Shifts and Expedients of Camp Life, Travel & Exploration

tion o

ch, proportioned in length and depth to the quantity and size of the timber to be treated, must be dug in the earth. Lay in the logs, after denuding them of their lateral branches, fill the trench with water, and let them soak in it whilst you build a strong hard wood fire. When this is thoroughly ignited throw a number of large heavy stones into it, and as they become red hot withdraw them with twisted sticks, and throw them into the trench until the water b

ning

ent that floating logs very shortly become so perforated as to be perfectly useless except for firewood. Much of the timber we obtained in that part of the world was defective on account of the depredations of this pest, whose range, unfortunately, is a pretty wide one; and his works, and those of other borers, are therefore to be jealously looked for in the neighbourhood of a proposed salt or brackish water timber pond. In countries where hot springs are met with, they may be utilised for timber seasoning and other purposes. Sticks or poles intended for bending into ox bows, or other curved forms, should be placed either in boiling water or the hot embers of the camp fire until thoroughly heated through. They may then, after being properly shaped, be tied in the required form with cords, and hung in the air to dry. Several long crooked sticks may be straightened at once by forcing them side by side into the hollow of a large bamboo cane from which al

ming

d w

ning

st with clay, and kept tight until the planks are sufficiently steamed for bending, when they are dragged out with wooden tongs, and put in place on the vessel. The full page illustration shows the mode of using a steaming log. Wood, which does not require straightening, is rendered much more hard and durable than it would otherwise be by the action of carefully applied fire-heat. The clubs and grubbing sticks of natives are generally fortified in this way. Spear, arrow, and blow-pipe darts have their points so hardened by the action of heat, that they more closely resemble the texture of bone than aught else, and perforate almost as readily as sharpened iron. We have seen the tough, dense scales of a large fish penetrated with the greatest facility by a spear prepared in this way. Flat strips or laths of bamboo cut to a fine edge, and fire-hardened, are used by many of the inhabitants of the islands of the Eastern seas as substitutes for knives; some of these truly makeshift blades are as ke

h tr

s will be found from some cause to have died as they stand, to have withered a

mb

, light, and well adapted for splitting up into planks. We have seen a very large bamboo slit from end to end by making one long cut in the side. The cane is heated and carefully opened. The knots are then all smoothed

same cane, after the manner of a pen tray, makes a most convenient receptacle for pins, steel pens,

PES, BUCK

-nut

the female bamboo of such gigantic proportions and huge growth that no little wonder is excited as to the mode of cultivation had recourse to in their production. We were for a long time quite at a loss for a solution of the mystery, but at length discovered that among the stools or root clumps of the canes one of promising appearance was by the natives selected for treatment. This was dug up and carefully replanted in a favourable locality. All the shoots which sprout up save one are cut away. This is allowed to grow up until it has reached a fair average size. It is then cut off to within about 6in. of the ground, leaving a hollow projecting stump. Into the bore of the cane thus left, a mixture of sulphur and stable litter is tightly rammed, just as you would charge a hole for blasting or would load a gun. For a period of three years every shoot which shows above the ground is cut away. The best shoot of the fourth year is allowed to grow to its full altitude and bulk, which at times is truly prodigious, leading to the false conclusion that some cane of peculiar species was the subject of wonder and investigation. From the lesser members of the bamboo family water-wheels, bows, arrows, spear heads, paper, bow strings, pens, baskets, brooms, brushes, shoulder poles, buckets, masts, spars for boats, &c., are made. The male bamboo differs from the female in having scarcely any cavity running through it. Cane

N SWI

n swi

ort piece of rope is passed through the end holes, and double knots turned upon its ends. This forms a "bridle;" and, if it is requisite to attach a longer line, this should not be looped through so that one cord may saw upon the other, as at c, but properly hitched, as shown at d. The other line is passed through the central hole; and it will work more easily and wear out less quickly if a small ring or washer (f) of hard wood or sole leather is put on before the knot is turned upon its end. Fig. 3 is a plain form of swivel, and easily made, but is apt to chafe the rope. Fig. 4 is a very neat and useful form. A longitudinal hole is bored in a block of wood, two larger ones are bored across it, and with a knife or chisel these are cut into one large opening; the ends of the lines are passed in towards t

