remarkable effect they produce, but in every land, it appears to be the
same. A rocket, judiciously sent up, is very likely to frighten off an
intended attack and save bloodshed. If a traveller is supplied with any
of these, he should never make playthings of them, but keep them for
great emergencies.

Natives forbidden to throng the Camp.--Have a standing rule that many
natives should never be allowed to go inside your camp at the same time:
for it is everywhere a common practice among them, to collect quietly in
a friendly way, and at a signal to rise en masse and overpower their
hosts. Even when they profess to have left their arms behind, do not be
too confident: they are often deposited close at hand. Captain Sturt
says, that he has known Australian savages to trail their spears between
their toes, as they lounged towards him through the grass, professedly
unarmed.

Keeping Watch.--Head near the ground.--When you think you hear anything
astir, lie down and lay your ear on the ground. To see to the best
advantage, take the same position; you thus bring low objects in bold
relief against the sky. Besides this, in a wooded country, it is often
easy to see far between the bare stems of the trees, while their
spreading tops shut out all objects more than a few yards off. Thus, a
dog or other small animal usually sees a man's legs long before he sees
his face.

Opera-glass.--An opera-glass is an excellent night glass, and at least
doubles the clearness of vision in the dark (0p. 284).

Ear-trunpet.--I should be glad to hear that a fair trial had been also
given by a traveller to an ear-trumpet.

Watchfulness of Cattle.--Cattle keep guard very well: a stranger can
hardly approach a herd of oxen, without their finding him out; for
several of them are always sure to be awake and watchful. The habits of
bush life make a traveller, though otherwise sound asleep, start up
directly at a very slight rustle of alarm among his cattle.

Of Wild Birds and Beasts.--Scared birds and beasts often give
useful warning.

Smell of Negro.--A skulking negro may sometimes be smelt out like a fox.

Dahoman Night-watch.--The Dahomans, the famous military nation of N.W.
Africa, have an odd method of dividing their watches by night, but "which
is generally managed very correctly. At each gate of a stockaded town, is
posted a sentry, who is provided with a pile of stones, the exact number
of which has been previously ascertained. The night is divided into four
watches; during each watch the sentry removes the pile of stones, one by
one, at a measured pace, from one gate to another, calling out at each
tenth removal: when all are removed, the watch is relieved."--Forbes.

Setting a common Gun as an Alarm-gun.--The gun may be loaded with bullet,
or simply with powder, or only with a cap: even the click of the hammer
may suffice to awaken attention. For the ways of setting it, see p. 257.

Prairie set on Fire.--This is often done as a means of offence. But when
the grass is short (lower than the knee), the strip of it on fire, at the
same moment, does not exceed 12 feet in width; therefore if a belt of
grass of 12 feet in width be destroyed in advance of the line of fire,
the conflagration will be arrested as soon as it reaches that belt. The
fire will be incapable of traversing the interval narrow though it be,
where there is a total absence of fuel to feed it. Travellers avail
themselves of this fact in a very happy manner, when a fire in the
prairie is advancing towards them, by burning a strip of grass, to the
windward of their camp, of 12 feet in breadth; beating down the blaze
with their blankets wherever it would otherwise extend too widely. Behind
this easily constructed line of defence, the camp rests in security, and
the adjacent grass remains uninjured for the use of the cattle. If,
however, the wind is high and sparks are drifted for some distance beyond
the belt of fire, this method is insufficient: two lines of defence
should then be constructed.

Tricks upon Robbers.--It is perhaps just worth while to mention a trick
that has been practised in most countries, from England to Peru. A
traveller is threatened by a robber with a gun, and ordered to throw
himself on the ground, or he will be fired at. The traveller taking a
pistol from his belt, shouts out, "If this were loaded you should not
treat me thus!" and throws himself on the ground as the robber bids him.
There he lies till the robber, in his triumph, comes up for his booty;
when the intended victim takes a quick aim and shoots him dead--the
pistol being really loaded all the time. I have also heard of an incident
in the days of Shooter's Hill, in England, where a ruffian waylaid and
sprang upon a traveller, and holding a pistol to his breast, summoned him
for the contents of his pocket. The traveller dived his hand into one of
them, and, silently cocking a small pistol that lay in it, shot the
robber dead, firing out through the side of the pocket.

