XI. CATTLE MARKING

In all large and imperfectly settled countries the use of a private mark, or brand, is most important, not only as a means by which animals can be identified and recovered when lost, but as the evidence of legal transfer and of particular breed or strain of stock. Animals are most commonly marked with either some conspicuous and tenacious pigment, by slits or cuts of definite form made in the ear, or by initials or some symbol branded with a heated iron on some part of the body. Sheep may be both ear-marked and lettered with either red or black paint. The lettering is easily and expeditiously effected by the use of the cover or bottom of an old biscuit tin. Lay your sheet of tin on the table, and with the point of your knife sketch out the outline of the letter or letters you have determined on as your mark, taking care that they are of conspicuous size; then with a mallet and chisel cut out the letters. You will then have a sort of stencilling sheet; cut it to a convenient size, nail a piece of wood to it for a handle, and your marker is complete. Place it against your sheep, paint over the outside of the plate with a large paint-brush, and your mark is made in an instant. Your sacks, bags, and boxes can be marked in the same manner with the same contrivance. A herd of cattle can be temporarily marked by a newly-arrived settler in a quarter of an hour or twenty minutes, as follows: Procure a waggon whip handle or a long pole; then lash to its end a round ball of either hide, with the hair on, or a bit of old blanket, fixing on your ball to the stick just as the striker of a drum-stick is made. Dip this in a pot of paint or tar, and then put it adroitly against the haunch or shoulder of the animal to be marked. Give it a sudden sharp twist round, and there will be instantly formed a round ball-like spot. With a lot of timid newly-purchased cattle, with which you are anxious to move off at once, the above plan will be found a good one.

A native herdsman would despise such means of recognition; and many of the colonial farmers would know individually every horse, ox, or sheep in their possession, just as we know by expression of the countenance or peculiarity of figure any person among our own acquaintance; and we have even heard of a case in which the calf of a cow, that had been stolen many years before, was recognised by its resemblance to its mother, and the theft thus traced out and detected.

The cutting of marks in the ear seems to be the more primitive and, perhaps, the easier, as involving less need of tools or apparatus; but it is difficult to give sufficient variety to enable many farmers to have each a distinctive mark. One slit, or more, in the right or left ear, a "swallow-tail" in one and a slit in the other, or a hole punched with a wad cutter, are among the most common; but all are liable to be torn off by dogs or wild animals; and the hole in the ear is especially objectionable, as the creature itself is almost sure to tear it through by scratching with his hinder foot. Moreover, almost all are liable to be altered should the marked property fall into dishonest hands; and most farmers, and, it may be said, all traders, now employ the branding iron--fashioned to represent either their own initials or some arbitrary sign, as a cross, a square, a triangle, a circle or any segment of it, a star of any particular number of rays, the figure formed by crossing two triangles (as here shown).

In America, and some other countries, it is requisite on the purchase of animals--horses and mules especially--that the traveller should not only get a receipt for his purchase money, but get indorsed on it by the seller his acknowledgment of the new owner's counter-brand, in manner as follows: "Received of Capt. ----, the sum of ---- dollars, in payment for a brown mare mule. Seller's brand, O. B.; buyer's brand, W. Signature, &c." The new brand should be placed under the old one, and unless these precautions are taken the new purchaser stands a very excellent chance of having his recently-acquired stock seized on at some frontier post, and detained until the legality of the transfer has been ascertained. It is sometimes agreed on that the owner shall renounce all claim to an animal by reversing his own brand above that originally made by him, thus, [reverseB/A--invertedA/B]

There are tales, however, of certain dwellers at a distance from the law who have acquired considerable skill in altering the marks of any stray cattle that may fall into their hands, and this is an operation requiring no little skill, for should the mark be old, an iron made too hot will burn the addition in so deeply that it will for a long time display an air of freshness not in accordance with the original. Some initials are very easy of alteration; thus, C may be converted into O, or Q, or G; I may be made at least into thirteen letters without increasing its size, which, when it is used in combination with others, is a point of considerable importance, and into several more if a slight increase may be ventured on. P may become B or R, and L or F may be changed to E. It may be well for us to point out to those who have charge of Government stock, or are likely to have stolen animals offered them for sale, that the thief not unfrequently sees fit to adopt an anchor as his brand, as, if it is of proper size, the broad arrow, by the addition of the stock and flukes, makes a very respectable one. We have heard of an unscrupulous colonist who branded all his cattle with a frying pan, and had no particular place on which to apply it; thus, no matter what the brand on a stray horse or ox might be, he had nothing to do but to clap the red hot disk above it, and his own mark speedily and effectually obliterated every other. It is said that he afterwards repented, and, in proof of it, led a most exemplary life in a Government department for fourteen years.

It is a good plan to have a small iron and to brand cattle upon the horns, as it is impossible to efface the mark by any process that would not betray itself. This iron may also be used for branding small articles--such as tent poles, yokes, waggon-gear, or anything in the traveller's possession--not only as a precaution against theft, but as a means of affording an indication of his fate should he perish, as many a poor fellow has done in a gallant but fruitless effort to explore an unknown country.

Any man with a few tools and a moderate share of ingenuity can make his own branding iron from a suitable-sized chunk of soft iron. File it to the right form, give it an even surface; then with a pencil sketch the letter, or mark, on the iron, only taking care to reverse the object as you would in drawing on wood. When your pencil lines are complete, scratch them in with a sharp hard point. Rub a little gunpowder and grease into them in order that they may show conspicuously, and then, with a hammer and small cold chisel, proceed to chip away the superfluous iron until the pattern stands boldly and sharply out. Heat it and try the print on a board, and, if requisite, trim and file again until it is to your satisfaction. A large drill is of great service in making branding irons, which, when finished, can be attached to handles either by leaving a piece of metal on the back of the chunk long enough to weld the hand iron to, or a screw may be made at the back to hold it in its place. Some persons make chunk, hand iron, and all from one piece of metal; others form the letters, &c., from narrow strips of iron, bending them to the required figure, and then riveting them fast to a sort of frame. We, however, consider the solid chunk form of iron by far the best and most durable. A clear charcoal or wood fire is best for heating the brand in. It should be heated just hot enough to singe rather than burn into the skin; so long as the roots of the hair are destroyed the burning may be considered effective. As we have before stated, the particular strain, or breed, of certain animals may be known by the peculiar way in which they are branded. The Arabs have a great number of private marks, which few, save themselves, understand. Horses and dromedaries are marked in an entirely different manner. There is also a distinction drawn by them between large and small horses. The former are known as "Aneezah" Arabs, and, if of high cast, usually bear the peculiar mark of the tribe by which they are reared. All Arab horses under 14 hands are called "Nedjdi." These, when found by any tribe to possess more than ordinary purity of breed and excellence, are marked with an extremely narrow crescent, like a new moon, with the horns a little more than an inch apart. In the illustration on p. 481 we give a few examples of dromedary branding, as showing the particular class of animal indicated by it. 1. Amadabieh. 2 shows the general mark of a Bicharieh tribe, which will be seen to exist on all the other examples. The additions show the private brand of each small community, or division of the tribe, thus: 3. Amitirah; 4. Mahomed-Ouzabieh; 5. Menacir; 6. Achabab; 7. Cawarah; 8. Mahazi; 9. Valgat.

Having shown the marks by which many strains or breeds of camels may be known, it may not be amiss to give a few general hints on camel and hygeene purchase and management.

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XII. HINTS ON HYGEENS AND CAMELS

The following directions to purchasers of these animals are given by Linant Bey, engineer-in-chief of dykes and bridges to the Viceroy of Egypt, and were translated for the information of the President of the United States of America.

{Points in the dromedary.}

"To avoid deception in the choice of a dromedary one must be very much of a connoisseur of the animal, for I think it is more difficult to be skilled in dromedaries than in horses. One must have lived with Arabs and their dromedaries to appreciate either the one or the other. It may be conceived, then, how difficult it is to designate clearly what constitutes a good dromedary.

"A dromedary should not be too tall, nor its legs too long, which would give it a gaunt appearance; nor should the chest be too wide nor too heavy.

"The fore-legs should not touch the callosity upon the breast. The two rowels or mullets (molettes) of the fore-feet should be far from touching each other when the animal walks.

"The belly should be round, without being puffy; and the hump should not be too big.

"The neck should be rather wide than narrow, the head well set on, the eye large, and the lips closed.

"In walking the animal should show suppleness in the neck, and have a wavy movement of the head. The more suppleness there is in this motion the easier will be the gait.

"To be highly esteemed a dromedary should not cry when touched; and, when bridled, haltered, or saddled, it should give utterance only to a low grumbling.

"A dromedary should not be taken that has been seriously hurt near the shoulders, where the saddle rests, though it does not indicate disease, but proceeds only from the little care the Arabs give to keeping their saddles in repair. In a female this is less objectionable; for, in giving birth, if her wounds have caused any disease, it is almost always cured. Fine cautery marks on either side of the callosity, on the breast, or on the belly near the navel, indicate always internal, incurable disorders.

"The hind-legs should not be too angular, but rather straight. The hump should not be too much to the front; rather to the rear is better, as then the saddle is more easily adjusted. The hair should not be too short, as then the animal is more easily injured.

"The feet should be small, the nails and the hair round them black rather than white.

"Fawn-coloured dromedaries are more highly prized than those entirely white.

"When mounted, the dromedary should instantly and quickly rise and start off.

"When the dromedary moves, it should be with such spirit that the rider is obliged to hold him in; this supports both. To urge him on kick him on the shoulder with the foot. It is very difficult to find a dromedary uniting in itself all these requisite qualities, and very rarely can such an one, especially if it is a female, be purchased; for the Arabs love their fine-blooded dromedaries as much as they do their horses, and it is only as presents, or else at enormous prices, that the choicest animals can be obtained.

"A first-rate Nomanieh is worth in Cairo from five hundred to six hundred dollars; but those ordinarily met with there sell from one hundred to two hundred dollars.

"The Bichariehs sell for less; good ones--that is to say, such as are for sale--may be had for from sixty to one hundred dollars.

"At nearly for the same prices as for the Bicharieh can be purchased also the other breeds of the Mahazi, Cawarah, and Ababdi. I will remark here that the Bicharieh dromedaries do not carry as heavy burdens as the Nomanieh. These last carry a saddle called 'gabit,' fitted with pads, and with saddle-bags termed 'krourque,' that hang down on both sides of the saddle and carry the baggage, provisions, &c., of the rider and of the dromedary.

"The Bicharieh carries a wooden saddle, laid over two small pads, which are not fastened to it. This saddle is called 'kyarpah,' 'maraloup,' &c., &c., according to its shape. Saddle-bags cannot be carried over it, on account of its form; but behind it a small sack of hide called 'bila,' in which a little luggage can be packed, may be attached after the manner of a valise or portmanteau.

"Often, in expeditions, a servant or follower rides behind upon the dromedaries of the two breeds. Both riders carry their arms.

"In a word, the Nomanieh generally carries from 200lb. to 230lb.; the Bicharieh, 180lb. At the utmost their burdens are 300lb. and 350lb. A dromedary, well equipped, well ridden, and in good condition, can easily make in a day over suitable ground, level and a little sandy, about ninety miles, that is, between morning and evening; but it cannot keep on at that rate. It can make fifty miles a day for fifteen or twenty days, and for a long journey can be counted upon for that. I have myself travelled upon one ninety miles in eleven hours, and gone twelve miles in forty minutes."

The carrying power of the camel will depend in great measure on the stock they came of and the climate in which they are employed, the Central Asiatic camel being, as a rule, more vigorous and enduring than that of either Africa or India. The loads of camels will vary greatly with the nature of the work they are employed to perform. Where very short distances under burden have to be travelled, as for instance from the depôts of a town to a camp in the immediate vicinity, a powerful and healthy camel can carry from 1100lb. to 1200lb.; for the march, or when produce or baggage has to be carried any distance, from 300lb. to 400lb. will be found quite heavy enough to admit of regular and continuous performance of carrying duty. We always roughly estimate our weight of stores and equipments at seven camels to the ton; for slow ordinary travelling of about twenty miles per day of from eight to ten hours in duration; for more rapid movements the loads should be proportionately lightened.

{Camels and their loads.}

The following table of camel burdens made use of in various parts of the world may prove useful to the traveller in many lands:

COUNTRY. WEIGHT. DESCRIPTION OF ANIMAL.

Algeria, } Morocco, } From 300lb. to 400lb. Ordinary camels of the Tunis, } country. Tripoli, }

Egypt, From 350lb. to 550lb. Camels of the country.

Syria, } { Large-sized bull camels Asia Minor, } { (l[=o]ks, as they Turkey in Asia, } From 500lb. to 600lb. { called) and hybrids Persia and Tartary, } { (or booghdee).

Beloochistan, } Cabool, } Hindoostan, } From 300lb. to 400lb. Ordinary breeds. Thibet, } Birmah, } Mongolia, }

Crim-Tartary and } the borders of } From 300lb. to 500lb. Bactrian. Southern Russia, }

{Hints on camels.}

The age of a camel, like that of a horse or mule, may be judged of by the teeth. It remains without incisor teeth until the termination of the third year of its life, when it has two; at five years old, it will have four; at six years old six incisors; and at eight there will be a full complement--canines and molars.

The condition of the hump is a good index of the general well-doing of the animal, as that structure is the first to fail or diminish from want or overwork.

The food of camels may be said to be found everywhere on the earth's surface where vegetation, of even the most scanty and unattractive character, is to be found. All is food that comes to tooth with the camel, and when low trees have been scarce, we have often sent a native armed with our hatchet or billhook to climb into a large peepul, neem, or baubul thorn tree, and chop down a cartload or two of branches. These, when dragged with hook-ended sticks to where the camels were picketed, were received with cavernous rumblings and grunts of satisfaction; and the same tree, by the use of the same implement, yielded not unfrequently the supper for the camels and the fuel to cook our own evening meal.

The Arabs generally maintain that the camel should not drink more frequently than once in every three days, although in dry hot weather we have known them drink much more frequently without being apparently the worse for the indulgence. We have on many occasions endeavoured to ascertain the quantity of water taken at each period of thirst-quenching, and the result of our investigations have led us to the conclusion that about five gallons should be allowed as a drink to each camel when he takes in water on the march. The stomachs of the camel, like those of other ruminating animals, are constructed so as to admit of a store of both food and water being laid up in them to meet the demand when other sources of supply fail.

In cases of extreme necessity, and when the preservation of human life depends on the obtainment of water, the supply to be found in the stomach of the camel should not be overlooked or forgotten.

During the Algerian campaign the French made some investigations in order to find out the quantity of water a dead camel's stomach would contain, and the result was that about 15 pints was the average arrived at. This water, although green and turbid, had no offensive smell; and it was at the time asserted by the Arabs that water of this character required three days to clear itself. This period, however, could rarely, if ever, be allowed to elapse, as three days would probably close the scene of suffering, exhaust the patience of the distressed traveller, or lead him to more natural sources from which to obtain the precious fluid.

In a case of emergency, we should simply pass the water through our pocket filter, which will be described under the head "Water, and the Sap of Plants," and drink it at once.

{Camels, to embark.}

The regular purchase, collection, embarkation, and transport of camels has rarely been so carefully and successfully conducted as by the officers appointed by the Government of the United States of America, and the report forwarded to Congress by the officer in charge of the embarkation department will not fail to be of interest and value. He says: "In the first place, the ship is anchored as close as possible to the place of embarkation to save time. The camel boat with the car in it is rowed on shore, and a force of about ten men sent to get the camels in. There is also sent on shore in the boat a good tackle (not very large), a camel harness complete, spare plank, hammer and nails, and about 50 fathoms of 2in. rope, all of which will be of use.

"It is requisite to select a place for the boat where she will lie with her bow on a level with the wharf. If this cannot be done, and it is necessary to 'beach' her, then a strong bridge made of stout plank, and about 8ft. wide, will have to be constructed, strong enough to bear not only the camel's weight, but to stand their struggling. This I was obliged to do. The bow of the boat being secured firmly to the wharf or bridge, the harness is placed on the camel, which is led up as close as it will go. If it will walk right into the car, one end of which is placed on the gunwale of the boat, so much the better (in no instance did we find them willing to go without force), but if it will not go in then hook on the tackle to the breaststrap of the harness on the camel; let the men keep a steady pull upon it, and the camel will go in without a hurt, no matter how much he may resist. Four men guide the camel, and keep it in the centre of the planks, and one man leads it by the halter into the car, through which the tackle is led, one block being hooked to the other end of the boat. After the camel is in it is made to lie down, the knees tied round with ropes, a rope across the neck and made fast to the knees, and two or three ropes across the back to keep it down. It is then hoisted on to the camel deck without fright or excitement of any kind."

The opposite illustration will serve to show how the ropes and tackle are arranged for the purpose of urging a reluctant camel onwards.

When the camels were all on board the report goes on as follows:--

"Having taken in all the camels, two days we occupied in fitting to each one its proper harness (for almost every one of them differed in size and form), marking their numbers on the harness, and fitting out each one with brush and currycomb--all of which it is necessary to be done before going to sea. Hayracks, made of large open network, were fitted amidships, extending the whole length of the camel deck. Large bags filled with hay were also placed against the ship's sides for their haunches to rest against, and two ropes fitted for securing to the harness on each camel." The above engraving will show the manner in which the camels were secured when a gale of wind or a heavy sea prevailed.

"To enable the camel guard to efficiently watch their charge at night, four large lanterns with reflectors were put up, and lighted every evening at sunset; and, in case of accidents from fire, two large water tubs were kept always full."

{Camel journal.}

The American camel journal kept on board the United States ship Supply is so thoroughly practical and useful, that we insert a specimen of its form of construction for the guidance of travellers who may have to perform a voyage with camels newly purchased for an expedition or campaign.

CAMEL JOURNAL.

The treatment of camels when suffering from disease or accident will be given under the head "Veterinary Surgery."

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XIII. WATER, AND THE SAP OF PLANTS

{Locality for water.}

The whole success of an expedition and the preservation of the lives of those composing it have not unfrequently depended on the obtainment of this precious fluid; and, as its importance to the traveller is vital, so the sources from which it is to be obtained are numerous. Rivers, lakes, springs, and rain pools are the most common and obvious, needing no comment here. Showers of rain often yield a considerable quantity, which may be caught in sails or sheets spread for the purpose, selecting those which are free from the perspiration of men or animals. Deep clefts among rocks and ravines often contain a great deal, and the cliffs by the sea-shore, although there are no rivulets to be discovered, frequently contain cracks and crevices, through which water runs and loses itself in the sand.

The beds of apparently dried-up watercourses should be always explored carefully, as high up as possible, and the stones at the bottom of the deepest pools lifted out, and their resting places examined. A piece of woollen cloth, a sponge, or a bunch of soft moss, will much facilitate the withdrawal of chance finds in such places. Spots of low ground, on which reeds, rushes, or other water plants are found, should be carefully examined, and their depths probed with a strong sharp-pointed stick.

The tracks of wild animals are often valuable guides to water; but careful examination is needed lest the searcher should take the back track, and go from, instead of towards, it. A sharp lookout overhead towards evening will often be rewarded by a sight of the flocks of wild-fowl or other birds winging their way towards the drinking places. Baggage animals and dogs at times show extraordinary instinct in finding pools and springs where they are least expected to exist. We have also seen Indians apparently guided by some singular faculty to its neighbourhood. In most countries some particular kind of tree will be met with generally associated with the presence of water, and growing near it.

Should moisture be discovered a hole should be at once dug by loosening the earth and gravel with the stick, and then clearing out the hole with the hand, a small "well" as deep as the arm is long, may be very rapidly made in this manner: Well hardening the point of the digging stick in the fire will add much to its efficiency, and is much better than a mere pointing with a sharp instrument. Where the soil is of a loose character and the sides of the well likely to fall in, a long bundle of reeds or rushes should be bound together and thrust down. Holes of this kind may be long preserved as drinking places by making up a round ball of slender twigs just sufficiently large to fit the hole, ramming it firmly to the bottom, then placing a bamboo or other hollow tube long enough to reach a couple of feet or so above the surface, and then filling in the hole with earth and pressing the whole well down. The water is thus preserved from evaporation, and can be sucked freely through the tube. At times it will be found to flow up the tube and run over, or a second tube may be put in to blow through, when the water can be caught in any convenient vessel by boring a hole through a bit of bark for the upper end of the tube to fit into, thus forming a shoot for it to run off through, as in the above illustration.

When horses or cattle have to be watered from a pool or "well" of any size, and the water is any distance below the surface, the old expedient of the lever and post, so common all through Egypt and most Eastern countries, will be found an exceedingly useful one. (See the following full-page illustration.) When travelling through Central India, where the wells are often very large and deep, we used to find our small brass "lota pot," which was carried strapped fast to the front of the saddle, with a long coil of whipcord stowed away in it to lower and raise by, of great service.

Drinking troughs for cattle are conveniently made from hollow tree trunks, sheets of bark with the ends nipped up, or by digging a trench in the ground and placing a piece of canvas or an indiarubber ground sheet in it. In watering cattle from contrivances of this kind two separate herds should be formed, consisting of those which have to drink and those which have drunk, letting them up one at a time, and keeping back the rest. Much confusion and irregularity are thus avoided, and you are sure that each animal has had its share.

{Water, to find.}

We can only give a few general hints on searching for water. Perhaps the surest way is if there are natives in the country to make friends of them, not by hurriedly and lavishly forcing upon them presents--costly, it may be, to the giver, but valueless to them--but by quietly waiting to see what they value, and giving it in moderate quantities, as if the donor knew its worth as well as they. Half a stick of tobacco, a short pipe, a sixpenny knife, or cotton handkerchief, blue spotted with white, or a few strings of beads of the kind they value--generally white, red, blue, or black opaque seed beads--will gain their good will better than useless tinsel or gewgaws of ten times the cost; while a Dutch brass-barrelled tinder-box, with flint and steel, value 1_s._ or 1_s._ 6_d._, becomes far in the interior an article of such value that it ought not to be given except as a reward for real service. Extravagant liberality will only be attributed to fear, more especially if haste accompanies it; therefore, it is wise to spend a little time before making even the preliminary offer of a pipeful of tobacco, and more before giving the real present and making known what is desired in return. But in reality the traveller will save time, and when he does ask for water the native will bring him a supply, or point out where to obtain it; whereas, were he to open the negotiations by hurriedly demanding information, the natives would become suspicious of his motive, and would in the first instance tell him a lie in order to throw him off the scent and gain time to discover his supposed intentions.

In the absence of native guides, converging footpaths of men or animals will probably lead to a pool. Most antelopes drink every day, but this is not the case with the gemsbok or the eland, the last of which never drinks, or, if it ever does, the instances are quite exceptional.