L SW

dle forms a loop; while the broad ends are nailed, tightly stitched, or lashed to the thick or swinging arm of the flail (Fig. 3); the other piece, being linked through this loop, is also bent till the

has small knobs left on its ends to prevent the leather collar slipping off, and this works freely on the handle (Fig. 4). Either of these arrangements may be thrown out of gear by ta

ary meas

workman before leaving home, for we should esteem the companion of the chase too highly to let it be recklessly disfigured. The inside of the waist-belt may be marked also in inches. It is at all times well to know the length of the different joints of the limbs. Suppose the nail-joint of the forefinger be 1in., the next joint will be 1?in., the next 2in., and from the knuckle to the wrist 4in.; in this case the finger is bent, so that each joint may be measured separately, though when held straight the distance from the tip of the forefinger to the wrist would be only 7in. The span with thumb and forefinger would be 8in., and with the thumb and any of the other three 9in., or equal to the length of the foot; from the wrist to the elbow would be 10in., and from elbow to forefinger 17in., and from collar-bone to forefinger 2ft. 8in., height to the middle of the kneecap 18in. From the elbow to the forefinger is usually called a cubit, but it is seldom strictly so, a cubit being 18in. In like manner the full stretch of the extended arms is called a fathom, but it is generally somewhat less, a fathom being 6ft.; and in paying Af

RE AND PAC

which so many travellers confound the terms step and pace that it is impossible to tell which they mean; it is much better, therefore, to use the word yards and to measure them by a military pace stick; this may be two light sticks like a walking-cane sawed down the middle and riveted at the head like a pair of compasses; then if, at 1ft. from the joint, a stick of 1ft

ON MEASU

he peg, carry out the 100ft. and put in another peg, then jerk the line upward, and you will cause a wave to run along it which will lift it off the end of the first peg (Fig. 1); but, as a permanent loop might catch thorns or projecting branches, it is well to make it with a hitch (Fig. 2), so that it may shake out as it comes off the peg, and leave only a free end to be hauled in. Several hitches, or a sheepshank (Fig. 3), might be used for this purpose, but probably none would answer better than the signal halyard hitch (Fig. 4), and with this the end may be made fast to any convenient tree o

p and then stretched to a straight line in the air; slopsellers know this when they ask sailors to hold up a length of serge while

or build

nd turning with them, or by fixed axles, on which the rollers or wheels revolve. It is probable that many of the ancient vehicles were supported on axles revolving with the wheels; but we now only retain this form in that of the wheelbarrow, and the simplest way of making this, where timber is cheap and plentiful, is to cut a log of sufficient length, then to saw or chop down the ends so as to leave a disc of sufficient size and thickness i

LOG

her hear a dry wheel grate on its axletree than take the trouble to grease it. "Evil spirits dread a creaking wheel," say they, and so the primitive contrivance is allowed to revolve noisily. A wheel of this kind might be made much more efficient by leaving a nave or boss in the centre, sheathed with hard wo

ILT IN S

he other three, and lay them on so that the centre of each shall cover the ends of each pair of the lower series; then bore holes and screw or nail them together (inch copper boat nails, with rooves for clenching them, are the best for this purpose), and you will have a wheel ?in. thick, and 16in. diameter. Take a 1in. bar of wood 3in. broad, half check it into the opposite triangles where there is but one thickness of wood, strengthen it by bars from the other angles, bore a hole in the centre, and insert an axle of hard wood or iron. If you have a piece of i

CTION OF A

hind wheel. Having drawn these circles, decide upon the number of spokes you intend to use, which will most likely be eight or ten for a fore wheel and twelve or fourteen for a hinder, such as is shown in our example (Fig. 1). Divide 360, the number of degrees in a circle, by the number of spokes, thus-360° divided by 8 is 45°; in like manner, 10 spokes would form angles of 36°, 12 of 30°, and 16 of 22?°. To obtain these angles, strike a circle on a good-sized sheet of writing or cartridge paper; fold it across the centre, exactly in half, open it and fold it in half the other way, taking care that the two parts of the previous fold perfectly coincide with each other; you will thus have angles of 90°, which may be called north, south, east, and west. Fold it again between every two of these, and you will obtain angles of 45°; these