Passing through a Hostile Country.--How to encamp.--A small party has
often occasion to try to steal through a belt of hostile country without
being observed. At such times, it is a rule never to encamp until long
after sun-down, in order that people on your track may be unable to
pursue it with ease. If you are pursuing a beaten path, turn sharp out of
it, when you intend to encamp, selecting a place for doing so where the
ground is too hard to show footprints; then travel away for a quarter of
an hour, at least. Lastly, look out for a hollow place, in the midst of
an open flat. Never allow hammering of any kind in your camp, nor loud
talking; but there is no danger in lighting a small fire, if reasonable
precautions be taken, as a flame cannot be seen far through bushes. Keep
a strict watch all night: the watchers should be 100 yards out from camp,
and should relieve one another, every two hours at least. Enough animals
for riding, one for each man, should always be tied up, in readiness for
instant use.

When riding alone.--A person who is riding a journey for his life, sleeps
most safely with his horse's head tied short up to his wrist. The horse,
if he hears anything, tosses his head and jerks the rider's arm. The
horse is a careful animal, and there appears to be little danger of his
treading on his sleeping master.

[Sketch of horse tethered as above].

The Indians of South America habitually adopt this plan, when
circumstances require extreme caution (see fig.)

To prevent your Horse from neighing.--If a troop of horsemen pass near
your hiding-place, it may be necessary to clutch your steed's muzzle with
both hands, to prevent his neighing.

Hurried retreat of a Party.--When a party, partly of horsemen and partly
of footmen, are running away from danger as hard as they can, the footmen
lay hold of the stirrup-leathers of the riders, to assist them. (See
"Litters for the Wounded," p. 23.)

Securing Prisoners.--To take a strong man Prisoner singlehanded, threaten
him with your gun, and compel him to throw all his arms away; then,
marching him before you some little distance, make him lie flat on his
face and put his hands behind him. Of course he will be in a dreadful
fright, and require reassuring. Next take your knife, put it between your
teeth, and, standing over him, take the caps off your gun, and lay it
down by your side. Then handcuff him, in whatever way you best can. The
reason of setting to work in this way is, that a quick supple savage,
while you are fumbling with your strings, and bothered with a loaded gun,
might easily spring round, seize hold of it, and quite turn the tables
against you. But if the gun had no caps on, it would be of little use in
his hands, except as a club; and also, if you had a knife between your
teeth, it would be impossible for him to free himself by struggling,
without exposing himself to a thrust from it.

Cord to be well stretched.--It is an imperfect security to tie an
ingenious active man, whose hands and feet are small, unless the cord or
whatever else you may use, had been thoroughly well stretched. Many
people have exhibited themselves for money, who allowed themselves to be
tied hand and foot and then to be put into a sack, whence they emerged
after a few minutes, with the cords in a neat coil in their hands. The
brothers Davenport were notorious for possessing this skill. They did not
show themselves for half-pence at country fairs; but, by implying that
they were set free by supranatural agencies, they held fashionable
seances in London and created an immense sensation a few years ago. Two
of these exhibitors were tied, face to face in a cupboard, respectively
by two persons selected by the audience. The latter inspected one
another's knots as well as they could, and on their expressing themselves
satisfied, the doors of the cupboard were closed, the lights of the room
were kept low for 5 or 10 minutes, until a signal was made by the
exhibitors from within the cupboard; then in a blaze of gas light the
doors were opened from within and out walked the two men, leaving the
ropes behind them. After this, they tied themselves in their own knots;
and under those easy conditions a number of so-called spiritual
manifestations took place, which I need not here describe; the real
curiosity of the exhibition being that which I have just explained. These
exhibitions continued for months; but at length two nautical gentlemen
insisted on using their own cord, which they had previously well
stretched, and this proceeding utterly baffled the Davenports.
Thenceforward wherever the Davenports showed themselves, the nautical
gentlemen appeared also, appealing to the audience to elect them to tie
the hands of the exhibitors. In this way, they fairly exposed the
pretensions of the Davenports, and drove them from England. Once I was
proposed by an audience to tie the hands. I did my best, and I also
scrutinised my colleague's knot, as well as the confined place in which
the exhibitors were tied, permitted. The cord we had to use was perhaps a
little too thick, but it was supple and strong, and I was greatly
surprised at the ease with which the Davenports disembarrassed
themselves. They were not more than 10 minutes in getting free. Of course
if either of the exhibitors could struggle loose, he would assist his
colleague. It therefore struck me as an exceedingly ingenious idea of the
Davenports, to have two persons, and not one person, to tie them. I
considered it was very improbable that a person taken at hap-hazard
should be capable of tying his man securely; and it was evident that the
improbability would be increased in a duplicate ratio, that both persons
should be capable. Thus if it be 20 to 1 against any one person's having
sufficient skill, it is (20 by 20 or) 400 to 1 against both the persons,
who might be selected to tie the Davenports, being able to do so
effectively. As I have already said, the opportunity that was afforded to
each of scrutinising the work of the other, was worth very little,
because of the dark and confined space in which the exhibitors sat.