As before stated, the flight of birds morning and evening should also be watched, but this, however, is not always an infallible sign, as we have seen cockatoos drinking water so black that we could not use it; but when, as we have also seen, even the parrots desert an island before sunset it becomes tolerably certain that no water will be found upon it.

Depressions on the ground should be followed, and additional freshness of vegetation carefully sought for. An iron ramrod may be thrust into the ground when there is any chance of dampness below the surface, and the traveller should make himself acquainted with the peculiar plants of the country which grow near the water. The pandanus, or screw pine of Australia, is one of these.

In savage countries the labour of seeking and digging for water falls principally on the women, who usually make use of a fire-hardened grubbing stick for working a hole in the ground. The stick is loaded with a perforated stone of several pounds weight to give additional force to each stroke, and as the soil is loosened it is cleared out by the insertion of the hand and arm, using the bent fingers as a scoop. Use is also made of a stick split to about 12in. or 15in. from the end, and this, when worked down into soft soil, catches and brings up a quantity in the cleft, and this being shaken out upon one side the stick is again clear and fit to bring up more. A bamboo cane, with the end split up into several filaments, is used for the same purpose by the natives of India.

Where only salt or saline water is to be obtained recourse may be had to distillation, which may serve, as it has done in many well-authenticated cases, to at least save the lives of the human beings and dogs of a party. Little hope could, however, be entertained of being enabled by this means to supply the wants of cattle or horses.

{Makeshift still.}

A "still" may be very easily made from any vessel which will stand fire, such as one of the copper water barrels hereafter described, or even a common cooking pot and a gun barrel (single or double), a hollow bamboo with the knots removed, or, in fact, any hollow tube. If a pot is used, a stout heavy wooden cover must be fitted to it, through which two holes are to be cut--one at the side for the barrel or tube, and the other a bung-hole at the top, which must have a stopper fitted securely to it, and is used to introduce the water as it becomes exhausted. This saves the trouble of removing the cover, and thus disturbing the other arrangements. The annexed illustration will serve to explain the nature of a contrivance of this kind. The boat-shaped box resting on the forked sticks is made of bark, pinned at the ends with wooden pins. This is filled with a couple of woollen blankets or a quantity of moss, or even seaweed. The barrel passes directly through the centre, and is kept cold by constantly throwing cold water over it. The fresh water runs out through the hole from which the nipple is unscrewed, and is caught in any suitable vessel; and the waste salt water through holes bored in the bark for the purpose. Many modifications of this plan might, of course, be had recourse to, but this will be found about as convenient as any. Barrels, or hooped vessels of any kind, are about the very worst that can be taken into a wild country, as the hoops come off as the wood shrinks, causing leaks and endless trouble.

{Copper water flasks.}

For carrying water on the backs of animals a pair of thin sheet copper flasks (20in. long, 12in. broad, and 8in. thick) will be found exceedingly convenient. These should have broad and strong loops soldered on to pass leather straps and lashings through, and in using water it should be taken alternately to preserve an even balance. The bung-holes should be at the ends and have a stout raised ring round them, through which a hole is drilled; through this a pin is run, passing through a corresponding hole in the wooden stopper, thus keeping it secure. These flasks, when made, should be thoroughly tinned inside. They are useful for a number of purposes. Water can be boiled in them as well as carried. They can, on an emergency, be converted into a "still," as before stated, and when corked up air-tight are a great support to a raft. One at each end of an outrigger pole renders the upsetting of a canoe or float log next to impossible. No knocking about hurts them, and should at any time a leak be discovered a bit of solder puts the matter to rights at once.

{Water skins and pails.}

Next in value to flasks, perhaps, come leather mussacks, of the description used in the East. They can be made of any size, and, when injured or pricked, as they sometimes are by sharp sticks or thirsty niggers, they are readily repaired for the time by pinching up a piece of leather at the orifice and passing a sharp-pointed stick through, over which a clove hitch (see "Knots and Hitches") may be secured. A patch may be sewn on when there is time to do it, just as a cobbler mends a shoe. But bear in mind that, instead of the ordinary thread or hempen cord used in mending or making leather utensils or articles in this country, a dry carefully-cut leather thong should be used instead, as when once in place it swells from the action of the water on it, and completely fills the holes through which it has been passed, thereby preventing leakage.

In Mongolia they use a very useful pail or bucket for carrying water. It has a head fixed into it much like that of an ordinary barrel, and there are two openings or bung-holes; one tolerably large on one side, just below the edge of the head, and another through the head itself. In these orifices wooden plugs or stoppers are fitted, and, when water is to be poured out, the stopper in the head is just eased like the vent peg of a cask, so that air may be admitted; when the stopper is taken out the larger hole freely discharges the water, which would not run without the vent-peg arrangement.

During the year 1865, when we had entered the Victoria River, North Australia, and the Tom Tough was still drifting, in daily danger of breaking up upon the sand-banks, we had become tired of carrying water overland from distant pools to supply 140 sheep; and, considering that if our inflatable boat (p. 48) would hold air to float upon the water she would also hold fresh water to float in salt, we determined to seek supplies farther up the river; and putting the four sections into the schooner's gig, we sailed or pulled alternately thirty or forty miles up the river, till the entire cessation of the mangroves and the appearance of the pandanus, or screw pine, upon the banks and islands showed that we were above the influence of the tide and in a stream of permanently fresh water.

{Canoe water-transport.}

We halted at Palm Island, and, choosing a place where the water was a little more than knee deep, we threw the inflatable sections overboard, and, fixing the bellows in the valves, held them beneath the surface and pumped water into them, just as we would have pumped air had we required them for boats. We did not quite fill them with water, but forced in a little air to give them buoyancy, and, at the same time, to preserve their shape. In towing them, however, the pressure of the water caused the foremost ends to assume a wedge-like form, while the water and air, being forced aft, carried all the buoyancy thither, and they went down head-foremost. We remedied this by cutting a long spar and lashing them to it, making fast also an indiarubber mattress to the parts most liable to go down.

Tedious enough was our voyage down the river. To make anything like speed with such a drag astern of the boat was impossible, either with oars or sails; and during the heat of the day we found the cement of the bags beginning to soften and give way. They had been warranted to stand 170°; but, testing them by the thermometer, the internal heat was only 120°. We gathered up the defective part, knotted it with a bit of twine, and laced the bag along the gunwale of our boat--keeping her in trim by lacing its fellow on the other side--leaving only one pair to be towed astern. The extensive shallows, where for half a mile on a stretch the river percolated through rather than flowed over broad banks of angularly-broken stones, caused us considerable labour and anxiety lest some sharper point than usual should pierce our bags and deprive us of the fruit of all our toil. We found, however, that they yielded kindly to the varying pressure; and we rolled them, one by one, over the successive reaches--working for hours together through the night, and frequently in pools in which we saw alligators, and sometimes sharks of considerable size.

Our week's work, however, toilsome as it was, resulted in a supply of 600 or 800 gallons of fresh water, tasting somewhat of indiarubber, but still available for the sheep. This supply we could have obtained in no other manner.

{Ships' water-bags.}

Water-bags for ship use may be made of stout No. 1 canvas. They should be of oblong form, about 2ft. long by 18in. wide. They should be in two thicknesses--the inside or lining being kept perfectly clean, and the outer one previously oiled with good boiled linseed oil and allowed to dry before it is made up, so as to keep the inner canvas as free from taint as possible. Generally the canvas is wetted with salt water, and then hung up till it is wind dry, or just so damp that no water will drip from it. It is then considered to be capable of absorbing just so much oil as will suffice to render it waterproof without clogging it or making it unpleasant to handle when it is dry. A sufficiently stout rope should be stitched round the seam of the bag; beckets or loops should be left in it at the four corners for convenience of handling; and a wooden tube or stopper should be inserted, and firmly seized in with small cord at one corner.

These bags are most convenient when a supply of water is needed on any emergency, especially if the landing be difficult or dangerous, or the inhabitants hostile. They occupy no room in the boat while empty. The oarsman may pull in unencumbered through the surf; or, if it is necessary to fight, the riflemen may use their weapons. When the landing is effected each carrier may seize his bag, sling it over his shoulder with a lanyard, and experience no hindrance until he actually fills it, when, of course, the weight of the water will become a burden. The bags will lie flat in the boat's bottom, accommodating their form to that of the space they occupy. If it is necessary to carry sail they serve as ballast; and even were the boat to fill, they would not sink her, but, as fresh water is of somewhat less specific gravity than salt, would, if secured by bottom boards laid over them and beneath the thwarts, help to keep her up; and on this account they would form the most eligible ballast for boats on separate service, and even for pleasure boats on excursions, where they might not be in actual need of a large supply of fresh water.

{Calabashes, horns, and egg-shells.}

Cattle horns serve in South Africa for powder-flasks or water vessels, some, especially among the Bechuana tribes, being 13ft. from tip to tip, and capable of containing several gallons each; while the Hottentots use them to hold honey beer, and the Abyssinians for "tedge" or mead. A calabash, or gourd, is used by most of the natives of South Africa, as well as many other countries, as a water vessel. It is light, water-tight, not very easily broken, and even if an unfortunate fracture should take place the natives repair it by boring holes on either side the crack, pointing them diagonally towards each other, so that, by giving a slight turn to the point of the sinew used for thread, they either pass it through the next hole or bring it so near that it may be caught, crochet fashion, by a fine thorn or a crook-pointed needle. The leakage is stopped by a little grease and clay rubbed into the holes. A calabash with a long neck may be cut so as to form a spoon or ladle. Others of smaller size are used as snuff-boxes, or receptacles for many trifles; and in some parts of Turkey calabashes are used for powder flasks. An ostrich's egg-shell with a net worked tightly round it makes a good water-bottle.

{Bladders and paunches.}

The bladders, or paunches, of slain animals are very generally used as water vessels. If an animal has drunk recently water may be found in its stomach. We have quenched our thirst with the milk of a blesbok doe as she lay dead, though not yet cold, upon the plain.

We have often seen our followers, when a buffalo or other animal has been killed, take out the paunch, shake out its contents, and hasten with it to the nearest stream, where, with barely a preparatory rinsing, they would fill it with water quite clean enough for their idea of culinary operation; and, calling on the nearest native resident, would invite him to bring his pots with him and assist in cooking the banquet.

Sometimes the paunch scraped thin is suspended by thongs passed through like purse strings. Occasionally two mimosa thorns, which are not unfrequently 4in. or 5in. long, or a couple of skewers, are thrust through and the cord tightened round under them. If a small hole should be found, it may be stopped by putting a somewhat larger pebble upon the place, gathering the skin around it, and then tying the neck firmly with a cord; or the edges may be skewered together with a thorn, and the neck bound tightly with cord.

When a rhinoceros has fallen we have seen the Damara women carefully extract the long intestines, distend them with air, and bring them home coiled round their bodies, to be used thereafter as water vessels.

{Waterproof baskets.}

The Kafirs on the frontier of the Cape Colony plait baskets of so fine a texture that they employ them for holding milk and even water; but it is better that they should become saturated with the first before they are used for the latter, as, though they swell while wet and are perfectly tight, pure water would dry out with the heat from the fibre of an empty basket, and the consequent shrinking of the texture would make it leaky.

We have seen most elegant and serviceable baskets made in Timor of the leaves of the fan palm. The ends of all the spreading leaflets are gathered together in a point, and a cord of twisted fibre is passed as a handle from this point to the stump of the footstalk. A pair of these baskets, holding two or three gallons each, are slung to the ends of a bamboo, and the bearer taking this across his shoulder carries water, or sometimes palm juice, about the town. The latter refreshing beverage is sold at a doit per cup; the cup itself being made of a smaller palm leaf, and also purchasable for a doit or two.

At Walvisch Bay, in South-West Africa, where rain falls perhaps once in two years, and the river runs with fresh water once in ten, there is a small water hole called Sand Fountain. This is about four miles from the landing place, and the water was, and perhaps still is, brought by two or more Hottentots dragging a cask fitted up like a garden roller, with the pivots set firmly into stout cross-pieces nailed or screwed upon each end of the cask.

Shafts of wood, with holes bored in them to fit upon the pivots, may be used as means of traction, or, if more convenient, ropes with thimbles or grummets turned in the ends for the same purpose; but in this case the trek ropes should be kept apart by a horizontal bar that they may not chafe upon the chine of the cask. It will also be advantageous to fit on felloe-pieces, near each end, so as to form a substitute for wheels, on which the cask may travel, and this will save a great deal of wear and tear should the country be rough or stony.

A larger cask mounted on the after wheels of a waggon, and fitted with chocks on a frame lying on the axle is useful.

{Camp filter.}

Filtering bags can be made of woollen or other cloth. An excellent and convenient camp filter is thus made: Take a wooden box or barrel, long and deep. Bore a number of holes in the bottom, fasten in a blanket bag, and then place a layer of grass, small twigs, or moss on the bottom, over the holes; then a layer of sand; then a thick bed of coarse lumps of charcoal; then fresh layers of grass or moss, until the box or barrel is about half filled. Then fashion a false head or cover, making it just large enough to move up and down the cask or box freely; burn or bore a number of holes in it, and, when fitted in, press it firmly down on the arrangement below, and drive a few nails in above to keep it from rising. When this contrivance is partially sunk in a pond or lake the water will ascend to the upper compartment above the false head, from which it can be dipped or drawn for use.

Another useful barrel filter can be made by knocking both the heads out of a small cask, boring it full of gimlet holes, placing it on a thick layer of charcoal and pebbles in a larger cask, also bored full of holes, and then filling in all the space between the outer and inner barrels with the mixture, as shown in the above illustration.

The following is an expedient easily extemporised and frequently used in damp soils, where water is scarce. A quantity of grass is tied up in a wisp, or plaited into a bag; two reeds are inserted in this--one as a suction tube, and the other to admit air; and the apparatus is buried wherever a sufficiency of moisture is likely to permeate the soil.

The annexed illustration shows a very common expedient. Suppose the waters of a river to be excessively turbid: a well may be dug in the bank at any convenient distance, and the water that collects in it will at least be much clearer than that of the river. Of course none of these modes will correct chemical impurity.

{Hints on springs.}

We have heard it said that even sea-water by filtration through a considerable mass of sand will lose much of its saltness and become drinkable, and that, by digging wells at some distance from the margin of the beach, it may be obtained with a very small amount of brackishness. We should like to hear a well-authenticated instance of this, in which there could be no doubt that the sea-water had been thus purified, and that the diggers had not in fact struck upon a stratum moistened by the inland drainage, and rendered more or less brackish by meeting with the sea-water.

We have known a remarkable instance of the discovery of a spring of fresh water in the immediate vicinity of the salt. In 1855, while attached to the North-Australian Expedition, we had great difficulty in supplying the sheep carried by our schooner, Tom Tough, with water. We made one trip up the Victoria River, with indiarubber bags--and this we purpose to notice more fully under its proper heading--and searched the country on either side the river in all directions. We found many little pools in shady hollows of rock, or of alluvial soil, marking the course the rivulets would take in the rainy season, and many of them decked with waterlilies. But these were too distant to be of service to us, and we again examined the country in our vicinity. In one cleft of rock we found a pint or two of water, and with a long twig and the broken shell of a gouty stem fruit we drew up enough to allay our thirst; but after traversing the arid ridges for hours we were returning unsuccessfully, when, passing at half-tide along the muddy margin of the river where a bold projecting headland forbade us any other path, Mr. Gregory noticed a little water collected in a hollow of the mud around a boulder. We thought at first it was only the drainage of the retiring tide, but on tasting it, we coincided in his opinion that it was not salt water. We set to work with our hands and cleared away the mud and brackish slime till, having reached a stratum too hard for our fingers' ends, we rested, and soon had the satisfaction of seeing a small threadlike streamlet of clear water forcing its way through the muddy sediment. In a few minutes nearly half a pint of fresh water had collected, and, having satisfied ourselves of the value of our discovery, we returned to our schooner, and, putting a couple of puncheons in the long boat, waited till the turn of the next tide, and dropped down with the ebb to the headland. Our well was not yet uncovered, but we began to work as soon as the water fell below our knees, greatly to the astonishment of our Dutch sailor, who could hardly find terms strong enough to express it. "Allamagtig," said he over and over again, "have I lived so long in this world that I must come to dig for fresh water underneath the salt!" We made a fire on the uncovered boulder to give us light, at no small risk of injury from the splitting off of heated fragments; and, removing as many large stones as we could, cleared out a spring of perfectly pure fresh water, abundant enough to fill both our puncheons before the tide again rose high enough to cover it. Nor was this a transient phenomenon, for the next year, before we left the river, we again cleared out the "Gregory" well and filled all the casks of our vessel for her voyage. The sketch represents very nearly the locality in question; the high-water level is shown by the upper horizontal line, and the half-tide by the lower one, and that of the well is observable between them.

A makeshift filter can be made as follows: A small reed is inserted into a walnut shell, or any other receptacle of about the same size, pierced with small holes, and packed, not too tightly, with hemp, cotton, coir sponge, or other porous material; it is then placed in the shell of a cocoa-nut, an ostrich's egg, or tin pannikin of any kind, and the interval between the two moderately packed with charcoal made either from wood or, still better, bones, with any fibrous material, and a mixture of sand or gravel. This is plunged beneath the water, and the tube being taken into the mouth, a little suction does all the rest. The shank or wing-bone of a crane, a stork, or albatross, may be used as a tube in the same manner.

The Bushmen of South Africa always carry one or more suction reeds in the quiver with their arrows, and, whenever the water is surrounded by banks so steep that the lips cannot conveniently reach the surface, lie down and suck the water through the tube. When there is only damp soil they dig a hole, and, wrapping up the end of the reed in a tuft of grass, they bury it, and suck the water that filters through. But as the Bushwoman fills the ostrich's egg-shells, to be carried away for home consumption, she takes another reed, or often merely a bit of grass or straw, as a conductor, and spirts the water along it from the other side of her mouth into the shell. The orifice is then plugged with a wisp of grass; and, a dozen or more of the shells being packed in a net, she takes them on her back and marches, perhaps, many a mile to deposit them wherever the men require water.

{Grass filters.}

Sometimes the Bushmen take a good handful of grass, and lash it very tightly up at the taper end, leaving the butt spreading and at liberty; in fact, they tie it on exactly the opposite principle to that on which a broom or birch rod is made. They dip the large end into the muddy pool, and then allow the water to drip from the taper end into their mouths if they have no other vessel at hand to receive it. Often, when the mud is composed mainly of vegetable matter, and is too light to separate and fall to the bottom of a pannikin as sediment, this is about the best way of clearing it.

Many plants, like the aloe in South Africa, or others whose leaves point upward and have a cup-shaped cavity at their junction with the stalk, retain a considerable quantity of water after rains; and some seem to have the power of imbibing moisture from the air, even though no rain falls.

Rain-water is collected at sea by spreading the ship's awnings, and hanging buckets under them by means of sail hooks; these, of course, depress that part of the canvas to which they are hooked on; the water flows towards it, and runs down the lanyard into the bucket.

In situations where a good supply of reeds is to be obtained a tolerably effective contrivance for water-clearing may be made as follows: Cut enough reeds to form a bundle as large as a six-gallon barrel; lay them evenly, with their heads one way and their cut ends the other. Now cut three long slender poles or rods; form them into hoops by lashing their ends with cord, raw hide, or a few creepers, and then secure them round the bundle of reeds, as shown in the following illustration. The reed cylinder, if properly made, should be firm, compact, and capable of standing alone like a cask. It should now have a bowl-shaped depression cut in its centre, and be placed in the foul water, and secured there by driving a stout rough pole down through the centre of the depression. The bottom of the reed cylinder may or may not touch the bottom. In deep water it remains hung, or, rather, impaled on the pole in such a way that about 6in. of the cut ends of the reeds are above the surface. The water will quickly fill the depression, out of which it may be dipped with a cup or other vessel.

The Indian water-carriers spread a piece of thick native cloth over the mouth of an earthen chatty pot, and then pour the tank water on it until the vessel is full, when the contents are transferred to the leather "mussac," or water-bag. We have often had recourse to this expedient on a small scale, and made use of our brass lota pot, with a double silk handkerchief spread over its mouth, to strain off impurities.

{Clearing nut.}

Turbid water is cleared to some extent by placing a piece of common alum in it. A lump the size of a common nutmeg will be found sufficient to throw down a heavy sediment from a pailful of foul water. In India a species of nut or seed is made use of in the same way, and appears to act much in the same manner, although from different chemical affinities. In speaking of this water-clearing nut, the late Sir Emerson Tennent, in his admirable work on Ceylon, says: "To correct the impurity of the tank water when intended for their own use, the natives employ a horny seed (the production of a species of 'strychnos') about the size of a coffee bean, called by the Tamils 'tettan kotta,' and by the Singhalese 'ingini' (Strychnos potatorum). This they rub round the inside of the unglazed earthen chatty in which the muddy water is held till about one-half the seed is ground off, which, mingling with the water, forms with it a delicate mucilage. In the course of a few minutes the impure particles, being seized by this, descend, and, on their subsidence, form an apparently viscid sediment at the bottom, whilst the clear fluid remains at the top; and, although not altogether bright, is sufficiently pure for ordinary purposes. The curious and valuable plant S. potatorum, or the 'clearing nut bush' is abundant in the woods and mountains of the East Indies. It bears a shining fruit, which becomes black as it ripens. The trinal name is derived from the use which is made of the seeds, which, when dried, are sold by the native dealers in the bazaars expressly for the purpose of purifying turbid water." This plant (Strychnos St. Ignatii, or St. Ignatius's bean) is a climbing shrub without tendrils, bearing long drooping white flowers, which have the perfume of jasmine. The species is identical with the Ignatia amara of Linnæus. It is a native of Cochin-China and the Philippines, as well as of India proper.

{Patent filter.}

We, a short time since, invented and patented a small portable filter, which can be carried either in the breast pocket or holster. Its mode of use will be understood on reference to the illustration. Place the end of the tube (A) firmly in the pipe (B); fix the cover securely on the cup, and then thrust it with the hand beneath the surface of the foul water. Hold the mouthpiece (C) between the lips, and draw the air by sucking from the interior of the flask until the water flows freely into the mouth. If a draught of water is required for immediate use, the cover may be now removed, when the cup will be found full. If a larger quantity of water is needed, one or more flasks may be placed in an erect position in a tub or pail of water, set in action as before directed, and allowed to run until the water in the tub has reached the level of the flasks, which will not require holding under water when once filled by exhausting the air contained in them. To renew or cleanse the packing, which may consist of sponge, woollen cloth, flannel, wild cotton, or fine moss, unscrew the cover of the packing box within the cover, when it can be easily withdrawn and replaced. The tube, when not in use, is carried, coiled up, within the flask, which, on an emergency, may be made use of for boiling water, tea, soup, eggs, or meat. We have had the honour of exhibiting this simple but useful contrivance at meetings of the members of both the Royal United Service Institution and the Royal Society.