across, through the centre, to both sides of the circumference of your wheel; draw another across this at right angles, and test the lines by trying whether each qu

spokes, while its ends come fairly in the centre of the space between two others. Take a thin piece of board and cut a mould for the felloe pieces, marking on it the lines for the dowel holes, d, and those for the insertion of the spokes, c. Then in like manner cut a board with a circumference of 9in. as a mould for the nave, and on it draw the lines which mark the mortices for the insertion of the spokes, b. The nave should be turned of some good solid even-grained wood, not too hard; elm is well calculated for the purpose. It is generally 9in. o

, to

intended to form the nave must have an ordinary auger hole bored through its true centre, and in this must be firmly wedged an iron bar, with a crank or handle bent at one end; this bar rests on bearings prepared for it in the cheeks, one bearing is formed by boring a hole just large enough to let the plain end of the bar through, and the other by sawing out a deep notch for the handle end to drop into, when it is prevented from becoming displaced by a pin passed in above it. The

s, to

The tenon should be less than 3in. in length, so that it may allow of the subsequent boring of a 3in. hole in the nave to receive the bush or iron sheathing in which the axle turns; and in like manner the ends inserted in the felloes should be less than 3in. long, so that they may not receive any pressure from the tire. Fig. 5 shows the centreing of the felloe ends to bore the dowel holes. Now, resting the nave on its iron rod upon the beams of the pit or trestles, drive in the first spoke, testing it by the upright line and by your angled board. Then, boring a hole in your upright, drive in a peg and cut it off at such a length that the first spoke may just touch it in passing. Drive in all the other spokes so that they also touch the end of the peg, and then in the end of each spoke make a cut 1in. deep, with a fine tenon saw, to receive a wedge of hard wood when the wheel is built. Then in one end of each felloe drive a dowel (d) rather stiffly, but so that

a steeri

either the nave nor the felloe are made solid, but are built up in the following manner: The lines of circumference are traced, and the angles of the spokes set off in the manner already described. A disc of hard wood 9 in. in circumference, about 2 in. thick, and with a hole 3 in. square in its centre, is laid upon the floor. The spokes are arranged on this, and screwed or clenched firmly to it; the interstices are then filled up, and another disc of similar size is screwed or clenched over all to form the front. The bush, or axle box, which of course is square, is fitted in, and an ornamental boss, generally covered with brass, is screwed over to conceal it. The felloe pieces are 3in. or 4in.

SH WI

dla

way to the strain of the cable while the men are shifting their handspikes. The barrel of the windlass ought to be chopped or adzed down to an octagonal form (expressively though erroneously called 8-square), and holes should be morticed right through in each face so that each man, without change of position, should have eight opportunities of inserting his handspike. A Spanish windlass may be extemporised with the boat's oars. Two of them are lashed together as sheers with legs of unequal length, the longer leg being in the direction of the strain. A pair are set up in each side of the boat and lashed to the thwarts, care being taken to put some piece of wood or other dunnage under the ends, so that they may not hurt the planking. Another oar is now laid across, with its loom resting in the forks; a g

R'S C

on it upside down, and lashing handspikes to the spokes to act as capstan bars. The rope to be hove on

ch

IFT AN

hen cleared for letting go, may hang in the position shown in Fig. 1, and may take the ground fluke downward. A many-forked tree of heavy wood, with stones lashed on (Fig. 2) for additional weight, is more certain to hold, but does not stow so snugly when not in use. This, in a lighter form, may be used as a creeper for dragging over the bottom to recover a lost cable, &c. Canoes, in shallow, sluggish waters, are often moored by one or more of their poles stuck into the mud. A stone lashed to one of these and a guy carried aft, as in Fig. 3, will give additional security; or a couple of poles may be put over the sides and crosse

TH SLINGE

g in t

ket for the stock or shaft of your auger to work in. Then fit a waggon wheel on the top of it, lash an upright pin to one of the felloes (do not spoil a good wheel by boring holes in it). The sticks have broad, flat ends, with holes to work upon the pivot

