IV. HUTS AND HOUSES
{Timber felling.}
Before proceeding to give directions for building huts and houses, it may not be amiss to give a few hints on felling trees. Hints they can only be, as it is just as impossible to teach the art of wielding the backwoodsman's axe by writing as it is to communicate the faculty of tracking wild animals through the forest by verbal directions. Experience and close observation are the only two true masters in both cases; still, we may be enabled to give such general directions as may save our readers from some of the humiliating predicaments we have seen the inexperienced wood-chopper placed in. Nothing is more common than to see one of this class hopelessly pinching his axe at every cut, from having commenced his chop too narrow. The length of the chop, or chip as it is sometimes called, will, of course, depend on the size of the tree; but in all cases it should be made in a long wedge form, as shown in the annexed illustration. [Illustration] By cutting in this way, the surface of the stump is left as level as a planed board, and the log which is separated from it has, when it falls, a wedge-shaped end. It will, in most cases, be found that the tree which you are about to fell will lean more or less in one direction. Station yourself, axe in hand, on the side towards which the tree leans; then measure your distance by placing the edge of your axe on the centre of the boll of the tree, at such a height from the ground that the axe lays in a straight and true line according to the stature of the axe man. The check or flange at the end of the axe helve should rest in the hands as the arms are extended towards the tree. This will give the distance at which the axe blade may be best brought to bear on the tree trunk. In delivering the cuts, which should follow the distance test, the axe should be dexterously and powerfully whirled round the head; sometimes obliquely from above downwards, and at others in a straight and direct sweep across the line of the log. The horizontal form of the lower cut and the wedge shape of the upper will be thus preserved until the tree is half cut through, when exactly the same system of operation should be followed out on the side of the tree opposite to that on which the first incision was made. On the second chop being nearly completed, the tree will fall directly away from the axe man in the line of its inclination. On all the tops, lops, and branches being removed, and the log cleared from surrounding impediments, it may become a question as to what purpose it is to be applied. If it is of great length, and comparatively short pieces are required, the process known as "logging up" must be had recourse to. This is carried out as follows: After measuring the length of the log, and dividing it into the requisite number of pieces by marking it with the axe, stand on the tree trunk, with your feet pointing across the grain of the wood, then with your axe proceed to cut two sloping or wedge-shaped cuts, as shown in the annexed illustration [Illustration], carrying them into the log until half through it; then face about, and make two on the other side, which, when finished, should meet the others at their widest diameter, which will be that of the tree. Some settlers in wild countries burn down the trees in order to save labour; others girdle them. To perform this latter process, it is necessary to cut a wide band of bark from the butt of the tree near the ground. This prevents the sap from ascending, and thus quickly destroys vegetation. Where timber is scarce and valuable, the cross-cut saw may be made to aid the axe, and the tree taken off almost level with the ground. It sometimes, although not frequently, happens that trees are found too large to be felled by the axe or saw. This was the case with the so-called "big tree," one of the "mammoth trees" of California. It was felled by boring a complete circle of holes round and into its immense trunk with augers. Five men were occupied during twenty-two days in completing the final overthrow of the tree, which was effected, after all the holes had converged, by the introduction of a number of wedges. Its period of growth was estimated at 3000 years; it measured 302ft. high, and was 96ft. in circumference at the butt. The bark measured nearly 1ft. in thickness.
{When to cut timber.}
The quality, strength, and durability of timber are much influenced by the season of the year in which it is felled. In all temperate regions the autumn or winter season should be chosen, as at that time little sap is flowing through the vessels of the tree. In this country it but too often happens that well-grown oak timber is all but sacrificed in order that the bark may be procured. Early spring, the season for bark rending, is the very worst that could by any possibility be chosen for cutting timber. Charged as it is with vegetable juices, rich in saccharine matter and albumen, the seeds of dry rot and decay are carried with it, which no after treatment will serve to eradicate. In tropical climates it is well to fell such timber as is intended to be kept for future use at the end of the dry season and before the setting in of the rains; all logs intended for rails, posts, &c., should be split up, immediately after felling, into the rough forms of the objects into which, when fully seasoned, they will be converted. The bark should be all stripped off, and the rough timber placed under cover in such a situation as will admit of light and air penetrating freely through it. Timber cut and thus treated one season, should not be used until the next. The durability of seasoned timber is infinitely greater than that of green.
{Timber, to split.}
For efficient timber splitting, a set of thoroughly well-made and correctly-formed iron wedges, and a number of equally well-shaped wooden wedges or gluts, are needed. The iron wedges should be made of the very best tough iron, tipped with gad steel, as in the form of the annexed illustration. [Illustration] All the edges and corners should be slightly rounded off in order to give freedom in driving; the length, from head to point, should be 10 in., the width across the wedge 2-1/2 in., and the thickness of metal across the edge at the head 2 in. Some judgment is required in tempering wedges, as they must be hard enough at the point to prevent bending, and yet not hard enough to break. The file test is as good as any. The edge of the wedge point should never be hammered thin before tempering, but left rather thick to be reduced to the proper degree of sharpness on the grinding stone. The wooden gluts are usually considerably larger than the iron wedges; these are to be made from hard, tough, well-seasoned timber--round stout poles are convenient for making them. The proper lengths, which are mainly dependent on the size of the logs to be operated on, are sawn off. The sides or cheeks of these pieces are then chopped off with the axe in approximately true wedge form, an even surface and exact pitch is afterwards given to them with a cooper's drawing knife or a spoke shave. Wedges, whether of iron or wood, should never be driven with an iron hammer. [Illustration] A wedging beetle, of form shown in the accompanying illustration, should be always made use of. The hardest and toughest wood to be obtained should be used to form the head; the ends are usually hooped with flat iron rings, and the handle fashioned from some tough elastic wood, such as ash or hickory. Scarcely any two men use the same size beetle, but the following will be found fair average dimensions from which to make one: Length of beetle head 9in., binding hoops 1-1/4in. wide and 1/2in. thick, diameter of beetle head 5-1/2in., length of handle 2ft. 8in. Great care should be taken in fitting in the handle, as it is essential to the efficiency of the instrument that it and the head should be exactly true with each other. A slightly flattened handle lies in the hand more compactly, and works more freely, than a perfectly round one. Nearly all logs split best from the small or crown end towards the butt. If it is intended to divide the log into four pieces, the wedges must be inserted as shown in the annexed illustration (A), if into three they are placed as at B. When rails, &c., are to be made, the log must be divided into quarters, by first making a cross-shaped cut in the end of the log, and striking the back of the axe with the beetle until the edge enters deep enough to afford a hold for the iron wedges. Longitudinal cuts with the axe are now to be made, the whole length of the log corresponding with the cross. The wedges, gluts, and beetle do the rest when the latter implement is properly wielded. Logs for shingle making are quartered much in the same way, only instead of being split out in the full length, the log is cut up into short lengths before quartering. The shingles may be 15in. long by 9in. wide, and in form like that represented in the above illustration. The axe and beetle may be used for splitting off these wooden flakes, but the lath render's froe is a far more convenient instrument for the purpose.
The diagrams in the next page will serve to show the mode by which the long log quarters are split up into rails, &c. Some particular species of tree will split without the aid of wedges; the axe alone being used to cleave them. Two axe men attack a log, one chops in his axe blade in the line of grain, the other follows behind and chops in his, when the first man becomes the second, and so on until the cut is complete and the log is split.
Such posts as are intended to be driven into the earth require accurate and careful pointing. Each cheek of the timber should be smoothly and evenly sloped off to about the proportion shown in the illustration representing the wedge. The centre of the post will thus become the point.
The accompanying illustration represents a log clip for holding a post whilst undergoing the process of pointing. The side wedge holds the post securely in the notched piece of log laid to receive it. A camp, garden, or cattle inclosure may be easily and expeditiously fenced in by either of the plans shown in the following illustrations. The first system of railing consists in driving double posts into the earth at equal distances, and then dropping trimmed poles and pieces of wood or stones alternately between them. A wooden pin driven through the heads of both posts at each nip keeps all compact and secure. To erect a fence by the second plan, posts are driven into the ground singly, in the position shown in the diagram on the next page, and then poles are laid with their ends crossing at a sufficient inclination to rest against and be held by the posts. The rails can be adjusted to any distance apart, by fitting in short pieces or junks of pole between the ends of the long bars. A very simple and useful fence for marking the bounds of a camp, or piece of cultivated ground, is formed by planting short stout poles obliquely in the earth, so that they may cross each other like the letters XX. The points at which the poles cross are secured with a twisted withy, a bit of raw hide, a strip of twisted bark or root. Fences of this kind are very useful to show natives the nearest point to which they may stray towards the packs and bales of goods.
The natives of British Columbia and some other countries laboriously hew and chop away the two cheeks of a log with their primitive hatchets until they form a plank by the reduction of a whole tree. In India and China the natives make use of a long cross-handled saw, not unlike our pit saw, for the division of a log into planks. They do not, however, sink a sawpit as we do in this country, but set up a pair of cross legs or shears, and run the log obliquely across the upper fork until it is some distance in the air. They then saw down to the fork of the shears, and, when that is reached, reverse the log, end for end, by tilting it, and commence at the other extremity. The hunter or explorer will, as a rule, be mainly dependent on his skill as a woodsman, and wielder of the axe, for a comfortable dwelling amongst the forests. The number of a party and the duration of a visit to any particular locality will influence the kind of structure it will be best to erect. A single trapper or hunter naturalist can content himself with very moderate accommodation.
{Board wigwam.}
A simple form of wigwam can be thus built with the aid of the axe only, in a very short time; search out and cut four stout fork ended posts between 6ft. and 7ft. long, sharpen their ends, drive two of them into the earth firmly at 9ft. apart, then cut a couple of straight strong poles of about 1ft. girth and 10ft. long, lay one of these in the forks of the two posts and fasten it there with a twisted withy or a bit of raw hide; then measure off 5ft. from one of the posts, and, parallel with it, set up one of the others, plant the remaining one at the other end, lay in the second pole, secure it as before, and the framework is complete. Now look out for a free splitting tree, log it up into 13 ft. lengths, split these into boards, place them in a sloping direction against the poles which rest in the forks, and arrange them so that the upper ends do not meet, but leave a good wide opening for the smoke to come out. Split up a log or two the length required to board up the ends of the wigwam; this can be done by setting the boards upright, leaving a wide one movable to form a door, drive in a few hard wood pegs so as to catch the bottoms of the boards and all is made secure. During the day a board or two to leeward may be slid aside to let in light, by night air enough comes in through the chinks. {Log house, to build.} As a more permanent home for a party who are about wintering in the woods, it is best to construct a log hut of the description represented in the following illustration [Illustration]; its size must, of course, depend on the number of its proposed occupants; it can be made either oblong or square. When a sufficient number of trees of convenient bulk for handling have been felled and logged up into proper lengths, the ends should be notched with the axe, as shown in the illustration. [Illustration] The four ground logs are then laid and keyed together by their notches; the second row are then placed on these, either by the aid of skid bars placed in a slanting direction on the lower logs, or by manual labour. When all the walls are high enough, the doorway must be cut in the following manner: Begin on the upper log and chop through at each end, the exact width of the proposed opening follow down, cutting log by log until the ground log is reached; cut this nearly half through and then split out the piece, the other portion below forms your threshold. Take a fresh log, and in it split out a space exactly to correspond with that in the ground log, place this as a crowning log with three others, uncut, to form your wall plate, the split-out piece will form the top of your doorway; the square hole for the window or shutter is chopped out in the same way. The gable ends and ridge log must be adjusted at such a pitch as to insure a free run for rain water or melted snow; the four ends or butts of the gable angles should rest and be firmly wedged in four holes axed out for them in the ends of the upper row of wall-plate logs; where the gable peak crosses, the logs should be notched together and pinned; the ridge log will then rest in the crutches formed by the intersection. Now, after having selected the most convenient spot for a fire-place, chop a hole through the logs, including that on the ground, about 3ft. wide and 4ft. 6in. high. There are several ways of forming a chimney and fire-back; one is to build a beehive-shaped wall outside the opening, plastering the inside with clay, and forming a rough chimney stack with turf and stones. All chinks or crevices between the logs are stopped with clay and moss. Some American trappers and hunters proceed as follows: They cut a number of poles long enough to reach the top of the proposed chimney, which is, of course, a little higher than the ridge of the roof; they then plant the sharpened ends of the poles in the earth in such a way as to form a semicircular hedge surrounding the back of the hole in the logs, and about 6ft. at its widest part from them. An inner hedge of sticks about 6ft. long is now planted within the row of long poles, at about 8in. from them; a number of bushy twigs are now collected and interwoven between the poles and sticks until a sort of double wall of basket work is formed between these wicker partitions; a quantity of wet clay and small gravel is firmly impacted, and rammed down until the space will hold no more. The long poles are then gathered together into a sort of inverted funnel form, a hole being left where their small ends meet for the smoke to pass through; a thorough slap-dashing with thin wet clay within and without finishes the affair. The inner layer of basket work consumes in time, but leaves the clay and stone hard enough to resist an ordinary heat. Huts of this description are either half log-roofed or shingled; that represented in the illustration is covered by the former mode. Logs of fitting size and length are split in halves; the surfaces of one-half of these are slightly hollowed with the axe or adze, and then placed side by side with the round surface downward on the ridge bar and wall plate; on the hollowed faces of these over every interval is laid face downward one of the flat-faced pieces. (See illustration, p. 275.)
{Temporary wigwams.}
To roof-in one of these log huts with the shingles we have before described, the builder must proceed in a different manner; rows of rafters must be pinned on to catch the shingles. The first row, or that at the wall plate, should project some inches beyond it; on the heels of these a long flat lath or batten of wood is secured by wood pegs driven in here and there, this nips the row of shingles and keeps them in place. The second row is laid over and beyond the batten and so on, much as slates or tiles are laid for the roof of an English house. Doors and shutters for log houses are usually made of boards obtained from split logs pinned together with cross-bars, and are generally called dowel hinged; an auger hole is bored a few inches into both frame and door, a hard wood peg placed half-way into each hole gives perfect freedom of motion, and will last as long as the house. A flooring is very easily made by splitting a large log into rough boards, and much increases the comfort of the establishment. [Illustration] The above illustration represents a rough temporary wigwam, which may be easily made as follows: Select either a large fallen log or high bank for a back; drive two stout forked pieces sufficiently far from the back and far apart to give space for the interior; lay another pole across the crutches for a front wall plate, and two side poles from the back, long enough to rest on and be secured to this. Thatch with hemlock or balsam fir branches, arranging them layer upon layer, butt end upwards. The gable ends can be closed with either branches or grass-covered hurdles or frames. Another kind is made by placing all the posts double, and then dropping the planks down between them, so that they are nipped by the uprights, as shown in the accompanying sketch.
{The huts of savages.}
As an almost invariable rule, the huts built by savage nations are round, or approximate more or less to the circular form. But sometimes they are shapeless things, like the rude "gunyah" of the Australian, which consists merely of a sheet of bark of the tea-tree (one of the Eucalypti) broken across the middle and set up in a triangular form to shelter "the body" from the inclemency of the weather; while small fires are lighted all around for warmth and defence against the mosquitoes, or a dry log, 6ft. or 8ft. long, is laid on either side, and set on fire in several places. Equally simple is the hut of the desert bushman. A few sticks are set up against each other, so as to form an irregular cone, with one side left open to admit "the body" of the sleeper, as shown in the illustration on p. 279. In almost all tribes the commencement is made in the same manner. A circle is traced or imagined on the ground, and the women, squatting down, with sharp pointed sticks work holes a foot or more apart all round it; long flexible wands are inserted, and their tops bent over and lashed together, and if the hut be large, one or more poles are placed inside the circle as supports. In Kafirland the fire-place is simply a flat hearth, occupying the centre, so that the poles, when there are any, are arranged round it. Smaller rods are wattled all round, or bound tightly to the ribs with strips of the inner bark of the mimosa, or other tree, and the hut is thatched with reeds, grass, or whatever may be the favourite or most convenient material of the country.