Tying the Hands.--To tie a man's hands behind his back, take a
handkerchief, it is the best thing; failing that, a thin cord. It is
necessary that its length should not be less than 2 feet, but 2 feet 6
inches is the right length; for a double tie, it should be 3 feet 6
inches. Compel him to lay his hands as in the sketch, and, wrapping the
cord once (or twice if it be long enough) round the arms, pretty tightly,
pass the longest end in between the arms as shown in the figure, and tie
quite tightly. If you are quick in tying the common "tom-fool's knot,"
well known to every sailor, it is still better for the purpose. Put the
prisoner's hands one within each loop, then draw tightly the running
ends, and knot them together.

[Sketch of hands tied as above].

Tying the Thumbs.--To secure a prisoner with the least amount of string,
place his hands back to back, behind him, then tie the thumbs together,
and also the little fingers. Two bits of thin string, each a foot long,
will thoroughly do this. But if you have not any string at hand, cut a
thong from his leathern apron, or tear a strip from you own linen.

[Sketch of person with bound hands].

Strait-Waistcoats.--A strait-waistcoat is the least inconvenient mode of
confinement, as the joints of the prisoner are not cut by cords. A
makeshift for one is soon stitched together, by stitching a piece of
canvas into the shape of a sleeve, and sewing one end of this to one cuff
of a strong jacket, and the other end to the other cuff; so that, instead
of the jacket having two sleeves, it has but one long one. The jacket is
then put on in the usual way, and buttoned and sewn in front. In a proper
strait-waistcoat, the opening is behind and the sleeves in front; it
laces up behind.

[Sketch of man in waistcoat].

Tying up a Prisoner for the night.--If a man has to be kept prisoner all
night, it is not sufficient to tie his hands, as he will be sure to watch
his time and run away. It is therefore necessary to tie them round a
standing tree, or a heavy log of wood. A convenient plan is to fell a
large forked bough, and to make the man's arms fast round one of the
branches. It is thus impossible for him to slip away, as the fork on one
side, and the bushy top of the branch on the other, prevent his doing so;
and, notwithstanding his cramped position, it is quite possible for him
to get sleep.

Files of Prisoners.--When several men have to be made fast and marched
away, the usual method of securing them is to tie them, one behind
another, to a long pole or rope.

In marching off a Culprit, make him walk between two of your men, while a
third carrying a gun, walks behind him. If riding alone, tie the
prisoner's hands together, and, taking your off-stirrup leather (for want
of a cord), pass it round his left arm, and round your horse's girth, and
buckle it. The off-stirrup leather is the least inconvenient one to part
with, on account of mounting, and the prisoner is under your right hand.

Tying on Horseback.--In cases where a prisoner has to be secured and
galloped off, there are but two ways: either putting him in the saddle
and strapping his ankles together under the horse's belly--in which
case, if he be mad with rage, and attempts to throw himself off, the
saddle must turn with him; or else securing him Mazeppa-fashion--when
four loops are passed, one round each leg of the horse, and to each of
these is tied one limb of the prisoner, as he lies with his back against
that of the horse; a surcingle is also passed round both horse and man.
It is, of course, a barbarous method, but circumstances might arise when
it would be of use.

Proceedings in case of Death.--If a man of the party dies, write down a
detailed account of the matter, and have it attested by the others,
especially if accident be the cause of his death. If a man be lost,
before you turn away and abandon him to his fate, call the party formally
together, and ask them if they are satisfied that you have done all that
was possible to save him, and record their answers. After death, it is
well to follow the custom at sea--i.e. to sell by auction all the dead
man's effects among his comrades, deducting the money they fetch from the
pay of the buyers, to be handed over to his relatives on the return of
the expedition. The things will probably be sold at a much higher price
than they would elsewhere fetch, and the carriage of useless lumber is
saved. Any trinkets he may have had, should of course be sealed up and
put aside, and not included in the sale: they should be collected in
presence of the whole party, a list made of them, and the articles at
once packed up. In committing the body to the earth, choose a well-marked
situation, dig a deep grave, bush it with thorns, and weight it well over
with heavy stones, as a defence against animals of prey.