OF TIMBER BY

and d

AND D

ike that shown in the same illustration-a long, narrow strip of soft steel, stretched tightly in a heavy rectangular frame of wood. Such a saw could be extemporised with a few feet of iron hooping, with teeth filed on it. It would do for soft wood, but on hard wood would wear out quickly; nevertheless, it might last long enough to do the required work. We had three small web-saws, assorted sizes; they are very handy to carry, frames (like that in our full page illustration-"Boat building at Logier Hill") are easily made when wanted, and they should not be neglected if weight or bulk in carriage is objectionable. Stock and bow drills may be easily made, as in Fig. 1. The ar

D BUCKETIN

ers'

t a clamp, across the grain, so as to hold all its pieces fair and level. Let this down edgewise into the belly of the cask, then, drawing it up, enter one edge of it into the chine groove, and, slacking the hoops if necessary, lift it till it fits in all round. If you find any difficulty in this, take a knife blade, or thin piece of hoop iron, pass it through one of the interstices of the staves under the head, and lift it till it enters the groove. If this is done at the four quarters, it will be impossible for the head to fall down inside. Drive the lower hoops down, and when the staves begin to close up, take out the knife or hoop iron and tighten the hoops with the hammer and driver. Then turn up the cask, and if you wish to close it at once, do the same with the other end, if not, drive the hoops on leaving it open, and slack them up when you want to put the head in. Put knives or thin iron between the staves, as before, to keep the head from slipping down, and withdraw them before you tighten up. If you have not another cask to set up the staves in or upon, take one of the hoops and support it as a horizontal ring by tying it to small tre

entre if belly is to be given to the cask; but if it is not essential that the cask should be perfectly round, the staves may be of flat plank. It is, however, indispensable that their edges should be cut to the proper angle, or they will not fit closely nor support each other when hooped up; the diagram we give will facilitate this. If there are to be 20 stav

asks, t

when we were on scant allowance, off the coast of Australia, taught us this expedient. In towing a number of casks from shore to the vessel becket them in this manner at both ends, and on two sides; then put them end to end, and pass a rope on each side through all the beckets. If there are two boats let one tow ahead of

t w

ugh wood, in bars 14in. or 16in. long, 1in. wide, and a little more than ?in. thick at one edge, and somewhat less at the other. These are notched about 2in. from the ends, so that when they are bent the ends may cross each other and afford a hold for the lashing that attaches them to the leach o

ss through. This is a very neat arrangement, but its only fault is its extreme lightness, as, when the horse is in rapid motion, the foot cannot readily find the stirrup if it should be lost for a moment. In this respect, the block of wood, sometimes richly carved and ornamented, used by the Chilians (Fig. 3), is, notwithstanding its clumsy appearance, far superior. Three bars, so lashed as to form an equilateral triangle of at least 5in. inner measurement, will make a good stirrup. The fork of a branch, with a cross piece lashed on it, or suspended so that one of its

t axes o

with wood. A stout branch, with another projecting from it at an angle of from 70° to 80°, is so cut as to leave a block of the larger limb attached like a mallet head to the smaller one, as in the uppermost figure of our illustration (p. 382). The spike of the axe head is made red hot, a hole is bored through the knob in the direction of the grain, and the axe is ready for use, and has besides the advantage of being convertible into an adze by simply taking out the iron and in

FT AXES

ane iron (p. 140) is often made to answer the same purpose. The hoes used by the women in Africa are made in nearly the same manner as the axes, but larger; sometimes they are flat, thin, and oval; sometimes chisel or adze shaped; and sometimes a gouge like form is given to

or watt

ed in in the manner shown in the sketch, their ends being either cut off, if they are not flexible enough to bend well, or returned round the outermost stake, and wattled in again if they are. In doing this, care must be taken not to draw the outermost stakes unduly together; and to prevent this it is a good plan to cut a strong stick, with a fork at one end and a notch like gaff jaws in

LED

rs, are made so as to fit successively on one handle about 2ft. in length (see p. 44), and are carried in a canvas haversack slung upon his shoulder. We have seen, perhaps, a hundred Javanese workmen squatti

or pu

Nevertheless, we have found that the possession of eight or ten blocks of different sizes, and two or three coils of rope to suit them, has often done us most essential service; and as a traveller may unexpectedly

