terrible havoc when driven through a body of enemies.

12. But I shall not say much about the wars of the ancient Britons, or their mode of fighting; as there are many things far more pleasant to read of, and more useful to know.

13. At that time, which is about one thousand nine hundred years ago, the country was almost covered with forests; and when the people wanted to build a town, they cleared a space for it by cutting down the trees, and then built a number of round huts of branches and clay, with high pointed roofs, like an extinguisher, covered with rushes or reeds.