In Kafirland the huts are hemispherical, like beehives, or rather like inverted bowls, slightly flattened on the top. The thatching is very neatly and compactly done, and generally small ropes of grass are carried many times round and round outside the hut, and laced with smaller strips through the thatching to the inner frame. The floor is nicely clayed with a compost of "kraal mist" or cattle dung, and the fine clay of ant-hills broken up and well mixed. Sometimes the inner wall for 2ft. or 3ft. high is plastered with the same, and pumpkin seeds stuck into it in fanciful patterns, and picked off again, when the clay is dry, leaving a glazed film sparkling in the hollow.
In one of our sketching trips through Kafirland in 1848 we had been advised by Captain Roper, of the Rifle Brigade, who commanded at the Buffalo Mouth, always to go to a hut or village at night, as should any accident befall us our "spoor" could be traced, and the owner of the hut or headman of the village be held responsible; while, on the contrary, should we sleep in the bush, and our horse be stolen, and the thieves act on the principle that "dead men tell no tales," it would be very long before we were missed, and tracing might be impossible.
There is one fault in these Kafir huts. They resemble an inverted bowl; the door is cut out of the edge, and there is no other aperture whatever. The consequence is that if one stands up his lower extremities may be absolutely chilled, while from the waist upward he is immersed in a bath of smoke or heated air; and when the fire has gone low, and the intensely cold air of the early morning fills the lower part, driving the warm air above the level of the doorway, the sleeper is glad to wrap himself more closely in his mantle.
In countries where stratified rocks, as sandstone, &c., which split easily into flat slabs, abound, huts are frequently built of stone. A circle of blocks is laid on the ground, then another on them, with the edges projecting a little inward, so that the circumference of each course is less than that of the one immediately beneath it; a large slab covers the top, and finishes the building. Such huts are found in the north-eastern part of the Free State in South Africa, formerly the Orange River Sovereignty.
Among the various Bechuana tribes in and beyond the Free State, the building of a hut is a more elaborate and artistic affair; in fact, it deserves rather to be called a house, consisting, as it does, of walls and a roof perfectly distinct from each other. In its simplest form it consists of a row of stakes from 4ft. to 7ft. high, set up in a circular form, and of a conical roof, the frame of which is mostly made separately on the ground, and then lifted into its place, and bound firmly upon the upright wall. In the larger huts a smaller concentric circle of stakes (of course much longer than the first, as they have to reach the roof at a higher point) forms an inner chamber, and generally the eaves of the roof are extended, so as to form also a verandah, or shade, all round; and, besides this, there will be a larger circular wall inclosing a courtyard, frequently of considerable dimensions.
Sometimes, as on the Lower Zambesi, the row of stakes forming the outer wall of the house is plastered round with a broad central horizontal band of red or yellow clay, leaving about a third above and below it open for ventilation, and sometimes the whole is elaborately smoothed with a mixture of the fine clay of broken ant-hills and cattle dung, which, being left of its natural colour, has the appearance of a light greyish stone. All this is performed by the women, who put it down and smooth it with their hands, finishing not only the house, but the outer walls and even the floor of the courtyard, with so much nicety that, as good housewives say at home, "you might eat off it." Raised seats are generally built in the form of segments of a circle, and these are as carefully smoothed over as the rest. The hut of a Bechuana chief at Vaal River was a model of neatness in its way; the walls had been marked off into blocks, zigzag lines had been traced on them, and uncouth patterns were painted in black or coloured clay over the low door of his inner chamber, which, hung round with antelope skins, was, as he said, very nice and warm--in fact, insufferably hot. The outer apartment was 3ft. or 4ft. broad, and ran all round the inner. The part nearest the door served as a reception room, and the remoter regions were used for the stowage of rough skins, household gear, the musket and ammunition, and large pots and calabashes of outchulla or native beer, which kept up a constant simmering as it fermented, and to the taste seemed very like spoiled vinegar. Large frames are made of wattled work, and coated with clay till they resemble capacious jars; in these the corn is stored, small roofs are raised over them, and the timber around is wastefully heaped up to form a kind of shelter from the sun for the chief and council to sit under.
The hartebeeste hut shown in the full-page camp scene in Kafirland, mostly used by colonial Hottentots, is simple and easy enough to make. It has one straight side, and one lean-to, and derives its name from its resemblance to the sloping back of the animal.
The huts of the Damaras are generally of very rude construction. A circle of sticks is planted in the ground, and the tops bent over and lashed together, generally with their own bark; they are then roughly wattled, and plastered over with clay and "kraal mist." Rain so seldom falls that they seem to take no precaution against it, preferring rather to risk the few drenching showers of the wet season than to take the trouble of making their huts waterproof. Sometimes the hides of the few cattle they slaughter are spread over their huts, and kept in their places by stones or heavy poles laid on them. In one respect only they have an advantage over the Kafir hut, and that is, the smoke escapes through the cracks and interstices of the roof. Internally there may be a dried hide to sit or sleep on, an earthen pot for cooking, a calabash or two, or a bambuse or wooden bowl for milk or water; two or three skins stripped off whole, as sacks for "uintjies" or earth nuts; and it may be an axe, of Ovampo, or more rarely of European, manufacture.
The box made of stiff leather, in which they carry grease and red ochre, may also be here; but, with the exception of their cattle, the Damaras seldom possess much more property than can be carried on the person.
The huts of the Berg Damaras are still more primitive; and sometimes they seek no other shelter than one or two small bushes, the lower branches of which are cut away, while the upper ones are brought together and interwoven--others being added if needful--and grass thrown loosely over all.
Indeed, small trees, with the lower branches cleared away, and the upper ones drawn together and interlaced, form very convenient huts or arbours. The Bechuana women, in making a kraal, beat the mimosa branches on the ground till they flatten them into a fan-like form, then they plant them side by side and interlace the branches.
The Namaqua Hottentots, the Makobas or canoemen of the B[=o]-tlét-t[=e] River, and many of the Bechuana tribes in the Orange River Sovereignty and elsewhere, build hemispherical frames of flexible wands, and cover them with mats of rushes like cheese mats. These are very neatly made. The Hottentots use flat awls, 18in. or 20in. long, for this purpose, but the Makoba awl is not more than 5 in. or 6 in. Small thongs of dressed antelope skin, or cords twisted from the fibres of different plants, are used for sewing the mats. These might be easily made by a traveller needing them, and he could best do it by having two or three needles of any convenient length, from 4in. or 5in. to 20in.; they should be flattened at the point, and pierced with an eye to carry the cord on which the reeds are strung. The most convenient method would be to fix the needles upright at the proper distance from each other, and then press upon them as many rushes as their length would allow; these, with the strings drawn through, should then be removed, and a fresh set threaded on, care being taken to see that the strings are kept clear, so that they reeve consecutively through all the rushes, and make a smooth uniform mat. Generally, however, it will be found that, where the proper materials grow, the natives will make and sell them cheaply enough. Mats of this description are much used by the natives of North-West America in hut building; the needles used in that country are not unfrequently 5ft. long.
{Crook and prong house, to build.}
It often becomes necessary for the traveller, if he contemplates a stay of a few months, or even weeks, in any one place, to build his own hut; and it is as well that this should be, if possible, somewhat superior in size and form to the dwellings of the natives around him. If the nature of the ground and the materials at hand will admit of it, this may as well be a house regularly walled and roofed, and at least the four corner posts, as well as the two which support the gables, should be firmly let into the ground. If care is taken to cut all these with a fork, so that the ridge pole of the roof may rest in the forks of the gable poles, and the wall plates in those of the four corner posts, the building will be much stronger, and the work greatly facilitated. The rafters may also have forks, which can rest upon the wall plate, but this would leave the thickest part of the branches upward; a little labour in thinning them off would remedy this, or they might, in favourable localities, be so chosen that it would be of very little consequence. Every alternate rafter should be reversed, so that its forks might help to support the battens. All the poles forming the side walls should have forks to help to support the wall plate, and those which form the sides of the doors or windows should be so selected that smaller forks, at the proper height, would serve to receive the sills of the door and windows. Such a frame as this would present the greatest amount of strength and firmness with the least possible necessity for lashing, pegging, or other fastening.
The sketch of the framework of a house indicates the manner in which the forks and branches may be used to the best advantage. If trees of proper size are abundant, the builder will be able to choose them so as to suit their places, with as much regularity as indicated in the drawing; if not, he must make the best of the materials.
The smaller framework beside it represents that of a hut we built at Depôt Creek. We set up three forked poles as a triangle at either end, laid a ridge pole between them, and lashed it firmly there. Rafters and battens were added, and we stripped off large sheets of tea-tree bark (Eucalyptus melaleuca?) to cover it. We also obtained some of the white-barked red-gum tree (Eucalyptus resinifera); but this is more brittle, and did not answer so well.
The roof may be covered with the reed mats already spoken of, one or two thicknesses of which, if the roof has a pitch of not less than 45°, will suffice to keep out rain; or it may be thatched with grass, reeds, or the broad leaves of the fan palm-remembering that, whatever material is used, it will cast off water much better if the point of the leaf is downward. The lowest course will be laid and securely fastened first; then the next, overlapping it; and so on to the top. This may be done by simply lashing the stalks of each course to the proper batten; or a thatching needle may be made of wood, smooth and flat, an inch or more in breadth, and pierced near the point with an eye to carry the lashing. The inner bark of many trees, though unfit to make cord which is to remain permanently flexible, will answer very well for this purpose; for if stripped as required, and used while still wet, it will tie in any knot, and bear straining tightly. It will hold well enough when dry, though it would not again bear working up, on account of its brittleness. The leaves of the Phormium tenax, of New Zealand, which grow much like those of the common flag, are very generally used in that country, just as they are gathered, for binding various matters. Excellent twine, thread, cloth, and rope are made from the fibre, as will be seen as our work proceeds.
The walls may be filled up, according to taste or necessity, with mats or reeds; or, if permanent shelter from bad weather is required, nothing is better than wattle and daub, and if the wattling is carefully done, and good clay or broken ant-hills and "kraal mist" used for the daub, a very neat job may be made of it. We have shared the hut of a sergeant of Sappers in the forest of the Pierie Hills in Kafirland, where he had a clay hearth, and wattle and daub chimney, and, though a roaring fire was kept up, he did not anticipate any danger. He had charge of a party who were cutting timber, and one noble "yellow wood" they had just felled was no less than 7ft. diameter at its base. The bush vines hung in long straight lines, like ropes from the upper branches of this tree; and on one of these, 60ft. or 80ft. long, and not more than an inch thick, the sergeant, who was a heavy man, raised himself, and swung to and fro without fear of breaking it. In fact, these vines may be used while green for many of the purposes of rope or cord. We have disentangled nearly 30ft., as fine and almost as tough as a small fishing line, from the forest in front of the Victoria Falls, and rolled it into a small coil; but once dry, it becomes brittle, and cannot be straightened. Some of these vines bear fruit, which, though not equal to the cultivated grape, is by no means to be despised.
When looking for a spot along the banks of the Zambesi on which to establish a camp and rebuild our boat, in September, 1862, Ave were warned by the natives who came to meet us against the pretty little sequestered spots beside the tributary rivulets, as they were certain to be infested by mosquitoes. We, therefore, having in view also the probability of being obliged to stay far into the unhealthy season, tried back about a mile, and selected a limestone spur which had a small valley between it and the higher range in its rear.
{Roof, to raise.}
This we named Logier Hill, after our old and steadfast friend in Cape Town; and, setting to work with a keen American felling axe, cut down the thorns and brushwood on the top, while the people assisted us in cutting or dragging the fallen bushes to the verge. Three mimosas, which were in a good position, we left standing, and added one for the fourth corner post. Then selecting flexible branches, we framed upon the ground an oval of corresponding size; on this with lighter poles (most of them the young straight branches of the "kookom boyou," a gigantic sterculia in general appearance, somewhat resembling the baobab), we framed a roof similar in form to that of a marquee, using for lashings the inner bark, stripped from the branches just mentioned. To lift this, as its weight was considerable in proportion to its strength, and all the people were away collecting poles or grass for the completion of our huts, was rather difficult, but we had fortunately a small coil of manilla line and a few blocks. With two of these we made a tackle, and lifting one side of the roof 2ft., supported it by a forked branch while we raised the rest, shoring it in the same manner all round, and then lifting it again and supporting it on longer forks till it was high enough to be fastened securely in its place. We placed forked uprights under it at proper intervals, but as the eaves projected considerably we did not find it necessary to close in the walls, but when the rain came on laid fresh poles upon the roof and thatched it with grass and reeds to the ground. For central supports we took two forked poles, and instead of setting them upright at the two ends of the ridge pole gained additional rigidity by crossing them like an X, and lashing them together in the centre. At one end, raised upon forks above 18in. high, we made a platform of small poles as straight as we could get them to serve for a bed, and when a buffalo was shot spread over it the dried hide to level it a little more. This platform was continued all round between the uprights and the eaves, and various stores were laid on it.
One advantage here was the immunity from the ravages of the white ant, which is seldom found in a limestone country. But as the rainy season came on hosts of the destructive little white-shouldered beetle that feeds on skins, preserved hides, and specimens of all kinds--seeming rather to enjoy arsenic soap and other preservatives--ravaged everything made of untanned leather; while other kinds, larger and still more unpleasant to the eye and touch, would actually commence eating the velschoens off our feet during the short meal time.
We should have preferred reeds for thatching, as when laid at a sufficient angle, say anything above 45°, they cast off water perfectly, although if laid at a lower angle they might be by no means water-proof. Of course the cut ends of the stems must be upward, and the leaves pointing down, or the water will be retained, and allowed to leak through instead of being thrown off; and this rule holds good when grass or such like material is used. If the roof of the hut be conical, the ends may simply be brought up and tied tightly together, or they may be worked into an ornamental form like those of the Bechuana (see p. 281). If it has a ridge as ours had, it must be covered with a horizontal layer, sufficiently thick to keep the water from insinuating itself between the meeting of the two sides.
In our own house we stretched the sails of our boat and calico tent within the roof to keep off any leakage during heavy showers, and added fresh poles and grass to the outside. Sir Richard Glyn, who visited the hill after we had been compelled to abandon it, and who returned to England before us, reported that our house was the strongest building of the kind he had ever seen.
{Bamboos, for building.}
In countries like the Indian islands, where bamboo can be obtained in any quantity and of any size, from a reed fit for a lady's arrow to one big enough for the mast of a small sloop, it is easy enough to build a house; the extreme strength and lightness of the material, with its glossy surface and neat and uniform appearance, rendering it in every sense most valuable for such purposes. Poles of uniform size may be planted closely so as to form a wall, or pillars may be placed more or less apart, and mats or blinds of smaller reeds, or larger ones split up, may occupy the intervals. Balconies, strong and sufficiently ornamental, may be formed; and the eaves of the roof may be made to project to any distance, so as to form an effectual verandah; while palisades or fences of any form or height may be constructed ad libitum.
Bamboo, from its polished siliceous covering, is, externally at least, proof against the ravages of the white ant, which destroys without mercy all the softer kinds of wood and vegetable or animal fibre, whether in the form of boxes, furniture, books, clothing, specimens of natural history or botany, drawings, or articles of necessity or luxury of any kind.
If thunderstorms are frequent or dangerous, a glass bottle on the highest point of the roof will act as a non-conductor, and may not unfrequently avert the flash that might otherwise destroy the building. It is not always, however, effectual.
{Doors and gates, to make and hang.}
Doors or gates may be made as closely worked or as open as may be desired; and, while upon this subject, it may be as well to mention a very convenient way of hanging them in the absence of regular hinges. The hinge side of the door or gate should be a standard of some strength, to which all the rest is framed and securely fastened with pegs or lashings; round this and the corresponding doorpost a strap or thong of leather or cord should be passed in figure of 8 fashion to form each hinge, or it may simply be passed round both and "seized" between them with smaller cords. This, however, will not hold the door with sufficient stiffness to let it swing true and easily; therefore, take a common ale or porter bottle, bury it neck downwards in the ground, leave the lower end of the standard somewhat longer than the door, point it a little, and insert it in the hollow at the bottom of the bottle--the gate will swing fairly on such a pivot, as it never gets out of order, and it may almost be said will never wear out.