We have now applied the same principle to stoppers for bottles, or any other vessels, so that a common beer or sodawater bottle can be instantly converted into a syphon filter, as shown in the annexed illustration.

By the use of our invention we effectually get rid of the ova and larvæ of water insects, and the thousand and one living and dead impurities which are so abundant in the lakes, streams, and ponds of tropical countries. To get into the water contained in the flask or bottle, they would first have to pass through metal grating No. 1; then through the pores of closely-impacted sponge, woollen, or fine fibrous matter; and, lastly, through another grating, or strainer No. 2.

There is scarcely any possibility of foreign substances of any kind passing through the stuffing box, so that water, unless chemically tainted or poisoned by mineral solutions, can be rendered fit for use in two or three minutes by the use of either the metal flask or stopper.

We extemporised a camp filter in the Crimea by knocking out the bottom of a common claret bottle, turning it large end upwards, fastening a piece of doubled rag over the orifice intended for the cork, stuffing the neck tightly with sponge and sand in alternate layers, hanging it up with twine over another bottle, and then filling it with the by-no-means clear fluid brought to the tents by the water carriers.

Ice, even when taken from a very dirty puddle, is comparatively pure, as in freezing most of the impurities are set free.

Very impure water from stagnant pools should, before use, be boiled in the camp-kettle with a good netful of charcoal. This process not only tends much to purify it, but kills all water insects, their ova, and the legions of animalculæ which inhabit the pools of the tropics.

In some parts of the world, Central India for example, the waters in certain wells, although perfectly bright and clear, is so highly charged with saline matter as to be perfectly undrinkable.

{Water raising.}

The accompanying full-page illustration represents one of the modes by which ox-power is, in the East, brought to bear on water raising. The greater number of the extensive tracks of irrigated land devoted to the growth of the opium poppy, the cotton plant, and the various native grains are watered by its aid. The form of the water-bag, or bucket, differs somewhat in particular localities. By some makers it is formed from tanned hides fastened to an iron frame; by others, the hides are merely tanned (according to directions given further on), spread open at the top, and tapered off to a long narrow open bag at the end. To explain the use of this contrivance, we will suppose that the bag is at the bottom of the well, at the end of the well rope and point guide, which latter cord is fastened to the taper end or delivery mouth of the bag. Now this guide being shorter than the main well rope, on which all the strain falls, draws up the tapered point like a doubled coat-sleeve above the level of the bag's mouth. At a signal (usually a shrill yell) from the well boy, the well-trained ox walks away down an inclined plane, hauling on the main well rope, which works over a smooth round stick fitted above the well, whilst the point guide rope works over another fitted at the side. Now it will be seen that as the great leather sack, with its doubled-up sleeve bottom, reaches the mouth of the well, the point guide will draw the cuff of the sleeve out over the round stick, which will then be considerably lower than the mouth of the bag, or bucket; all the water will then gush out through the sleeve, which will be as the small end of an enormous funnel. The water thus poured out is usually received in a sort of pond made from pieces of matting filled with earth. A large hollow tree trunk is then fitted to one side, or the end, for the water to flow through into the main canal of the system of irrigation.

In Tartary, water is raised in much the same manner; but a man on horseback makes the line fast to his girth or saddle, and gallops from the well up to a mark previously made at a proper distance from the well, and which should be a trifle more than the actual depth from which the water is to be raised.

In almost all countries, from the earliest times to the present, levers, heavily weighted on the shorter arm, and with a bucket attached to the longer, have been used for raising water from deep wells. The pictorial records of Ancient Egypt attest the antiquity of this method. The shadoof of modern Egypt is the same, and we have seen it used both in that country and on the remotest mission stations in Southern Africa. The mode of applying it will be seen by a glance at our full-page engraving. The water raised by the shadoof is commonly used for irrigation. We, however, found it very valuable during the Crimean war for raising water for both men and horses. When used among the crops, the water is received sometimes in a reservoir with embankments, guarded by matting, and at others, into troughs which lead direct to the main irrigating channel, from which smaller furrows lead off to every part of the field. These are stopped with lumps of clay or earth, and when the water is required in any direction, the irrigator removes the obstruction by thrusting his toes beneath and lifting it out of the way.

In Egypt, India, and other countries, wheels and machines, more or less elaborate, are used for lifting water. There must be, for this purpose, at least one vertical wheel of sufficient diameter to carry an endless band, on which are fastened a series of buckets, in such a manner that they will retain very nearly their perpendicular position, until they surmount the highest portion of the circumference of the wheel, and will then "tip" and discharge the water into a trough or reservoir. These buckets may be wooden bowls, earthen chatty pots, bags of leather or canvas, joints of bamboo, or anything that is moderately water-tight; but, of course, the less leakage there is the better. The band should run round a similar wheel the axle of which is nearly level with the water, so that the band is kept tight and the buckets forced beneath the surface; but this may be dispensed with if the band and upper wheel are sufficiently rough, or if there be studs or points to catch the full buckets and prevent their slipping. The wheel may be turned either by a crank, by manual labour, or oxen or other animals may be employed. In this latter case there may be another larger wheel or drum upon the same axle, and several turns of rope being taken over it, the ox may be driven away, unwinding it as he goes; or an endless screw, sloping at an angle of 45°, may be cut upon the axle, while a similar one working in it is cut upon a vertical shaft. Or cogged wheels of the same angle (as shown in our figure) may be used; the vertical pillar will then be turned by an ox yoked to a cross-bar and walking round it in a circular path; but it will be necessary that the discharging trough should pass beneath a little bridge in this path, and that the communication with the water to be drawn up should either be by a well within the circle, or by a channel to the river passing under a similar bridge. The stancheons of the frame which supports the vertical bar must stand outside and well clear of the path.

We give, also, an example of a box pump. Four deals or boards, of any length or breadth, are nailed together, but their lower ends for about a foot or more should be left a little wider than the rest of the length; two wheels of nearly equal diameter should be fixed, one with part of its circumference below the water, and the other somewhat higher than it is requisite to raise it; an endless band of canvas or other material must pass round both wheels, and one side of it through the trough. On this band must be fastened by one edge a number of boards or floats of such size as nearly to fill the inner diameter of the trough, without being so tight as to stick in any part of it; a hole should be bored in the centre of each, and a small line run through and knotted, so as to keep the floats always at right angles to the band. There should be a spout near the top of the trough, to lead the water off in any required direction. Fig. 2 on the same illustration shows part of an endless band, with pockets or bags stitched on it; these may be of almost any stout material of tolerably close fibre--No. 1 canvas would answer very well. They would discharge the water over the wheel into a reservoir, and no tube, as in Fig. 1, would be needed.

We give, also, an example of wheels driven by water power over and undershot. It would be superfluous to mark these with distinctive figures. In the first the water is conveyed by a pipe or trough, and allowed to fall upon the wheel into buckets or receptacles formed in its periphery by fixing boards across between the two rims, at such angles as are indicated by the dotted lines, which may be taken to represent the heads of the nails driven into their edges; and thus they will retain water until, by the revolution of the wheel, they have sunk so far as to be below the level of the axle, when they allow the water to escape, and come up light and empty on the other side. Some of these wheels are as much as 30ft. or more in diameter; indeed, the larger they are, the greater is the leverage obtained from a given amount of water; and, the wheel once set in motion, the power thus gained may be applied by connecting gear to any mechanical purpose.

The "undershot" simply has boards or floats fixed across it with their edges coinciding with the lines of the spokes. Indeed, if a paddle steamer were anchored in a tideway, and her wheels disconnected and allowed to revolve with the force of the tide, they would furnish a good example of the undershot wheel; and the paddle of a wrecked steamer would be better than anything a colonist with scant appliances could make for the purpose.

Still, with a few tools and a moderate share of ingenuity very fair makeshift water-wheels may be constructed in situations where they may be found most valuable. We have, when among the Tartars, seen them erect a small wooden hut over a narrow rapid mountain stream, leave a sort of trap in the floor, fix in some rough forked tree trunks and beams, and on them mount a little water-wheel made of hewn planks and bars treenailed together on the double-cross system, like that adopted in building up the wheel a in the illustration on p. 511, which is supposed to be erected for mining pumps, and is fed by a two-plank shoot. The Tartar wheels were invariably undershot, like that at B, and were used for setting in motion the trip hammers used in fulling their coarse native woollen.

In the beautiful valley of the Kowie River, a few miles below Grahamstown, we saw a rather ingenious application of wind power to a horizontal wheel. The principle will be best shown by calling to the reader's memory the well known nautical toy which consists of four or more cutters, or fore and aft rigged vessels, sailing in a circle on a mast-head or flag-staff. In the fore and aft sails the foremost leach, or edge, is attached by rings, or otherwise, to the mast or stay of the respective sail, and is stretched tight, while the after leach is left more or less free, according as the sheet is hauled in or eased off. In consequence of this when the vessel is before the wind the sails fill, but as their surface catches it obliquely they do not exert their full force till the vessel receives the wind upon her quarter. When the wind is "a-beam," or blowing across her at right angles, the sails are still helping her forward, and continue to do so, even when her head comes up so near as just not to shake the wind out of them. When this happens, the sails lose their power, as they present only their foremost edge to the wind, and not a broad surface like those of a square-rigged ship when she is taken aback. (We will therefore suppose four cutters, a, b, c, d.) The cutter a is before the wind, b has the wind somewhat on the quarter, while c, having "come up" several points, is now nearly head to wind with her sails shaking, and d has taken the wind on the other tack. Thus, there are always three vessels whose sails are helping them round in one direction, while the fourth, for the moment that she is in the "wind's eye," is powerless to resist them.

This power can be applied to a large horizontal wheel. There should be two wheels, one 18in. or 2ft. above the other; they are made as light as possible, and each has a smaller rim or felloe, say 18in., within the other. The sails are in this instance flat boards, with a dowel left on each end for a hinge. These dowels work in holes in the upper and lower spokes, midway between the inner and outer felloes. It will be seen that the sails marked will receive the wind on one side until, coming so far before it that they "jibe," they assume the position of those which receive it on the other. When they come up to the wind on the other side the wheel they present their hinged edge to the wind, and shift like the sails of cutter c, but without shaking. The best angle for them to make is 22-1/2° on either side the central line, and this is also the angle at which the sails of a windmill should present their surfaces.

{Well sinking.}

The explorer, or settler, will not unfrequently have to sink wells for the obtainment of water for himself and his animals. It will often happen that Nature has commenced the formation of a well, which merely requires the labours of man to complete. The crowbar and pick will, in such cases, very quickly enable the traveller to deepen it sufficiently to meet his temporary needs. Where a long-continued residence is intended, and a regular and continuous supply of water is required, apart from that obtained from rivers or lakes, wells of greater or less depth, according to the nature of the ground and water supply, must be undertaken.

The Indians manage to construct walled wells of great depth in loose sandy soil in the following ingenious manner: They first mark a circle, the size of the intended well, on the earth. They then dig a groove, or trench, of the width of the intended thickness of the lining wall of the well, much as our masons sink a foundation for a house. They now proceed to build a circle of masonry in the groove, and carry it up to a few feet in height above the surface. Other Indians now get inside the wall, and, with short-handled hoes and fire-hardened sticks, dig away the sand from beneath the foundation of the wall round the entire circle. As the sand is loosened and dug out, it is taken up in cane baskets and thrown outside. As the wall sinks into the earth by being undermined, it is constantly added to by building above until the required depth is reached.

The Chinese sink very narrow and deep wells by the use of a kind of jumper, or boring bit. This is hung suspended from the end of a long bamboo spring beam, which is constantly worked up and down, thus causing the bit to constantly drop and pick, so to speak, on one spot. The bit is hollow, and when it becomes full of sludge produced by its incessant tapping, it is withdrawn from the hole, cleared out, and entered again. A little water added from time to time much assists the operation, and tends to keep the bit from becoming heated. As it will be seen this method, although very useful as a makeshift, is tedious to a degree.

Much fear was entertained at the commencement of the Abyssinian war that there would be a great scarcity of water in consequence of the comparatively limited number of wells and indifferent quality of the water to be found in that portion of the country over which our troops had to march shortly after their arrival; and there is little doubt but that serious inconvenience, if no worse, would have been experienced, had not a contrivance, known as the "American tube well-borer," the invention of Mr. Norton, been brought to the notice of the Government authorities. The wells formed by these deeply-penetrating sets of tubes were found to supply water freely and expeditiously in that country. How far the perforated end of the tube would be effective, if driven through clay, we have had no means of ascertaining; but we are of opinion that for reaching deeply-buried water-yielding deposits of ordinary character the tube-borer will be found most valuable. Its action is simplicity itself.

The foregoing illustration represents the contrivance fixed on the ground and ready for use. B, B, B are the legs of a triangle, C is the striking point for the monkey (D), which is raised by the pulley ropes (E, E) until it reaches the head of the triangle when it is allowed to fall on C, which is secured to the joint of tube F, which, having a sharp arrow headlike point, readily enters the earth. Joint after joint are added, like those of a fishing rod, until the required depth has been reached, when a small pump is attached, as in the annexed cut, which shows the position of the set of tubes in the earth after the water-yielding bed, or deposit, has been penetrated. [Illustration] When very large quantities of water are needed, as for the use of troops, troop horses, and baggage animals, several tubes can be driven in at one spot and coupled together at the top, when one pump can be made to draw from all.

The weight of such an arrangement as that represented would be by no means great, and the cost a mere trifle when compared with the costly process of Artesian well boring as usually carried out. Should it be decided on to abandon a well, the tubes can be drawn up and driven elsewhere.

With regard to the quantity of water which tube wells of a certain diameter of bore are capable of bringing to the surface, Mr. Norton informs us that some of his 1-1/4in. wells yield as much as 900 gallons of water per hour, whilst some of the large bores have poured forth as much as 10,000 gallons per hour.

The modes by which water can be raised from common pit or shaft wells are numerous. Some of them we have described; others, such as the old-fashioned bucket and rope, are too well known to need description.

The miner's pump will be found described at p. 266. A very useful and effective pump may be readily made by boring an auger hole through a tree-trunk, mounting it with a brake-piece and handle as at A in the annexed illustration; fixing on a valved sucker and plunger, as represented at B. C represents a barrel pump. This is made by fixing a short square wooden box in the bottom of a large strong cask in such a manner that a large bung-hole may be bored where the centre of the box comes. (The accompanying engraving will serve to show the nature of the arrangement.) Then outside the hole attach a long tube made of stout sail canvas. Wind a stiff rope into a spiral, round a spar or pole, which can be withdrawn when the coil is complete, and attach it here and there with stitches of twine. This spiral coil will keep the tube from collapsing when in use. Then in your square upright box fix a valved sucker, made as shown at D, and another valve in the bottom of the box, as at E. A brake and handle may be fitted to the side of the barrel, and a hard wood or iron plunger attached, when the pump will be ready for use. As the water flows out over the rim of the box it is caught in the barrel, to which a spout of leather, tin, or bark may be attached.

There are numerous trees and plants to be found in various parts of the world which yield, in addition to their fruits, large quantities of sap and other products, which often prove of inestimable value to the traveller. It would be next to impossible to separate arbitrarily the fruit-yielding members of the vegetable world from those which furnish juice or sap only. We shall therefore in this work treat of the most valuable and noteworthy, dealing with them as they happen to come under notice. Even in the most desert parts of South Africa the traveller ought not to despair of finding means to quench his thirst, even though water may not be obtainable. In some parts he may, perhaps, catch sight of small antelopes pawing the hard red soil, or may at least come on places that have been so scratched; and though in many instances this may have been done only to clean the hoofs, he will find that in others holes of several inches in depth have been made for the purpose of obtaining succulent roots looking very like small turnips. Sometimes these may be found partially eaten, or left behind entire, when the timid animal has been startled from his repast. The form of these roots should be carefully noted, together with that of their leaves, as the traveller can only discover the whereabouts of other roots by external indications, and cannot be guided--as the antelope probably is--by the scent of moisture beneath the ground.

The natives of nearly every separate district know of some peculiar root that is, perhaps, confined to their own locality; and it is always well to encourage them to bring a supply, not only of the root, but of its leaves, and to ask them to point out the plant, so that its appearance may be observed before it is disturbed. Some of these are small tubers, about the size of a pigeon's egg, on a long underground stem; others are much larger; and we have seen one of the kind called "marquæ," which measured in its longest circumference 3-1/2ft., and 2-1/2ft. in its shortest. The "marquæ," or "markhwæ," is properly of a flattened spherical figure, with an indication of tap-root below and a small conical protuberance above, from which the slender stem springs up. Its seeds are strung upon a skein of fibres in long round tapering pods, 4in. to 6in. long, and thicker than a goose-quill. The taste and appearance, when cut, would be something like that of a very fibrous watery turnip; but when thirst-quenching plants are sought for, we believe that the more tasteless they are the better. The smaller roots are more agreeable than those of larger size; and we have frequently found that the mastication of even a small portion of such a root affords more relief than the drinking of any quantity of water.

In certain countries, where rain seldom falls and the night dews are heavy, a very considerable quantity of water may be obtained from the grass and low bushes before sunrise, by shaking them over some wide shallow vessel; or a piece of waterproof cloth stretched across the prong end of a wide-forked stick. When properly put together an implement of this kind is not unlike a large dustpan. Sponges, or soft porous cloths, absorb a large quantity of water when brought in contact with wet plants or moist surfaces of any kind. They can be squeezed out as fast as they become charged with water.

After a long journey, when the throat is parched, the skin of the lips dried and cracking for want of moisture, the teeth fouled, and the tongue, with all its papillæ, dry and hard as the teeth of a rasp, rattling against them, there is no immediate relief in drinking water.

We have at times halted in a melon patch, and have selected and cut into slices the tasteless melons for our horses. The Hottentots and Bushmen collect these in quantities, and with a stick mash up the inside until it becomes a pulp; and, as the water exudes from the broken cells, they obtain perhaps a mouthful from each melon.

In some parts of the Kalahari Desert it is noticed that there are individual elephants, rhinoceroses, or other animals, that never drink water, having attached themselves to a locality in which they find melons and succulent roots as substitutes. Indeed, we believe that at least one tribe of Namaqua Hottentots live very comfortably in an absolutely waterless country, subsisting chiefly on the milk of their cattle, which in turn quench their thirst solely by eating water melons.

Our fellow traveller, Joseph Macabe, in his arduous journey to Lake Ngami, travelled long distances without water; and one day he had to drive his oxen ten miles to eat water melons, and then to drive them back to the waggons to perform their day's work. This privilege was duly purchased from the Bushmen who lived near, and who therefore might be supposed to look upon these wild fruits as their own. A line was traced upon the ground; but it required all the efforts of the Bushmen, and the herdsmen too, to make the thirsty cattle understand that they were only to eat within a certain limit.

The beautiful "traveller's tree" of Madagascar collects and retains through almost the driest seasons a welcome store of water. Its ample leaves point upward to the heavens; and all the rain, dew, or atmospheric moisture from their broad surfaces, is conducted down until it lodges in the hollow formed just above the junction of the midrib with the stem. The natives pierce the leaf-stalk with a spear; the water gushes out, and is caught in a vessel held under to receive it. So unfailing is the supply from these trees, that where one of them is seen no native will trouble himself to walk even a short distance to a river. The most valuable property, however, of this tree is that it may be tapped again and again without vital injury. It is most likely that the orifice will close, and the wounded leaf will again collect water; or, at most, the injured leaf will die off, leaving the others in full vitality. It is different with the collection of palm juice, in which the tree itself is materially injured and often completely destroyed.

On the low lands at the Delta of the Zambesi, where the various species of mangroves have fulfilled their office in winning from the dominion of the ocean the broad sand-banks annually deposited by the river, an abundant growth of the Doum palm and wild date begins to occupy the new formed land. The natives seek those that have grown to not more than a man's height, and, cutting off all the leaf-stalks with the exception of the merest sprout in the centre to continue the vitality, make a deep incision where the leaves should be, stick in it a bit of folded leaf as a spout, and hang an earthen pot under it by a strip of leaf, sheltering it from the sun by a kind of basket, loosely but ingeniously woven from another leaf in the manner shown in our sketch on p. 519.

In connection with the subject of water we may here appropriately notice the expedients used by many nations for the separation of juices from the fruit containing them, or for expressing from grain or fibrous substances the water in which they have been washed or steeped, and which may either be collected as holding in solution some nutritious matter, or thrown away as carrying off something distasteful or even poisonous.

In Kafirland the stem of a species of Zamia is laid for several days in a running stream, and we have generally seen it pointed in the direction of the current so that the moisture with which it is surcharged might drain gradually from the lower end, carrying with it the acrid or unpleasant juices, while the impact of the stream from above would force more water into its pores and continue to dislodge all that it was desirable to remove, leaving the farinaceous matter between the fibres.

Another plant, commonly known by the appropriately descriptive name of elephant's foot (Testudinaria of Burchell, or Tamus elephantopus), is used as an article of food by the Hottentots, and on this account is often called Hottentot's bread. We have not actually seen the preparation of it, but believe that very little is required beyond cutting out the internal pith, which resembles the inside of a turnip, and baking it on the embers. The remarkable lump which rests upon the surface of the ground bears, in general shape and colour, some resemblance to the foot of an elephant, and averages nearly the same size; but we have seen some nearly 3ft. in diameter. It is covered with rough angular projections, reminding one of the scales on the shell of a tortoise.

On the Zambesi, near Logier Hill, we have seen the native women frequently washing a kind of cassava, cut into discs across the grain so thin as to leave the fibre as short as possible. These were put into the closely-woven baskets of the country, which, being about half immersed, were worked with a rotatory motion similar to that of gold washing--removing some acrid juice, and leaving what little nutriment might be contained in the fibre.

In many countries great and long-continued pressure is employed. Some vegetable substances contain, in addition to their nutritious properties, juices so acrid as to destroy almost every other fibre that might be used to contain them; and therefore, as in South America, particular kinds of palms or other trees are valued because pressure bags can be woven of them that will resist this action. These bags are of various shapes; but a very favourite one is that of a long double cone, loosely woven with the slips, which represent the threads, crossing each other in a long lozenge-like form, so that when the bag is filled it shortens up and greatly enlarges its central diameter; but when it is hung by one end to a tree, and a considerable weight is attached to the other, its elongation contracts its diameter and squeezes out the juices of whatever is placed inside it.

We have seen various forms of these bags, which were in use amongst the ancient Egyptians for expressing the remainder of the juice after the grapes had already been trodden in the wine-press. Both the ancient and modern contrivances appear to have been matted bags of elongated form, and with a very stout eye or loop at either end; and the chief difference is in their size. The upper one is worked by two men, who, inserting staves into the loops at the ends, twist them opposite ways; while the lower is worked by five--four of whom, having twisted it as tightly as they can, haul the staves apart, while the fifth, throwing himself between the upper ends, forces them apart still farther. The effect in each case is the flow of a copious stream of second quality wine, which pours from the twisted bag into the receptacle placed for it.

