We have before stated that timber should never, except in cases of emergency, be felled with the sap in it; still, during the vicissitudes of rough travel, it will frequently happen that, in order to execute repairs imperatively needed, the trees must be cut down, hewn into form, and made use of at once. When this is done, the object will be to get rid of the sap which fills all the minute pores and tubes of the wood as quickly as possible. To do this, a trench, 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 boils actively. Continue to do this until there are a number of heated stones in the already boiling sludge; throw then a thick layer of clay, turf, and earth, over the whole mass, and leave it to steam and stew for the night. A large log, intended for the axle of a waggon or other heavy work, may be, with advantage, subjected to a second application of the same process, when it will be found much more tough and durable than if converted with the raw sap in it.

Seasoning wood.

Before proceeding to fell a growing tree for immediate use, it is well to search carefully about for a dead storm-cast trunk of the kind required, which will, as a rule, be found in tolerable condition. When a dep?t is formed, or a point selected as a rendezvous, it is advisable to fell a few trees, and let them lay in store, so to speak, until they are wanted. Cutting a deep notch round the whole circumference of a tree, and letting it stand until required for use, much improves the quality of the wood. When practicable, and time will allow, it is well to leave logs of timber intended for seasoning to soak in rivers, lakes, or arms of the sea; but it is wise, at the same time, to ascertain, by the examination of pieces of wood which have fallen accidentally into the water, whether any of the creatures addicted to timber boring are found in the locality. The rivers flowing into the Black Sea abound with the Teredo navalis, or ship worm, to such an extent 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 all the knots, except that at one end, have been removed. When a sufficient number of sticks are arranged in the cane, place it mouth upwards, and fill it to the brim with boiling water. When the first charge is cold add a second, and so on until the sticks have been about an hour in their hot bath. They can now be forced separately into smaller bamboos without water, or lashed between battens of stiff wood until cold, when such small irregularities and curves as remain may be removed by heating the part requiring treatment over the fire and carefully straightening it over the knee. Nearly all the spear handles, whether of cane or forest wood, found among wild tribes are straightened and rendered fit for use by the agency of fire. Strong and perfectly straight tubes for blow-pipes, &c., are formed by inserting a small cane into the hollow of a larger one and turning it round till any deviation from the straight line in one counteracts that of the other.

Steaming log.

Hard wood.

Hardening wood.

The elegant curve given to many of the bows found among the Northern Indians is given by first heating them in the camp fire, and then, after bending them carefully to the desired shape, keeping the curves in position by the aid of thongs. We have one of these bows now, which was even charred in the course of making, but has never lost its contour or elasticity. The bending of ships' planks is effected by a process very similar in principle. In the absence of a properly constructed steaming chamber, the planks of a makeshift vessel may be efficiently steamed in the following manner. A long hollow log should be set horizontally on trestles of convenient height, one end must be stopped with a plug, and the other have a tight wooden stopper and cross-bar fitted to it. When the required number of planks are thrust down the log, steam is admitted through a bamboo, or hollow tube of wood, from a large covered cauldron placed on a fire beneath the log. All the joints of the bamboo should be luted fast 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 keen as surgical instruments, and are at times used in the performance of minor operations of surgery. Many of the trees of tropical countries will be found to possess heart wood of great strength and density, whilst the outside or "sap" is light coloured, weak, and next to useless. In such cases, all the outside layer of timber should be cut away with the axe or adze, and the central core alone made use of. In selecting poles or sticks for purposes where toughness and durability are matters of importance always, when practicable, take young seedling trees. Next in quality to these are the shoots which spring up from the underground roots of large trees. When either of these kinds are intended to be put aside to season, they should be pulled up by the roots rather than cut; the earth may be beaten out from among the fibres by striking the roots of the sticks together; they can then be hung in an airy place to dry: late in the autumn or in the winter are the best seasons for rooting up saplings.

Larch trees.

In countries where the larch fir grows abundantly, a number of tall young trees will be found from some cause to have died as they stand, to have withered and become perfectly dry. These will be found extremely tough and well seasoned.