The gate itself (Fig. 1) may be built of rough branches--one tolerably stout limb, for the hinge or swinging side, should have a good branch projecting from its lower part diagonally upwards to the upper part of the latch side; another fork, with its branches as nearly at right angles as possible, will form the latch side and top rail; and a third will make the lower one. Never be in a hurry to trim off small branches; generally they will weave in and add to the strength; and, if not, they are easily cut off afterwards. When the posts are set up on the ground, it is as well to char the ends as a protection against damp or wood-destroying insects; cut notches near the ends, and in them wedge good heavy stones--they will keep the posts firm, and in countries where there is frost nothing else can prevent their rising out of the ground. We found this arrangement very valuable in the Crimea. It is not necessary that the bottle should be whole; if the "cup" under the bottom is perfect, the broken edges of the sides will give it additional firmness.
In Fig. 2 the gate post has a fork, and another on the branch serving as the top rail makes the upper hinge. One of the other branches has a fork projecting from the lower angle and working on the gate post as a cutter's gaff does on the mast. This is easy to make, can be unshipped at a moment's notice, and hung up again as readily. Fig. 3 is a more regularly made gate on the same principle. The top rail has a hole working on the thinned upper part of the gate post, which is pierced with holes, and has a peg so that the gates may be raised or lowered as required; the lower part works on the gaff principle.
It is generally desirable to hang a gate so that it may shut of itself after it has been opened; and to ensure this, if iron hook and staple hinges can be had, let the hook of the upper hinge project a little farther from the gate post than the lower one, as in Fig. 5. If it is requisite that the gate should remain open--which is sometimes, though not often, the case--the upper hook should project less than the lower, as in Fig. 4. Generally, if the hinges be equal, the gate will hang in whatever position it may be left; but if the post inclines from the perpendicular to right or left, the gate will swing to the same side.
Very good standards for fences may be made by cutting half mortices in the opposite sides of a squared log, 4ft. or 5ft. long, as in Fig. 6, then cutting it into planks, and, before these are quite detached, sawing it down in the direction of the diagonal line; a pair of these are matched together, as in Fig. 7, and the lower end morticed into a flat plank so far as to let one hole come below it to receive a key to fix it there. The horizontal plank should rest upon a short log at each end, and it may be held in place by a couple of notched pegs driven into the ground.
{Walls, to build.}
Many of the natives of South Africa are very handy at building rough stone walls; but they require an overseer to insure the proper binding of the stones as they are laid. Some of their own countrymen may be found with skill enough for this. It is no use to build up two fair faces, as in Fig. 8, and then fill up the middle with loose stones--their weight would be sure to force out the sides and bring down the whole structure; but large flat stones should be chosen, as in Fig. 9, to reach either quite through the wall, or at least so far that the stones on the other side may meet and have a bond with them. Such walls, miles in length, are built without cement of any kind. If galvanised iron wire is to be used for fencing, to support upright rails, it is a good plan to have two rail-heads fixed at the proper distance, and to make the turns of the wire on these to insure each loop being equidistant, as in Fig. 10.
Chalk lines and measuring lines of all kinds suffer from being coiled or rolled up by hand--turns and kinks are put on or taken out of them; and it is much better to have reels, either like the log-reel of a ship, or like Fig. 11 (see p. 290), where a peg in the circumference of the disc serves as the crank by which to wind it up.
{Plank screens to make.}
Effective screens can be readily extemporised with planks of any kind and ropes; the simplest plan is to double the rope, making one part somewhat longer than the breadth of all the planks to be used, and leaving whatever spare end may be upon the other to hoist the screen by when finished. The first plank is laid in the bight of the rope, the two parts of which are then crossed and the next plank laid between them; they are crossed again for the third plank, and so on till all are inclosed. If there is not an eye on the shorter end of the rope, make a bow-line knot or two half hitches on it (see "Knots and Hitches"), and pass the longer end through; then lead the spare line at each end of your screen over the forks of trees, or sheer legs, or whatever support you mean to use, and hoist away simultaneously and carefully; for this arrangement, though perfectly strong and secure while every part remains in its proper place, is most easily disarranged; and in fact the great advantage of it is that, when no longer required, it can be shaken to pieces like a house of cards, leaving neither holes or imperfections in the planks nor kinks or knots in the rope. We have shown the boards rather far apart in our illustration for the sake of distinctness, they will lie closer, but they must always be separate by more than the thickness of the rope. They may be made to lie closer by omitting to cross the ropes and "stopping" them together with small cord, as in Fig. 2; or a perfectly weather-proof wall with overlapping edges may be obtained by looping the rope into a chain, as in Fig. 3, taking care to make the lower link well fast, for on this the security of the whole depends. To take this to pieces nothing more is necessary than to slip each loop off the end of the plank; let go the fastening of the lower end, and all the links of the rope chain will shake out.
Great firmness may be imparted to any of these arrangements by placing a small pole inside, and securing every plank to it by successive hitches of a smaller line, as in Fig. 4; or, if stouter poles be used, the walls may be built up in this manner, commencing from the bottom plank and fastening the upper ones as you go on. Each plan will have its advantages under peculiar circumstances. In the Indian islands, large hollow bamboos are either split into three or four parts, making somewhat rounded narrow planks, or an incision is made in the side of the cane, when it is opened out, laid flat, pressed, and converted into a single plank. Movable screens of considerable size are made in the same manner as in Figs. 1 and 2 already referred to.
{Makeshift shelves.}
A shelf is easily made by piercing holes in the four corners of a plank, passing lines through, and suspending it to a beam. A very neat set of bookshelves may be obtained by doubling two cords of sufficient length, working an eye in the bight of each, passing the ends down through the holes in the first plank, and turning double knots on them, so that it hangs fairly; then passing them through the next and knotting them, and successively through as many more planks as you require shelves.
{Reed houses, screens, and sheds.}
We have seen houses built by traders or missionaries almost entirely of reeds, some of which grow from 10ft. to 20ft. long and more than 1in. thick. Bundles of these, with the thin ends and butts reversed, and overlapping each other so as to equalise their strength as much as possible, are laid on the ground to serve for top, bottom, and centre battens; then across these the reeds are distributed in two or three layers, according to the required thickness of the wall; other battens are laid on the upper side to correspond with those below, and the cords--slips of bark, palm leaf, twisted grass rope, or thin and flexible forest creepers--are passed through to bind the whole tightly together. If a number of these are made say 12ft. or 15ft. square, they may easily be arranged on the framework of a house, or set up as a continuous fence. A trench is dug about 1ft. deep, the screen inserted in it, the earth well pressed down, and support is given either by shores, if needful, or by the next screen forming an angle with the first. If the wood of the country is more available for making hurdles, they can be used in the same manner.
We have had very excellent temporary stables and sheds erected in Central India, composed entirely of poles, cords, and grass, forming what is called "chupper" screens. These are formed by laying together double poles; in the space left between these poles long tufts of jungle grass are arranged, until the whole frame is filled up, when the sticks or poles, being tightly drawn together with cord, the grass is nipped between them, as shown in the above illustration. When in the Tartar country, we saw a number of very comfortable huts made by cutting out a kind of notch in the hill side. The space thus formed was first framed over with strong poles, and then covered with brushwood; a layer of turf covered all, and soon took root, forming feeding grounds for whole families of goats, which walked about on the houses quite at home. The fronts of these hill dwellings were composed of wicker work, plastered with clay. Logs were hollowed out by the Tartars almost as thin as paper, when their ends were stopped with clay. In those the bees laid up their stores of honey, which was taken as required, without disturbing the industrious swarm in the next log. The annexed illustration represents one of these huts and a pile of bee logs.
{Defensible farm-houses.}
During the Kafir war we visited the homestead of a Scottish farmer, who, although upon the very border, had gallantly determined to stand his ground, and to that end he had built a small defensible tower; the flat roof covered with raw hides, and surrounded by a loopholed parapet, and the only door fronted by a solid shield of brickwork, with a small aperture on one side, so that an enemy attempting to enter must do it in a stooping position, and before he could turn and straighten himself in the doorway, must present his head in the most convenient possible position to have it split by the defenders. A large water cask was kept filled in the fort, and even should the enemy gain possession of the lower room the women and children could still be tolerably safe in the upper, except from random shots fired upwards through the floor, and which of course could be returned in the same manner from above. Against fire their only defence lay in the supply of water we have already mentioned, but care was taken to have nothing inflammable in the lower room. There was no staircase; the ladder would be drawn up through the trap. The beams and flooring would require a considerable blaze to ignite them, and against any quantity of material being brought in for that purpose the defenders relied upon their rifles, or no less deadly smooth bores, loaded with loopers or buck shot.
{Blockhouse.}
Blockhouse, among military edifices, is, as its name implies, a building constructed chiefly of timber. If alone, it constitutes an independent fort; if formed in the interior of a field-work, it becomes a retrenchment or redoubt, and serves to protect the defenders from the inclemency of the weather when the work is occupied during a considerable time, or to prolong the defence when the work is attacked, and after it is taken to enable the garrison to obtain a capitulation. When the blockhouse is to be employed only as a retrenchment, its plan is generally a simple rectangle, and its walls consist of a single row of piles placed upright in the ground. These are pierced with loopholes at the distance of 3ft. from each other, in order that the building may be defended by a fire of rifles from within. The roof is formed by laying timbers horizontally across the inclosed area and covering them with fascines and earth. The interior breadth of the building may be from 18ft. to 20ft., in order to allow a passage between the two rows of bedsteads. These are placed with their heads to the side walls, and serve as stages on which the men may stand to fire through the loopholes when the latter are much elevated above the floor. In a mountainous country the blockhouse possesses great advantages over an ordinary field fort, inasmuch as the interior of the latter would be incessantly ploughed up by the fire of artillery directed into it by the enemy from the surrounding heights. Here, then, the blockhouse may with propriety be constructed as an independent work; its plan may have re-entering angles, or be in the form of a cross, in order to allow the faces to be defended by flanking fires from the rifles and revolvers from within; and the walls may be thick enough to resist even the shot from 9-pounder guns. For this purpose they must be made by planting parallel to each other, at a distance of 3 ft. or 4ft., two rows of strong piles, those in each row being close together, and the interval between the rows being filled with earth up to the height of the loopholes, which should never be immediately under the roof of the building. The roof must be made shell proof, as before; but it has been recommended, when the work is not overlooked by the enemy, and when its breadth will permit, to have the piles forming the side walls long enough to arise above the roof, and, either alone or with a mass of earth behind them, to serve as a parapet.
Where blockhouses have to be constructed among hostile or doubtful Indian tribes, who are not the possessors of artillery, the fascine and earth roof and double rows of piles may be easily and safely dispensed with.
Logs, squared with the axe and laid on each other, may be substituted for piles with advantage, as the labour of planting firmly in the earth so many ponderous beams of wood is considerable. It is well, in building a blockhouse, to construct a raised breastwork of small logs round the margin of the roof; these may be roughly squared and doweled together with short wooden pins. The roof itself should, after shingling, have a goodly layer of sand, earth, or raw hides laid over it in order to guard against the fire-tipped arrows of hostile savages. A few auger holes here and there serve to carry off rain water or melted snow, and the log breastwork can be both loopholed and fired over with ease.
Frontier blockhouses are usually built of squared logs of timber dowelled together; loopholes are made for firing rifles through, and portholes for one or two iron guns. Some frontier posts are merely squares of heavy log palisades, with all the requisite offices and buildings erected within them. A banquet runs from end to end of each side of the square in order that the defenders may command the attacking force. All trees and bushes within long shooting range are carefully removed so that there shall be no cover.
{Waggon burgs, to make.}
Bands of travellers in Africa not unfrequently so arrange their waggons as to form substantial defences against the attacks of hostile natives. We have often assisted in forming these so-called "waggon burgs." They are made as follows: One waggon, with all the women, children, and ammunition, is placed in the centre. Others are drawn up, each with its inner fore wheel nearly touching the outer hind wheel of the one before it, and forming just such an angle with it that the dozen or thereabouts of vehicles form an almost perfect circle, their poles and trek gear extending on the outside, so that the oxen can again be yoked to each without disorder or confusion. There is room inside for the horses and cattle beside the defenders; and, should danger be imminent, the waggons can be locked together by the drag chains, and all the interstices choked with thorn bushes, the stems of which thrust inward would be securely fastened by pegs driven into the ground, or by lashing branches, cut short for the purpose, to the inner wheels, or by "reims" or thongs reeved through the bifurcations; while the tangled branches would oppose a barrier that no enemy could force in the face of the bullets or the small shot that would be poured through. The gear of the oxen would also be brought in and used in strengthening the defences.
{Farm and village, to fortify.}
In rendering a farmhouse defensible regard must be had to the character of the expected enemy. In countries like South Africa, where the main object of the Kafir is the acquisition of cattle, the house ought to command and protect the kraal, the fence of which will often of itself form a shelter for the crafty foe. It is usually circular, as this form is most easily made, and will inclose the greatest number of cattle, with a given amount of material; but, if it were made triangular, with bastions on the two angles nearest, the guns of the defenders would sweep the other two sides, their fire crossing at the farthest angle, and leaving no place for an enemy to conceal himself. The house itself, with its outbuildings, should if possible be in the form of a square, inclosing as large a courtyard as is convenient for the accommodation of the defenders and their allies, and on emergencies for their horses, with a few sheep or oxen. If there be a spring or well in it so much the better; a ledge or bank, 18in. or 2ft. high, should run along the inside of the wall, so that the loopholes may be too high for the enemy to look in at or fire through; and there should be small chambers projecting from the angles, or at least from two diagonally opposite loopholed, so that each can enfilade two sides of the wall.
But perhaps it will be better, instead of describing an ideal defensible homestead, to give an example of a real one, which, though not quite perfect in a military view, was as nearly so as the accommodation required for the traffic and the work carried on there would allow. Our illustration is a plan, drawn from memory, of the village of Objimbengue, to the south of which (Fig. 1) is the flat sandy bed, 400yds. wide, of the Swakop River, filled only during the flooded season, but in the dry retaining a vast amount of water beneath the sand, while a little rivulet represented by the faint line appears here and there upon the surface. Fig. 2 is a low bank or foreshore, overgrown with wild tamarisks or dabbie bushes, and partly cleared for a garden (Fig. 3) in which is a well, and used in other places for corn land, care being taken to reap the crop before there is any possibility of its being swept away by the floods of the next season. On the east of the village is a small tributary, generally dry, called the Artip (Fig. 4), and beyond this, and the limits of the picture, would be the Mission House of Regterveldt and the Damara village, with its curious entrenchments scattered without order, but not without great judgment, over the face of the hill wherever a few men could find a place to shoot from. The trench (Fig. 5), fronted by the mound of earth thrown out of it, and by a breastwork of dabbie logs, made by the Damaras, formed the outer line of defence of his homestead, and he could in emergency have depended on a thousand men to man it. Fig. 6 is the opening for the southern road leading across the river from the country of the hostile Namaquas. Fig. 7, the road leading from Walvisch Bay; and Fig. 8, the continuation of it toward Lake Ngami, and Fig. 9 is the steep edge, 15ft. or 20ft. high, of the plain, on which the village is built. Fig. 10 is a small breastwork for a brass 1-pounder gun commanding the southern road, and Fig. 11 for another sweeping the open space to the south-east, where, in fact, an attack actually took place. The guns were, however, usually kept beside the house, where one served as a time gun, and they could easily be moved whenever they were wanted. Fig. 12 was a dwelling-house; the central space is open and would serve as a shelter for native fugitives, for horses, sheep, and a few of the most valuable working oxen; the front is composed of a voor-house or entrance-hall, usually occupied for general family purposes and reception of visitors, and before it is a verandah.