D COMPOUN

ce. Gauge along each of the narrow sides two parallel lines 1in. apart and 1in. from each edge, and draw lines across at 1in. from each end; then, taking a brace and an inch centre-bit, insert the centre so that its cutter shall just come within the cross-line at either end; bore the holes half through, and between them bore two other holes with the same bit, thus taking out nearly all the wood between the lines: reverse the block, and

form, saw off a disc 1in. thick, fix it in a lathe, and with a gouge or half round rasp or file sink a hollow all round the edge. If you have not a lathe, saw the disc not quite off, and, while it is still attached to the log, make the hollow on the edge and saw it off when

s you wish, and you will have a serviceable block like Fig. 1 (p. 384). Sometimes iron pivots are used, but these are a trifle smaller than the wooden ones; ?in. iron would do, but then an iron socket ough

natch

than that of a common block, and in one side of it is cut the "natch" from which it takes its name; it is iron bound, but part of the strop is fashioned into a hasp, which is op

al b

bent on to its own line. When required for use one end of the peak down-haul is bent on to the cleat in the centre, as shown in the figure, and it is hoisted to the peak end; the flags required are then sent up, care being taken to hoist each to such a height that the

le b

a sister block. No. 6, in which they are one above the other, is a fiddle block. Notice that in this form the lowe

HIFT

hift

l it is quite round; cut a tolerably deep groove round the edge, and bore a hole in the centre for the spindle to come through. Now, from a piece of pointed iron rod or bar make a pivot pin, as shown passing through the head of the post which stands alone; fit this in the hole so tightly that the driving of a single wedge prevents it from sliding forward or back. All the posts must be firmly fixed in the ground at an even depth, and at the relative distances shown in the engraving. In the end of the spindle opposite the pivot pin three sharp iron spikes, made from nail points, must be driven; these hold the work in its place when revolving. This it is made to do by the acti

which Stamboul is so justly celebrated, made. We have also seen the turners of Poona, in India, making their wonderful nests of almost air-tight boxes by the aid of the

stones,

ING S

n the centre, must be wedged tightly in the square hole of the stone. If the axle is of wood, the two ends must be rounded, in order that they may revolve freely in the notches cut for their reception in the support. A wooden winch handle must then be fitted to one of them. If the axle is to be of iron, it should be first heated in the fire to a red heat; the form of the handle bent in it by hammering; the centre squared, and roughened at the edges by the use of a cold chisel; and the two be

ADDLE

of forke

s a set of pack-saddle crooks. To make these, it is only necessary to cut with the axe four stout hooks and two straight bars; bore or burn a hole through the upper end of each hook, lash them together in pairs with strips of raw hide or rope, and lash on the side bars as s

-bar

hide. We first saw these contrivances in use on the borders of the Mena country, where the natives used them for the purpose of carrying a peculiar description of clay, which

FT HAND

furni

BLE AND

table top is supported and strengthened by having natural grown knee pieces treenailed to the sides of the main upright or pillar. A small stool is best made by cutting away the top of the pillar until it is made to fit, a large auger hole bored in the centre of the seat, w

lat

must be cut before being put together. The illustration B represents another form of wooden door latch well adapted for cupboard fastenings, and three makeshift modes of forming b

VE P

re often taken advantage of in the manufacture of makeshift ploughs. The precedi

ER'S

ral imple

can be made by the use of forked sticks, some

ends, makes a very convenient yoke for carrying pails of water o

e young canes or maize plants. To prevent them from doing so, prepare a good number of "hogs' cravats" from stout forked sticks,

jecting spine like a skewer. When the jack is hung up by its small end it forms a most convenient contrivance from which to suspend dead game, fish, or odds and ends. To hang a bird to the jack pass one of the pointed hooks up through the angular space between the lower mandible, and bring it out at the beak. A fish is best suspended by entering the hook at one of the gill covers, and bringing it out of the mouth; hares or rabbits by pas

to have a hard, dense crust or shell next the bark, whilst the main body of the wood is soft and easily scooped out. From these abnormal growths excellent bowls may be made. Some of them ar