MECHANICAL APPLIANCES.


To Raise and Move a Heavy Body.--On Land.--Lever up its ends alternately,
and build underneath them when they are lifted up. After a sufficient
height has been gained, build a sloping causeway down to the place to
which the mass has to be moved, and along which it may be dragged, with
the assistance of rollers and grease. If the mass be too awkwardly shaped
to admit of this, burrow below it; pass poles underneath it, and raise
the ends of the poles alternately. Mr. Williams, the well-known
missionary of the South Sea Islands, relates how his schooner of from
seventy to eighty tons had been driven by a violent hurricane and rising
of the sea, on one of the islands near which she was anchored, and was
lodged several hundred yards inland; and thus describes how he got her
back:--"The method by which we contrived to raise the vessel was
exceedingly simple, and by it we were enabled to accomplish the task with
great ease. Long levers were passed under her keel, with the fulcrum so
fixed as to give them an elevation of about forty-five degrees. The ends
of these were then fastened together with several cross-beams, upon which
a quantity of stones were placed; the weight of which gradually elevated
one end of the vessel, until the levers reached the ground. Propping up
the bow thus raised, we shifted our levers to the stern, which was in
like manner elevated; and, by repeating this process three or four times,
we lifted her in one day entirely out of the hole (which she had worked
for herself, and which was about four feet deep). The bog that lay
between her and the sea was then filled up with stones, logs of wood were
laid across it, rollers were placed under the vessel, the chain cable
passed round her; and, by the united strength of about 2000 people, she
was compelled to take a short voyage upon the land, before she floated in
her pride on the sea."

In some cases, the body of a cart may be taken down, and deep ruts having
been dug on each side of the mass, the vehicle can be backed, till the
axletree comes across it; then, after lashing and making fast, the sand
can be shovelled from below the mass, which will hang suspended from the
axletree, and may be carted away. Or a sledge may be built beneath the
mass by burrowing below it and thrusting the poles beneath it. Then the
remainder of the intervening sand can be shovelled away, and the mass,
now resting directly upon the sledge, can be dragged away by a team of
cattle.

A sarcophagus of immense weight was raised from out of a deep recess into
which it had been fitted pretty closely, at the end of a long narrow
gallery in an Egyptian tomb, where there was no room for the application
of tackle or other machinery, by the simple expedient of slightly
disturbing it in its place and sifting sand into the narrow interval
between its sides and the recess. This process was repeated continually:
the sand settled below the bottom of the sarcophagus, which gradually
rose out of the hole in which it had lain. The principle of this piece of
engineering was borrowed, I suppose, from observing that whenever a mass
of sand and stones is shaken together, the stones invariably rise out of
the sand, the biggest of them always forming the highest layer.

Expansive Power of Wetted Seeds.--Admiral Sir E. Belcher read a curious
paper before the British Association in 1866, showing the remarkable
power to be obtained by filling tubes with peas or other seed, allowing
the weight to rest upon the surface of the peas through the medium of a
rude piston. When the peas were wetted they swelled upwards with
considerable force. A pint of peas placed in a tube of a diameter that
was not expressed in the newspaper report, from which I take this
account, lifted 60 lbs. through a height of one inch in twenty-four
hours. The Admiral proposed to fix a number of tubes side by side in a
frame below the mass to be lifted, preferring to use zinc tubes of from
two or three inches in diameter, and of about one foot high. Thus, in the
small space of a cubic foot, a large number of tubes (thirty-six in the
one case, sixteen in the other) could be made to act simultaneously; the
force of the stroke could be increased by arranging a number of frames
side by side, or the length of the stroke could be increased by building
the frames in a series one above the other. I have elsewhere described
how wetted seeds may be used to restore the shape of a battered flask
either for holding water or gunpowder (pp. 230).

Parbuckling.--A round log or a barrel should be rolled, not dragged; and
many irregularly-shaped objects may have bundles of faggots lashed round
them, by which they become barrel-shaped and fit to be rolled. In these
cases, parbuckling doubles the ease of rolling them; one or more ropes
have one of each of their ends made fast in the direction to which the
log has to be rolled, while the other is carried underneath the log,
round it, and back again. By pulling at these free ends, the log will be
rolled on. An equivalent plan, and in some cases a more practicable one,
is to make fast one end of the rope to the log itself; then, winding the
rope two or three times round it, like cotton on a reel, to haul at the
free end as before. Horses can be used, as well as men, for this work.