At each angle are rooms used as sitting or bed chambers; on the western side are spare chambers for the reception of guests; in the rear are kitchen, bath-room, and other offices; and on the east are store-rooms and the entrance gate. Fig. 13 is the wheelwright and waggon maker's shop; Fig. 14, the smithy; Fig. 15, the sawpit; Fig. 16, the tiring plate; Fig. 17, small trenches with angular mounds before them, commanding the eastern gate of the village; Fig. 18, the graveyard; Fig. 19, the workmen's cottages; Fig. 20, the slaughter-house and waggon-shed; the walls of all these buildings being musket-proof, and the windows more or less convenient for firing from. Figs. 21 and 22 are stoutly stockaded cattle kraals; they were both square, but the triangular outline of Fig. 21 shows what would be gained in defensibility and lost in accommodation by adopting that form; Fig. 22 has small "scherms" at the angles protected by the fire from the house, and commanding the other two sides; Fig. 23 is a storehouse, adding but little to the strength of the position, but indispensable for its use. The dotted lines indicate the directions of effective fire from the dwelling-house.
In most frontier villages the church, as the most substantial building, is used as a place of refuge, and as a last stronghold against savage assailants; and on the east coast, the natives, when they throw up a rough tower of defence, always call it by the Portuguese name, "Egregia," or church.
{Churches, to fortify.}
We have seen the church at Shiloh converted into a very pretty little fortification by one of our own engineer officers. Bastions were raised at the angles of the outer wall, the building itself was unthatched, and a breastwork, with loopholes, raised upon the walls.
We have known friends who have had to entrench their waggons for months among tribes whose friendship was dubious; and they seemed to prefer that, especially for a night attack, or for a sentry's accommodation, the embankment should be behind the trench, and not before it, so that they might look from the very edge of the pit and see the dark figure of an approaching enemy against the sky, whilst they would be invisible against the mound behind them; whereas, if the mound were in front, they would have to raise their heads to look over it, and an enemy creeping close to the ground, would be absolutely invisible, and would, moreover, be able to see clearly the elevated figure of the sentry.
{Mission churches, plans for building.}
We have on several occasions been asked to draw plans for churches on remote stations, and for defensible farmhouses; in the former case, regard must be had to the nature of the materials at the disposal of the missionary, to the number of the congregation he wishes to accommodate, and also to the number and skill of the assistants, whether European or native, he can employ or persuade to join in the work. Generally, it is better so to draw the plan that a portion of the church may be commenced, and sufficiently furnished for almost immediate use; while the remainder is left to be finished as the congregation increases, and as the tribe become more and more alive to the benefit conferred on them by religion and civilisation. Some regard must also be had to the doctrinal views of the missionary requiring the plan.
If, as is frequently required, the men and women of the congregation are to be separately seated, the best form is that of the Greek cross, and the seats of the men must be placed in one arm and those of the women in the other; while the position of the pulpit, with its back against the angle of the other two, gives every individual a fair opportunity of seeing and hearing the minister.
Where this regulation does not prevail, the Latin cross is the best form; the longest limb lying east and west affords space for the congregation and the preacher. The wings or shorter limbs on the north and south give very great support to the walls, and serve for vestries or other offices; the tower and porch at the eastern end form the continuation of the longer limb, and it should also be capable of increase if necessary, by the addition of a smaller continuation at the western end.
In this case, too, it is the part intended for the congregation that should be first built. It is most probable that the materials would be rough unhewn surface stones, for powder to blast out more solid material would be expensive. Tools for quarrying would be unattainable, and men with skill or industry to work them even still more so, while ant-hill clay would be the only available cement, unless the erection should be in a limestone district, or near a beach, where shells in abundance could be procured and burnt into lime.
Bricks are often made, but they are frequently of inferior clay, and often merely sun-dried, or inefficiently burned, and are in no case equal to the well-squared and hardened article known by the same name in England.
It would, therefore, be prudent not to make the walls more than 10ft. or 15ft. in height, and to allow at least 2ft. of thickness at the base for every 10ft. of height, and even then they ought to be supported by buttresses not more than 20ft. apart; the top should not be less than 12in. or 15in. in width, and if good planks for wall plates cannot be procured, they ought to be rather more to allow for the proper bedding in of rough substitutes. The roof must have a pitch of 45° to enable it to throw off water in the rainy season, and each rafter must be two-thirds the width of the building to the outside of the walls, and so much more as is required for the projection of the eaves.
If, therefore, rafters can be procured 20ft. in length, of which 2ft. are required for projection, this will leave 18ft., and the possible width of the church may be found by adding half the length of the rafter thus--18+9=27--27ft. to the outside of the walls, or about 24ft. in the clear; this, with 4ft. of passage down the centre will give two benches of 10ft. capable of accommodating six persons each. Each sitter ought to have 3ft. of space from front to rear, although it is possible to sit in 2ft.; thus, a space of 60ft. would accommodate a congregation of 240 or 360 persons, according to the room allowed.
In many cases the fitting-up of benches may be deferred, as the natives will sit naturally on the ground, or will bring their own seats with them. At least 15ft. or 20ft. ought to be reserved for the pulpit and the communion table, and this would give an aisle of 80ft. long by 24ft. wide.
A high gable and Gothic window is doubtless a great ornament to a church, but it would be dangerous to build the wall 15ft. higher for that purpose; and it is much better, therefore, to make the end no higher than the sides, and let the roof incline at an angle of 45° instead of having a gable end.
The windows must be small, and it is better to make them lancet-shaped and narrow; if the buttresses are 20ft. apart there may be two windows, 2ft. wide between each. The rafters ought not to come over the windows, even if the wall plates be good, but ought to rest on the solid space between them.
The rafters are half checked at each end to the cross-beam and let into checks on the king-post; thus (Fig. 1) struts to the beam will considerably strengthen them, and if these are fitted into checks nailed on instead of being mortised or half checked in, the strength will not be impaired. Fig. 2 shows more clearly the manner in which the square ends of the rafters abut on the king-post. If it should be desirable to avoid having cross-beams the rafters may be framed as in Fig. 3; but unless this is very substantially done the weight of the roof is apt to expand them and force the walls outward. We, therefore, advise the common form, at least until the assistance of skilled workmen can be procured. The upper part of the king-posts may be a forked branch, and the ridge pole will lie very nicely in this.
{Makeshift houses, foundations, and fences.}
In extemporising rough frame-houses in dry countries, the foundation is a matter of small importance; generally, when the ground is cleared, a place sufficiently hard and smooth, and a little elevated so that rain may not flood the house, is easily found. But sometimes a foundation must be formed, not only to afford a support to the fabric, but to raise the floor above the influence of damp or of low-lying noxious vapours. We have heard of barges or vessels being grounded and houses built upon them, and have in fact seen instances of this as well as of the deck houses being removed from wrecks and set up, sometimes raised on low walls, forming very comfortable habitations ashore, and of tents being set up as roofs over walls of rough stone. We have heard of the foundations of a house in San Francisco being laid with the 21lb.-sized oblong boxes of tobacco with which the market had been glutted. In Cape Town, when meat was a few halfpence a pound, we have seen bullocks' heads used as stop-gaps in the fences near Green Point. The cores of bullocks' horns are not unfrequently used for the same purpose in this country. In Walvisch Bay we saw bags of coarse salt used as part of the foundation of the original wooden shed in which, notwithstanding its lowly appearance, many a traveller has found so hospitable a reception.
We wondered a little at first at the use of such a material on a beach overflowing for miles at every spring tide, but found it was protected from actual contact with the sea by an embankment of sand, supported by posts and planking. Rain would not occur perhaps once in two years, and the fresh water from the Kuisip overspread the flats so rarely that such a contingency was hardly taken into account. The bags and their contents seemed to be in a normal state of dampness, but did not appear to waste in consequence of it.
When more commodious houses were required, the samphire, that formed the only vegetation on the flats, was collected by the Hottentot women, spread in layers alternated with sand well trodden down into it until mounds were formed about 4ft. high. On one of these a store was erected of corrugated iron, and on another the Rhenish missionaries built a wooden house they had brought out in frame, so solid and substantial, as to prove that timber in the land it came from was of far less value than metal or any other material. Perhaps for parties who can afford the carriage, corrugated galvanised iron houses offer as convenient a method as any of obtaining accommodation sufficiently permanent, and yet easily removable. The rigidity imparted by the corrugation could not be attained by any thickening of plain sheets, while scarcely more room is required in packing; for although one sheet of plain iron occupies much less room than one of corrugated, the sheets of the latter fit so closely one upon the other that a dozen or twenty require not much more space than one. Dr. Livingstone took a house of this kind to the Zambesi in 1858; it formed a very efficient shelter for our stores on Expedition Island, but, as we never made any permanent camp beyond the Portuguese town of Tette, it was not again required. The sheets, however, used separately or together in any number according to the weight they were to support, formed excellent bases for tables, beds, settees, as well as benches, raised a few inches from the floor, on which to store such things as we wished to preserve from the white ants.
{Buildings of the Portuguese in Africa.}
At Tette, on the Zambesi, there are ridges running parallel to the banks of the river, with hollows between them, which may have served as supplementary channels during extraordinary floods; and, to avoid the low-lying malaria, which is of greater specific gravity than common air, the Portuguese colonists erect their houses on these ridges. The hollows serve as streets or roadways, and also as channels to carry off the deadly exhalations, which, being heavier than air, naturally seek the lowest level. The dwelling rooms are also further elevated by being built over a basement, which serves as a store-room, the elevation of a few feet frequently making all the difference between the chance of catching fever and of escaping it. In these store-rooms they build isolated platforms about 3ft. high, on forked posts of hard wood, which are carefully swept every morning, while salt is strewed around their base to prevent the white ants approaching. Probably tar or turpentine would have the same effect, but in remote regions these are not always at command. The tarred wood of our iron house was never touched; and the camphor wood of India is valued very much on account of its immunity from their attacks.
When the Portuguese on the Zambesi build large houses that are to be divided into rooms, they build into the central and side walls a row of pillars, into the thickness of which stout poles are built, with the forks left upon them, and perhaps other rows of pillars without the connecting walls are built for the verandah.
Dr. Kirk, when consulted as to the best method of colonising the Shire, or Sheeree River, gave it as his opinion that the estates lying low in the fertile valleys should be cultivated by natives only (who in their own country do not seem susceptible to the deadly influence of fever, though when removed to another locality that is not perceptibly worse, they are as liable to be attacked as Europeans), and that the proprietors should have their residences upon the hills, as far as possible above the level of the malaria, with a small military force at their disposal, to keep order when necessary among the inhabitants of the valley. This certainly appears to be the only feasible plan of occupying such a country with any benefit to the various parties concerned.
{Rio Negro huts.}
An Indian cottage, on the banks of the Rio Negro, has been thus described:--"The main supports are trunks of some forest tree, of heavy and durable wood; but the light rafters are the straight, cylindrical, and uniform stems of the Jará palm. The roof is thatched with the large triangular leaves of the Caraná palm in regular alternate rows, neatly bound with sipos or forest creepers. The door is a frame of thin strips of wood neatly thatched over. It is of the split stems of the Pashiuba palm. In one corner is a heavy harpoon for cow-fish; it is of the black wood of the Pashiuba barriguda. By its side is a blowpipe, 10ft. or 12ft. long, and a little quiver of small poisoned arrows hangs near it. With these the Indian procures birds for food or for gay feathers, or shoots the hog or tapir; and it is from the stem and spines of two palms that they are made. His great bassoon-like musical instruments are of palm stems; the cloth to wrap his valued feather ornaments is a fibrous palm spathe, and the rude chest for his treasures is woven from palm leaves. His hammock, his bowstring, and his fishing line are fibres of palm leaves; the first from the miriti, and the other two from the tucum. The comb on his head is the hard bark of a palm. He makes fish-hooks of the spines, or uses them to puncture on his skin the peculiar markings of his tribe. His children eat the agreeable red and yellow fruit of the pupunha or peach palm, and from the assai he has prepared and offers you a favourite drink. A carefully-suspended gourd contains oil from the fruit of another, and the long elastic-plaited cylinder used for squeezing dry the mandiocca pulp to make his bread is of the bark of one of the singular climbing palms which alone can resist for any considerable time the action of the poisonous juice. In each of these cases a species is chosen adapted to the special object to which it is to be applied, and often having different uses which no other plant can serve so well."
{Papuan tree houses.}
The arboreal dwellings of the Horaforo tribe in New Guinea have been thus described by Dr. J. Coulter:--"Against each tree rested a notched pole, and at a whistle from the chief, answered by hundreds of similar sounds in every direction, natives with flambeaux flitted down the poles till the whole forest was brilliantly illuminated. In fact, they had their houses, or rather nests, in the trees, and when they retired for the night the pole was hauled up to prevent surprise. These abodes were made by thinning away some of the branches, and laying horizontal poles on others sufficiently stout to bear them; the uprights are cut with forks, which rest on the lower branches, while their upper ends are lashed with cocoa-nut fibre to those above; the sides are formed by bamboos lashed closely together; the roofing is also of cane covered by sheets of thick bark sewed together, and perfectly proof against the heavy rains. The flooring is laid with split bamboos and light wood, and the walls are lined with stout matting, which gives sufficient shelter against the piercing winds. The shape varies according to the spread of the tree; sometimes when they extend all round an extensive house is made to inclose the whole tree; the smallest will measure 16ft. square, but sometimes they are longer and less wide; and when the whole tree is built in they are three times as large. They are perfectly safe, for the lower branches are as thick as an ordinary tree."
{American Indian lodges.}
The lodges of the North-American Indians are perhaps the most convenient residences which could be devised for people of their nomadic habits. The lodge poles, or supports, are made from tough durable wood, well-grown young saplings being selected for the purpose. On the line of march they are, by fastening them to a sort of pad, secured on each side of a horse, or even dog. The ends trail on the ground like the skids of a sledge, and are packed with various odds and ends, which are prevented from falling off by cross-bars and a lashing of hide or twisted bark rope, as shown in the full-page illustration. When the camp is about being formed, the poles are freed from their attachments and set up in a circle, forming an irregular cone, the apex of which consists of the converging and collected ends of the poles, through which the smoke escapes. The lodge covers are made from prepared skins, on which are depicted, in rough outline, some of the most noteworthy achievements and events in the life of the owner. The lower borders of the skin covers are secured to the ground with pegs, whilst thongs are made use of for binding the poles in places and uniting the skins. The tracks of the trailing lodge poles in the sand, or across the plains, may be looked on by the traveller as peaceful indications, as, where the lodge gear is, the squaws and papooses will be found. On the war path all such impedimenta are left behind in some place of safety.
The full-page illustration, representing "Indian Lodges," will serve to explain the manner in which dwelling places of this description are set up.
{Fuegean pole houses.}
Some of the natives of Terra del Fuego construct small but tolerably comfortable huts from straight trimmed poles; these are arranged in a shallow pit, the exact size of the floor of the intended hut; they are arranged side by side in conical form, the tops of all the poles being brought together become self-supporting. All the interstices, except those where the heads of the poles come together (which form exits for the smoke), are filled in tightly with a mixture of clay and thick soft moss. Huts thus built will resist the action of the heaviest storms, and are tolerably dry. Peat, when cut in slabs or blocks, makes a valuable building material. We once built a shooting house, or rather hut, near the banks of a large river with this substance. We thatched it with reeds laid over willow poles. The door was made of wicker work covered with clay; the hinges were twisted willows. The window was made of oiled paper; the fireplace was plastered with clay, and we mounted a small barrel in lieu of a chimney pot. The fuel used was peat, so there was no danger of its taking fire.
{Hutting in the Arctic regions.}
In a continuous Arctic winter the usual relations of fluids and solids are so completely changed that entirely new necessities arise, accompanied by as novel means for supplying them. Water, either for drinking or other purposes, is as scarce as in the driest parts of India or Africa; for though in temperate countries it may be a luxury to let a piece of ice melt in the mouth, the expenditure of animal heat in thawing a mouthful of snow in the Arctic regions would be greater than even the most robust constitution could afford.