There is a plant, which much resembles the "bachelor's pillow" of our hothouses, found growing in Mexico and some other countries. When it is rooted in the earth it is more like a vegetable hedgehog than aught else, being covered with long pointed thorns, like those of the cactus. Hunters and travellers often collect these unpromising-looking productions for the sake of the water they contain. When freed from their attachment to the ground, they are taken on a forked stick, which is held in the left hand, whilst the thorn-covered rind is sliced off with a hunting-knife held in the right. The pulp, thus laid bare, affords enough moisture to quench the thirst of either man or horse.

The agave (Agave Americana) yields a very large quantity of sap. To obtain this, the crown is cut off, and a deep hole scooped out in the substance of the plant. This, in a short time, fills with fluid, which, when collected, fermented, and properly prepared, is the celebrated "pulque" of the Mexicans.

Large-sized bamboo canes not unfrequently hold bottled-up between their internodes a considerable quantity of water, the presence of which can be detected by giving the canes, one after another, a sharp sudden shake, when the imprisoned fluid gives out a hollow, gurgling sound easily recognised. To obtain the cane-water, it is only necessary to tap the joint or cut down the cane. This juice is not only an agreeable and refreshing drink, but is by the natives believed to be particularly wholesome and sanitary in its effects on the constitution.

It is somewhat curious that the silicious element found covering the outside of the cane like a hard varnish should be held in solution by this fluid; but that it is so there can be no doubt, as, when the liquid, or sap, is allowed to remain for any length of time in the tubular cavity of the cane, it either becomes absorbed altogether, or leaves a hard concrete substance far more like a mineral than a vegetable substance; possessing, in fact, all the attributes of an earth product. It is not acted on by any of the ordinary acids; it remains unaltered by fire; and forms, with the alkalies, a clear glass, just as flint would. This curious substance is the celebrated "tabascheer," which is renowned throughout the East for its marvellously curative qualities; and it is not improbable that this, like many other Oriental productions, may contain virtues little dreamed of by the medical practitioner at home.

In some of the forests of the tropics a large description of pitcher plant is found. The natural cups found on it not only contain a considerable quantity of water, but have the disadvantage of being natural traps for insects and all sorts of small creeping things, which, attracted by the moisture, fall in, and are drowned. Sometimes, however, a pitcher is found with perfectly clear and deliciously cool water in it, which well repays the thirsty searcher.

In many nations, the palm trees peculiar to them supply an almost inexhaustible variety of the necessaries or the conveniencies and luxuries of life, from timber for house or ship building to fine cloth for wearing apparel, as well as many articles of food and refreshing, or often intoxicating, drinks.

Nearly all the palms contain what is called a cabbage, or in other words a mass of young vegetable matter in taste, nearly resembling the heart of a cabbage stalk, and both in Australia and Africa we have occasionally availed ourselves of this. We do not advise it, except in cases of necessity, because the cutting of it out even from a young tree involves considerable labour, and it is always with some regret that a man feels himself obliged to destroy a noble tree, perhaps 40ft. or 50ft. in height to obtain hardly vegetable matter enough to serve him for a single meal.

At Coepang, in Timor, we have seen the leaves of the fan palm converted into buckets or pails by simply drawing the points or leaflets together and securing them; while the lesser leaves or fronds were in the same manner made into exquisite little drinking cups, capable of containing one "doit's" worth of palm juice, which, when perfectly fresh, is most delicious and refreshing.

The large leaves of the palm may be used for the collection of dew or occasional showers. The water casks of one of the Dutch gunboats were set out upon the beach near her anchorage, and the stems of three or four palm leaves inserted in each bung-hole to conduct thither all the moisture that might fall upon their broad surface.

{Palms, to climb.}

The tall palm tree is usually climbed by the aid of a loop of loosely-twisted rope, or a hoop of any sufficiently strong and flexible material large enough to encircle the tree and the body of the climber, allowing him to lean back in it at such an angle that the pressure of his feet against the trunk is sufficient to support him. Short steps are taken upward, and the rope is jerked up skilfully a little at a time; but great care must be taken duly to proportion these motions, for if the feet be too high, the head and shoulders will project so far that the power of the arms will not suffice to bear the strain, while if they are too low they will not be pressed with sufficient force against the tree, and will slip downward.

The northern limits of the palms are--in Europe 43°, in Asia 34°, and in America 34° of latitude; the southern are--in Africa 34°, in New Zealand 38°, and in America 36°. The known species amount at present nearly to 600, but it is supposed that at least from 1000 to 1200 will be found. The stems of some do not rise above the ground, while others are 200ft. high; some are no thicker than a goose-quill, while others are as large as a hogshead; some are climbing plants, with long flexible stems; some are covered with fibrous network, and some have spines or thorns 8in. or 10in. long, that may be used for needles or arrows. Some of the leaves are 50ft. long and 8ft. wide--these are composed of numerous leaflets on a strong midrib; some are undivided, and yet are 30ft. long and 5ft. wide; and others again are fan-shaped. The fruits are generally small, the cocoa-nut being the largest of the family; the kernel is often too hard to be eaten, and the covering fibrous or woody; but in some the seeds are covered with a pulpy or farinaceous mass that offers sweet and nutritious food; one species on the Zambesi reminded us of gingerbread.

The cocoa-nut, especially in its green and immature state, is a most agreeable fruit, and the water, or milk as we call it, is then most cooling and refreshing; when it more nearly approaches to ripeness the kernel may be scraped or pounded upon its own liquor, and it then forms a very efficient substitute for milk in a cup of tea. A large amount of oil and other valuable products may be obtained from the tree and its fruit.

Each young nut, when in the true milk stage of its growth, will yield about a pint of fluid, cool, and of slightly acid taste. The younger nuts contain a soft, rich substance, not unlike blanc-mange, which can be easily scooped out. From the juices of these immature nuts the natives manufacture an indelible black dye. Toddy, cocoa-nut wine, arrack, or rack as it is sometimes called, is made from the sap of the cocoa palm. In favourable seasons the plumes of cocoa-nut blossom are shot out from amidst the fronds of the tree crown about every six weeks. Immediately on the appearance of the new flower spathe the toddy maker ascends the tree after the manner before described, or, as on the Malabar coast, by cutting a train of notches in the tree trunk. On arriving at the cluster of young fronds and the sheath containing the blossom, he binds the whole together with twine. He then makes a puncture in the stalk of the spathe with his toddy knife, raps the part well with the handle, and then hangs a chatty pot to receive the juice as it drains out during the night. Before sunrise he reascends the tree, lowers the full pot, which may contain from two to six pints, and replaces it with an empty one. Immediately on obtainment this juice is extremely cool and sweet to the taste. In the course of a very few hours fermentation sets in, and it becomes slightly acid. In twenty-four hours it becomes quite sour. Before too great a change takes place, however, the toddy man properly treats his brew by the aid of the true vinous fermentation, and then distils it in a rough, makeshift still, which among some of the Easterns is extemporised from a hollow stone, rock, or piece of hollow tree trunk, which forms the head of the still. A long hollow cane for a tube, and piece of bark, and some coir saturated with cold water for a condenser, almost any pot or jar will, with a little ingenuity, form a tolerably efficient still.

Excellent vinegar is made as follows from the palm juice: After collection, the toddy or sap is placed in earthen pots and covered down for about four weeks. At the end of that time the fluid is strained and returned to the pots, with a few pods of capsicum, a piece of the fruit of the gamboge tree, and a pod from the Indian horseradish (Hypertanthera moringa) are thrown into each pot of fluid, which is then allowed to remain at rest for five weeks, when excellent vinegar, well adapted for the use of the settler, is the result.

If, instead of toddy or vinegar, sugar is required, it can be readily made from the palm sap, which, for this purpose, is treated before fermentation. It is, on being drawn from the tree, boiled in a suitable pot or other vessel until it becomes thick and stringy; a little lime is added; rough crystallisation takes place, and "jaggery," or palm sugar, is the result. Cocoa-nut oil is valuable for a great number of purposes. It is obtained from the ripe or mature nut in a variety of ways. The natives of many of the islands of the Eastern seas cut the kernels of the nuts in pieces, boil them with water in a large kettle; collect such oil as rises to the top with a sea-shell mounted on the end of a stick; then pound the boiled nut in a mortar made from a piece of hollow log with a wooden pestle; reboil the paste thus formed; skim again, and so on. The mills used for the expression of this and other oils, and the crushing of sugar-canes, we shall describe as our work proceeds. The shell of the cocoa-nut makes excellent cups and bottles. To extract the kernel to form the latter, the natives bore out one of the eyes, pour out the milk, fill the nut with sea-water, and bury it in the sand exposed to the sun's rays. In a short time decomposition is set up, and all the contents of the shell can be easily shaken out at the eyehole.

The fibrous husk from time immemorial has supplied the native craft of India, as well as our vessels trading there, with a cheap and generally useful kind of rope, called coir, which possesses the valuable property of being so light as to be of much less specific gravity than water, and which is, therefore, much used for buoy ropes, life lines, warps, and cables, and the ropes for the upper edges of fishing nets. Hats, bags, baskets, sandals, and many other things, are made from it; its leaves form the covering of huts, and its leaf-stalk form their framework, and serve any purpose for which light elastic wands are required.

The date palm, both wild and cultivated, furnishes fruit more or less delicious according to the species from which it is taken. The Arab and his horse, and camel too, upon emergency, will live upon it; and without it the deserts, to which it is indigenous, would be uninhabitable.

An African species (OEleis guianensis) affords palm oil, which is the basis of our candles. A vessel taking in palm oil once started it into a tank built in the hold, but the task of digging it out when it reached England was so arduous that nothing was saved by not providing casks.

Sago is the produce of a palm, which in the East yields the food of thousands; it is the pithy centre of the stem, requiring scarcely any preparation to fit it for food, and a single tree sometimes yields 600lb. weight. Those which furnish the so-called cane for chair bottoms are a species of calamus; they hang on trees by long hooked spines, and are sometimes 600ft. or 1000ft. long. These are often used as stays or standing rigging among native vessels, and sometimes we believe as cables. When split into smaller sections and twisted they form tolerable, but not perfectly flexible, ropes; and slips of them, as is well known, are commonly used by the Chinese for tying up various packages. The helmet which we wore through the Indian campaign is composed of this material closely woven.

Many varieties all over the world yield a sugary sap from their yet unopened spathes or from their stems, and this, when partly fermented, is the palm wine of Africa and, as we have shown, the toddy of the East Indies; while similar beverages are obtained by the South Americans from the Mauritia oinifera and others.

A nation at the mouth of the Orinoco River live almost entirely on a palm (probably Mauritia flexuosa); they build their houses elevated on the trunks, and live upon the fruit, sap, and such fish as the waters around them may afford.

Resins and wax are produced by some species. The fruits of a calamus, in the Eastern Archipelago, are covered with a red resinous substance, which, in common with the produce of other trees, is the dragon's blood of commerce, and is used as a colour, a varnish, and in tooth powder.

The Ceroxylon audicola, a lofty palm growing in the Andes of Bogota, secretes in its stem a resinous wax, used for making candles. In the north of Brazil, the Carnauba (Copernicia cerifera) has the underside of its leaves covered with pure white wax, with no admixture of resin.

Thatch for houses, awnings for boats, and even the upper streaks of large canoes, umbrellas, hats, baskets, water buckets, cordage, and numberless other things, are made of palm leaves. In Cuba the Chamærops argentica, and in Sicily the Chamærops humilis, is used for making hats and other fine work. In India the place of the papyrus was supplied by palm leaves, on whose hard and glossy surfaces Pali and Sanscrit characters were inscribed with a metal point; the leaves of Corypha talieri, strung together, form the Hindoo volume. The fruit of Areca catechu is the betel nut, the favourite stimulant of the Eastern people, which they chew with lime. The fibre of the piassaba palm is made into cheap and durable cables on the Amazon, and is introduced into England in the form of brooms, &c.

Although the settler or explorer who directs his steps to North America has no palms to supply him with food, drink, and clothing, he will find other members of the vegetable kingdom ready to his hand.

Maple sugar is of vast importance to the settler in the backwoods, as it serves not only as a substitute for cane sugar, but is not unfrequently used instead of salt. It is obtained by treating the sap of the Acer saccharinum, or sugar maple. The range of this valuable tree is very extensive. It is met with, in greater or less abundance, from the neighbourhood of St. Jean in Upper Canada to Virginia. It abounds in Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, Vermont, and New Hampshire, some of the trees being found to reach 80ft. in height. Sugar-making may begin early in the month of April, or, in fact, directly the sap begins to rise. Frosty nights, followed by warm, genial days, are the most favourable for the process of sap drawing, which is proceeded with as follows: One or more auger holes, up to four, are made, at a convenient distance from the ground, in the trunk of each tree to be treated. Into each of these holes a little hollow shoot or tube of bark is thrust, which conveys the sap as it flows into vessels placed for its reception. Each tree will produce from 15gals. to 20gals. of sap, and 5gals. of sap will yield about 1lb. of sugar. When the vessels under the spouts are nearly full the sap should be ladled from them into pails and carried to a shed, in which a large barrel, with the upper head removed, has been set up as a reservoir. In this it is allowed to remain at rest until all foreign substances have settled to the bottom. It is now quickly drawn off and conveyed to the boiler, which, in the absence of a proper arrangement, may be a large camp kettle, in which it is heated steadily until evaporated down to the consistence of treacle, when it is again removed and placed in an open vessel to cool. When cold, it is strained through a flannel bag into a second boiler, where it is again heated, clarified with eggs, a little bullock's blood, or new milk. The boiling is now continued until a little of the syrup, taken on the point of a clean chip and held in the air, shows a disposition to assume a crystalline appearance, when the heating process is stopped and the charge withdrawn from the pot.

It is now in the candy state, and is cast into a variety of quaint forms by the use of small moulds prepared for the purpose. If granulated sugar is required, a small barrel is set up at a moderate distance from the ground; the upper head is removed, and the lower one bored full of gimlet holes. On the charge of candy being thrown into this, all the fluid portions drain away in a state of thin molasses through the holes into a tub or box placed below the barrel, in which the sugar is soon found fit for use.

Gum sugar is made by throwing the candy when hot from the pot out on the snow. This treatment has the property of checking crystallisation and converting the sugar into a tough material much used for chewing.

A settler's family in a good maple district can, by the use of proper sized boilers, &c., make upwards of 700lb. of good serviceable sugar in one favourable season.

{Manna, to prepare.}

Manna is a substance well worth the attention of the explorer, as it is, curiously enough, produced by trees and shrubs of totally different orders in different geographical ranges. The Arabs and Persians obtain a kind, known as "Guzunjbeen," from a species of tamarisk called the "Guz bush." The description known on the Arabian coast, and in the district surrounding Mount Sinai, by the name of "Toofra," is also procured from the tamarisk thickets, where it drains from the ends of the thorns, and falls on the dry leaves, small twigs, and sticks which have fallen to the ground; it there congeals into hard masses, and is in that condition gathered for use. It is by the Arabs consumed as a substitute for honey, and is eaten on bread or other food. The "camel thorn" of India and Syria is manna yielding, producing the description known in the East as "Al haj." The so-called Beiruk honey is in reality a kind of manna which is yielded by a low stunted tree, not unlike a dwarf aspen, which is known as the "Ghrab bush." In the Uzbec country manna is obtained from a small tree whose trunk is divided into knots by a series of annular rings. In Arabia, the "Ashur" is the manna-bearing plant. In Mesopotamia, it flows from a species of oak, and is most abundant on such trees as have the largest share of gall nuts. A medicinal and highly valued manna is obtained in some districts in Persia from a peculiar willow, which grows in moist ground. A kind of larch furnishes the Manna Brigantica, and in the Lebanon district it flows from the cedars. In Europe, the ash is the manna bearer, and three kinds are found to produce it more or less abundantly. The two most commonly treated for its obtainment are Fraxinus rotundifolia and Ornus Europæa. To obtain the manna from these trees incisions are made in the bark with a knife; the first cut is made near the ground, and the others at 2in. or 3in. apart, the cuts being 1in. long and 1/2in. deep. These cuts are made at the rate of one per day, mounting upward, cut by cut, in each row. Immediately below these perpendicular cuts [=invertedT=]-shaped incisions are made in such a way that each cross cut may receive and hold fast the end of a leaf gathered from the tree, which serves to conduct the sap away from the trunk and allow of its dropping into Indian fig leaves placed on the ground for its reception. The Indian fig leaf, cultivated for the purpose, has the peculiar property of drying with its edges curled up, rendering it extremely useful as a sap receiver. August is the month usually selected for tapping the manna trees, and dry warm weather is most favourable for the operation, as rain dissolves and destroys the congealing mass of produce. The manna collected from the bark by scraping, after having run in long tears down the trunk, is considered very inferior to that caught in the fig leaves, and is, consequently, sold at a much lower price.

A great number of fruit, berry, and nut bearing trees and bushes are to be found on various portions of the North-American territories. Further south, the productions assume a more tropical character. Here we are merely dealing with some of the forest stores of the north and north-west. The following is but a brief list, as our space is limited:

{American wild fruits.}

The "pagessaveg" of the Indians, Prunes sauvages of the French-Canadians, or "wild plum" of the trappers, is usually collected late in the month of October. It grows abundantly on the river sides and lake shores. The Indians either dry or boil it with maple sugar, when it is converted into a sort of cake by boiling and stirring the fruit about in the kettle until the mass is thick enough for treatment, when it is thrown from the pot and spread out to about an inch deep in a flat layer on a piece of birch bark, when it is exposed to the sun until it becomes quite tough and tenacious. It is then rolled up like soft leather, placed in a birch-bark box, and buried in the earth until wanted. During the winter season, when dried meat is in use, large pieces of this preparation are cut off with a knife and boiled with it.

The "sand cherry" of the trappers, or "la cerise à grappe" of the Canadians, grows abundantly about the borders of sugar-maple groves, on the edges of old clearings, and about the borders of the prairies. It is fit to gather in the month of August. The Indians gather large quantities, crush them between flat heavy stones, stir the mass well together with deer fat, and then boil it in a kettle until it becomes a thick tenacious cake or paste, when it is, like the wild plum cake, buried until required.

The small red forest crab apples can be thoroughly prepared by drying, when they are both wholesome and nutritious.

The "wortleberry" of the trappers, or "bellois" of the Canadians, is extremely abundant in a great number of localities. To prepare the fruit a thick close basket-work tray, or hurdle of white cedar, is used. This, when covered with a layer of ripe berries, is suspended over a slow steady wood fire until dry, when they are packed away in bark boxes. They are either mixed with dough to form cake, or boiled with meat or fish.

The "mashkigimin" of the Indians, "les ottakas" of the Canadians, the "cranberry" of the trappers: this fruit, although commonly known among trappers and English settlers as the cranberry, is much larger than the European variety. Swampy ground is most congenial to its growth. It is fit to gather as early as the month of October, but remains on the bushes even after being thickly buried by snow in the winter season. Immense quantities of these berries are annually gathered by the Indians, not only for their own use, but as a branch of trade with the United States traders, who readily purchase them for preserving. For Indian use, they require no treatment, as they do not readily decay; but by settlers they are usually boiled in syrup, or preserved in maple sugar.

Wild hazel nuts are found in great abundance. These are best kept by first packing, and then burying them in an earthen jar or bark box.

"Swan potatoes" are found growing on the shallow margins of rivers, lakes, and streams. These, when dug from the soft ooze and washed clean, are strung on a long thin strip of white cedar wood, and hung up over the fire to dry. They are boiled for use, when they become plump and palatable.

Wild raspberries, strawberries, &c., are to be met with in many parts of America.

Butter nuts, hickory nuts, and pinons, or cone nuts, are all, more or less, deserving of the attention of the hunter or explorer.

{Sago-making.}

In some islands of the Indian Archipelago nature has so bountifully provided for the wants of the human race that it seems as if a remnant of Paradise yet lingered upon earth, and man had never been sentenced to eat his bread in the sweat of his brow. At all events, the inhabitants of these islands are relieved from that necessity, and to all appearance they are little better for it. The man who, by chopping down a tree and washing its pith for a week or two, can provide himself with a substitute for bread for a whole year is not likely to be, nor is he really equal either in physical strength, activity, or intelligence to him who must earn his food by cultivation of the soil, by chasing wild animals in their forest haunts, or by launching his little craft upon the waters, and ensnaring or doing battle with the denizens of the ocean.

Our sketch represents the principal processes of sago-making. The palm which yields the sago is cut down; a slab is chopped off from the upper side of the trunk, leaving the pith which occupied the large internal hollow exposed; this is beaten out in fragments, rather than chopped, by a club of heavy wood, in the end of which a sharp angular fragment of quartz or other stone is set. The pith is then washed in a trough composed of the swelling portions of the leaf stems, where they embrace the trunk on which they grow, just as the jaws of a cutter's gaff go round the mast. Two of these are placed with their broad ends together, supported by stakes and cross-bars, so as to form a long trough widest in the middle, and out of level. A third is set with its narrow end meeting that of the next piece, whilst the wide end rises at a slight elevation. Across this is placed a screen of fibrous cloth, supported by another stick, elastic enough to keep it always tolerably tight without undue strain, and a mass of the pith being placed behind this is washed by water poured repeatedly upon it and allowed to percolate through and run off till all the superfluous matter is washed away, and the sago alone is left.

The different members of the banana and plantain family, too, lend their aid in furnishing a larger quantity by far of life-supporting elements than the finest descriptions of wheat grown on the same area of ground. Whether eaten in a ripe state as a fruit, or boiled green as a vegetable (when it is not a bad substitute for the potato), this production is both palatable and wholesome. A good store food is made by cutting the fruit into slices, hanging it up to dry, and, when required for use, boiling it into a pulp.

{Useful roots.}

Plantain flour is made by thoroughly drying the fruit, and then grinding it in one of the native mills hereafter described. Then the root of the Taro (Calandium esculentum), that of the sweet potato (Battata convolvulans), and the roots of certain edible ferns (Pteris esculenta amongst the number), are valuable as yielding food. Many of these productions furnish drink as well. The plantains before referred to yield a very palatable cider, which is made as follows: A deep hole is dug in the earth, and a number of plantains stripped from the main stem is thrown in; straw and earth are cast on, and the plantains are allowed to remain at rest for eight days. The peel is then stripped off, and the pulp is placed in a large open trough with water, where it is thoroughly washed and mixed with it. At the end of two days the cider may be strained off for use.