[Sketch of man pulling log].

Accumulation of Efforts.--South American Indians are said to avail
themselves of their forest trees, and of the creepers which stretch from
branch to branch, in moving very heavy weights, as in lifting a log of
timber up on a stage to be sawn, in the following ingenious manner. The
labourer gets hold of one of these creepers that runs from the top boughs
of a tree in the direction in which he wants to move his log, and pulling
this creeper home with all his force, bending down the bough, he attaches
it to the log; then he goes to another creeper and does the same with
that; and so on until he has accumulated strain of many bent boughs,
urging the log forward and of sufficient power to move it.

Short cords of india-rubber with a hook at either end, are sold under the
name of "accumulators." It is proposed that each of these should be
stretched and hooked by one of its ends to a fixed ring, and by the
other, to the body to be moved; by applying a number of these, in
succession, an immense accumulation of force can be obtained.

Levers.--A piece of green wood has insufficient strength to be used as a
crowbar; it must first be seasoned. (See "Green Wood, to season.")

Other Means of Raising Weights.--I do not propose to take space by
describing jacks, ordinary pulleys, differential pulleys, Chinese
windlasses, and the like. It is sufficient that I should recall them by
name to the traveller's recollection; for if he has access to any of
these things he is probably either a sailor or engineer and knows all
about them, or he is in a land where mechanical appliances are
understood.

To raise Weights out of Water.--If the mass should lie below water, a
boat may be brought over it and sunk to its gunwales; then, after making
fast to it, the boat can be baled and the thing floated away. A raft
weighted with stones will serve the same purpose. In some cases a raft
may be built round the mass during low water; then the returning tide or
the next flush of the stream will float it away.

"Although from its bulk several men might be puzzled to lift a cow-fish
from the water when dead, yet one single Indian will stow the largest in
his montaria without assistance. The boat is sunk under the body, and
rising, the difficult feat is accomplished." (Edwards' 'Amazon.')

The huge blocks of marble quarried at Carrara are shipped in the small
vessels of the country, as follows:--at low water the vessel is buried
bodily in the sand, and a temporary railway laid down from the quarry to
withinside of it. Along this the blocks are conveyed, and, when deposited
in the vessel, the sand is dug away from under them, and they settle down
in its hold, and the ship floats away at the returning tide.



KNOTS.


Elementary Knots.--The three elementary knots which every one should know
are here represented--viz., the Timber-hitch, the Bowline, and the
Clove-hitch. (See also "Knots," p. 49; "Malay hitch," p. 147.)

Timber-hitch.--The virtues of the timber-hitch (fig. 1, p. 326) are,
that, so long as the strain upon it is kept up, it will hold fast; when
the strain is taken off, it can be cast loose immediately. A timber-hitch
had better have the loose end twisted more than once, if the rope be
stiff.

Bowline.--The bowline (fig. 2) makes a knot difficult to undo; with it
the ends of two strings are tied together, or a loop made at the end of a
single piece of string, as in the drawing. For slip nooses, use the
bowline to make the draw-loop. When tying a bowline, or any other knot
for temporary purposes, insert a stick into the knot before pulling
tight. The stick will enable you, at will, to untie the knot--to break
its back, as the sailors say--with little difficulty. A bowline is
firmer, if doubled; that is, if the free end of the cord be made to wrap
round a second time.

[3 fig of knots tied as described].

Clove-hitch.--The clove-hitch (fig. 3) binds with excessive force, and by
it, and it alone, can a weight be hung to a perfectly smooth pole, as to
a tent-pole. A kind of double clove-hitch is generally used, but the
simple one suffices, and is more easily recollected. A double clove-hitch
is firmer than a single one; that is, the rope should make two turns,
instead of one turn, round the pole beneath the lowest end of the cord in
the figure. (See"Tent-poles, to tie things to.")

Knots at End of Rope.--To make a large knot at the end of a piece of
string, to prevent it from pulling through a hole, turn the end of the
string back upon itself, so as to make it double, and then tie a common
knot. The string may be quadrupled instead of doubled, if required.

