The rise and fall of ox-wagons
Transport riders evolved to serve the needs of the developing hinterland towns and vanished with the coming of the rail. These men brought wagon loads of supplies from the coast to inland destinations, using traditional ox wagons, which carried about 1 800 kg. These soon became was too small and in 1860 a new transport…
Read MoreWilliam Shaw and the ox-wagon
Many early writers describe ox wagon travel as tranquil, but Wesleyan missionary, William Shaw, did not find it so. He found it noisy, but amusing. Extracts from his letters and journals in Never a Young Man, compiled by Celia Sadler, state: “The African wagons, covered with white sail-cloth tilts, were each drawn by 12 or 14…
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