Whisky may be made from sweet potatoes in the following manner: Dig up as many of the tubers as you may find it convenient to treat; boil them until quite soft; place them in large jars, or other vessels, with about their own bulk of water; stir this mixture well about, and then to each jar add a little "merissa" barm (obtained from native beer-brewing), which may be placed on a small bundle of cocoa-fibre or cotton. When fermentation has taken place, erect your still, which may be of the kind described and figured at page 495; or a large native pot may be mounted on a hollowed-out ant-hill to serve as the still boiler; a smaller pot inverted and placed on the open mouth of this forms the still head or dome. When the lower pot is charged with the fermented "wash," the upper pot is luted fast with clay. A small hole is bored near its top for the reception of the end of any hollow tube you can get; this is also secured with clay. The condensing process is carried out by keeping the tube cold with cloths or mats and cold water. The depending end of the tube should discharge itself into any convenient vessel partly sunk beneath the surface of cold water. A native pot, or a common tea-kettle, will make a good receiver; and an ordinary pail, or tub, a convenient water tank in which to place it. By the use of such a contrivance as this, half-a-dozen bottles of very good spirits may be made in one day's distilling.

{Milk-spirit.}

The Mongols make their milk-spirit--known as "kumis"--in the following manner: A large quantity of milk of any kind (mare's milk is considered best) is first turned sour, and then allowed to ferment. It is then poured into a large iron camp-kettle or pot; one of the wooden bowls or dishes in use among the Tartars is now fitted closely into the mouth of the kettle or boiler, and luted fast round the edges with wet cow-dung or clay; an elbow-shaped, hollow branch of a tree, or a curved tube, is now fitted into a hole in the convex surface of the bowl, and more cow-dung or clay is applied. Into the mouth of this bent pipe a wooden tube is fixed, which is kept cold by the constant contact of a wet sheepskin. As the pot boils the spirit passes over, and is collected for use in some suitable vessel placed as a receiver. This is also kept cold by the aid of sheepskins and water.

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XIV. CAMP COOKERY

After the obtainment of food, the art of preparing it in its most nutritious, wholesome, and palatable form ranks next in importance. It is well, when travelling with a large party, to ascertain the qualifications of a couple of steady men, and regularly appoint them to the cooking department, taking care that exemption from guards, with a few other privileges, may make the office of cook one to be rather envied; and, in order that his operations may be successfully conducted, he should fully understand the art of fire-making.

{Fire, to make.}

The natives of Australia, the Bushmen of South Africa, and the tribes along the whole course of the Zambesi, as well as many other wild nations, kindle fire by the friction of two pieces of wood against each other; there are of course varieties of method, but the principle, that of whirling the point of a moderately hard stick in a hollow, cut in one of a somewhat softer character, is very generally the same. The Bushmen carry these fire-sticks in the quiver with their arrows; and when they need fire, two men sit opposite each other, and one, laying his sandal on the ground, places on it the fire-stick, perhaps as thick as the little finger, and holds it between the soles of his feet, or between his toes, which for many purposes can be used by the natives with little less effect than the fingers. In the end of this stick a small notch is cut, and in this is placed the pointed end of another stick, about the thickness and nearly the length of a common ramrod. One man, taking this between the palms of his hands, rubs them so as to communicate to it a rapid whirling motion, keeping at the same time a gentle, steady, downward pressure. In a few seconds, this causes his hands to reach the bottom, and his companion therefore sits ready to clap his hands to the top and continue the motion till they also come down, and he in turn is relieved by the first. Very shortly fine wood dust is produced, and soon after the end of the whirling stick and the hollow in which it turns become charred, and smoke rises from the little heap of dust.

A small nest of very carefully prepared dry grass or fibrous bark, rubbed very fine, has already been provided, and in our illustration a third man is applying this to the smouldering wood-dust, some ignited particles of which he will try to catch on the nest of fibre, the whole will then be enveloped in coarser material, and whirled rapidly round, at arm's length, until it bursts into a blaze.

Where two or three men assist each other in this manner, a couple of minutes suffices to obtain fire; but if one man attempts it alone, he cannot keep up a continuous friction, for he loses speed and heat every time he has to shift his hand from the bottom to the top of the whirling rod, and, even when he has produced the first ignition, he is more liable to lose the spark than a third man who would watch his opportunity for catching it while the other two were keeping up the heat by the vigorous motion of the whirling rod. Among many tribes the producing of fire in this manner is a thing of daily occurrence.

The inhabitants of some of the Pacific Islands obtain fire by placing a piece of bamboo, which has been previously split in half, convex side upwards, on the ground; a small cut is then made in it as a sort of holding-point for the end of a flat piece of bamboo, held somewhat after the manner of a chisel, to work on. The flat piece, on being driven by the hands rapidly forward and back on the surface, or back of the long hollow piece of cane joint, rapidly works a hole through it; the wood dust, formed by the friction, falling through the orifice soon begins to smoke, smoulder, and burn, when it is placed in a tuft of dry fibre, like an egg in a nest. A small creeper or vine is now fastened to the nest, which is then rapidly whirled round the head until it flames.

There is a very convenient and portable means of carrying fire, sold under the name of a "strike-a-light," or "chucknuck;" it is formed from a brass tube of 1in. calibre and 3in. in length, which has a cap and a sliding bottom to it; it is filled with tinder, made as usual by setting fire to a piece of rag and extinguishing it as soon as it has ceased to blaze; it contains also a gun flint or bit of agate, and its chain passes through an oval of steel or case-hardened iron. When fire is required, the cap is taken off, and the box held in the left hand, with the flint so held against its edge that any sparks struck from it by the steel, which is taken in the right, must fall upon the tinder. When it is done with, the flint is put in again, the cap put on, and the movable bottom is pushed up so as to leave no vacant space, but to exclude all the air, and to extinguish the burning timber. These tinder-boxes are highly prized; and one of them, value one shilling or so, is by no means a despicable present to a native in the remote interior. The shank bone of any small animal is easily converted into a chucknuck tube.

Slow match and tinder are important matters to the explorer. Loose cotton, or almost any other vegetable fibre twisted into a cord, and then soaked in water in which a little saltpetre or gunpowder has been dissolved, will serve for a slow match. The large puff-balls, or devil's snuff-boxes as they are called by hunters, found growing about the borders of the forest, form excellent punk or tinder. After being gathered they should be hung on a string to dry, then cut into thin slices, and beaten on a board with a stick until all the powder or snuff is driven off, when it will be fit for use, either as tinder or to smoke wild bees from their holes. The soft, partially-decayed wood found in dry dead logs or hollow trees makes a very good description of tinder.

In default of a tinder-box, most persons carry a pocket-knife and a gun-flint. If a bit of rag, with a little dry gunpowder bruised into it, is rolled up tightly, and held with the flint in the left hand so that the sparks may fall on the end of the roll, it is very likely to take fire.

Many stones, as quartz, agate, jasper, iron pyrites, &c., will give forth a spark, so that if the traveller has a knife, a bit of steel, or case-hardened iron about him, he need not despair if he can only find a stone.

The Malays not unfrequently obtain a spark by striking a piece of broken chinaware sharply against the hard flinty surface of a well-developed bamboo joint.

Lucifer, congreve, or vesta matches are now so common, that few travellers think of carrying anything else; yet it is not safe to trust to them alone, as a little accidental damp may spoil the whole stock. If they ignite by simple friction there is danger of accident; if they "ignite only on the box," a supply of friction tablets should be carried, for the box will soon go to pieces with rough usage.

The trappers of North-West America make use of the German matches, such as are packed in round wooden boxes being preferred. The composition ends of these are dipped in a varnish composed of shellac and a little methylated spirit, which, when dry, as it will be in about half-an-hour, renders them perfectly damp-proof.

In countries where the sun shines continuously, a burning glass, such as the lens of a telescope or a Stanhope microscope, will obtain fire at any time during the day.

The Parsees, when serving on board European ships, carry their own fire; and we have seen a boat's crew with 3ft. of good stout rope, used as a slow match to retain it.

A man armed with a gun or pistol has always the means of obtaining fire. If it be a flint lock, he need not even draw the charge, but, throwing out the priming on some dry surface, he may plug up the touch-hole with a bit of wet clay, wet or greasy rag, string, or wood; in fact any of these materials, even though dry, if rammed in tightly, become incombustible. The end of a bit of packthread wetted, or of raw hide reimpjie, is better than any, because the remainder can be used to pull it out with. The priming can then be rubbed on a bit of rag--dry or slightly moistened--a corner of it stuck into the pan, the gun full cocked and the trigger pulled, when most likely the sparks will be found to have ignited the tinder. With a percussion gun the charge, if it be loaded, must be drawn or fired away so as to leave the barrel empty, then a little powder must be put in, and a bit of dry rag, with powder rubbed upon it, rammed loosely into the barrel; the gun should be fired with its muzzle downwards or towards a rock or stump, that the rag may not be blown too far away.

The fire being obtained by any of these means, and secured by being communicated to a small collection of inflammable material, the next process is to build up and ignite the fuel that is to serve the traveller for warmth or culinary purposes. This will, of course, have been already collected. Prudent cooks generally tie a dry thorn branch behind their waggon on leaving their outspan, so as to have it ready as soon as they again halt; or, if fuel be scarce, they keep a bright lookout upon the way for dry sticks or the dung of tame or wild animals. Such fuel should be broken up, and the sticks roughly assorted into sizes. A small elevation will be chosen or made on a dry patch of ground, and the fire being laid on a little faggot of small sticks, others are carefully piled round it pointing upward, at an angle of 45° or more towards the centre--just as if a conical roof or a church steeple were to be built--and round these the larger ones are arranged in the same manner, and in successive sizes. (See Fig. 2, p. 551.) Thus, the property of heated air being to ascend, the flame is led naturally up along the twigs, and through the interstices, and when sticks as thick as the thumb are well kindled, others may be piled on with less attention to regularity. If the intention is to make a transient blaze as large as possible, perhaps for a night signal, dry thorn branches of the mimosa, with their large thorns and loose twigs, thrown on as lightly as possible, will answer excellently. We have seen in the Karroo veldt of South Africa a bush or shrub of which the leaves blaze up with almost a resinous flash, but of which the stem is almost incombustible. This would serve well for such a signal; but when wanted for the purposes of cooking, the fire requires constant replenishing, and from the repeated calls for fresh supplies, the shrub has acquired the expressive name of the "Bring on bush."

A species of "prolea," locally called "Waggon bush," is also highly in request, as its resinous blossoms maintain a more steady heat.

If the fire is required as a day signal, large quantities of green wood, leaves, &c., should be heaped on to make as much smoke as possible; and vice versâ if concealment is desired--green wood should be avoided, and only small quantities of dry wood used.

We have often, during a night halt among the date-palm jungles, selected a tree at a convenient distance from its fellows, to form a sort of gigantic torch. The dry fronds give off in burning sufficient heat to make the whole crown of the tree inflammable; this, in turn, ignites the trunk, which burns for some time, and gives a most brilliant light.

The lighting of a fire in a hot dry climate is a matter of comparative ease when compared with the obtainment of one in the damp woods of a cold inclement region. An experienced campaigner will generally contrive to carry with him a few pieces of dry resinous wood, known as "kindling chips," with which to start his fire. In the absence of these, look out sharply for a dead tree or hollow log, and from the lee side of it, if rain is falling, chop out a good supply of wood as a foundation for your fire. If you cannot find a dead tree or log, select the dry side of a living one; chop off the bark with your axe, and then from the exposed timber remove some long thin chips. Now, under the shelter formed by spreading your blanket or coat, proceed with your hunting knife to cut these chips into long, thin, narrow shavings, much like those used in making the Bavarian toy brooms. When a good quantity of these has been prepared gather a bundle of the very finest and most slender brushwood you can find. The largest sticks should not be stouter than wheat straws; cut these up into foot lengths; place your bunch of shavings on as dry a spot as you can find. If there are stones to be obtained, place one on each side of it. Now, with your small sticks, build a sort of cone loosely over the shavings, each stick being arranged end upwards, just as hop poles are stored for the winter; lay over and outside these a few stouter sticks and bits of bark. When your cone is complete introduce your fire to the centre of the cone's base. A tube of bark or hollow reed, a piece of curled up dry hide, or a gun-barrel with the nipple taken out, serves for a blowpipe to gently urge on the fire with. We--as stated in the early portion of this work--endeavour, if possible, to have a small pair of bellows as part of our travelling kit. It is well, however, to know how to manage without them. Small quantities of gunpowder cautiously sprinkled in will aid considerably in setting up the first flame of a sluggish fire. The greatest care must, however, be exercised in order to guard against accidents from explosion.

We in our early days narrowly escaped the loss of a hand by strewing a little powder from the flask on some damp moss, which we were endeavouring to coax into a fire. The instant the grains of powder reached the fire they ignited, communicated with the contents of the flask, and, fortunately, blew the brass top from the copper body, without bursting the metal. On another occasion, nearly a half-charge of powder exploded in the left hand, whilst we were strewing in the powder with the right finger and thumb in a manner which we are to this day utterly at a loss to account for. When making use of gunpowder as a fire stimulant, we now invariably pour the quantity about to be used on a leaf or a piece of bark, and place the flask in a place of perfect safety, some distance from the fire, which, when once fairly established, may be treated with more boldness, and supplied with sticks of larger size. If you intend camping down for the night with your party, the first thing to do, after seeing that your fire is burning strongly, is to collect a good and sufficient store of fuel to last through the night and well up into the morning. One of the elements of fitness in the locality for camping purposes will be the close vicinity of proper firewood; and here we must caution the inexperienced against the choice of soft wood trees for a true camp fire. Pines, and other members of the coniferæ, are very ill adapted to the purpose. Ash, maple, beech, birch, and other hard woods are the sorts to be sought for. Trees of about 1ft. to 14in. in diameter are the best for the purpose. When felled with the axe, they should be cut into logs of about 12ft. in length, and all the branches chopped up short to feed the fire with. Prepare two strong heavy stakes of about 5ft. in length, sharpen the points and drive them into the earth just behind your fire, in such a way that they may stand at about 6ft. apart. Cut a notch in the rear of each near the top for the support or back stake to key into. Now place three of your fire logs one on the other, as if you were building a log wall. This forms your fire-back; now take two shorter logs and fix them at the ends as log rests, and on these lay another long fire log, when the arrangement will be complete. A fire of this kind, when once thoroughly established, will burn during the longest night, form a perfect wall of fire, and cause little trouble, as all the feeding fuel is cast in between the front log on the log rests and the fire-back. A pot, to be boiled on a fire of this kind, is conveniently suspended from a stout green pole, so placed as to rest above the fire-back, whilst its point is forced into the ground behind.

To keep a small fire steadily burning, let three logs as large as possible be laid end to end, diverging at an angle of 60° from each other (as in Fig. 1, p. 551), push their burning ends occasionally together, and they will last many hours, with but little attention. The natives of Australia take dry logs, 6ft. or more in length, and laying them down 3ft. or 4ft. apart, set them on fire in several places. Letting shorter logs meet them from the outside, and laying good-sized pebbles around them, they then stretch themselves on the ground and sleep between the two lines of fire, and when the wood is consumed the stones continue for some time to radiate the heat they have previously absorbed. Many tribes of American Indians have their own especial fashion of fire-building, so that a deserted camp fire will not unfrequently reveal the identity of the tribe by whom it was made.

In South Africa, when the flats are swamped with heavy showers, and it would seem almost impossible to kindle the scanty fuel that can be obtained, the ant-hills with which the plain is covered prove the greatest imaginable boon to the traveller. One of these hills, 3ft. or 4ft. high, is selected, its top cut flat off, and a hole dug like an oven in its side. In this the fire is kindled, the flame rushes up through the galleries, the clay becomes red hot, and the kettle or frying-pan soon begins to feel its influence. But this is not all, for the galleries are most likely full of vegetable matter as well as of ants' eggs, and larvæ, and these help to increase the flame. Of course it is cruel, but the traveller and his followers must have food. By the exercise of a little ingenuity, hollows can be cut in it for convenience of baking bread, &c. Most farmers build a clay oven at some little distance from their houses to avoid the necessity of having a fire actually under their roof. In the Zuur veldt, in Tartary and Central India, where fuel is scarce, we have seen the cattle-dung collected and piled along the tops of all the walls and other enclosures to dry.

When camping down for any length of time a stack of logs and split hard wood should be formed. Straight logs are easily split by wedges, but stump ends, which form excellent fuel, are so tough that they require blowing open with gunpowder. To do this, we bore an auger hole into the substance of the stump, pour in our charge of powder, and then screw into the hole a tapered iron plug, on which a very deep rough screw thread has been cut. This plug has a ring made in its upper end to admit of the passage of an iron pin used in screwing it in, and the ring of a bit of old ox chain, the other end of which is secured to the log under treatment by a large staple, or a screw bolt, in order to prevent the plug from being blown away and lost. [Illustration] The annexed illustration represents a section of the stump; and it will be seen, on examination, that the plug has a hole running longitudinally through it for a slow-match to go through. The inside end of this match is allowed to remain long enough to reach the powder in the bottom of the hole, and that at the outside of sufficient length to enable you, after lighting it, to get behind a tree, or in some other safe place, until the explosion takes place, and the flying splinters and fragments settle. In the absence of one of these iron blasting plugs, a hard wood treenail may be used to stop the auger hole, and the vent may be bored with a gimlet.

{Makeshift mills.}

In dealing with many of the food, drink, and oil yielding products with which we shall have to deal, mills or crushing contrivances, more or less complicated, will be required. The most simple and primitive of these is formed by placing the substance to be treated between two stones, and grinding it by working them forward and back with the hands. The tortillas or thin pancakes of Spanish America are made from flour prepared by the aid of a contrivance of this kind. The maize or Indian corn used in their manufacture is first steeped in water to soften it. Handfuls of the prepared grain are then thinly scattered over the surface of the lower or bed stone. The top stone is then brought into play until the whole is reduced to a species of paste. This, when flattened out between the palms of the hands, and rapidly baked over the fire, forms a description of bread in general use throughout Mexico and other countries where the Spanish races have formed settlements. Most of the Eastern races and tribes make use of the ancient quern or hand-mill to crush their grain. This primitive mill, the subject of the annexed illustration, is, with trifling modifications of arrangement, almost world wide. A bed stone, slightly convex, is capped by a running stone somewhat concave. A hole in the centre admits of the grain being poured in with the left hand, whilst a second hole out of centre receives the end of the handle used in causing the upper stone to revolve on the lower. As the grain is reduced to powder it falls out on a cloth placed to receive it, and by repeatedly passing between the stones a meal of sufficient fineness for practical purposes is soon formed. When two or more persons work at a mill of this description, supplementary handles are attached to the upright turning stick by strips of raw hide. The "chupatees" or "aps" of India are usually made from meal ground in mills of this description. Chupatees, like tortillas, are not unlike pancakes, and form a most important element of an Indian hunter's diet. Our native followers always contrived to bear with them in some way or another the pair of stones necessary to form a quern, and a piece of sheet iron to bake the aps on, so that, wherever grain of any kind was procurable, we were at least sure of bread. When a sufficient quantity of meal has been ground out, it is, by the aid of a little water and much manipulation, converted into dough or "attar." This is divided into balls, each ball being sufficient to form one chupatee. The balls are then one by one taken between the palms of the hands and dexterously slapped and patted until quite round and as thin as an ordinary pancake, and then adroitly transferred to the piece of sheet iron which rested on a small fire close at hand. A little ghee, or native butter, was then added. The aps, when baked brown, are taken off the plate, and eaten hot or stored away for future use.

When attached to the expedition sent into the jungles for the capture of the Nahwab of Banda, we saw our native hunters and followers, when particularly short of grain, gather the seed of a thin wiry grass called "nardoo" for meal-making purposes. This nardoo must not, however, be confounded with the Australian seed of the same name, as that grows on a plant not unlike our English wood sorrel, the "hare-bell," or a long-stemmed clover; whilst that of India is a true cereal, with a head furnished with many grains, like very diminutive barley.

In Africa and many other countries the pestle and mortar are extensively made use of for grain and seed crushing. A hard wood log is easily hollowed out by the aid of fire and cutting tools, and a pestle is extemporised from any suitable piece of heavy wood.

A powerful and simple description of mill is made by making a round and somewhat tapering hole in a large slab of sandstone or grit. In this a conical block of stone is fitted in such a manner as to admit of its being turned round by a cross-handle, as shown in the annexed illustration. The corn or other grain to be crushed is thrown into a groove which surrounds the hole in the bed stone.

A generally useful oil or sugar-cane mill is in general use throughout India and Ceylon. Its main bed or cylinder is formed from a solid block of hard stone, which is hewn out until of the form of an upturned mortar; in the bore or barrel is fixed, at an angle, a piece of hard, heavy, and massive baubul thorn tree, which acts as a pestle or crusher; to this is attached, by lashings of raw hide, a head bar, which serves to guide its movements and direction. This head bar is in turn connected with the travelling bar, which runs round the cylinder much as the jaws of a boom might be made to run round a mast. The illustration below will serve to show the manner in which the arrangements are made. One or more bullocks are made use of to turn the pestle of the mill; and such liquid as may be forced out of the substance under treatment runs through an orifice, like the vent of a cannon, into a cane tube, which conducts it into a pot sunk in the earth. The greater portion of the native cane sugar made in the East is manufactured by the aid of this description of mill.

Whilst at Tette, in Africa, we had an opportunity of seeing the process of cane sugar making carried out by the native cultivators, which is conducted as follows: Early in the morning a quantity of canes, minus their tops, were brought in, and a couple of men, armed with thin double-edged soft iron knives, 2ft. long and 3in. wide, caught up the canes in their left hands and chopped off pieces about 2ft. long, letting them fall in heaps, whence they were taken by others, who dressed off any knots or young shoots that might impede their progress through the mill. As soon as this was completed, the parts of the machine, which are always taken asunder and cleaned after a day's work, were set up, the whole consisting of eight pieces of wood--first, the trough, or canoe as the natives call it (an oblong block 5ft. long, 2ft. 6in. wide, with a hollow 3in. deep to catch the juice, and three circular holes or sockets in the centre, cut not quite through, to receive the lower ends of the rollers); secondly, two posts, one at either end of the trough, with their upper ends tenoned to carry another log with corresponding sockets for the upper end of the rollers; thirdly, three vertical rollers, 4ft. long and 8in. diameter, their upper parts being cut into the form of a long screw, the worm of the centre one running in the usual direction, and those of the two others in the opposite. The head of the central roller projects above the framework, and is squared so as to fit into a mortice in the middle of a long beam, the two ends of which are used as levers, and, when turned, the deep-cut worm, acting on those of the other rollers, causes them to revolve in the opposite direction. A heap of cane was laid by the mill; and, while eight or ten men ran round with the lever bar, a native, squatting on the receiving side, fed the canes by handfuls between the centre and the right-hand roller; while another, catching them as they came out (as shown in the above illustration), sent them back again between the centre and the opposite roller on his own right. This was repeated till the canes were crushed dry and the trough filled.