Toggle and Strop.--This is a tourniquet. A single or a double band is
made to enclose the two pieces of wood it is desired to lash together;
then a stick is pushed into the band and forcibly twisted round. The band
should be of soft material, such as the strands of a rope that has been
picked to pieces for that purpose: the strands must each of them, be
untwisted and well rubbed with a stick to take the kink out of them, and
finally twisted in a direction opposite to their original one.

[Sketch of knot as described].

To sling a Jar.--Put it in a handkerchief or a net.

To tie a Parcel on the back, like a Knapsack.--Take a cord 10 feet long,
double it, and lay the loop end upon a rock or other convenient
elevation; then place the object to be carried upon the cord, taking care
that the loop is so spread out as to admit of its ultimately enclosing
the object with a good hold and balance. Next pass the free ends of the
cord over the object and through the loop; then, bringing your shoulder
to a level with the package, draw the free ends of the cords over your
right shoulder: the cords will by this time have assumed the appearance
shown in the sketch.

[Sketch of cords as described].

Now pass the left arm between the left-hand cord and the package at B,
and the right arm between the right-hand cord and the package at C.
Lastly, draw the cords tight, and the object will be found to be fastened
on to your back like a knapsack. A gun may be passed between the cords
and the top of the object. This is a capital method of carrying a load of
game over a broken country, where at least one hand is required to be
free. I am indebted to Mr. F. M. Wyndham for a knowledge of it: he found
it frequently in use in Norway. In hot countries the plan would not be so
convenient, as the heat of a soft package strapped closely to the back is
very oppressive.



WRITING MATERIALS.


Paper.--Its Numerous Applications.--Captain Sherard Osborn, in writing of
the Japanese, says:--"It was wonderful to see the thousand useful as well
as ornamental purposes to which paper was applicable in the hands of
these industrious and tasteful people. Our papier-mache manufacturers, as
well as the Continental ones, should go to Yeddo to learn what can be
done with paper. With the aid of lacker varnish and skilful painting,
paper made excellent trunks, tobacco bags, cigar cases, saddles,
telescope cases, the frames of microscopes; and we even saw and used
excellent water-proof coats made of simple paper, which did keep out the
rain, and were as supple as the best macintosh . . . . . The inner walls
of many a Japanese apartment are formed of paper, being nothing more than
painted screens; their windows are covered with a fine translucent
description of the same material; it enters largely into the manufacture
of nearly everything in a Japanese household, and we saw what seemed
balls of twine, which were nothing but long shreds of tough paper rolled
up. . . . In short, without paper, all Japan would come to a dead lock."

Sizing Paper.--The coarsest foreign paper can be sized, so as to prevent
its blotting when written on, by simply dipping it in, or brushing it
well over with, milk and water, and letting it dry. A tenth part of milk
is amply sufficient. Messrs. Huc and Gabet inform us that this is the
regular process of sizing, as used by paper-makers in Thibet.

Substitutes for Paper are chips of wood, inner bark of trees, calico and
other tissues, lead plates, and slaty stone. I knew an eminent engineer
who habitually jotted his pencil memoranda on the well-starched wristband
of his left shirt-sleeve, pushing back the cuff of his coat in order to
expose it. The natives in some parts of Bengal, when in the jungle, write
on any large smooth leaf with the broken-off moist end of a leaf-stalk or
twig of any milky sap-producing tree. They then throw dust upon it, which
makes the writing legible. If the leaf be so written upon, the writing is
imperceptible until the dust is sprinkled. This plan might, therefore, be
of use for concealed writing. A person could write on the leaf without
detaching it from the tree. (See Sympathetic Ink.")

Prepared Paper, for use with pencils of metallic lead (see "Pencils"), is
made by rubbing a paste of weak glue and bones burnt to whiteness and
pounded, on the surface of the paper.

Waxed Paper is an excellent substitute for tin-foil, for excluding the
air and damp from parcels. It is made by spreading a sheet of writing
paper on a hot plate or stone and smearing it with wax. A hot flat-iron
is convenient for making it.

Carbonised Paper, for tracing or for manifold writing, is made by rubbing
a mixture of soap, lampblack, and a little water on the paper, and, when
dry, wiping off as much as possible with a cloth.

Tracing Designs.--Transparent tracing-paper can hardly be made by a
traveller, unless he contents himself with the use of waxed paper; but he
may prick out the leading points of his map or other design, and laying
the map on a sheet of clean paper, charcoal or other powder that will
leave a stain, it can be rubbed through.