Water, in fact, unless kept in constant agitation, loses its fluidity. A sheet of ice is as dry as a piece of glass, and snow seems to have no more moisture in it than the dust of the highway on a Derby day.
Owing to this quality snow does not accumulate on small surfaces elevated and exposed to the wind. Captain Parry found that from the roof of his vessel a fresh breeze invariably carried off any snow that had settled on it in calm weather, and also from the masts, yards, sails and rigging. His opinion is that in high latitudes the less the ship is dismantled the better, for the frost does not hurt the gear, and no harm can occur from thawing till the season for refitting arrives.
Should you at any time be so situated as to be compelled to winter on board ship in the Arctic regions, it will be well to follow the plan pursued by Dr. Kane to render his ship and cabin as cold proof as possible. He procured large quantities of moss and turf, with which the quarter-deck was thickly covered. Down below he inclosed a space about 18ft. square, and packed the walls forming it, from floor to ceiling, with the same materials. The floor was carefully caulked with plaster of Paris and common paste, on this was laid a stratum of Manilla oakum 2in. thick, and over this deposit a canvas carpet was spread. The entrance was from the hold, by a long moss-lined passage or tunnel, formed after the manner in which the Esquimaux arrange the "topsut," or rabbit-burrow like passage which leads to their huts, as shown in the illustrations at pp. 313 and 315. A number of doors and curtains were then constructed at such points as afforded a chance for the ingress of cold. This moss nest, or den, was constructed to accommodate ten men.
The outside of the ship was banked up with moss, and over that a thick bank of snow was made.
The snow, indeed, when lying in proper thickness, and sufficiently compressed, forms the best possible material for building. Cold as it is in itself, it seems to act as a non-conductor of heat; and if an internal structure, however slight, can be set up, the thicker the outer wall of snow is made the better. Captain Parry's men proceeded in the following manner: In banking the snow against the ship's sides, a wall of sufficient height was built about 4ft. from them, and loose snow was thrown in till it covered nearly the whole of the upper works; about 8in. of snow was also laid on the decks and hatches, and above this a layer of sand cemented by water, for the double purpose of preventing the escape of heat from below, and saving the planks from being rifted by the frost; and the waste heat of the galley fire was utilised by making the funnel pass up through a tank, which was kept filled with snow, thus without any extra fuel producing 65galls. of water per diem. A wall of snow, 12ft. high, was built at a distance of 25yds. all round the ship, to afford a comfortable shelter from the wind. It is also essential to make and keep always clear of ice a 'fire-hole,' from which water can be procured at any moment in case of need.
The observatory was built on shore: first of planking lined with canvas, with a layer of turf outside, and completed by an extra thickness of solid slabs of snow; it was flat-roofed, and as small as possible, the instrument room being 8ft. square, and the working room 5ft. by 8ft., thus economising either natural or artificial heat. In fact, it seems that the primary object in building a house is to make the actual dwelling room as small as possible, and the passage to it so long and narrow, that it requires almost a long journey to reach the external air. Dr. Hayes describes a snow house, or rather cave, dug by an Esquimaux in a snow drift that had collected in a sheltered hollow. He dug downward first about 5ft., then horizontally about 10ft. more, tossing the detached snow blocks out behind him, and then began to excavate his cavern, to which, when finished, he built a doorway just large enough to crawl through. The floor was covered with a layer of stones, and then with several layers of reindeer skins; the walls were also hung with skins; two native lamps lighted, a skin hung across the doorway, and he and his family were "at home," the temperature soon rising to the freezing point.
The doctor's temporary encampments were thus formed: A pit is dug 18ft. long by 8ft. wide and 4ft. deep; over the top are placed the oars to support the sledge; over the sledge is the boat's sail, and on that is thrown loose snow. In one end of this den is a small entrance hole, closed with blocks of snow; over the floor is a strip of india-rubber cloth; over this two buffalo skins, between which the whole party of twelve pack themselves as closely as possible, the only change of costume being to take off the boots and stockings and replace them with sleeping hose of reindeer skin. A pot of hot coffee, or a hash of dried meat and preserved potatoe, cooked over a lamp of oil or alcohol, forming the repast, of which the most estimable quality is its warmth. Captain Parry, being rather surprised at the short time in which an Esquimaux village sprung up near the vessel, induced some of the natives to build a hut, and found that two or three hours were enough to complete the establishment. The only materials are snow and ice, the latter being only used for windows. A number of slabs of compact snow, 6in. or 7in. thick and 2ft. long, are cut and laid edgewise in a circle, on a level spot, covered with snow, from 8ft. to 15ft. in diameter; on this is a second tier, sloping a little inward, each slab made to fit closely by running a knife along its edges, the top is then smoothed off with the knife, and the builder, standing in the centre, receives the slabs for the successive tiers from the men outside. When the walls are 4ft. or 5ft. high they begin to lean inward, so that it appears as if the blocks laid on them would fall; but the workman still goes on raising and closing in the hemispherical walls, and when they have become too high for the slabs to be handed over to him he cuts a hole at the bottom with his knife and has them passed through. The dome is often 9ft. or 10ft. high, and it is carefully finished by the men outside dropping the nicely rounded block that serves as a keystone, to be received and fitted by the man within. The outside workers heap snow round the foundations, and carefully stop up any accidental holes between the blocks. The builder lets himself out by cutting an arch 3ft. high and 2-1/2ft. wide, and from this they construct two passages--end to end--each 10ft. or 12ft. long and 4ft. or 5ft. high, the lowest being next the hut, as shown in the outline ground plan. The roofs of these passages are sometimes arched, and at others covered with flat slabs.
If a single apartment is required the hut is now complete, but if several families are to reside together the passage is made common to all, the first hut becoming a kind of antechamber, and is commonly a little smaller than the rest, which are entered by arched doors 5ft. high. Sometimes the ground plan assumes the form of a cross, as in the instance we now illustrate. A hole is cut into the side of each compartment, and a circular plate of ice 3in. or 4in. thick, and 2ft. in diameter, let into it. The light is like that transmitted through ground glass, and is quite sufficient.
A bank of snow, 2-1/2ft. high, round the interior of each room, except near the door, forms the bed and fireplace, the former occupying the sides and the latter the end opposite the door. The beds are made by covering the snow with a layer of stones, on which are spare paddles, tent poles, whalebone, pieces of network, and a quantity of birch twigs, reindeer skins in profusion are heaped on these, creating not only a comfortable but a luxurious resting place.
The fireplace is a shallow vessel of stone, the wick is of moss rubbed dry between the hands, disposed along the straight edge for about 18in., it supplies itself from a long strip of blubber hung near enough to be melted gradually, and drop slowly into the hollow of the stone; over the lamp is a network, on which wet boots or mittens are usually laid. Frequently there are two other lamps in the corners next the door, for no married woman or widow can be without her separate fire.
With all the lamps lighted, and the room full of people and dogs, the thermometer on the net over the fire stands at 58°; 2ft. or 3ft. away it falls to 32°, close to the wall it is 23°, the temperature of the open air being at the same time 25° below zero. If the temperature is raised higher than this, the melting of the roof causes great inconvenience; but when an inclination to drip is observed, a patch of cold snow is plastered on to absorb the superfluous heat. In the time between the extreme cold of winter, and the season when it is possible to live in tents, the natives suffer much from this melting of their walls.
The cooking is done in pots of hollowed stone (lapis ollaris), slung over the lamps. Many of these are cracked, but are joined by lacings of sinew, or rivets of copper, iron, or lead, which, with a sufficient coating of dirt, makes them again watertight. Their knives are sometimes of ivory, but the best are of iron, obtained from the Hudson's Bay Company.
They procure fire by striking two pieces of iron pyrites over a leather case with dried moss in it, and a little floss from the seed of the ground willow helps to convey the flame to a bit of oiled wick--sometimes the wick for the lamp is made of asbestos.
At times, especially in the commencement of the winter, the huts are built of ice instead of snow. They approximate to a circular form, but from the flatness of the material necessarily present a number of flat sides and obtuse angles. They are cemented entirely with snow and water, and roofed with skins, which are replaced by snow as winter advances. The entering tunnels are also of slabs of ice, as are the kennels for bitches and puppies. The skin canoes are propped up on slabs of ice high enough to be out of the reach of the dogs. The semi-transparency of the walls give these huts a strange effect, and some of our later voyagers have called them crystal palaces; but all the purity, either of ice or snow, disappears, and whatever cleanliness the Esquimaux possess is forced upon them by the annual thawing of their houses.
The summer tents are made of several seal or walrus skins, the former without the hair, and the latter with the thick outer coat taken off, and the rest shaved down so thin as to admit light through them. They are irregularly sewn together, forming a kind of oval bag, supported in the middle by a pole of several deers' horns or bones of other animals lashed together. On the top of this is a cross or T-piece, which serves to extend the top of the tent, 6ft. or 7ft. from the ground the lower part of the tent pole rests loosely on a large stone, from which any accident will knock it off. The borders of the skins are kept down by stones laid on them, and the top is stayed by a thong on the outer side, stretching to a heavy stone at some distance. The door is merely two flaps, one of which overlaps the other, secured by another stone.
Sometimes a little shelter from the wind is given by an outer wall of stone.
If a larger tent is required, two of these bags are made to overlap at the edges, and are set up with a couple of poles.
The accumulation of seal and walrus flesh and blubber during the summer months makes these habitations disgustingly filthy; but it is to be remembered that the great necessity of the Esquimaux is to keep himself warm, and he cannot afford to lower the temperature of his skin by washing off the grease and dirt which encrust it.
On one experimental trip Captain Parry was compelled by a sudden decrease of temperature to shelter his party in a small tent. They attempted to warm themselves by smoking, and found the temperature at their feet to be 1° below zero, while overhead the smoke had raised it to +7°, the outer air being -5°, soon falling to -15°. It was then found possible to dig a kind of cavern in the snow, the spade being lent as a favour to the men who most required to warm themselves, a small fire and a pot of soup were made, and by confining the smoke and hot air the temperature was raised to +20°, while outside it was -25°.
Chapter V
EXTEMPORE BRIDGES AND MAKESHIFTS FOR CROSSING RIVERS OR RAVINES.
The solitary traveller in a wild country will be very rarely compelled to construct his own bridge, for, as a general rule, he will only have to pass once, or at most to return by the same route. The labour of making a bridge would be greater, and more time would be lost, than by seeking for a practicable passage at some distant point, or, in case a river was the impediment, forming a float of some kind.
{Swamp roads, to make.}
There are, however, occasions when there is no alternative but bridge-making, as when exploring expeditions, accompanied by pack animals, or a field force on the march, have rivers, swamps, ravines, or, perchance, rotten ice, to pass over. Where there is not water enough to float a canoe, but where there is sufficient to cause the formation of deep pools and dangerous mire, over which few animals used for the conveyance of baggage could pass without the aid of some artificial footway, narrow deep channels may be very often rendered comparatively easy to cross by filling them up with bundles of brushwood or marsh reeds. We were constantly in the habit, when engaged in making forced marches through Central India, of making use of the stalks of the recently cut juhari for this purpose. Unsafe ice can be rendered firm and secure by strewing a thick layer of reeds over it, and then throwing water enough to cause the whole to freeze into a compact mass.
Before, however, proceeding to describe the various modes usually had recourse to for rendering trees available for bridging purposes, it will be well to give a few plain and practical directions for ascertaining the width of rivers, ravines, and the arms of swamps, without the aid of scientific instruments, and also for finding, by makeshift modes, the altitude of trees.
TO FIND THE WIDTH OF A RIVER WITHOUT INSTRUMENTS.
Fig. 1. If you have a pocket compass, and the river runs, say east and west, and you are on the south side, choose a well-defined tree, A, or other object on the opposite shore, and bring it to bear north of you; mark your position by putting in a stake or peg, B, turn to one side, say the left, and walk westward till A bears north-east, which will be the case at C; then C B will be exactly equal to B A, or the breadth of the river, because from the point C, A will bear north-east, and B will bear east, subtending an angle of 45°, and as the line C B is east, and B A is north, they subtend an angle of 90°, or a right angle, and must be of equal length; the triangle you have formed being the half of a square, divided by a diagonal line from corner to corner.
If you have room repeat this by walking east till A bears north-west from D; and if the first operation has been correctly performed, the second will confirm it; or if the first be in error, it is likely that the second will be exactly as much in error the opposite way, and the mean of the two observations will be approximately correct.
Fig. 2. If you have not a compass, choose A as before, set in a stake at B, and prolong the line to C; then on this line erect a perpendicular by looping a cord on the stake at C, and with a sharpened peg held at the other end of it drawing the arc, D E; then, making D and E equidistant from B, draw through these three points the line D B E F; on this line retire toward F till A and B form an angle of 45°, which may be measured either by folding a square of paper diagonally, or by pegging out a piece of string divided into two lengths of 24in. and one of 32in. See that the longest or diagonal side bears truly upon A, and one of the shorter sides on B, which will take place at the point F, then F B will be equal to B A, or the breadth of the river. Repeat this also if the ground allows, on the opposite side G, and take the mean of the two observations.
The correctness of all these observations may be greatly increased by resting your rifle on each successive point, and carefully sighting all the lines with it.
Fig. 3. Another excellent and simple plan is--choose A; set in B; from B erect the perpendicular B C, C D, divided equally at C; from D erect the perpendicular D E; retire along it till the stake C bears truly upon A, which will be at F, then F D will equal B A.
Fig. 4. If the river bank is so curved that you cannot draw B C D at right angles, you have two alternatives. If there is plenty of room retire as far as you please from the bank before planting the stake B, and deduct from the result the distance you retire from the bank. Or, if there is not room, you may draw B C D, as in Fig. 4, diagonally, and contrive to keep D E as nearly parallel to A B as you can; but any defect in parallelism will greatly affect the correctness of your measurement, as will be evident from the dotted line G.
Fig. 5. If the river is wide, choose A as before; set in B, and retire any measured distance, say 6yds., to C; then from B and C erect perpendiculars of equal length, and draw the square B C, D E; test it by stretching a cord from corner to corner; then, prolonging the line C E, bring the stake D in one with A, and produce the line A D till it intersects C E at F; then divide F E into six parts, measure as many of them as you can on the line E D, and you will find as many of them as there are yards on the line B A; therefore, in the present instance, 11yds. will be the breadth of the river, and one may be deducted because the marks are not close to the edge of the banks; or say, as E F is to E D so is B D to B A.
Fig. 6. To erect a perpendicular on a given point on any line, measure equal distances on either side; set in pegs, loop a cord on them alternately, and strike two arcs, their intersection will be perpendicular to the given point. To cross the end of a line by another at right angles, set a peg some distance back, loop a cord on it, and strike an arc. Measure equal distances from the end of your given line to the arc, then a line drawn through the three points will be at right angles to the first.
A scale of equal parts may be made by folding a slip of paper in half, then folding each part in half, and so subdividing it as much as you wish, but do not fold it in half, and then double the two parts to get the quarters at one operation, and then double the four parts to get the eighths, or you will find them come out very unequally.
A measuring tape may be made by taking a narrow white tape, say 1/4in., and winding it on a slip of card barely an inch wide, just so little spirally that each turn may not half cover the preceding one, then carefully blacken the edges, and, when you unwind the tape, mark every twelfth inch with figures to denote feet, and every sixth with an extra line.
A square is made by taking a sheet of paper, folding the corner down so that the edge of the end coincides with the edge of the side, and then cutting off the superfluous length, each corner of the square is an angle of 90°, i. e., a right angle or a quarter of the compass, say from north to east. The diagonal fold makes at each corner an angle of 45°, or four points of the compass, say from north to north-east; fold this again, and it will give 22-1/2°, or two points of the compass, from north to north-north-east, and this may again be subdivided if needful.