The juice was baled out with a calabash; and when it became shallow was scooped up by the hand, strained through a basket into two large copper pans 30in. wide and 8in. deep, and boiled on open wood fires, a couple of women stirring it till sufficiently evaporated. The pans were then placed on small heaps of soft earth, and the stirring continued till the whole mass assumed the consistency of dough or toffy, and eventually crystallised into a fine bright yellowish brown sugar, leaving no treacle, molasses, or refuse of any kind.

The green cane chewed to express the juice is pleasant and nutritious; the fresh sap is a most luxurious draught; the syrup, thickened by boiling, but not yet crystallised, is of a bright golden colour, and better in taste than what we call treacle; the pap or toffy is by no means bad.

Next morning, as the friction of the rollers had worn the outer side of the sockets and thus increased the space between them, a native carpenter let in pieces of hard wood across the grain of the beam, and in them cut hollows to the proper outline of the sockets. This is frequently necessary; and, if it is too long delayed, the rollers separate so much that the thread of the centre screw catches the edge instead of the hollow of the others, and is liable to break both. A set of rollers will last from one to three seasons, according to the amount of work required. The panellas, or earthen sugar jars, are made by women.

{Sugar pots, to make.}

A shallow wooden dish, of about 14in. internal diameter, is chosen, and in this the clay, previously kneaded into a long roll, is so coiled as to make a circular wall; this is next pressed and patted into a compact mass, with a smooth surface; it is then built upon, tapering into a kind of pear shape towards the top, which is 4in. in diameter, and is finished in a smooth edge (a woman will do this in about ten minutes); it is then gently lifted from the dish and set aside to dry. Next day it is turned up, and the wide part, which had previously been the base, is gradually built upon with fresh clay, till it arches over so as to leave a very small aperture; the fingers of the left hand are introduced to support the work, while the hole is being diminished by applications of fresh clay until it becomes so small that the last finger has to be withdrawn, and it is finally closed by the dexterous application of a small piece, quite moist, dabbed on with correct aim, and slightly smoothed off at the edges by gentle application of the fingers. A hemispherical cap is then made for the finished panella, which appears beside it. The jars are then baked to a dull red. From 15lb. to 20lb. of sugar is put in each, making the gross weight from 27lb. to 29lb., a pad of grass to give a flattened base is laced to each jar with strips of palm leaf, a couple of loops or beckets are left to lift it by, and each jar is sold for about three fathoms of calico.

{Cakes, to bake.}

In cooking an "as-koekie," or ash cake, a fire is made upon a smooth flat piece of ground, and when this is well heated, and there are plenty of glowing embers, the fire is swept away; the cake, generally of meal or of seconds flour and water, with a pinch of salt in it, is laid upon it, the ashes are then strewed over the cake, and the embers raked over all, fresh wood being heaped over if necessary, and it is left for two or four hours according to its size and the intensity of the fire. The Australian damper is made in the same manner, except that the finest flour is used and kneaded with as little water as possible; in fact the flour is merely damped sufficiently to make it adhere, and then by dint of hard kneading is converted into a solid mass, the object being to have no moisture in it that would cause it to become mouldy if kept or carried for several days upon a journey. As this article of breadstuff is such a general favourite with old bushmen, it may not be amiss to give full directions for its preparation. The size of the damper of course depends on the numerical strength of the party for which it is about being prepared. The first thing to do is to obtain a flat, broad, dried sheepskin, or slab of bark, large enough to constitute a kneading-board; on this pour from your flour sack enough flour for use; sprinkle in some salt; work a wide basin-shaped hole in the middle of the flour, keeping the right hand moving round it whilst water is thrown in a little at a time from any convenient vessel held in the left. Continue to do this until a thick, strong, adhesive dough is formed; work this well about on the board with dry flour until a large pudding-shaped ball is formed; strew your board with fresh flour, dust over your ball with a little, and proceed to press and flatten it out until a round, even, pancake-shaped mass is formed--about 2-1/2in. in thickness will be found a convenient substance. This may be ascertained by cutting a notch in a sharp stick at 2-1/2in. from the joint, and thrusting it through here and there, working away in the meantime until the thickness is uniform. The red hot embers of your camp fire, which should be good, clear, and well-burned, must now be scooped aside with a shovel, flat-pointed stick, or a sheet of green bark, leaving a clear even surface of hearth. Now, deftly taking the damper in the palms and outspread fingers of your two hands, drop it evenly and lightly on the heated ground, making all flat and compact with your hands, and then with your shovel or makeshift spade rake back the heated embers over your damper until it is deeply buried in them, and in between one and two hours, depending on the weight of the batch, it will be cooked to a turn, be of a light rich brown, and a feast for a king. Hungry men not unfrequently satisfy their hunger by making dough nuts, or "beggars on the coals" as they are called, whilst the damper is cooking. These are merely small lumps of dough hastily twisted off and cast on the embers to grill. The dried yeast powders prepared by some good makers are well worth taking on an expedition, when very superior bread can be made by their aid. We have made good bread with and without them, by placing the loaf under an upturned copper or iron cooking pot, heaping on the ashes until the baking process was completed, and then dusting the loaf well with a bunch of fresh green twigs. We made an excellent oven in the Crimea from an old powder canister. This we buried in an horizontal direction in the bank at the back of the cook house. Clay was well rammed in round it, and after it had been sufficiently heated by a charge of vine roots and aught else we could obtain, it was swept out, the bread pies or tarts (for we even arrived at that stage of the baker's art at last) were put in, the copper cover of the canister was luted fast with wet clay, and the baking proved most satisfactory. A small iron-hooped barrel makes an excellent oven. Lay it on its bilge in a deep groove, scooped in a convenient bank, cover it with a complete and thick coating of strong clay, leaving one head, the outer one, open; then fill in the earth above the cask, and well stamp it down; now lay a few stones in the cask, and light a fire on them, letting it smoulder the whole of one day and a night, in order that the clay may dry. Now remove the stones, and light a strong fire of dry wood in it. This will burn out all the staves, and leave the clay oven fit for use. A large flat stone and some clay makes a good oven stopper.

If a light cake for present use is required, and the ashes adhering to the outer surface are thought objectionable, a frying-pan, of which the handle had been broken off, may be inverted over it, or a plate of iron may be supported upon four stones, and the fire piled over all as before. (See Fig. 3.) The three-legged iron pot, or Meg Merrilies (Fig. 4), forms an excellent oven; light bread may be baked in it, or joints may be roasted, or pastry made to suit the most fastidious taste. A fire must be made underneath it, and a sufficient quantity of clear glowing embers raked out and piled upon the iron cover, which ought not to be lifted until the moment when the contents are judged to be properly cooked.

{Flesh meat.}

But it is when the larger animals of the wilderness fall before the hunter's rifle that the resources of the African chef de cuisine are really called into requisition. Suppose an elephant has been laid low, and, after an extemporised supper of steaks, or "carbonatjies," the party determine to have a foot for breakfast, the fire, which has already partially dried the ground, is swept away, or perhaps a new spot is chosen, and a hole 30in. in width and depth is made, a fire is lighted in this, and a quantity of dry wood thrown on and allowed to burn until the sides of the hole and the earth immediately surrounding it are thoroughly heated; the fire is then raked out, the foot, generally a fore one, which has been amputated at what may be called the wrist-joint, and answering to the knee of the horse, is placed in its natural position in it (Fig. 5), the ashes are shovelled in, the hot embers above them, the hot earth over all, and a roaring fire is lighted on the top and left to burn all night. In the morning this is cleared off, the foot is dug out, the upper parts soiled by the contract of the ashes are cut away, and the rich gelatine and other morsels are left to be dug out by the stout keen pointed knives of the expectant hunters, the tough skin serving all the purposes of a dish. Very frequently a piece of the trunk is put in at the same time, and this is generally left as a stand-by, to be eaten cold, when it looks and tastes almost like coarse tongue; the foot, on the contrary, being best while still warm. The hump of the white rhinoceros, treated in nearly the same manner, is in reality a most delicious morsel, the rich juices accumulating in the dish formed by the thick skin, while the upper part and adhering ashes is cut off and thrown away; but, if proper care has been taken, another flap of skin slightly larger will have been cut out and skewered, as in Fig. 6, for a dish cover, and this will not only prevent the annoyance caused by dirt and ashes, but will prevent the absorption of the juices which would otherwise take place.

A mode of cooking a dish of hippopotamus, discovered by Sir Samuel Baker, is well worth bearing in mind. Speaking of it, he says: "I tried boiling the fat flesh and skin together, the result being that the skin assumed the appearance of the green fat of the turtle, but is far superior. A piece of the head thus boiled, and then soused in vinegar, with chopped onions and cayenne pepper and salt, throws brawn completely into the shade." The rump steak from an eland is also a delicacy hardly to be surpassed. The side of the rump, skin and all, with as much flesh as can be dug out with it, is cut off; the edges of the skin are then gathered together and skewered like a pudding bag (see Fig. 7), and it is then put into the heated hole, or a fire is built around and over it upon the surface, the advantage being that the juices have no chance of escape and the meat is most deliciously cooked; in fact, if the quantity be insufficient, all the inner portions of the skin may be pared away and eaten, leaving only the scorched cuticle. The gipsies' method of rolling up a fowl in a ball of clay, putting it into the fire till it becomes red hot, and then breaking it open, with all the feathers scorched so as to be no longer recognisable, and the fowl itself deliciously cooked, is well known. Fish when dressed in this way are delicious.

In some countries the natives appear to have a taste for boiling or stewing their food, although at the same time they do not possess vessels of iron, or even of clay, that will bear the action of the fire: nevertheless their case is not hopeless. We have frequently seen the cooking holes of the Australians--generally beside some rivulet, where fish and fresh-water mussels were easily to be obtained, and even an alligator might occasionally be killed. A hole (see Fig. 8, p. 551), 2ft. in diameter and 1ft. in depth, is dug in the ground, and the inside nicely clayed; the fish or flesh, carefully wrapped in grass or in the leaves of the pandanus, is put in and the hole filled with water. In the meantime large stones have been heated at a fire not far off, and these are dropped one after another into the water, being removed by means of crooked sticks as they cool to make room for others more thoroughly hot; then, when the water boils, or is as nearly boiling as it is possible for hot stones to make it, the hole is covered with grass; earth is heaped on it, and the food is left to steam until it is considered sufficiently cooked. Should the mess be large, and require longer boiling, a fire may be lighted above the cooking hole, less for the purpose of imparting fresh heat than for that of preventing the loss of the heat already produced below it. The New Zealanders, Sandwich Islanders, and some of the Indian tribes of North West America, cook most of their food in this manner. In the Pacific Islands a pig, with the potatoes, yams, or other vegetables, is nicely wrapped in several folds of mat or native cloth and left to stew all night; and we have heard it said that flesh may be boiled by this process in a sufficiently water-tight basket. Salmon and other fish are commonly boiled by Indians in birch bark by the aid of hot stones.

{Makeshift furnace.}

While coasting along the shores of North Australia we were often at a loss for something like a warm meal; fortunately, we had as a compensation a case of gin with us, and, as long as it lasted, we thankfully availed ourselves of it as a means of restoring the animal heat after we had been chilled and wearied by a night of exposure and incessant labour. When the weather moderated a little, we took a 6lb. preserved beef tin (see the following engraving), cut out the top of it, and then, after making a number of triangular cuts in the sides about half-way down, we turned the tongues inwards so as to make at the same time supports for the piece of tin we had cut out from the top, and holes by which the air could enter freely; the upper edge we cut into van-dykes, turning alternately one point inward and one a little out, so as to make a firm rest and secure hold for another tin of the same size, which we used as a boiler. We set the whole upon the bottom of our upturned baling tub, and lighted our fire upon the false bottom with coir, or fibre of cocoa-nut husk, steeped in cocoa-nut oil, and with chips of deal cut off the trail of our little carronade. In this manner we not only made tea and coffee, but warmed up our preserved meat, and fried our salt pork.

During this voyage we fell in with one of the very few so-called "edible" things we have been unable to eat, and this was the "trepang" (beche le mer, or sea-slug); this, with the scanty boiling or roasting we could afford it, was about as tender and well tasted as the sole of a shoe well saturated with sea-water; but, after having been parboiled and dried by the Malay collectors, sold by them for 15_l._ per ton to the Chinese, and subjected to the elaborate culinary operations of that people, we have no doubt that, with sufficient condiment, it produces a soup quite worthy of the praises they bestow upon it.

When we were left with a couple of Krooboys in the pinnace of H.M.S. Hermes, on the Zambesi, we took an empty preserved potatoe box, composed of sheet iron, between 16in. and 18in. square, and, cutting out the top as in the case before described, we made half-way up the sides a series of triangular cuts, turned the points inward as supports, and let the top sheet previously punched full of holes down upon them; above this we cut a good-sized hole for the admission of fresh fuel, and another below for access to the ashes accumulating there. This proved a first-rate portable furnace; it was large enough to accommodate the coffee kettle and a moderate-sized stew pot or frying-pan. The bottom being made with a flange riveted to the sides, as shown by the rivet heads in the sketch, was sunk nearly 1 in. within the edges, and therefore left just that amount of vacant space between it and the boat's thwarts or other plank that it might be set upon, thus preventing any danger of burning the plank should even the falling embers heat the iron before they died out. For additional security, we put a couple of chocks under to raise it; but there was no necessity for securing it by cleats or lashings; still we have drawn them to show how they might be applied, if requisite. A piece of the iron wire netting, now commonly sold for fencing, if neatly turned up at the sides, would make a very efficient fire-basket; and, if the meshes prove too large, a couple of pieces so cut or folded that they cover each other unequally would reduce the size of the apertures to something less than half. This might be slung by wires (as in Fig. 1), set upon legs, or supported according to convenience. The form of the old cresset, which may be well enough imitated with a few bits of iron hoop (Fig. 2), with or without rivets, is worth bearing in mind. Light may be obtained by sticking a pole into the ground, splitting the top of it, and sticking in the cleft a slip of red pine or other resinous wood; the burning may be accelerated by depressing the lighted end (as in Fig. 3), or retarded by raising it.

{Fuel.}

When wood is scarce, almost any animal substance may be used as fuel; the dung of all graminivorous animals, the dried flesh, cartilage, fat and bones, will all burn. Dr. Livingstone once burnt the dried bones of an elephant in the furnace of the little steamer Ma Robert; and in trying down the blubber of a whale, the scraps from which no more oil can be extracted are used as fuel to melt the rest. Arctic explorers constantly burn bones to obtain heat. Parties away from a vessel on boat service frequently have blue lights or rockets with them. A blue light is usually provided with a percussion cap, so that it bears its own means of ignition; but, if there should be no need to burn it, the sulphur may be removed and used in small quantities to tip the ends of bits of paper, wood, or any light combustible matter to serve as matches.

A candle may be saved from guttering by being placed in a tube large enough to contain it with a small aperture to let the wick come through; if a spiral spring is at hand to force the candle gradually up, so much the better; if not, have the tube long enough to allow a stick of the same size to be inserted under the butt of the candle, then weight the tube heavily (see Fig. 4, p. 555), and it will of itself press downwards as the candle burns away.

Fig. 5 is a clay mould used by the natives of some of the islands of the Eastern Archipelago for cooking sago; it is heated nearly red hot, the sago paste is ladled into the hollows shown in it, and, when cooked, taken out in the form of very palatable biscuits. In South Africa we make very excellent fritters by mixing a stout batter of meal or flour with a little sugar; then setting a pot of sheep's-tail fat upon the fire, we keep it boiling, and taking up a spoonful of the batter drop it into the boiling fat. When a South Sea whaler is trying out blubber, the men take biscuits, saturate them thoroughly with water, tie them in a cloth to which a line is made fast, and throw them into the boiling oil. They also tie up fish in a cloth and throw them into the pot, secured in the same manner.

{Hints on food.}

Commander E. Belcher says that farmers throw a bag of flour into the water to keep it cool; the outer layer only forms paste half an inch in thickness. The American whalers put their flour casks into salt water to prevent weevils getting in; the outer paste dries as hard as flint, and resists their attacks. And lastly, speaking from his own experience, he says the flour balls washed ashore from a wreck, dirty-looking and studded with sand, gravel, and pebbles till they seemed almost like plum puddings, were most carefully gathered up and preserved; they were broken when required, and the dry flour inside made into cakes; this, with a little rum from the wreck and a scanty supply of salmon purchased from the natives, supported him and his crew for ten days; even the flour which had been reached by salt water was not quite spoiled, if the gravel and sand could be extracted.

What we rather absurdly reject as the offal of an animal contains in reality some of its tenderest and best parts, and the natives who follow a white man for the game he kills are well aware of this; and they know that he has a prejudice in favour of cleanliness, which to them seems groundless. However, they do not fail to take advantage of it, and, in cutting up an animal, generally contrive to break up the interior in such a manner that, without actually spoiling the tit bits, they give them a very unsightly appearance. If the traveller is content with the solid flesh, of course he can let them do as they like; if not, he must look out in time. It is quite well to know that the marrow-bones slightly warmed afford most delicious food; the marrow of the ox is good, that of the buffalo is better, but that of the koodoo is the ne plus ultra. The bones of the quagga--at least, so far as our experience goes--afford no marrow; indeed, there is no hollow for it, the inside being a cellular structure filled with oil. The flesh, also, being rather rank, persons of very delicate taste do not relish it. The wild Hottentots, however, not only eat it, but use the name "quagga" as the general term for food. We have frequently eaten it, and can safely say that it only requires a good appetite to make it palatable enough. The head of this or any other animal is best cooked in its skin--a good fire being made round it and earth heaped over the embers all night.

The skin of most animals will afford nutriment--of course, the thicker it is the better; that of the hippopotamus, which varies in different parts from half an inch to two inches, is very good. It may be roasted, or broiled, or boiled down to a soft jelly or even to a soup or gelatine, and in all these various forms it is good. We have saved large slabs of the hide after killing a hippopotamus; and after the flesh was gone the skin served us well, the Damaras washing it and pounding it between a couple of stones till it was tender enough to eat. When that was done, however, and we had to come down upon the hides of buffaloes shot three months before, and at that time dried so hard in the sun that we had to cut them up with a hand-saw, we found that, even after a couple of days' soaking in the pool and two days more of boiling, nothing but the simple fact that we had nothing else would have induced us to eat them. The quagga skin is even harder; but our native followers cut it out piecemeal from under a Dutch lad who was using it as a bed till they barely left him enough to lie upon. We had used the hide of a black rhinoceros to make side chests for the waggon, and these, though much harder than the hardest wood we know, were taken off, roasted, pounded between stones, and eaten. Meat that has been cut into small pieces and exposed to the heat of the sun, so as partially to dry without allowing it to become tainted, may be eaten without further cooking.

In Tartary it is said to be common for a rider to cut a thin steak of beef and lay it under his saddle before he sets out on his journey, and after some hours he finds that the combined effects of constant pressure and warmth have, if not cooked it, at least rendered it palatable enough to be eaten.

In Norway, the stew-pot, after having stood for some time upon the fire, is taken off and wrapped in a thick covering of felt, which, being a bad conductor, prevents the escape of the heat, and forces it to expend itself on the continued cooking of the meat. A very neat arrangement of this kind was recently exhibited at the Polytechnic under the name of the Norwegian cooking stove. It consists of a small wooden box, thickly lined with felt, in which there is just room to deposit a stew-pan. After it has been brought to boiling heat upon the fire, it is then shut close, and in three or four hours the dinner is thoroughly cooked. We should think this, in waggon travelling in Africa, for soldiers on the march, or on board fishing boats or small vessels, would be a very desirable acquisition.

In Australia we constantly ate our ration of salt pork uncooked; and, even when recently taken from the cask, it was very good in this manner, with a little lime-juice and sugar. Per contra, however, the pork, with the bone cut out, and packed in canvas bags for carriage by pack horses, soon became dried by the sun; the fat all melted out of it, and was used to grease our boots or harness; and the once juicy, succulent, full-sized four-pound piece of pork became, after a few months' carriage, a semi-fossilized bit of nondescript matter, not much bigger than our fist, and weighing just three-quarters of a pound. Nevertheless, we had to take it at its nominal value, as we had no opportunity of replenishing our stores until our return to camp; and we found experimentally that we could not afford to diminish our scanty rations any further by boiling it.

It may be of interest here to give the scale of rations on which we travelled, and on which, though we could certainly have consumed more, we lived and worked for several months without finding our health or strength in any way impaired:

Salt pork, per diem, 1 lb. (nom.) Flour, 1 lb. Coffee, roasted and ground, 3/4 oz. Or tea, 1/4 oz. Sugar, 3 oz. Tobacco, 1/4 oz. Soap, 1/4 oz.

In camp, if we killed a sheep, the allowance was 1-1/4 lb. of fresh meat instead of salt; a pint pannikin was also used as holding an equivalent to 1 lb. of flour. But on the journey we were never able to issue a full pound, because drying it in the sun diminished its weight; and, beside this, as we carried two 1/2-lb. tins of gunpowder in each 50 lb. bag of flour, their weight, as well as that of the double canvas bag, had to be deducted, leaving a net weight of very little over 48 lb. In serving the weekly rations, our plan was to weigh every man's bag of flour against our own, and, if he thought his was in any way deficient, to give him the option of changing; also, when the pork was laid out, to let every man choose his ration, and to take that which remained for ourselves; and we found, as we believe will generally be the case, that the men, seeing that they were fairly treated, did not abuse the confidence we placed in them.

{Sheep killing.}

In times of scarcity, it may be well in killing a sheep to follow the example of the Tartars, who are perhaps the most dexterous sheep butchers in the world. When they kill a sheep nothing is wasted; even the blood is most carefully preserved for use. Instead of cutting the throat of the animal in the usual way, they pass a long slender knife in by the side of the breast-bone in such a way that all the large vessels above the heart are instantly severed. All the blood therein contained is poured out into the cavity of the chest without the escape of any. When requisite, it is ladled or scooped out, and placed in some convenient vessel. To skin the animal, the knife is first run along the whole abdominal line, from the top of the throat under the chin to the inside of the root of the tail, lines are then cut up each leg to the hoof, and the skin is dexterously stripped back from each side until nothing but a mere line of adhesion is left from the top of the tail, along the middle of the back, and up the neck. The sheep is now turned on its back, and the skin spread evenly out, like a mat, under it. The process of division into convenient joints now takes place, each piece being arranged in order on the skin, whilst the offal is secured in a wide basket. When all the joints have been duly cut out, the skin is taken by two men, one before to grasp the skins of the fore-legs and the other those of the hind, just as a hand-barrow is carried; and in this way the meat is carried to the tents for use.