Book-binding.--Travellers' unbound books become so terribly dilapidated,
that I think it well to give a detailed description of a method of
book-binding which a relative of mine has adopted for many years with
remarkable success, and to a great extent. The books are not
tidy-looking, but they open flat and never fall to pieces. Take a cup of
paste; a piece of calico or other cloth, large enough to cover the back
and sides of the book; a strip of strong linen--if you can get it, if
not, of calico--to cover the back; and abundance of stout cotton or
thread. 1st. Paste the strip of linen down the back, and leave the book
in the sun or near a fire--but not too near it--to dry, which it will do
in half a day. 2ndly. Open the book and look for the place where the
stiching is to be seen down the middle of the pages, or, in other words,
for the middle of the sheets; if it be an 8vo. book it will be at every
16th page, if a 12mo. at every 24th page, and so on: it is a mere matter
of semi-mechanical reckoning to know where each succeeding stitching is
to be found; in this volume the stitching is at pages 216,
etc., the interval being 16 pages. Next take the cotton and wind it in
between the pages where the stitching is, and over the back round and
round, beginning with the first sheet, and going on sheet after sheet
until you have reached the last one. 3rdly. Lay the book on the table
back upwards, daub it thoroughly with paste, put on the calico cover as
neatly as you can, and set it to dry as before; when dry it is complete.

Other Materials for Writing.--Quills and other Pens.--Any feather that is
large enough, can be at once made into a good writing-quill. It has only
to be dipped in hot sand, which causes the membrane inside the quill to
shrivel up, and the outside membrane to split and peel off: a few
instants are sufficient to do this. The proper temperature of the sand is
about 340 degrees. The operation may be repeated with advantage two or
three times. Reeds are in universal use throughout the East for writing
with ink. Flat fish-bones make decent pens.

Pencil.--Lead pencils were literally made of the metal lead in former
days; and there are some parts of the world, as in Arabia, where they are
still to be met with. A piece of lead may be cast into a serviceable
shape in the method described under "Lead," and will make a legible mark
upon ordinary paper. Lead is the best material for writing in note-books
of "Prepared Paper) (which see). A better sort of pencil for general use
is made by sawing charcoal into narrow strips, and laying them in melted
wax to drench for a couple of days, they are then ready for use.

Paint brushes.--Wash the bit of tail or skin, whence the hair is to be
taken, in ox-gall, till it is quite free from grease. Then snip off the
hairs close to the skin, put them points downwards resting in a box, and
pick out the long hairs. After a sufficient quantity have been obtained
of about the same length, a piece of string is knotted tightly round
them, and pulled firm with the aid of two sticks. Then a quill, that has
been soaked in water for a day in order to soften it, is taken, and the
pinch of hair is put into the large end of the quill, points forward, and
pushed right through to the other end with a bit of stick, and so the
brush is made. The chinese paint-brush is a feather--a woodcock's feather
is often used. Feather, like hairs, must be washed in ox-gall.

Ink.--Excellent writing-ink may be made in the bush. The readiest way of
making it is to blacken sticks in the fire and to rub them well in a
spoonful of milk till the milk becomes quite black. Gunpowder or
lamp-soot will do as well as the burnt stick; and water, with the
addition of a very little gum, glue, or fish-glue (isinglass) is better
than the milk, as it will not so soon turn sour. Indian ink is simply
lamp-soot and some kind of glue: it is one of the best of inks. If pure
water be used, instead of gum or glue and water, the writing will rub out
very easily when dry, the use of the milk, gum, or glue being to fix it:
anything else that is glutinous will serve as well as these. Strong
coffee, and many other vegetable products, such as the bark of trees
boiled in water, make a mark which is very legible and will not rub.
Blood is an indifferent substitute for ink. To make 12 gallons of good
common writing-ink, use 12 lbs. of nut-galls, 5 lbs. of green sulphate of
iron, 5 lbs. of gum, and 12 gallons of water. (Ure.)

Lampblack.--Hold a piece of metal, or even a stone, over a flaring wick
in a cup of oil, and plenty of soot will collect.

Sympathetic Ink.--Nothing is better or handier than milk. The writing is
invisible until the paper is almost toasted in the fire, when it turns a
rich brown. The juice of lemons and many other fruits may also be used.
(See "Substitutes for Paper.")