We have often tried the breadth of rivers by firing a rifle ball at some well-defined mark on the other side, with the sight adjusted to 100yds. or more, according to the estimated distance, and noticing whether the ball reached beyond or fell short of the mark. The habit of doing this very greatly corrects and assists the eye in forming estimates of distance. A good stone thrower ought to know the range he can make with pebbles of different sizes. If a native is near buy one of his least valued arrows or spears, and get him to throw it across, and then ask him to throw a similar one on ground where you can recover it and measure the distance, but never ask a savage to throw away weapons of the chase for nothing. In calm weather, we have fired a rifle ball, with its utmost range, on the surface of a lake, and have counted seconds from the time we saw the splash till we heard the sound of its fall. Sound travels 1142ft. in a second, or about a statute mile in 4-3/4 seconds, or a geographical mile--or rather one minute of latitude, or of longitude on the equator--in 5-3/4 seconds.
TO FIND, WITHOUT INSTRUMENTS, THE HEIGHT OF A TREE OR OTHER OBJECT, WHOSE BASE IS ACCESSIBLE.
Fig. 1. Fold down a square of paper from corner to corner, and you will obtain a triangle, of which two of the sides form a right angle, and the third, or diagonal, forms an angle of 45° with each of them (see next page). Make a mark upon the tree 5ft., or the height of your eye, from the ground, and retire from the tree till, holding the paper steadily with one short side horizontal and the other vertical, you can take sight along its lower edge at the mark, and along the diagonal side at the topmost branches; then pace or measure the distance from the tree, add 5ft. for the height of the eye, and you will have the height of the tree; because, if the two angles of the diagonal be 45°, the base and the perpendicular must be equal. A piece of thin board, with pins set in at each angle to serve as sights, would be better than the paper, but is not so readily extemporised. If you split the end of a wand so as to hold the paper or board quite up to the height of your eye, it will give additional steadiness. The observer in our illustration is unavoidably represented a little too near his work, but he is probably taking the height of the first bifurcation, which is often more important than the height of the tree.
Fig. 2. Or, sticking a branch into the ground, select one of its forks, or lash on a cross piece which shall pass through the trigger guard behind the trigger, so that the gun may be about the height of your eye when you aim horizontally at the mark on the tree, the trigger finger grasping the stick for greater steadiness. Take another stick, with a fork or cross rest of equal height with the first, and connect them by a smaller stick of any length, say 18in. or 2ft., and at exactly the same height above the lower rest lash another on the second stick, so that, the base and perpendicular being equal, the gun, when its muzzle is laid on the higher rest, shall form exactly an angle of 45° with its line when previously laid upon the lower one. Now retire until from the lower rest you can sight the mark upon the tree, and from the upper its highest branches; then the distance from your pivot stick, plus 5ft., will be the height of the tree. Our illustration purposely shows this operation in the simplest possible form; but the frame might be steadied by lashing on other cross bars (X fashion), and a friend to help in moving it to a greater or less distance from the tree would greatly assist the observer. It would be inconvenient to make this observation kneeling. A telescope, a long straight reed, a roll of paper, or a straight tube of any material, will answer almost as well as the rifle. Even a clasp knife (Fig. 3), with a bit of reed stuck into the handle where the point should reach, and resting on the point of the half-opened blade, is better than nothing.
If the ground is perfectly level, and you have a looking-glass, lay it down and level it by setting on it a basin full of water; retire till you see the top of the tree reflected in it, then if your distance from the mirror equals the height of your eye, the distance from the mirror to the tree will be equal to its height. In perfectly calm weather the basin of water will do without the mirror, or a shallow pool or river will give an approximation; but, as the ground is always depressed where water settles, there will be some uncertainty about the height of the eye, which will more or less vitiate the observation, and this will also be the case if thirsty animals rush in to disturb it, as in our sketch. Or if the sun or moon is shining, set up a stick, and watch till its shadow is equal to its height, or note when your own shadow equals your height, and the height of the tree and the length of its shadow will also be equal. But, as it may not be always convenient to wait for this moment, the height of the tree may be found by proportion. If the stick is 5ft. and its shadow 7ft., then if the shadow of the tree be 70ft., its height will be 50ft.; or if in looking at its reflection in the mirror, the height of your eye be 5ft., and the distance 8ft., then if the distance from the mirror to the tree be 80ft., its height is 50ft. In either of the first two methods the same rule must be observed; the paper may be folded to a greater angle if you cannot get far enough from the tree, or a smaller one if you must go farther, and the same with the elevation of the rifle. In these cases, carefully measure the base and perpendicular of your smaller angle, and say, "as the base of the small angle is to its perpendicular, so is the distance from the tree to its height."
Thus, as in Fig. 4 on next page, if the distance between the two rests is 2ft. and the elevation of the rifle 1ft., the distance from the tree must be equal to double its height.
All these observations will apply to any object of which the highest point is perpendicular to the accessible base, such as a precipice, the wall of a fort, or the gable end of a house, but not to the peak of a mountain, two or three miles beyond its base, nor to the pitched roof of a house seen sideways, nor to the spire of a church, or flagstaff on the central tower of a castle, unless the doors of these buildings be opened so that you can continue to measure your base to a point exactly beneath that which you have taken the angular height. Still, if the base be not accessible, it is not impossible to measure the height, for the distance of the object may be taken by any of the plans for ascertaining the breadth of a river, or any of the above methods may be performed twice over, as in Fig. 5; first, at any convenient distance, b, and secondly, at a measured distance, c, nearer to or farther from the object; and the easiest way of obtaining the result is to lay down on paper the obtained angles, d, e, f, and g, h, i, in due proportion to the measured distance, b, c, between them; then from them to protract the angle, d, g, a, and continuing the base line, find on it the point j, from which a perpendicular would meet the top of the object, a. The distance, b, c, being known, that of the base, b, j, and the height of the tree, j, a, will be best found by measurement of equal parts, but bear in mind that the result can only be an approximation to truth, for every additional operation involves an increase of possible error.
* * * * *
{One-tree bridge, to make.}
In passing extensive marsh tracks, few expedients surpass the so-called American cordway, the subject of the illustration on p. 325. It is constructed as follows from the description of material usually abounding in marsh tracks: Trees and poles of almost any description will be found to answer. Cut as many as is thought requisite. Divide them into three classes--ground poles, cross poles, and stringers. The ground poles should be the largest and heaviest. The cross poles are comparatively short lengths, and lay across the ground poles with their ends projecting some distance beyond. They are laid closely together, and then secured and bound down by the stringers which lay on them. A treenail driven in here and there serves to keep all in place by nipping the cross poles tightly. The ends of the ground poles and stringers may be either scarfed and treenailed, or laid side by side and tied with withies or strips of suitable bark. It will be seen, on examining the illustration, that where the roadway ends a bridge begins. This is of the description known as a one-tree bridge, and is made as follows: Select a tree of sufficient length to reach, when felled, across the stream, and of fair average girth, say 9ft.; fell it with the axe in the manner before directed, and then walk out on the trunk and cut away all the branches from the upper surface; then log it up into lengths of about 10ft. a sufficient number of transverse pieces to reach, when placed side by side, from one end of the bridge log to the other. Then in the centre of each of these make a shallow notch by delivering right and left cuts with the axe. Next with your auger bore two holes as wide apart as the diameter of the bridge log will admit of. Lay your transverse piece on the main log, so that it shall rest in the form of a true cross, with the notch in the centre resting on the main log; then, whilst keeping the cross piece steady with one foot, bore down the auger holes about a foot into the solid timber. Treenails (see "Treenails, to make") are then to be placed in the holes and driven home with a mallet or the head of the axe.
{Swamp bridge, to make.}
Another form of tree-nailed bridge, calculated for very wet or dangerously swampy ground, is formed by laying down two lines of stouter ground logs than those used to form the "cordway" just described, scarfing and tree-nailing the ends together as they are laid down. The transverse bars for the footway have a right and left chip taken out each end from the surface which is to lay next the ground log. They are then bored with the auger, one hole at each end being sufficient. They are then placed closely side by side. One man completes the hole which passes down into the log, whilst another drives home the treenails, as shown in the annexed illustration. Earth or sand thrown with a shovel between the cross pieces increases the stability of the arrangement. {Treenails, to make.} Treenails have been, and will be, frequently mentioned in the course of this work; it will, therefore, be well here to give directions for making and using them. To the shipwright they are invaluable, as by their aid he unites the various planks and timbers made use of in the carrying out of his art. In England they are usually made from straight-grained oak, which, after being sawn into proper lengths, is split up into the rough form of the required treenail. This, after being faced and hewn with the adze, is passed through a double-handed cutting instrument known as a treenail tool. A skilfully-handled axe, a spokeshave, or a drawing knife, will, although less expeditiously, produce with ease well rounded and serviceable treenails. In wild countries any tough straight-grained wood may be selected for treenail making. For bridge and roadway work pine wood will answer the purpose very fairly. A dead log is best when it can be obtained for making these wooden holdfasts. Cut it up into pieces the length of the proposed treenail, chop off the bark, and split them into either three or four (as directed at p. 272), according to the size of the log; then, with the froe or axe, split them into rough squares the length of the required treenail, round off the curves and corners, chop off the edges at the end, so that it may enter the auger hole freely, and the treenail is ready for use.
{Gabion bridge, to make.}
Rivers which are too wide to be crossed by the one-tree bridge, and yet of inconsiderable breadth, may be crossed by the use of the gabion bridge, which is thus constructed: First, prepare as many strong wicker gabions as the width of the stream will render necessary. About 14ft. apart will be found a convenient distance to place them. Their height will depend on the depth of the water. Three feet at least should be allowed between the surface of the stream and the upper edge of the gabion. Where suitable poles and sticks for gabion making cannot be obtained trees should be felled and split up, as for rails (see p. 273). The bars thus obtained should be cut up into proper lengths, and, by the use of the axe and auger, converted into large deep crates, such as are used for packing earthenware. These are made by boring rows of auger holes in strong wooden bars, and then driving the sharpened ends of the lesser bars into them until the crate is finished, no nails or metal fastenings being required. Whether the crate or gabion is used, the principle of construction observed in making the bridge is the same. The first gabion, after being secured to the end of a stout rope, is launched from the bank, and then guided, end upward, by the aid of forked setting poles, to its proper position. Stones, pebbles, or pieces of broken rock, are now cast pell-mell by hand into the open mouth of the gabion, which is held down by the setting pole until fixed in its position by the weight of the mass within it. When quite full two or three stout poles are laid side by side for a man to walk over. He takes up his station on the gabion, and aids in arranging the ends of two side logs which are pushed out to him from the shore, and placed wide enough apart to give sufficient width to the intended bridge. Transverse bars formed of split logs are now rapidly treenailed on, as shown in the accompanying illustration. The second gabion is now launched from the first, the stone collectors with bags and baskets walk out, cast their loads, and return for more, proceeding in the same manner until the bridge is finished. {Tartar bridges, to make.} When travelling among the Tartars we had on more than one occasion to pass our mules and horses over rather insecure-looking bridges formed by the natives. They were alike in construction, and were made by laying three long strong poles, or rather small tree trunks, side by side from bank to bank. Across these alternately (butt-end and top), as shown in the engraving on next page, was laid a close row of tightly-bound bundles or faggots of small brushwood. On these bundles of twigs large flat slabs of turf, grass side upward, were placed and stamped compactly down, forming serviceable and really good bridge ways. A small river can be easily crossed by men on foot by simply felling a tree of sufficient girth and length across it. Should there be a number of packs or loads to pass across, it will be well, if the party is a large one, to so station men along the tree trunk that they can pass the bundles or articles from hand to hand, just as firemen hand buckets of water, thus saving unnecessary labour. A rope stretched across greatly aids the men in keeping their balance.
{Extempore jetty, to build.}
We, on one occasion, when encamped on the banks of a large Indian river, were called on to provide for the immediate transport of a battery of field guns, waggons, horses, &c., to the opposite side. Some large native boats were procured, but they, even when empty, drew so much water, that they could not be made to approach within some distance of the shore. We therefore felled two trees, which fortunately stood side by side, letting their crowns fall from the bank, well out into the stream. We soon foraged out three large dug-out canoes, which were concealed among the reeds hard by. These, with our own axe, and those of two stalwart-limber gunners, we split into lengths of uneven plank. Whilst we were doing this, a party had been at work forcing down large heavy branches between the two tree trunks, and on these compactly-bound faggots of brushwood (which a number of natives attached to the expedition prepared close at hand) were rammed and stamped down. Tho boards procured by cutting up the canoes were arranged side by side on this bed, their ends being secured by burden ropes knotted together and hitched over them, as shown at Fig. 1, p. 292. We now employed the natives in throwing buckets and bags of earth and sand thickly over and between the planks. Over this extempore jetty--which reached out to the boats, on some of which platforms had been erected--all our battery, consisting of two 12-pounder howitzers, and four 6-pounder guns, with all their equipment, passed in perfect safety. The work was not commenced until late in the afternoon, and all had crossed long before morning.
{Extempore baggage derrick.}
It not unfrequently happens that there is greater difficulty in transporting the baggage of an expedition across a river than in getting over the men and animals. This was the case in the following instance. We were exploring the Victoria River, in North Australia, when we came to a branch of one of its tributaries (Jasper Creek) so much swollen that it was unsafe to attempt crossing it with loaded horses. We found, however, a passage to an island, on which stood a couple of tall overhanging gum trees. We had with us several fathoms of Manilla line, about 1/2in. in diameter, this was passed over a fork of one of the highest and most projecting branches. Mr. Gregory swung himself across, we followed; and while our head stockman, with a fatigue party of five horses, brought the packs to the island, one man lifted the pack that had been bent on to the line as high as possible; another gave an extra pull upon the other part to lift it as clear of the water as possible during its passage, letting go by the run as it swung to the other shore, where one of the party stood ready to catch the pack, while we, making a sharp run with a small line, helped it across, and checked any tendency to swing back again. In this manner we brought over a ton and a half of provisions and stores in between two and three hours; the unloaded horses found a practicable ford a little higher up.
{Tree footways.}
Sometimes the interlacing of overhanging branches answered our purpose; or we found it possible to fell a tree so that its head might fall on the other shore, or into the water pointing up stream, so that it would drift and jam against the opposite bank.
On another occasion, coming to the Lua, a tributary of the Zambesi, rushing through a narrow place, we went to the edge of the forest, and with a small tomahawk cut down the best tree we could find, and, assisted by three or four Makololo, carried it to the brink, raised it, and let it fall across.
{Chain bridges, to construct.}
In many of the colonial streams it is necessary to provide the means of passage, for the fords may be inconveniently far apart. In such cases the general expedient is to purchase the chain cables of some wrecked ship, and stretch them across, securing the ends either to stout posts or bars wedged into clefts in the rocks, or to tolerably broad surfaces of timber buried 6ft. or 8ft. in the earth. Of course strong purchases are required to stretch the chains, especially if the distance between the river banks is great; but the buyer would most likely take care also to provide himself, when he obtained the chains, with a pair of large double blocks with iron-hooked straps, and twenty or thirty fathoms of stout rope; so that, when such a tackle is hooked on, and the fall made fast to the trek gear of a span of well-trained oxen, the chain must come or something give way.
Two parts of the chain must be stretched so as to assume perfectly parallel curves, and on these the planks for the roadway are laid, the lashings passing conveniently through the links and preventing any possibility of slipping; other chains or ropes are stretched as hand-rails, and for the supports of these it is a good plan to cut young trees, say 12ft. long, sling them about 4ft. from the top, and fasten them to the chain, so that the upper part will support the rope, while the 8ft. of butt hanging below serves as a counterpoise to keep it upright. This, however, must depend on the height of the bridge; for if the water catches any part of it during the rainy season, there is great danger of the whole being swept away; and it is therefore advisable to make all the fittings as light as is consistent with the safety of passengers, so that in case of extraordinary floods they may be swept off before they communicate strain enough to break the chain--just as the masts of a vessel ought to be of such strength as to be carried away before they capsize the ship. We have seen a bridge built of planks and trestles, very slightly fastened together, but every part was moored by a long line to one or other of the banks. The whole affair would go to pieces when the floods came, and when they subsided the pieces were hauled in, and the bridge reconstructed.