{Economy in food.}

Once, in Australia, after having emptied a 50lb. bag of sugar, we rinsed out the bag with half a pint of water, making a strong syrup, which we poured into a small iron bucket; then, rinsing it again with another half pint, we obtained a like quantity, somewhat less sweet; and this we repeated till the bag was washed clean and we had about three pints of sweetened water in our bucket. We then drew from the store half a ration of sago for four persons--i.e., 1/2lb. each--boiled it in the syrup, and thus produced a mess which everyone who tasted it declared to be delicious.

One of our party devoted a spare hour to fishing, and, with hook and line, caught a large water tortoise and some fish; and shot a bird. The first of these when killed--i.e., so far as the division of the jugular would kill it--was laid upon its back upon the embers, served up in its own shell, and was a most palatable addition to our meal.

The large lizards of Australia, sometimes from 4ft. to nearly 6ft. long, are most excellent and delicate food, but the proper method is to roast them in the skin; and we have known the most intense anxiety felt lest we should require the skin of a particularly fine one as a specimen of natural history. This was somewhat calmed by the assurance that we only wished to sketch it, but the operation was most jealously watched, and, when we had completed our picture, we divided the body into quarters and the tail into four junks, for the four members of the party; and these dainties, carefully spread upon forked branches cut for the purpose, were set up above the embers of an ample fire, raked out into glowing heaps under each junk or quarter. In about twenty minutes they were thoroughly cooked, and proved, indeed, a delicacy, the flesh being white as chicken, and the taste reminding us rather of turkey than anything else.

The various cockatoos, parrots, wood-pigeons, storks, and cranes are all good. The dawn or rose-breasted cockatoo (Cacatoa eos), the white variety with the sulphur-coloured crest, or the black cockatoo, each form a very tolerable, though not an ample, meal for one man. Various species of hawks or kites, though not so delicate, may also be eaten; and in Australia, where carrion is not so plentiful as in Africa, and the hawks feed principally upon insects or small fish, their flesh, though dark in colour and tough, is by no means bad. We have eaten the white-headed African fish-eagle and the large horned owl, which, though somewhat tough and rank, were better than going upon scanty fare.

We first ate the flesh of a snake at Graham's Town, South Africa. A friend had brought us a puff-adder as a specimen; and, when we had skinned it, the flesh looked so white and firm that we cut out a junk, about 6in. long and as thick as our wrist, and desired the Kafir girl, who acted as cook, to fry it. An acquaintance who partook of it acknowledged that it was good, and that only the thought of eating snake prevented his enjoying it more fully.

The Australian blacks eat snakes of every kind, as well as any small animals they can catch; and we have often seen fellows whose sole apparel consisted of a snake girded round their waist, with two or three rats hitched by their tails to it. We were taught the orthodox way of cooking them by a first-rate fellow, John Fahey, an Irishman, who had been nearly fourteen years among the blacks. He first let the flame expend itself, and then spread out the embers, on these he coiled up the snake until the scales were slightly scorched; then taking it by the tail, he drew it repeatedly through his hand, brushing the crisp scales off toward the head, and again coiled it on the embers till it was thoroughly cooked; then opening it and throwing away the offal he picked out the tit bits and offered them to us, and afterwards divided the body.

The flesh of the alligator while young, and not more than 6ft. in length, is very good; but when larger, it becomes very strong, and acquires a musky flavour. We once killed an alligator of 11ft. on the Horseshoe flats, near Curiosity Peak, Victoria River, North Australia. The smell was to a degree rank; yet when we took the carcase to the vessel next morning, and the second overseer cleaned the skin and skeleton, we found that excellent cutlets were to be obtained from the muscular portion of the tail; and after breakfast, when the prejudices of the crew had given way, claimants were found for the flesh as fast as it could be stripped from the bones. Considerable seasoning was required, but still it was better than salt junk.

{White ants.}

In South Africa, just when the white ants are about to swarm and take the half-hour's flight which is allowed them before their wings drop off, the natives collect with torches; the ants, being attracted by the light, assemble, and are swept up by basketsful. After being scorched, they are kept in mat bags, holding two or three gallons each, and are really delicious food. They are pleasant to the taste, and very nutritious; for if one be left on a sheet of note-paper when the sun is shining brightly on it oil enough will exude to make a spot a couple of inches in diameter. The chief convenience of these is that they require no cooking, but any quantity may be carried in a bag, and a handful taken out and eaten when wanted.

The vast clouds of locusts, which in some countries both darken the air and devastate the land, are eaten greedily by nearly everything possessing life--men, animals, birds, fish, and insects, all join in the locust feast. The provident savage lays by a store merely smoke dried, to consume at his leisure with such tuberous roots or other underground productions as his sable spouse, armed with her sharp pointed grubbing stick, can procure for him.

The inhabitants of many of the islands of the Eastern Archipelago consume certain insects as food, wherever they can procure them. Mr. Wallace, who resided some time among the Dyaks, says: "Every day boys were to be seen walking along the roads, and by the hedges and ditches, catching dragon flies with birdlime. They carry a slender stick, with a few twigs at the end, well anointed, so that the least touch captures the insect, whose wings are pulled off before it is consigned to a small basket. The dragon flies are so abundant at the time of the rice flowering, that thousands are soon caught in this way. The bodies are fried in oil, with onions and preserved shrimps, or sometimes alone, and are considered a great delicacy." In Borneo, Celebes, and many other islands, the larvæ of bees and wasps are eaten either alive as pulled out of the cells, or fried like the dragon flies. In the Moluccas the grubs of the palm beetles (Calandra) are regularly brought to market in bamboos and sold for food; and many of the great horned Lamellicorn beetles are slightly roasted on the embers, and eaten whenever met with. In many districts where the cocoanut palm grows abundantly, the curved and tightly rolled up immature fronds are perforated by the workings and burrowings of the "Tucuma" or "Grugru," the larvæ of Oryctes rhinoceros. These are large plump grubs, with black hard heads, and are esteemed a great luxury, being either fried in cocoanut oil, or seized by the head, dipped in a little lime juice and disposed of without further preparation.

The nests of the white ants are often broken by the natives in search of the eggs, and even of the insects, for scarcity of animal food compels them to eat anything, and the grubs that lurk under the bark of the gum trees are accounted delicious fare. John Fahey was an adept in searching them out; and in fact, when we first made our camp, girdled several trees in order that they might die, and that grubs might accumulate under the bark. The grubs are eaten fresh, raw and living, just as they are taken from the tree.

In most countries there will be some vegetable product or other available for food. In Australia we have cut out what may be called the cabbage from the roots of the pandanus leaves, and found it, when boiled, almost as good as a very inferior turnip. The seeds from the large globular fruit were also worth looking for, because in the pencil of fibre, by which they are attached to the base, is contained a quantity of sweet and farinaceous matter; this we found also was highly relished by the small fish and fresh-water tortoises in the rivulets, and we frequently baited our hooks with them.

In Africa, if we were accompanied by a Damara on a shooting trip, and were unsuccessful, we returned hungry, but if we took a Makalaka, he would be sure to dig up roots or gather wild fruit, or vegetables of some kind or other; and perhaps catch a lizard or other small creature, or occasionally discover a bees' nest in a hollow tree. Once when we were much exhausted with long-continued want of food, the man who accompanied us saw a few of the small African bees around the branch of a tree, he forthwith climbed it, and chopping off a piece of bark, bruised up the ends with the head of his axe, till he had formed a kind of trough, which he set his assistants to hold, and chopped away till he had sufficiently enlarged the hole to allow him to extract the honeycomb.

The roots of the lotus or blue water-lily are very good, and have a taste, when roasted, something between that of a chesnut and a potatoe.

Lotus roots are obtained from the bottoms of some of the Eastern lakes and rivers by making use of a very long and soft leather sack. Into this the lotus gatherer gets until the top of the sack is on a level with his neck. He then walks, or rather hobbles, into the water, wades by short steps out to the lotus beds; and, when he feels the roots beneath his feet, he digs and works with his toes and heels until they are detached from their hold on the bottom, and float on the surface, from which they are readily raked and collected for use.

The Bushmen wade in the shallow pools and pluck them up by hand, but in the deeper rivers the canoe men have long poles with a hook at the end for detaching the roots. In these pools, also, they frequently capture the "matamaetlie" or edible frog, which is sometimes nearly as large as a chicken. The Bushmen grip them by the nape of the neck, strike them across the thighs and across the spine to disable them, and then, placing their lips to the vent, blow till they force the stomach and all the entrails out at the mouth. The flesh of these frogs is exceedingly good, more like chicken than anything else, and we often found a good-sized one make us a very satisfying meal.

{Lotus seed.}

The seed of the lotus is extensively used as food throughout the East; the Chinese esteem it highly, and prepare it in a great number of ways. Sir Samuel Baker, in speaking of lotus seed, says: "All the tribes of the White Nile have their harvest of lotus seed; there are two species of water-lily, the large white flower, and the small variety. The seed pod of the white lotus is like an unblown artichoke, containing a number of light red grains, equal in size to mustard seed, but shaped like those of the poppy, and similar to them in flavour, being sweet and nutty. The ripe pods are collected, and strung upon sharp pointed reeds, about 4ft. in length. When thus threaded they are formed into large bundles, and carried from the river to the villages, where they are dried in the sun and stored for use. The seed is ground into flour, and made into a kind of porridge."

{Rice, to boil.}

Rice is so well known as a food grain that little need be said of it further than that a wild kind is found growing in many of the swamps of America; the grain from this is beaten off with sticks into canoes which are propelled through the shallow water in which the rice stalks grow. Some skill is required in cooking rice, in order that each grain may be separate. Our native Indian cook used to proceed as follows: The rice was first thoroughly washed in a large jar of clean cold water, two washings being generally required to remove all stain. The water was then strained off, and the clean rice drained quite dry. A cooking pot full of water was then placed on a brisk fire, and allowed to boil actively; when in full ebullition the rice was cast in, the fire stirred, and the boiling continued actively for about sixteen minutes, when the pot was lifted off, placed on one side, and a pint lota pot of cold water thrown suddenly into it; the sudden chill thus communicated divides every grain from its fellow, and, when strained dry, rice prepared in this manner is truly excellent and attractive.

Ostrich's eggs have often been treated of, and every traveller speaks of them according to his particular experience. Probably, when a party of half-a-dozen men have plenty of bread and every other necessary for a good meal, they will find that one egg is quite enough for them; while a stout fellow, destitute of everything but a keen appetite, would find an ostrich's egg not more than enough to satisfy himself. The capacity of a good-sized one is about 2-1/2 pints, the taste is rich, and sometimes a trifle strong; in fact, we could never eat much of one unless it were in some way diluted, say mixed with flour and made into a cake. The readiest way of cooking them is to break one end of the shell, set the other end into the embers on the ground, and so cook and serve the contents in their own shell. We prefer, however, to start the egg into an earthen pot, and add nearly an equal quantity of flour or meal, making cakes or fritters, seasoned or not according to taste.

{Various foods.}

Indeed, we should think that, if eggs in plenty could be obtained, this would be a very economical and effective way of provisioning a small party for a journey where everything must be carried, and where the means of carriage was scant or perhaps altogether wanting; but, in this case, the eggs would have to be mixed with as much flour as they would take up, and the cakes baked as dry as possible without burning any part of them. A nautical friend has told us of a plan adopted on surveying expeditions, when boats are sent for several days from the ship. A rough grater is made by punching holes in a sheet of tin, and a junk of salt meat grated down tolerably fine; the meat powder is then mixed with flour with very little water, rolled up into small balls or cakes, and dried in the galley. When wanted, a portion is broken off, kneaded with a little water, enveloped in a crust of flour and water, tied up in a cloth, and boiled in the boat's copper as a meat pudding.

The North Australian expedition was abundantly supplied with preserved fresh meat, but the tins in which it was packed could not conveniently be carried in bags on pack horses, and therefore, in preparation for an extensive inland journey, estimating the quantity required, we took out of store equal weights of preserved beef and flour; then taking the contents of a 6lb. tin of beef and 6lb. of flour, he kneaded them together, divided the mass into forty-eight parts of 1/4lb. each, and baked them in an oven built of clay and the schooner's pig ballast for the purpose. Nearly 3lb. weight were lost by the evaporation of the moisture in the process of baking, so that the forty-eight cakes representing 12lb. of meat and flour, and forming six days' rations for one man, could be carried at a weight of 9lb.; the rations of sugar and other groceries making the total weight only about 10-1/2lb. or at most 11lb. As long as the biscuits remained whole four of them were considered equivalent to 1lb.; but when they were broken up into dust a pannikin about three-quarters full was reckoned an equivalent. In either case, the best way of using it was to mix it with water and warm it up as a thick soup. This compound has been adopted by other travellers in Australia, and found to answer the purpose exceedingly well.

We should think that where fresh and really good fruit is plentiful it might be treated with flour nearly in the same manner, and would form a very agreeable variation in the diet. Dried fruit may be had in many countries, such as Cape Colony, where dried peaches, raisins, &c. are constantly in the market, and these stewed with the meat are not to be despised; but in some form or other vegetable matter, as acid as possible, is absolutely necessary; for no one who has not been compelled to live for weeks together upon meat alone can imagine how utterly disgusting the smell and taste of even the freshest and most savoury joints become when unvaried by any vegetable, to say nothing of the injury to health that such a diet must cause. In Australia we have gathered the young shoots of the wild vine and made what our cook called rhubarb tarts of them; and when these failed, a small succulent herb called "portulac," or more popularly "potluck," which could be eaten as a salad, supplied their place. In Africa we have found unspeakable relief from a bundle of dry tamarinds brought from a distant tribe; and when recrossing the desert during the rainy season, we found abundant supplies of wild grapes growing luxuriantly along our path. No matter that they were not ripe; the more tart and sour they were the better; and by the time we had got well within the desert border, and were beginning to find that the intense sourness, which had already served its purpose as a corrective, was beginning to set our teeth on edge, we also began to find riper clusters on the bushes as we advanced; they were, of course, not equal to the cultivated varieties, but were by no means a bad substitute.

We also gathered daily large quantities of the beer berry, or "ovúmbapoov," about the size of a cranberry, but nearly filled with a hard stone or kernel; these were of a pleasant, sweetish, acid taste, and could be eaten as we gathered them and walked along, or when we halted could be pounded with water in a "halwe stamp block," or modern mortar, into a very pleasant pulp; the only drawback was the small quantity of food in proportion to the amount of kernel, and the difficulty of getting rid of the latter. Sometimes we would collect a quantity, pour boiling water upon them, let it stand to extract the juices, and then put it aside to ferment. The liquor thus obtained was not unpleasant, it was something between inferior beer and second-rate cider. Once we boiled the juice down to a thick syrup, which was so sweet that a spoonful of it served instead of sugar to our tea, but the quantity produced was so small in proportion to the trouble that we never repeated the process. Many other fruits, roots, and vegetables might be named; but if the traveller makes friends of the natives they will find whatever the country produces for him, and they will never refuse to share what they pick up either with him or with their hungry comrades. Indeed their language supplies no title of contempt equivalent to that of "the man who eats alone," or who saves anything for the morrow.

We cannot omit, however, to mention the fruit of the Baobab or "Adansonia," which both in Africa and in Australia we have found extremely valuable. The tree will at once be known by its enormous size. We have generally seen young, well-conditioned trees 30ft. in circumference, while others have been 50ft. or 60ft., and the largest we know of was actually 101ft.; its height, however, is by no means proportionate, it being seldom more than 60ft., or at most 70ft. or 80ft. The fruit is generally about the size of an ostrich's egg, though we have seen it much larger; the rind is about as thick as the egg-shell, and easily broken; the interior is occupied by seeds imbedded in a pleasant sub-acid pulp, of a white colour, which when dry resembles cream of tartar, and has caused the Dutch Africans to bestow upon it the name of "krem tart boom," or cream-of-tartar tree. This pulp the Bushmen pound up with a little water, and sometimes mix with it a little meal of grass seeds, to thicken it, or by adding more water make a very pleasant drink.

In Australia we found even the soft wood so succulent that we could cut out a junk with the axe, and chew it for the moisture it contained like a wet sponge; while the fruit of the Gouty-stem tree (Adansonia Gregorii), when boiled up with a little sugar, acted as a powerful antiscorbutic among the sailors of our little schooner, completely curing the disease, and leaving only the unavoidable weakness, from which, with the advantage of better food, they gradually recovered. Millet of various kinds, known under the general denomination of Kafir corn, can be purchased from most of the Kafir and Bechuana tribes. It may be eaten boiled with meat, but should be previously husked in a wooden mortar, and would be better and more digestible if it were also bruised. We have ground it to a kind of rough meal in a coffee-mill, but found that it would not knead up into cakes without a little European or colonial flour to bind it. Sometimes the native women bruise it to meal in their wooden mortars, and in times of scarcity gather the seeds of several wild grasses, which they treat in the same manner.

This meal will not make bread in our sense of the word, but it will make a very good mess, something between bread and pap or porridge, called "maassa." An earthen pot with water is set upon the fire, and when the water boils a little meal is dropped in and stirred, more and more is then gradually added and stirred until the mess thickens, and is served up like a very dense paste. A very little soup or meat gravy makes it agreeable enough.

Maize or Indian corn is very extensively grown in Africa, and most other warm countries, and nothing can be more delicious than the young ears, either boiled or roasted in their sheath, the leaves of which everyone strips off for himself when it comes to table, spreading a little butter on the ear according to taste; it is perfect etiquette in this case to take the ear up in both hands just as you would pick a bone, and bite the grains off; indeed, the young corn cannot be properly eaten in any other manner.

Maize grains, when in the milk stage, can be preserved for future use in the following manner: The heads are first cut from the stalk, the covering of leaves and the tassel are then stripped off, and all the grains broken from the cob or core with the fingers into a shallow basket; a wide pit is then dug in the earth, and red hot stones and embers are cast in until the bottom and sides of the pit are thoroughly heated. All the stones and ashes are then removed, and all dust brushed away with green branches. A quantity of maize leaves are now brought and made use of to line the pit, and form a sort of nest for the reception of the maize, which is covered with a thick layer of leaves and left until baked. The grain subjected to this process, instead of becoming parched and dry, remains sweet, and when boiled with meat much resembles green peas.

The ground nut, such as is brought from Sierra Leone, is obtainable in many parts. It may be eaten raw, but is better slightly roasted. The Portuguese make a very nice confect of it, and it contains so much essential oil that one nut will burn with a clear flame, like a wax candle, for fully a minute. This oil makes it one of the best substitutes for coffee we know of. Slightly roasted and ground, and infused in the ordinary manner, it is exceedingly good. Most of the indigenous grains and grasses are also used, but some of them only act as a kind of vegetable charcoal to give a toast-and-water like colour to the morning beverage. We have frequently tried the beans of various species of mimosa, and have found them valuable in exact proportion to the quantity of essential oil contained in them. The dwarf shrubs, carrying generally the largest beans, were the best, and we should think the diminutive tree, scarcely 18in. high, and bearing a pod more than a foot long, called "Eland's boontjie," would be best of all. At other times we have used burnt pumpkin, but this produced rather a kind of vegetable soup.

{Uses of tea.}

Tea is one of the most valuable and important stores carried by the explorer or traveller, and an ample supply should always be taken. We prefer the Australian method of tea-making to any other; and, whether with our brass lota pot or tin quart mug and pint cup, proceed in the same manner to brew it. We first pour as much water as we think requisite in the pot, put it on the fire, and raise it to the boiling point; then take it off and add tea in proportion to the number to be brewed for, covering down the vessel with an inverted tea bowl until the tea has drawn; it is then fit for use. By adopting this plan the tea for the early morning's start need not be made the night before; a few chips, sticks, dead leaves, or a lamp, will serve to give heat enough to boil a well-blackened pot; and a very few minutes will suffice, while the packs are being arranged, to prepare a bowl of warm tea, which, with a little bread or native cake, will serve as a stand-by until the regular breakfast hour. For a very long time it was our custom when in India to strike tent at 2 A.M. and march at 3, in order to avoid the heat; but we never omitted our bowl of tea.

Among the natives of Chinese Tartary extensive use is made of brick tea, not only as an article of diet, but as a medium of currency and exchange.

This curious preparation is commonly made use of by travellers and the lower orders throughout the length and breadth of Tartary, Tibet, and the Kirghis steppes. The bricks vary in size according to the particular district in which they are made; but to be of convenient and saleable character they should be about 1ft. long, 6in. wide, and from 1in. to 1-1/2in. thick. To make tea-bricks, all the late shoots, imperfectly-formed leaves, and immature buds to be found in the tea plantations, after the tea harvest is over, are collected; they are then subjected to the action of water until soft and pliable, bullock's blood is then added, the mass is then thoroughly mixed and incorporated, and, when of a tough, firm consistence, it is divided into portions of convenient size, which are pressed into brick moulds prepared for them. When turned from the moulds the bricks are laid on hurdles, and subjected to heat until dry. They are then fit for the market, to which the finished commodity is usually carried in sheepskin bags. When required for use, the portion to be consumed is broken from the brick with the head of a hatchet or a heavy stone; the fragments thus detached are broken up small between two flat stones, and then rubbed between the palms of the hands until fine enough for preparation.

There are several ways of preparing brick tea for consumption. One is to place the rough powder in a pot or kettle with water, and boil it until a red decoction is formed, a little salt is then thrown in, which causes a slight effervescence to be set up; when this ceases, and the liquid becomes tranquil, and of dark colour, milk is added. If it is desired to make the tea thus prepared more than commonly attractive to the visitor, butter is added. Sometimes a mixture, called "Imitanka," is made from it; this is formed by adding a quantity of clotted cream which has become sour to the boiled tea water, and when it has boiled a short time, adding salt and a bowlful of millet seed flour. The whole mixture is then boiled for about three-quarters of an hour, and is ready for the table, or rather floor of the tent, on which it is usual to sit. Barley meal and suet added to the tea water makes a kind of gruel, or stirabout, which is much relished by the wandering Tartars, and appears to agree vastly well with them. Brick tea is not only used as we have described, but is common among Tartar dealers, and those who attend the fairs held for the purpose of sale and exchange as a medium of currency, just as the beaver skin and the Dentalium shell are by the North West Indians of America.

