Page:The Early History of Bengal.djvu/198

172 fast; and both the king himself and many of the greatest nobles take contending views of their swiftness, and make bets in gold and silver, and think it no disgrace to stake their money on these animals. They yoke them to chariots, and incur hazard on the chance of victory. The horses that are yoked to the car run in the middle with an ox on either side, and one of these wheels sharp round the turning-post and must run thirty stadia. The oxen run at a pace equal to that of the horses, and you could not decide which was the faster, the ox or the horse. And if the king has laid a wager on his own oxen with any one, he becomes so excited over the contest that he follows in his chariot to instigate the driver to speed faster. The driver again pricks the horses with the goad till the blood streams, but he keeps his hand off the oxen, for they run without needing the goad. And to such a pitch does the emulation in the match between the oxen rise, that not only do the rich and the owners of the oxen lay heavy bets upon them, but even the spectators, just as Idomeneus the Cretan and the Locrian Ajax are represented in Homer betting against each other.'

In the Arthaśāstra we find mention, in the chapter dealing with the Superintendent of Cattle, of (according to one reading) a class of oxen which 'equal horses in speed', and betting of all kinds is placed, as we have seen, under the supervision of the dyūtādhyakṣa.

Buildings.

Arrian has left on record the interesting observation that, in India, those cities which were situated on the banks of rivers or the sea-coast were built of wood, because brick buildings could not long resist the effects of rainfall and inundation, while those on high and dry sites were built of bricks and lime. The inference suggests itself that, in Megasthenes' time, the city of Pāṭaliputra, near the confluence of the Son and Ganges, must have been built chiefly if not entirely of wood. It will also occur to those familiar with Indian conditions that, on the alluvial banks of the great rivers, at a time when timber was easily available, buildings would be constructed of wood rather than masonry, not on account of the effects of rain and inundation, but for two other good reasons: (a) the lack of firm foundation and probability of sinkage, and (b) the risk of erosion and