{Fly bridges and ferries.}
In broader rivers the chain is carried across, and a barge is built with a winch at either end, round the barrels of which a turn of the chain is taken; the waggon about to cross is drawn upon the platform by two or more of its own oxen, the winches are hove round, and the oxen draw the waggon up the other shore, without even having been unyoked during the passage.
In strong rapid streams an anchor and cable is laid high up the stream, and the lower end terminates in a bridle. The boat is alike at either end, and when about to leave the shore the end of the bridle which happens to be forward is gathered in, while the after one is somewhat slackened. The boat shoots over to the other shore, and is kept there by the force of the stream, so long as the bridle nearest the bank keeps her head more up than the farther one allows her stem to be. To bring her back again, haul in that which is farthest from the shore; slack off the other, and she will recross the river as if of her own volition.
The same may be effected by means of the rudder. Have a short mast, to which the cable is attached just high enough to clear the heads of passengers, &c., and about one-fourth or one-third from the bows. Then, if the boat be lying on the right bank of the river, her port side will be to the shore; and as long as the helm is to starboard, or away from the shore, the rudder will incline the boat's head inward, and the force of the stream will keep her there. But put the helm aport, her head will fall off, she will shoot over to the left bank, and remain there. In fact, this flying bridge, or ferry--for it partakes of the nature of both--acts in the water on the very same principle that a kite does in the air. The line being made fast, not to the stem of the boat, but to a point about one-third aft, would allow her to ride straight on end with the stream only so long as by careful steering her head was kept exactly to it; but the moment an inclination is made, by putting the helm, say "aport," the boat's head inclines to starboard; she receives the stream upon her port side, which should make an angle of about 22° with the line of the current, and she at once sheers to starboard or to the left bank--remembering always that, in speaking of a river, the observer is supposed to face down stream, and the banks are named as they are on his right or left hand. A wire rope ferry of this kind is stretched across the united rivers "Moola Moola" and "Moola Moota," near Poona. We have crossed by it often, and found it to answer admirably.
Sometimes it may be of importance to bridge a ravine, which, though not impassable for an active man, is difficult for average passengers. The first requisite is to get a line across. If the nearest bank is a precipice a man may be lowered down with a rope, and he may then climb the opposite cliff, taking the rope with him; but if the farthest bank is precipitous also the case is more difficult, as the rope will not help him to ascend. Perhaps by walking up or down the bed of the gorge while his friends above follow him with the rope, he may find a practicable route; or another party may be sent many miles up or down to find a crossing, and, by lowering another rope, haul him up with the first still fast.
{Line slings and lobsticks.}
If neither of these plans is possible, a stone or leaden weight may be slung over with a small line, much as sailors heave the lead. We usually employ for this purpose a contrivance known among hunters as a "squailer," or "lobstick."
There are several ways of making a lobstick; the best, perhaps, being those represented by Figs. 2 and 3 in the engraving below. An oval ball of lead, with a hole through the centre, and about 6oz. in weight, is prepared. A strong, tough, and slightly flexible stick is now fitted to the hole in the lead, in which it is held by a wedge driven into its cleft end. A long light line, either twine or fishing line, is now coiled evenly down on the bank, one end is firmly knotted to the extremity of the handle of the lobstick, and the other to a peg driven into the ground. The end of the stick where the twine is made fast is now held lightly in the hand with the ball downwards; two or three rapid and powerful turns round the head are now taken in such a way as to cause the stick to bend. It is then hurled, at a good elevation, across the stream or gorge, where a man who has previously crossed is waiting for it. The string once across, a rope attached to it follows. No one unacquainted with the use of these implements would believe that they could be thrown to the incredible distances which they at times reach. Fig. 1 is an extempore lobstick, made by splitting the handle, inserting a pebble or suitable stone, and then lashing the divided stick fast with twine. A line may be sent over by an arrow or rocket, taking care that the attachment is made with wire or raw hide, so that it may not be burned through. Or, if the ravine be wide, it may be carried over by a kite, and if materials are at hand this kite may be made large enough to carry a man also. There is no fear of the kite line breaking. If there is rope enough to make a bridge, there must be enough to fly a kite strong enough to carry a man.
{Makeshift fastenings.}
The communication being effected by any of these means, the next thing is to haul ropes of increasing weight and power across till they are strong enough to haul over the actual cables, and these may be made of various indigenous materials: the bark of the mimosa, of the baobab, and other trees; the fibre of yucca or aloe leaves, or, still better, of those of the Phormium tenax; bush vines, bind weed, or creeping plants; rattans, grass, or strips of palm leaf, may be twisted into ropes; or poles of any straight wood, of nearly even thickness, may be cut and used as links of a chain, by being strongly, yet somewhat loosely, attached to each other by shorter links of rope. Sometimes, if a hole be cut in the butt of one tree, the young branches of the other will be found pliant enough to pass through it, and weave around the stem and the few forks that may be left on it for that purpose.
Bamboo maybe partially cut away nearly up to a joint, leaving long strips on either side, which being doubled back on themselves form excellent links; or they may be split up and spliced together like the strands of a rope; and, from the great number of very small, long, and pliant branches growing from every joint, bamboo offers great facility for the attachment of other fastenings at every foot of its own length.
{Cane and twig roadways.}
The cables having been stretched across and securely fastened, the next requisite is the construction of the roadway. If bamboo is the material, the large stems may be cut into lengths of about 5ft., and split into four, giving pieces of, perhaps, from 4in. in width.; these should be laid with the convex side upwards, projecting about 1ft. beyond the cables on each side, and securely lashed to them--the small shoots already mentioned will very materially assist this process. If smaller bamboo is about to be used, it can be split into three or four parts, or put in place without splitting. Small ropes should be provided as hand rails or safety lines, and these must be confined to the sides of the bridge by upright stancheons about 3ft. or 4ft. high, and placed tolerably close together. Twig ropes stretch very unequally in use.
Rattans and creepers are often of very great length, and pieces 100yds. long, and not above 1-1/2in. in thickness, may be disentangled in the forest. These can be utilised in a variety of ways. Sometimes a roadway is made of short pieces of wood suspended at either end from the cables, but in this case the amount of small line required is greater; and, what is of more importance, the safety of the traveller depends at every step on the fastening of the piece he treads on, while in the former case, even if the fastening were insecure, the cable would support his weight. Besides this, in order that they may not swing apart, every piece must be lashed to its neighbour; and it seems more safe and economical to build the roadway on the cables, and stretch lighter ones above them for safety lines.
{Bridge shears, to construct.}
If the ravine is not very broad, a tree, such as the stem of a tall palm, which will often be 60ft. high, and 1ft. in thickness; or a bamboo, which will be sometimes 80ft. or 90ft., may be raised, and secured by stays and guys in a vertical position; or, still better, two may be lashed together as shear legs and then raised. If the ground is good this need not be done at the very edge of the cliff, for when once the shears are nearly upright, smooth planks may be put under the butts of the spars, and they may be pushed or hauled in any direction.
If men can find a passage to the other side, and carry over some of the stays and guys there, the work will be much facilitated. If not, make another pair of shears exactly like the first, and lay them horizontally on the ground, with their butts resting against and fastened to those of the upright ones; let the stays come to the head of these, slack them a little till the uprights incline forward 20° or 30° over the gulf, then keep all fast, and allow the horizontal shears to rise as the others are lowered, keeping a check upon them all the while, until the first are laid fairly across.
If the gulf is wide, this operation might be carried on from both sides till the shears meet, and could be secured together in the middle, as in our illustration; and the roadway could then be constructed between them.
{Guano stages at Ichaboe}
When vessels first went to the island of Ichaboe for guano, it was customary to require every new comer to bring two or three stout spars for the purpose of extending the landing jetty; and as each had the benefit of the spars left by former vessels, so each was expected to leave her own for the use of those who followed.
Owing to the irregularity of the rocky bottom, thickly covered with seaweed, the depth of water, and the distance from shore at which the surf began to break, all the ordinary methods of constructing a jetty were impracticable, especially when the object of each captain was to load his vessel as quickly and easily as possible, and to get away without expending the labour of his crew on works more than sufficient for his own service. Besides this, even had holes been bored, piles driven, and a staging laid down upon them, the platform, if permanently spiked down, would inevitably have been torn up by the surf in even a moderate gale; or, if loosely laid, would have been liable to such constant derangement as to be practically useless. It was necessary, therefore, that the base, while strong. enough to support the traffic, should present little or no surface for the waves to act upon, and that the roadway should be so elevated that breakers could not touch it. Even under these conditions, it was found that the first structures were washed away, and other forms had to be adopted; these could only be built on the north and east sides of the island; they were not less than 200ft. or 300ft. in length, and seldom or never in a straight line.
A heavy bower anchor, sometimes weighted by several lengths of chain frapped round it, was laid down well outside the surf, with one or two fifteen fathom lengths of chain, and to the end of this a stout hawser was bent on and carried to the shore, passing over and lashed to the intersection of a pair of stout poles set up as shears, and with its shore end leading to another anchor or secure fastening, to which, when the structure was completed, it could be tightly set up by means of tackles.
The first pair of shears having been erected, it was comparatively easy to erect others, and often as many as a dozen or sixteen pairs were fixed, the hawser passing over and serving as a ridge rope to them all. At about 12ft. above high water smaller spars were lashed fore and aft, so as to connect all the shear legs on either side through the whole length of the jetty, and others were laid across and well secured by cleats and lashings between each pair of legs, with some at shorter intervals, on which the roadway was constructed of planks and spars, sometimes nailed, but more generally securely lashed. At the end of this staging was a small platform, slung by tackles to the outermost pair of shears, and capable of being raised or lowered, so that boats might lie alongside it either at high or low water.
{The flying railway.}
Other vessels, not so well provided with spars as to entitle them to share in the accommodation of these stages, adopted a kind of flying railway, such as is used on the rocky coast of the Cape Verdes for the shipment of salt. A stout spar, 40ft. or 50ft. long, or sometimes, if the vessel was totally unprovided, her own mainboom was taken ashore. Smaller spars were set up as shears, and by these the large one was erected, and stayed in a perpendicular position as a derrick. The heaviest bower anchor, with several fathoms of chain, was laid outside the surf, in thirty or forty fathoms of water. A stout hawser was bent on to the end of the chain, carried to the derrick head, and hitched round it or otherwise secured; and the shore end was extended inland toward another anchor, to which it was hauled taut by a powerful tackle. Another tackle served to raise the guano bags to the derrick head, and on the hawser travelled a large snatch or natch block (so called because one of its sides is notched to admit any part of a line, the end of which cannot conveniently be reeved through). A man, seated on a kind of cross-tree, would pass the hook of the travelling block into the slings of the bags when they were hoisted, and would detach the hook of the tackle, and the bags were eased down to the boat lying out, where the hawser nearly reached the sea by a stout line passing through a single block at the derrick head. Generally, the travelling block alone had to be brought back; but if provisions or other stores were to be landed, they were hooked on before it returned. Passengers would be landed or embarked in the same manner; sometimes in a stout basket, or in a cask cut into the fashion of an arm-chair; but more generally, in disdain of such luxuries, in the loops of a double bowline--the bolder spirits glorying in being let go by the run, and gliding down the hawser just as the Russians do in their sledges on artificial ice hills.
It will often happen that in the erection of some makeshift contrivance, or the laying out of a ground plan for future operations, some rough and ready mode of levelling will be needed.
{Levelling.}
The Dutch African farmers use a very simple and effective level in laying out water furrows for the irrigation of their farms, and, when it is understood that even on very favourable ground these furrows are often two miles long, it will be seen that some little engineering is required. They take a table, the longer the better, and having tested its surface by the eye, and by lines stretched across, they place on each end a large basin filled to the brim with water. When these are perfectly full without overflowing, the sight is taken over them at a staff set up upon the next station, and the height of the mark on this, less the height of the table and basin, gives the difference of level.
We had a tube of tin 4ft. long and 1in. diameter, with two pieces of glass tube bent upward, passing through corks in either end, so that, by using water coloured with charcoal or mud, we could at once observe the true level. A long bamboo or reed closed at the ends, but open in all its intermediate length, will do just as well, and there is no necessity that it should be straight. Smaller pieces of reed, 3in. or 4in. long, should be set up in each end, and the bore of these must be large enough to allow the water to flow freely to its natural level. The top of these may be notched for sights like those of a rifle, or sliding sights may be fitted on the side of them. This instrument may be used for taking vertical angles by fixing the eyesight upon a pivot, marking the place of the foresight on the staff, when the level has been taken; then pouring away the water, sighting the top of the object, marking the elevation upon the staff, and then either drawing the obtained angle on paper, or taking the difference between the base and perpendicular, and then working out the result by the rule of three.
{Deodar bridges.}
One of the bridges over the Sutlej is formed of lengthy deodar cedar beams, supported at either end by piers formed of very strong timbers wedged for half their length in the solid rock, the next timbers overlapping those on which they rest by 2ft. or 3ft., these in turn being overlapped by others, till the space between is so much diminished, that it can be spanned by the long deodar beams.
{Rope bridges.}
The Jhula, or rope bridge, has a kind of seat slung to it, capable of being hauled to and fro by lines to either bank, and the live stock, as well as the baggage of passengers, is secured to this and sent across. Other bridges are made of ropes of birch twigs, two of which are stretched across from rude piers upon the banks, and from these, hang cradle like, a continuous hurdle of the same frail material serving as a footway, and attached to the ropes by a sort of open basket work, a couple of smaller ropes stretched beneath helping to support the roadway. This, apparently, by its own weight and the unequal stretching of its parts, soon gets out of order, and the passage is a somewhat hazardous feat (see illustration, p. 335).
{Deris, to make.}
Sometimes the rivers are crossed on deris, or skins of bullocks, which are thus prepared: One cut is made along one hind leg, the skin is then turned forward and stripped off uncut, except at the hocks and knees; it is buried a few days to facilitate the removal of the hair; it is then again turned inside out, and the openings of the eyes, mouth, &c., sewn up; it is then turned back again, and the incision stitched together with thongs of raw hide; the open ends of the limbs are tied, except one, which is left as a tube to inflate the skin; the thin tar of the deodar, or other pines, is poured in and shaken about till the flesh side is well charged with it, and the outside is tanned with an infusion of pomegranate husks.
A double cord is fastened round the inflated skin, across which the waterman lies on his chest, holding the string with his left hand and working a short paddle with the right, assisting himself also with his feet. The passenger, with as much baggage as he can carry, sits astride on the ferryman's back, with his knees on the skin. When heavy goods are to be carried, two skins are brought together, each man laying hold of a projecting leg of the other skin, and a frame--often of a "charpai," or Indian bedstead--is laid upon their backs to receive the load. Horses or mules are made to swim, the ferryman leading them by the halter. The appearance of the inflated skin, when carried by the waterman, is most ludicrous (see p. 333); but when the air is let out it packs very conveniently. It is exceedingly serviceable, costs about 3s., and weighs about 16lb.
{Rafter, plank, and slab bridges.}
Very neat and effective bridges may be made on the rafter principle, which our engraving at p. 303 will sufficiently illustrate. The roadway, either horizontal, as in Fig. 1, or with more or less rise in the centre, as in Fig. 3, being supported by the king-posts, a tolerably broad river may be spanned by a bridge supported on latticed-worked sides, like a number of XXXX's set up without intervening spaces; but this would require skilled workmanship and secure fastening. Arches of great strength may be made of thin planks laid one upon another; a dozen inch planks would thus give an arched beam 1ft. in thickness, and when properly clamped, or bound together, exceedingly strong. This beam may be easily lengthened, no joining or scarping of the individual planks is required, their ends may simply butt against each other; but care must be taken that no two joints come even nearly together, or much of the strength will be thrown away.
Many Chinese bridges are constructed with slabs of stone, set up much in the manner of those at Stonehenge. A number of bridges of this description, formed entirely of granite, are to be seen on the Cornish moors.