Almost every country has its own peculiar method of preserving animal food for future use. The salting of meat, and the consequent deterioration of its nourishing properties, must be well known to all who have made long voyages, unless, indeed, they have always sailed in first-class ships, where the appearance of salt junk upon the cabin table is quite exceptional. Where it can conveniently be carried, we think that boiled fresh beef, preserved in air-tight tin canisters, is by far the best, as being in effect equal to fresh killed meat cooked in the same manner. We have seen considerable quantities of this meat used after being carried by land and sea about the world for years, and we do not remember that we have ever opened a tin which was not in good order, and perfectly fit for food. And we should also think that in many places where immense herds of cattle almost encumber the land they live upon, this method of transporting their flesh to a better market would be well worthy the attention of their owners. There are many variations in the method of preserving, but we believe the simplest and most effective to be as under. Kill the animal by a rifle shot behind the ear or otherwise, skin it, and hoist it by block and tackle to a convenient tree, then commencing at the hind-legs, which are of course uppermost, strip off all the flesh from the bones, leaving the skeleton still hanging, cut the flesh into pieces as nearly 6lb. in weight as possible, put them into a cauldron with very little water, and boil them well. Have a number of cylindrical 6lb. tins, and set them ready in a trough of boiling water, kept hot by a steam pipe or other available means; put a piece of beef in each tin, with liquor enough nearly to fill it, and then solder on the top, which should have a hole in it; when all the tins of meat are thus far advanced, pour in at the small hole liquor enough to fill the tin, clean round the edges of the hole, and close it with a drop of hot solder, so as to seal the tin hermetically; then remove them from the water, dry the outsides, paint them with any coarse colour, mixed with boiled oil, and they are ready for exportation to any part of the world.

Where meat in this form cannot be carried, perhaps the next best method is to cut it into strips or flakes, and dry it thoroughly in the sun, with, or more frequently without, a little salt upon the surface. Meat by this process loses some of its nutritious quality, but it is so conveniently kept and carried, and so little liable to damage, that there is scarce a country in the world having sun enough for the purpose when it is not adopted in North America. The flesh of the buffalo, or bison, and in South America that of the domestic, or rather half-wild, ox, is used; and Sir F. Head, in his rough notes of the pampas, remarks that a man can live longer on dried beef and water than he can on any other unvaried diet.

The trappers and traders of North West America make extensive use of a kind of prepared food known as "pemmican," and very large quantities of it are manufactured on the buffalo range. It is thus made. Buffalo flesh is cut with the hunting knife into convenient flakes and flat steaks or layers. These are either hung in the sun or near a slow fire until dry, when the dried meat is ground between two stones until sufficiently fine. A bag is then made of buffalo hide, with the hair side out, and the preserved flesh, after having been thoroughly mixed with hot fat, is well rammed and pressed in. The bag is then securely stitched up, and the pemmican allowed to cool and harden. When required for use, it is cut from the mass like hard sausage meat, and either eaten cold, or, when mixed with flour or meal, a sort of thick porridge, called by the trappers "robiboo," is made from it.

{Food to preserve.}

In many of the Australian islands and New Zealand vast quantities of sea-fowl (the sooty petrel or mutton bird, especially) are captured for food by the sailors and natives. These birds visit the islands annually in vast flocks, arriving generally about the latter end of November, for the purpose of depositing their eggs, of which each hen bird lays one or two, about size of ordinary goose eggs, and somewhat similar in flavour. The cock bird takes charge of the nest during the day and the hen by night, taking in turn the duty of going to sea for food. Perfect warrens, like those of rabbits, are formed by these birds, who burrow in the soft ground for a distance of 2ft. or 3ft., and there form their nests. Some of the islands are so thickly and completely honeycombed by these feathered miners as to render walking a very unsafe proceeding.

The collection of the eggs and young birds from the depths of the holes is a task usually assigned to the native women, who not uncommonly find a snake coiled up where the young petrel should be. When a large catch is determined on for preservation and the obtainment of feathers, a number of bird hunters assemble and construct a sort of hedge or fence a short distance from the beach, and just before daybreak, when the birds, about to proceed to sea to feed, are out of their retreats, a sudden rush is made by the whole assembled party of birdcatchers who, with the most hideous yells and cries, drive the throngs of waddling, flapping victims, who cannot rise from the ground to fly, towards the centre of the fatal barrier, where a deep pit has been prepared for their reception. Into this they are forced, layer on layer, until they literally suffocate each other in their vain endeavours to escape from the treacherous pitfall. The feathers, when plucked from the birds, are worth about 3d. per pound, and it requires the joint plumage of about twenty to produce that quantity. Thirty bags of feathers, constituting the cargoes of two trading boats, were obtained by the sacrifice of 18,000 birds. A portion of the birds are preserved by dry smoking, and are extensively made use of. Some of the New Zealand tribes, by whom this bird is called the "Titi," have recourse to a most ingenious and effective method of preservation for it and some other articles of food. The petrels, after having been carefully plucked, have all their bones removed. They are then cooked over the fire in large shallow dishes or platters, made from the bark of the "Totara" tree, and when sufficiently done are placed in the natural bottles or flasks formed of a species of seaweed, like a huge variety of the bladder-wrack (Fucus vesiculosus) of our own coasts. The heated fat from the birds is then poured in, and the sea-bottle securely tied up. Provisions treated in this manner remain perfectly good for a very long time, being completely excluded from both air and moisture. The Indians of Vancouver Island make use of seaweed bottles, made like those just described, to store up fish oil in.

{Hints on large game.}

In Africa, the flesh of the ox and of all the game animals--from the antelope and buffalo to the giraffe, and the rhinoceros, the hippopotamus, and elephant--is used under the general name of "biltong." The scene, when one of the larger animals has been shot, and is found perhaps next morning by the hunter's native followers, is exciting enough. In the case of an elephant which has lain till ten or eleven o'clock, when the heat of the sun will have begun to form gases in the stomach, and to distend the carcase till a man may tread upon it as he would on an unyielding rock, the man, whose duty it is to make the first incision, approaches cautiously, taking care, if possible, not to to come leeward, and especially to see that his retreat is clear; then reaching forward at the full length of his arm, he drives his spear into the abdomen, leaping backward at the same time to avoid the gaseous and liquid discharge which ensues. The rest wait until the carcase has collapsed, and the stench is somewhat dissipated, and then rush in and commence the cutting up. The thick skin is torn in broad planks from the sides, groups of men mount upon the ribs, and, squatting there upon their hams, use their assegais in cutting down through the flesh; others, having effected a breach in the thinnest part of the abdomen, enter and tear out the internal dainties, and then, assegais in hand, begin to cut the flesh from the inside of the ribs--an operation, it will be readily believed, involving no small risk to these who happen to be sitting just above them, and who not unfrequently receive a hint that the human skin is by no means invulnerable. The surrounding bushes now begin to be covered with blanket-like flaps of skin and meat, by membranes and sheets of the internal fat, and from every fire arises the savoury odour of some tit bit, being hastily grilled to appease the appetite while the pot which has been filled with the first cuttings of the flesh is being boiled. Long, straight poles are next cut, and laid across like rails from fork to fork of other trees, and on these the flesh, cut into strips from 3ft. to 16ft. long, and about two fingers thick, is hung to dry, care being taken not to hang it so closely as to prevent the air passing freely between the pieces. Two or three days will generally be enough to dry the meat, which is then taken down, and either tied up in bundles if to be carried by men, or stowed as loosely as possible in the waggon, being opened and spread out at every halt for the first few days to guard against the possibility of putrefaction; further cooking is not absolutely necessary. The biltong may be bruised up with a yoke skei, or the head of an axe, and eaten raw, or it may be broiled and bruised as before, or if boiled it may be put into a native mortar and pounded with a pestle or a yoke skei until the fibres are thoroughly separated, and much trouble is saved in the way of mastication. With the addition of a little cinnamon or other spice, dried peaches, shreds of dried onion, or any little thing to vary the taste, this is by no means a bad dish for hungry men.

In all cases, however, it is well to make a proportion of the meat carry itself; and here the traveller will be called upon to exercise great caution. It will never do to purchase at random a number of animals of various species, because, in the first place, the different kinds will not herd together, and, therefore, each will require separate attendants; and, secondly, because the country to be explored may be unfavourable to the existence of some of them. In North Australia we took no cattle, because we had reason to think that plants poisonous to them abounded there. Of our flock of sheep we took none beyond the standing camp, and even of them we lost more than three-fourths by the disasters of the sea and river voyage before they were landed. If men would make up their minds to eat horseflesh, we believe it would be more economical, and would give less trouble to the exploring party, who might purchase at the outset a considerable additional number of horses, young of course, but at least sufficiently docile to carry a pack and travel with the others; and when the burden of one of these had been eaten off, to shoot him, and convert as much of his flesh as could not be eaten in the first two days into biltong.

In many of the later expeditions camels have been used more or less successfully, and their flesh has also served as food to the explorers on emergencies.

In South Africa oxen are so generally used that no one thinks of undertaking a journey of any extent without them, and, not less as a matter of course, his vehicle is the ox waggon; horses, as many as the traveller can afford, also accompany him; but, if he is really a hunter, these are seldom or never ridden until their energies are required for active service, but leisurely driven on by a Hottentot lad, and carefully tended, so as to husband their strength and keep them in good condition till they are really wanted. Sheep and goats are taken because most of the native tribes are so essentially pastoral that these animals may be cheaply purchased from them; and young lads, willing to drive them, may be hired for a trifling reward in addition to their food.

Nevertheless, all these animals are liable to casualties on the road: the goats or sheep may die from feeding on the beans that fall from the kameel doorn and various acacias; the stud may be thinned off by the annual horse sickness, even though the traveller may have taken the precaution to buy, at a higher price, what are called salted horses--i.e., such as have once had the sickness--for it is well known that if a horse takes the sickness in a district where it prevails in a mild form, which is generally the case in such as have been for a considerable time colonised, it will not protect him in the remote wilderness where the disease still maintains its unmitigated strength. It is, therefore, always advisable to ask not only whether the horse has had the sickness, but where he passed through the ordeal. We have known as much as 100l. given by a hunter for a horse up to his weight and warranted to be salted, with the proviso, however, that if the horse died of sickness during the first season his price was to be reduced by 60l.

{Hints on food gathering.}

In all cases of extreme scarcity of food, we strongly advise the traveller to leave no stone unturned which may yield aliment of some kind to help him on his way before he sacrifices his riding horse or mule. Where a number of animals accompany an expedition, a few may perhaps be parted with from time to time; but we earnestly advise the solitary hunter or explorer to exercise every faculty he possesses for food finding before he makes up his mind to destroy his four-footed friend. Different regions not only furnish different food-yielding products, but possess climates which necessitate the use of appropriate kinds of aliment. Food may be viewed in the light of fuel, and man as a lamp. The more intense the cold and severe the exertion the greater will be the expenditure of elements rich in carbon, such as oil, fat, blubber, flesh, &c. Arctic travellers and those who dwell in the regions of ice and snow find themselves compelled to follow very closely the customs of the Esquimaux in their diet scale. Dr. Kane, the Arctic traveller, says: "Our journeys have taught us the wisdom of the Esquimaux appetite, and there are few among us who do not relish a slice of raw blubber or a chunk of frozen walrus beef. The liver of a walrus (Awuktanuk) eaten with little slices of his fat, of a verity is a delicious morsel. Fire would ruin the curt pithy expression of vitality which belong to its uncooked pieces. Charles Lamb's roast pig was nothing to Awuktanuk. I wonder that raw beef is not eaten at home. Deprived of extraneous fibre, it is neither indigestible nor difficult to masticate. With acids and condiments it makes a salad which an educated palate cannot help relishing; and as a powerful and condensed heat-making and antiscorbutic food it has no rival. I make this last broad assertion after carefully testing its truth. The natives of South Greenland prepare themselves for a long journey in the cold by a course of frozen seal. At Upernavik they do the same with the narwhal, which is thought more heat making than the seal, while the bear, to use their own expression, is 'stronger travel' than all. In the far north, where the explorer has to carefully husband such food as good fortune may cast in his way, no portion of an animal is wasted." The Doctor, when speaking of the value of every part of a beast, says: "The skin makes the basis of soup, and the claws can be boiled to a jelly; lungs, larynx, stomach, and entrails are all available." Starvation is far less to be feared by an experienced traveller in tropical climates than among the ice of the polar regions, as, in the first place, the large quantities of animal food consumed to sustain vital heat are not needed; and, in the next, the vegetable and insect world far more abundantly contribute their aid in furnishing his larder. Here again the explorer will do well to follow, in cases of necessity, the example set by the natives, who not unfrequently manage to sustain life in regions which to the unpractised eye would present nothing but hopeless barrenness. The inhabitants of very extensive tracts of country, extending through the Presidio del Norte, in Mexico, subsist for months together on the large bulbous roots of the Maguay (Agave Mexicana), which grows in the dry arid soil of these regions. These roots vary in size from the diameter of a 4lb. loaf to that of a two-gallon jar, and are not unlike a huge onion in external appearance. When intended for food they are simply dug up and roasted in hot ashes, when they become palatable and wholesome. It is from these roots that the Mexicans prepare their celebrated "Mescal," or aguardiente, a spirit stronger than the best whisky. To prepare this, a pit is dug in the ground to about the depth of 3ft. and about 10ft. in diameter; a complete layer of stones is then made on the bottom and round the sides of the pit, which is then filled with billets of wood and branches of bushes; these are then ignited, and the fire is suffered to burn until the stone lining and borders of the pit are strongly heated; a quantity of freshly-gathered grass is then thrown in and formed into a sort of lining for the stones, and on this the bulbs of the maguay are cast until the pit is nearly full, when a quantity of grass is thrown over the top layer, and the baking or roasting process is suffered to go on until the roots are thoroughly cooked. Large leather sacks are then brought to receive the roots. Water is thrown in until a sort of gruel is formed, which ferments for about a week, and is then distilled in a rough makeshift still, when the liquor is fit for consumption. This is the plant which produces the pulque, which we have before described. The fibres of the leaves make excellent ropes and twine; the young and immature leaves, when doubled up in the hand, make an excellent substitute for soap and the fresh crisp sprouts are good for cattle food. The region of the Gila and the Sonora district also produce the "Petahaya," the great candelabra cereus. This curious plant grows in the form of either a fluted column or gigantic candelabrum; the stem is not unfrequently from 2ft. to 3ft. in diameter, and grows to a height of from 40ft. to 50ft. Mr. T. R. Bartlett, in his exploration of the Gila, made extensive use of the fruit of this plant. He thus describes it: "The plant probably blooms late in May or early in June, and the fruit is matured in July and August. The flowers, borne on the summits of the branches, are 3in. in diameter, and about the same in length. The petals are stiff and curling, and of a cream-white colour; the stamens are yellow and very numerous. The fruit is about the size and shape of an egg, sometimes rather longer than the true egg shape, having a few small scales without spines. The colour of the fruit is green, tinged with red when fully ripe. It consists of an outer coat or skin filled with red pulp, inclosing numerous small black seeds. The fruit when mature bursts at the top, and exposes the pulp, which at this time is rather mawkish to the taste; but a few days' exposure to the sun dries it to about one-third its original bulk, and the whole mass drops out of the skin. In this state it has the consistency of the pulp of a dried fig, and the saccharine matter being concentrated by drying, it somewhat resembles that fruit in taste. The Pimo and other Indians collect the pulp and roll it into balls, in which state it probably keeps the whole year, as it was offered to our party which passed through in January. They also boil the pulp in water and evaporate it to the consistence of molasses, after which it is preserved in earthen jars."

Insects, as well as fruit and fruit products, contribute largely in some parts of the world to the subsistence of the natives.

Wild honey not unfrequently proves an acceptable addition to the explorer's larder. To obtain this the movements of wild bees should be carefully watched. Sometimes they may be seen high overhead flying in a direct and steady double stream; one throng bending its way heavily laden to the hive or colony, and the other departing on a fresh expedition. In some parts of the world--India, for example--the wild bees usually construct their combs either beneath the shelter afforded by the bifurcation of the large branches of a timber tree or the stems of the palm fronds as they shoot from the main trunk. In America, Africa, and some other countries they generally seek the protection afforded by a hollow and partially decayed tree trunk. To find the stores of a swarm of wild bees, cast your eye sharply overhead and note the general line of flight. Catch a bee and tie a thin filament of down, wild cotton, or white floss silk to his leg and let him fly; he will generally wing his flight homewards, and can be followed. If there is any uncertainty about the line of direction in which the bees fly, which may proceed from other swarms being in the neighbourhood, catch two bees at different points, plume them, and carefully note the point at which their line of flight joins. When you have to track a long bee flight, it is a good plan to dress a piece of bark with honey, in order that it may act as a lure to the bees. As they take in a store and fly away with it, note their flight, taking the line followed by the greatest number; advance your bark a couple of hundred yards in the line; take a fresh departure, and so on until the bee tree is discovered. The honey guide of Africa (Cuculos indicator) will, by his restlessness and efforts to attract attention, not unfrequently conduct the traveller to the bees' nest; but when following this feathered conductor be on the alert and keep both barrels of your rifle at full cock, as he sometimes brings you face to face with a creature far more formidable than a honey bee. To take possession of the honey few Europeans like to venture on the bold course followed by many natives, as from some cause or another, which we are utterly at a loss to explain, a naked black fellow will invade the stronghold of the bees and carry off the honeycomb in their very midst, with little or no preparation. When bees are in a hollow tree the best plan is to fell it with the axe, light a long line of damp brushwood to leeward, make as much smoke as you can, and during the panic caused by the general crash, split up the log, chop the bee hole large enough to be practicable, and get the honeycomb out as fast as you can into some convenient vessel.

In New Caledonia we find the large spider there found (Aranea edulis) greedily partaken of. It is simply roasted over the fire when required for use. There is another curious description of food made use of by the natives of the lake borders in the neighbourhood of Chalco and Texococo; this is made from the eggs of a species of boat fly (Notonecta) and two or three insects of similar habits. The insects deposit their eggs by myriads on the stalks of the reeds growing in and about the margins of the lakes. The natives, when going on an egg-hunting expedition, provide themselves with cloths and sticks. The reeds, when bent to the edge of the spread cloth, are beaten and shaken, when the eggs drop off into the sheet placed for their reception. After being spread on other sheets, and thoroughly dried in the sun, they are treated just as if they were grains of corn. Flour is made from them by grinding; this is regularly packed in suitable bags, marked as to weight, &c., and sold in the native markets.

In laying in the stores of an expedition about to start from any large city it is well to obtain, if possible, a good supply of Challet's preserved vegetables, as they can be made available when nature furnishes no green food. The space occupied by this useful preparation is so small that a very large quantity can be stowed away in a very small compass. It has been computed that 3ft. of cubic space will contain 16,000 full allowances. In pastoral countries there is usually little difficulty in obtaining milk; and in regions destitute of domesticated cattle the explorer can generally manage to get on without it. Goats yield a great deal of excellent milk, and trot along freely with animals on a march. When it is desirable to carry milk for any distance for the use of children or sick people, it may be preserved as follows: Take a tin canister, a bottle, or a large ox horn, with a bottom and mouth made in it; fill the vessel with milk; put it in the camp kettle, and let it boil steadily for three quarters of an hour. Now, if your vessel is a canister, solder down the cover; if a bottle or horn drive in the stopper and wax it down with melted beeswax. The milk will then keep well. In some countries preserved toad-stools are extensively made use of as an article of food; but here we must give the traveller a caution regarding the mushroom or Agaricus family when viewed in the light of aliment, as, strange to say, varieties which are found perfectly wholesome in one country are not so in another. Thus, for instance, we find some of the most poisonous toad-stools found in England (A. virosus and A. muscarius) amongst the number eaten with impunity in some parts of Tartary and Russia. There may be said to be only three kinds of true edible Agarici found in Great Britain. A. campestris, the common meadow and garden mushroom, remarkable for its pleasant odour and the colour of its gills; A. pratensis, or the fairy-ring mushroom (which is found growing in the green rings or circles in our grass lands, attributed by the superstitious to supernatural agency); and A. Georgii, which in some respects resembles A. campestris, but has lighter coloured gills and less flavour. When driven by necessity to seek mushroom food, either in this country or out of it, bear the following rules in mind: Avoid every one you see with its cap or head thin in substance as compared to the thickness of the plates or gills--with the upright or stalk attached to one side of the crown--with the plates or gills all of the same length--yielding a juice like thin milk; and, if you find any with a sort of band composed of a substance like the webs of spiders surrounding the upright, have nothing to do with them. We have seen whole strings of dried A. muscarius suspended to dry from the rafters of Tartar huts. These you may eat safely in Tartary, but not out of it. Fish roe, like mushrooms, when intended for food, requires care in selection. The large barbel, found in many of the large rivers and lakes abroad, yield at times a very considerable quantity of roe or spawn. This we have known on several occasions to prove very unwholesome, if not absolutely poisonous. Herring spawn is collected on some coasts in vast quantities by the natives, who place long lines of bushes at low-water mark for the ova to collect on. Salmon roe is also eaten to a great extent by many Indian tribes. We have seen great quantities of sturgeon spawn collected for conversion into "caviare." To prepare the spawn large bags, with their ends sewn up, are made; a slit is then made in the side, just large enough to put the hand through; into this the roe and a good quantity of strong "bay salt" brine are introduced and the hole is then secured with a wooden skewer. When the brine has nearly all soaked out through the bag, a pair of hand sticks are fastened to its ends; these are seized by two men and twisted round until the bag resembles a thick rope. Roe pickled and pressed in this way will keep a long time, and is very nutritious. The eggs of poultry or seafowl can in some countries be collected in considerable quantities and laid in as a store. Eggs boiled hard in a strong solution of salt keep well. They may also be preserved by first breaking them into boiling water, with a little salt dissolved in it, just as you would prepare poached eggs; boil for three or four minutes, and then take them out of the water; place them to drain, and when dry heat them on a thin iron sheet over the fire until deprived of moisture; they are then fit to pack away. To preserve native butter, first melt, then strain it through a cloth, boil it steadily in a camp kettle, skim off all the froth with a large shell, set in a stick, until no more rises; then pour it whilst hot into leather bags or earthen jars to settle. Do not omit the straining process, or you will find more hairs in your butter than are agreeable. A search among the rocks, pools, and over the ledges on the seacoast will generally repay the food hunter. Shell fish, small crustaceas, and in some localities edible seaweeds, may be found; both lavar weed and caragreen moss will help to furnish out a meal. When shooting seafowl to help to fill the larder do not pick them; open the skin across the vent, taking care not to cut through into the abdominal cavity; turn back the skin with your knife, cut off the projection or oil gland, known as the parson's nose, and then strip the skin forward, cutting off the legs at the knee-joints, wings at the pinions, and the head half way up the neck; now remove the entrails from your bird, wash it well in the sea, and if you have an onion or two for stuffing cut them up and put them in the bird, which may be sewn or skewered up, and then roasted. A sea bird makes a good grill if split down the back, pegged open with a stick, well peppered and salted, and then broiled over the embers. Captain Bligh found that by keeping seafowl in a hencoop and feeding them with grain that they became fat and of good flavour.

Snails form nutritious and wholesome food, as do the Unios and Adontas (popularly known as fresh-water mussels). These shells are to be found in most lakes and rivers. Fish of one kind or another will generally repay those who search for them.

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XI. CATTLE MARKING…

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