Gall of Animals, or Ox-gall to purify.--To make ink or paint take upon
greasy paper, a very little ox-gall should be mixed with it. It is very
important to know this simple remedy, and I therefore extract the
following information from Ure's 'Dictionary.' I have often practised it.
"Take it from the newly-killed animal, let it settle for 12 or 15 hours
in a basin, pour the liquid off the sediment into an earthenware pot, and
set the pot into a pan of water kept boiling until the gall-liquid
becomes somewhat thick. Then spread it on a dish and place it before the
fire till nearly dry. In this state it may be kept, without any looking
after, for years. When wanted, a piece the size of a pea should be
dissolved in water. Ox-gall removes all grease-spots from clothes, etc."

Wafers, Paste, and Gum.--Wafers.--The common wafers are punched out of a
sheet made of a paste of flour and water that has suddenly been baked
hard. Gum wafers are punched out of a sheet made of thick gum and water
poured on a slightly-greased surface (a looking-glass for example),
another greased glass having been put on the top of the gum to make it
dry even.

Paste should be made like arrowroot, by mixing the flour in a minimum of
cold water, and then pouring a flush of absolutely boiling water upon it.
It is made a trifle thicker and more secure from insects by the addition
of alum. Corrosive sublimate is a more powerful protection against
insects, but is by no means an absolute safeguard, and it is dangerous to
use.

Gum.--The white of eggs forms a substitute for gum. Some sea-weeds yield
gum. (See also "Glue," "Isinglass," and "Sealing-wax Varnish.")

Signets.--Many excellent and worthy bushmen have the misfortune of not
knowing how to write: should any such be placed in a post of confidence
by an explorer, it might be well that he should cut for himself a signet
out of soft stone--such as the europeans of bygone generations, and the
Turks of the last one, very generally employed. A device is cut on the
seal; before using it, the paper is moistened with a wet finger, and the
ink is dabbed over the ring with another; the impression is then made,
using the ball of the thumb for a pad.

Sealing-wax Varnish.--Black or red sealing-wax, dissolved in spirits of
wine, makes a very effective stiff and waterproof varnish, especially for
boxes of paper or cardboard. It might be useful in keeping some iron
things from rust: it is the same material that is used to cover toy
magnets. When made stiff it is an excellent cement for small articles.
Opticians employ it for many of these purposes. I have also used it as a
paint for marking initials on luggage, cutting out the letters in paper
and dabbing the red stuff through.

Small Boxes for Specimens.--Cut the side of a cigar-box, or a strip of
pasteboard, half through in three places, add two smaller pieces like
wings, one on each side, by means of a piece of gummed paper overlapping
them, as in the picture.

[Sketch of box unfolded and folded].

Any number of these may be carried like the leaves of a book, and when a
box is wanted they may be bent into shape, and by the adherence of the
moistened gum-paper, can be made into a box at a moment's notice. The
shaded border of the figure represents the gummed paper. Quills make
convenient receptacles for minute specimens. They should be dressed (see
"Quills"), and may be corked with a plug of wood or wax, or, for greater
security, a small quill may be pushed, mouth forward, into a larger one,
as into a sheath.



TIMBER.


Green Wood.--To season Wood.--Green wood cannot be employed in carpentry,
as it is very weak; it also warps, cracks, and becomes rotten: wood dried
with too great a heat loses its toughness as well as its pliability: it
becomes hard and brittle. Green wood is seasoned by washing out the sap,
and then drying it thoroughly. The traveller's way of doing this by one
rapid operation, is to dig a long trench and make a roaring fire in it;
when the ground is burning hot, sweep the ashes away, deluge the trench
with boiling water; and in the middle of the clouds of steam that arise,
throw in the log of wood, shovel hot earth over it, and leave it to steam
and bake. A log thick enough to make an axletree may thus be somewhat
seasoned in a single night. The log would be seasoned more thoroughly if
it were saturated with boiling water before putting it into the trench;
that can be done by laying it in a deep narrow puddle, and shovelling hot
stones into the water. All crowbars, wagon-lifters, etc., should be
roughly seasoned as green wood is far too weak for such uses. The regular
way of seasoning is to leave the timber to soak for a long time in water,
that the juices may be washed out. Fresh water is better for this purpose
than salt; but a mineral spring, if it is warm is better than cold fresh
water. Parties travelling with a wagon ought to fell a little timber on
their outward journey, and leave it to season against their return, in
readiness to replace strained axletrees, broken poles, and the like. They
might, at all events, cut a ring round through the bark and sap-wood of