An Indian army was once sent to act against an enemy accustomed to a colder clime. A broad river checked the advance of the Indians, who had to remain day after day shivering from cold which their enemies bore with impunity; but their leader observed that ice was forming on the river, and, though the strong current kept the centre clear, he found a place some miles below the hostile camp where it had nearly united. By pushing forward poles and faggots into the water he made a nucleus on which fresh ice was formed, and before morning he had sufficiently bridged the river to allow of the passage of a few men who held their position till the rest could cross.
{Hints on fording rivers.}
In fording deep and rapid streams, the tendency of the body to float greatly diminishes the power to resist the force of the current. We have seen a short and compactly built man, struggling against this difficulty, when a couple of tall aborigines came to his assistance, and with mistaken zeal put their hands under his arms to hold him up, till he explained that he wanted them rather to press upon his shoulders and keep him down. A detachment of our troops found themselves before a ford where the stream was deep and strong, and while they hesitated, the tall guide picked up a heavy stone, placed it on his head, and walked safely through. It is to be remembered, however, that the ford which is safe for the first man is not always so for the last. An ancient general attempted the passage of a river, but the trampling of the men and horses loosened the sand, the stream swept it away, reinforcements were unable to come up, the advance was beaten, and in attempting to recross the river, numbers were drowned, owing to the increase in the depth of water.
In most countries native paths will lead to the practicable fords, and very frequently villages will be established near them, so that information and guides may generally be obtained. In the Cape colony, people who live near the drifts or fords of large rivers frequently keep spans or teams of powerful oxen for the sole purpose of drawing the waggons of travellers across, and these are generally led by some stout young fellow on a horse that is also well accustomed to the locality. It will often happen in the course of exploration that the traveller will have to find the shallow places for himself. Reefs, or edges of strata, running across the river are, of course, obvious enough, but to find moderate shallows in a river of more even depth is not quite so easy; the best way, therefore, is to follow the windings, bearing in mind generally it is better to seek up the river than down where fresh tributaries increase it. In all the hollows where the stream impinges strongly upon the banks they are generally very steep, with considerable depth of water, while the points will be found to slope downward with shoals extending from them, and there is generally an eddy or return current on the upper side; therefore, if a point can be found, with another somewhat below it on the other side, a ford may reasonably be looked for, especially if the width between the points seems greater than usual. A ford seldom leads straight across a river, and there is little use in looking for one in a hollow or under a steep bank.
{Abyssinian mule platforms.}
Mr. Percival, who has travelled much in Abyssinia, tells us that he used what he calls portable inclines to facilitate the passage of his long and heavily-laden mule trains over difficult places, especially such as the perpendicular edges of stratified rock 2ft. or 3ft. in thickness, which to laden mules would be as impassable as precipices of a thousand times the height. To obviate this difficulty, he employed one or more mules in carrying roughly-made platforms of stout poles about 10ft. long, with others lashed across them, ladder fashion, so as to present a surface of about 10ft. by 2ft. It would be the duty of the drivers of these mules to have, at least, one of them well to the front in anticipation of any difficulty; the platform would then be laid down, the train would walk over it and pass on, leaving it in the rear to be loaded up again and brought on, while one of the other platform mules would pass to the front in order to be ready for the next difficulty.
The length of these would depend on the height of ledge of rock to be mounted. Suppose the strata were 3ft. in thickness, then a platform of 4ft. 6in. would present a surface lying at an angle of 45°, while one of 7ft. 6in. would lie at 22°; this, for short distances, would not be at all a difficult incline either to descend or to climb, and platforms of 10ft. would give plenty of spare end to rest on the supporting edges, and would not be very inconvenient in carriage. Mr. Percival says he has made them of wattled or hurdle work from 12ft. or 15ft. up to 24ft. in length, and yet so light that one mule has carried two of them; and in following what are called the torrent roads, at the bottom of deep ravines, these would come into requisition at every few hundred yards.
It was in such ravines as these that most disastrous events were anticipated by travellers who knew the difficulties of the country, without being at the same time aware of the skill and resources of our military engineers.
In native warfare an army might be watched into a place from which escape is hopeless, and in the dry season the grass would be then fired at the entrance and the exit; or in the rains, some small river might be partially dammed up so as to accumulate a quantity of water, which being let loose at the proper moment by the dragging out of a pole that serves as a trigger to let go the rest of the impediments, would sweep down upon and overwhelm the helpless enemy.
{Natural bridges.}
Besides the modes of crossing rivers or ravines before described, there are various methods of passing over comparatively narrow impediments to the onward journey. A chance tree, storm felled across the stream or gully, not unfrequently affords the requisite footway without the expenditure of labour. There are, however, localities in which old hollow logs, cast in this manner across water, are to be looked on with some degree of suspicion, as the following incident of travel will serve to show: An old friend of ours chanced one day to arrive much fatigued at the brink of a tropical stream, which had one of these natural bridges thrown by some storm across it. Before passing over, he lit his fire, cooked his food, and indulged in a quiet smoke; happening to cast his eye along the fallen tree trunk, he perceived something of rather sinister appearance, in slow motion, on its surface. On looking more closely, he saw a huge python, half in and half out of a hole in the log, apparently enjoying the rays of the mid-day sun. The bark of the tree near to the bank, on which our friend was sitting, was worn quite smooth by the passage of numerous animals, and there is no doubt that this formidable toll collector had long enjoyed the monopoly of his tree bridge. Our friend selected another crossing place less carefully guarded. Small streams, or the narrow channels of swamps, may be easily and expeditiously crossed by the aid of the leaping pole. {Leaping poles.} Tall bamboos or tough, straight, well-grown poles are suitable for the purpose. In soft fen ground, it is a good plan to shoe the bottom of the pole with a piece of flat, strong wood, formed somewhat after the manner of a half ball, with a hole in the middle for the reception of the end of the pole. In exploring the cliffs at the edges of ravines, the metal seeker not unfrequently swings himself from ledge to ledge by the aid of a rope attached above, as shown in the accompanying engraving. The cliff climbers, who search for the eggs of sea-fowl, roam about at times in much the same manner. In descending from points of danger, where a leap for life affords the only hope of escape, advantage may be taken of the contrivance which was used by the rebels at Kotah, in India, during the mutiny. They, on being pushed hard by our troops, who had gained possession to the approaches to their fortified works within the town, bolted like rabbits in a warren, and made for an embrasure, or rather casemate, in one of the bastions of the outer wall; from this they thrust out a strong, but flexible bamboo pole, from the end of which a rope depended. The inner end of the bamboo was secured by heavy weights being placed on it. The fugitives worked their way out by clinging under the pole, until they in turn reached the rope at the end, when they slid down to the end, and then dropped off into the dry ditch. Judging from the immense height of the bastion, and the rocky nature of the ground, we should have had but faint hopes of escape with life; but there is little doubt that many who braved the peril of the fall escaped more or less injured. {Makeshift ladders.} We had no means at hand of measuring the bamboo, but should judge it roughly at 40ft. The illustration on p. 347 will serve to show the manner in which it was made use of. Not far from the bastion just referred to, we found a number of Indian scaling ladders. They were much in appearance like large bamboo hurdles. The canes composing them were bound at their intersections with strips of twisted cane. They were, for their size, remarkably light; and the nature of the material of which they were constructed, and the way in which they were put together, made them immensely strong. A number of men abreast might have ascended them easily. There are many forms of makeshift ladders, amongst which, perhaps, the following are the most noteworthy. The ordinary rope ladder is too well known to need more than a passing comment. The rope and batten ladder is perhaps not quite so well known, but is far more easy to mount and dismount; its form is shown at A in the accompanying illustration. Two strong chains, and a set of suitable sized bars, form a very useful kind of ladder, much in use among miners; its mode of arrangement is shown at B in the annexed illustration. In South America and some other countries, the notched log ladder is much used both in mining and surface operations. It is, as its name implies, a log notched deeply to receive the feet and hands of the climbers. Another form of log ladder is made by boring a row of auger holes at equal distances, say 2ft. apart, and then driving long stout treenails through them, so that each end of the treenail may project beyond the side of the log, for a hand and foot hold. Long forked branches may have their lateral shoots cut off at convenient distances apart, so as to form a footway of short prongs. A row of spikes or treenails may be driven into the side of a cliff, a wall, or the trunk of a tree to climb up by. The natives of many wild countries adopt this method, about which we shall have more to say when the subject of tree-climbing is under consideration.
{Landing derrick.}
In some parts of the world, the operation of landing from a boat, or embarking from the quays or jetties built out into the sea, is rendered both difficult and dangerous by the great range imparted to the boat by the roll of the swell, which in the Eastern seas is at times very great. In such situations, it is a good plan to have a stout post set in the masonry, or in a hole made in the rock, and to the top of this post a swivel crutch, which holds the trunnions of a long projecting arm, like that of an Egyptian well lever, to the small end of which a rope and cross-bar are securely fastened. To the short, heavy end, several more ropes are attached, by which when the person to be landed has either grasped the cross-bar, or seated himself on it, the contrivance is at once raised aloft, and turned steadily but rapidly inward, when by easing off, the man is allowed to drop easily to his feet on solid ground. There used to be such a contrivance as this at St. Helena, by the aid of which we have often landed. The illustration on p. 349 will serve to show how the apparatus is managed and constructed.
A barrel, stoutly lashed with rope, fitted with a seat, and cut away at the side, so as to admit of the traveller sitting in it, as in a chair, is used for ladies or invalids, who are slung in it at the end of the arm, and hauled in as above described.
{Bridges of boats.}
Sometimes it is necessary to construct bridges of boats; and these are often works of great magnitude, requiring a considerable amount of material, especially when an army with artillery and baggage waggons has to cross. Whether large or small, the method of proceeding must be nearly the same. First, a number of stout beams must be collected, sufficient to make a double line across the river, with their ends overlapping each other by more than the breadth of the boats that are to support them. The boats should be brought to the shore and moored a little above the site of the intended bridge. If anchors are procurable, they should be laid at regular intervals across the river; a buoy should be attached to the end of each cable, and a small line should lead from the farthest to each nearer one in succession, till they are all connected with the shore. A substantial frame of beams should be constructed at the edge of the bank, and a boat brought alongside it riding by the first cable, and secured by a temporary mooring to the shore. Two beams must be launched across her near the head and stern, and firmly lashed to the thwarts and stringers.
The boat must now be swung out to the full extent of the beams; the second cable must be laid hold of, and the first cast off and hauled to shore for the next boat, which is dropped down stream under the shore end of the beams, which are laid upon her gunwales and made fast there; while two others are pushed from the shore and fastened to her as the first pair were to the first boat. Intermediate beams, if requisite, can be laid, and planking lashed or pinned upon them so as to complete that part of the platform. Then other beams and planking, sufficient for a similar platform, should be brought on board, for the purpose of finishing the bridge when this pair of boats reaches the other shore. The outermost boat should now pick up the third cable, and pass the second to the inner one; while the first cable should be taken by a third boat, which will drop down between the others and the shore, to receive her portion of the platform; and so on in succession until the bridge, completed as it goes on, extends so nearly to the other shore that the loose material carried by the first pair of boats serves to complete the connection.
Anchors may be extemporised from forked branches of trees--the harder and heavier the better. These should have stones or iron lashed to them, in order to give weight. Several forks should be left on the main stem, and pointed to insure their holding. If charred in the fire, so much the better, as their durability and strength are much increased by the process. If there is but one fork, care must be taken so to balance the anchor with the stone below and the cable above, or a stock lashed across, that this fork or arm shall be sure to take the ground. The bridge may be also shored against the stream by branches, with their forks taking the beams, while their lower ends, weighted by stones, rest against the bed of the river. Stones are of no use as anchors, as they lose so much of their specific gravity when immersed; but if a heavy stone can be dropped beyond a cleft in the rock, as in our sketch, it will hold well.
If no anchors or substitutes can be had, the cables may be made fast to a stout tree as far up the stream as possible; and being brought in upon the inner bow of each boat, she will take the stream upon that side and be forced outward. The rudder, if she has one, will assist in this, but it is not material, as she can be kept at the proper angle by making the foremost beam a little longer than the after one.
If the bridge is constructed so low down the river as to be within the ebb and flow of the tide, anchors are indispensable, and each boat must be moored head and stern, as shown in one of the examples in our illustration; or, if there be but one cable to hold her against the ebb, shores may be set so as to counteract the influence of the flood, unless a great rise and fall, or violent rush at the turn of the tide, should render it unsafe to use them. If boats cannot be had, two or three large casks, placed end to end and firmly lashed to poles laid parallel to their length, may be used at each junction of the beams; or if a number of small ones can be obtained, they may be collected within a triangular frame of poles; but in any case each float must be sufficiently buoyant to keep the bridge at least 3ft. clear of the water, if there is any current; if there is none, the platform may even touch the water, and be partially sustained by it. In our sketch we have omitted all but a small portion of the planking, in order to show more clearly the manner of connecting the framework.
{Carrying, rolling, and parbuckling heavy spars.}
In some parts of India and China very heavy weights are carried by an ingenious framework of bamboo. A stout pole is crossed at its ends by two lighter ones, and each of these again by two others, each of which is again crossed by smaller ones 2in. or 3in. in diameter and 6ft. or 8ft. long; the sixteen ends of these are raised on the shoulders of as many men; the weight is slung to the centre of the larger beam, and borne with ease and comfort on the elastic frame. In our illustration (p. 352), two gangs of coolies are represented carrying a tree, but more could be employed if requisite. For rolling, the tree should be cleared of projecting stumps as much as possible; long skids should be placed under it, and if the ends from which the tree is to be rolled can be elevated by wedges or otherwise, so as to make an inclined plane for it to roll down so much the better; at all events, get the thick end under the tree and let the thin end be in the direction that you wish to roll it. Parbuckling is effected by making fast the end of a line to a stump or other holdfast in the required direction, then bringing the end of the line under the log, and taking one or more clear turns, bringing the end back over it and hauling on. A few hands judiciously using handspikes or levers will greatly assist this operation.
{Ladders.}
There are times when the principle of the common step-ladder might be advantageously remembered; and a traveller who expected to have much climbing might have one of those in which a groove is run in the inside of each standard, and the rungs, working on pivots, are shut up into it, the whole forming a light and compact pole, which a man might easily carry on his shoulder. It would, however, be cheaper and better to purchase this at home than to make it abroad. A rope and batten ladder is more easily made. The rope is doubled, an eye is turned in to the bight, holes are bored in the ends of the steps or rungs, the ends of the rope are passed through, and double knots turned on to keep each step in place. A light ladder, either of this kind or that previously described, with a coil of rope to fling over the lower branches, would enable a botanist or collector of birds or insects to climb many trees otherwise inaccessible.
{Fire-escapes.}
In case of fire in a town, if anything--say the end of a sofa or part of a bed frame--could be projected only 1ft. or 2ft. from a window, and weighted by a chest of drawers on its inner end, it would form what persons unskilled in climbing so much require--a clear point of departure; and the blankets, sheets, and coverlets torn into strips of not less than 4in. or 6in. wide, and twisted into a two-stranded rope, could be fastened to this and used--first, to lower the more helpless persons into the street, and, finally, for the active to glide down by. It would be too much to expect, as has been proposed, that every house should have a coil of rope, but it is well to remember that if there be only a ball of string it may serve to haul up stronger lines, brought by volunteers from without. If infants are to be lowered, it is better to put them in a bag than to tie a rope round their bodies; a couple of pillow cases would be strong enough, and there would be no fear of suffocation during the minute or two of their descent. A man may tie a child on his back or descend with it in his arms, but it is much safer to lower it separately. If flames are bursting from the windows beneath, perhaps the rope may be taken to the next lower story of the opposite house so as to avoid the danger of burning the rope or scorching those who descend. Of regular fire-escapes we need say nothing, as where they are provided competent persons, very frequently seamen, are appointed to work them; but it is well to bear in mind that, as the property of flame and heated air is to ascend, a man creeping close to the floor may often traverse in safety a chamber the upper part of which is impracticable. A towel or piece of sheeting dipped in water and tied round the mouth and nose will prevent heated smoke and particles of burning matter from entering the air passages, and thus enable a person to struggle for life in situations where suffocation would be inevitable without some such expedient for its preservation.