Bamboos.

Bamboos must be selected according to the purpose they are intended for. The female bamboo, as it is called, is remarkable for the largeness of the cavities placed between the internodes; this quality renders it buoyant, 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 off, when the hollow shell is laid between boards on which heavy stones are placed, until it is pressed perfectly flat, and becomes a bamboo board. The knots of large female bamboos make excellent pails or water vessels.

A joint of bamboo cut longitudinally in half, and supported on feet formed from another joint of the same cane, after the manner of a pen tray, makes a most convenient receptacle for pins, steel pens, pencils, sail needles, and a host of other matters which are required to lay parallel to each other.

BAMBOO PIPES, BUCKETS, ETC.

Cocoa-nut palm.

Water pipes, for irrigation, can be made from a train of canes with their ends thrust into each other, and secured by transverse pegs, as at Fig. 1, on opposite page. All long bamboos, intended for pipes or tubes, must have their internodes removed. This we used to do as follows: We prepared some short pieces of round bar iron of a size just to fit the bore of the canes easily. We then pointed one end of the iron chunk and sloped the upper end, by hammering on the anvil, to a wedge form. Through the centre of the upper edge we punched a hole, through which we passed a wire long enough to reach the entire length of the cane to be treated. The chunk was then heated red hot in the fire and dropped down, like a bucket in a well, on the first knot, through which it would rapidly burn. It was then lowered away until it reached the second knot, and so on until all were entirely removed. When the chunk became cooled by contact with the wood, it was reheated and entered again. Fig. 2 shows the form of the knot chunk, &c. Excellent tar buckets (Fig. 3) or water pails (Fig. 4) are to be made from the ends of large cane joints. Boxes for wheel grease (Fig. 5), drinking cups, boxes, and a whole host of other receptacles for various matters, solid and fluid, are made from the same material. The mode of cutting and bending bamboos is shown by Figs. from 6 to 13. In Eastern countries one occasionally meets with specimens of 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. Canes of this description are peculiarly well adapted for the handles of hog spears, waggon whip handles, and a multitude of other purposes where great strength and elasticity are required. The cocoa-nut palm is a tree which, on the score of usefulness, is perhaps second to none. On the uses of its fruit, leaves, gum, fibre, and sap we shall have more to say further on in our work. The wood is extensively used for canoe building. It is hewn into form by the small sharp adzes of the islanders. Clamps are left on the inside and bored through. Dowels of hard wood are inserted in the edges, and the planks are sewn together with rattan or fibre of the cocoa-nut husk, while the timbers are bound to the clamps by lashings of the same material, as shown in the full page illustration. Much of the coir, or cocoa fibre, used in the manufacture of this and other descriptions of twine, and for caulking seams and crevices in the canoes when finished, is obtained by the natives of the islands which dot the Eastern seas and Pacific Ocean from the underground burrows of the great cocoa-nut-eating crab (Birgus latro), whose subterraneous workings are at certain seasons abundantly stored with this useful material, which is sometimes hooked out with long flexible sticks armed with a species of barb, and at others procured by digging out the crab, nest and all. Canoe paddles and clubs are often made from the stalk of the cocoa palm.

WOODEN SWIVELS.

Wooden swivels.

A great number of useful and almost indispensable articles called into daily use by the traveller and explorer can be made from wood. Swivels of one kind or another are in constant demand, as the ropes used for tethering animals would without their aid soon become masses of hopeless entanglement. A very neat and useful form is shown in Fig. 1; it consists of two bars of flexible wood, bent by steaming or otherwise into the requisite curve. The parts which form the neck of a are thinned off, but the ends are left of their full thickness; the neck of b is also left thick, and in each of its parts a groove is cut, forming a hollow through which a passes; b is then closed by a lashing, and the swivel is ready for use. Fig. 2 is very effective, and easily made. A bit of wood has three holes bored in it; a short 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 the centre, washers are put on, the knots are made, and the swivel is complete. Fig. 5 is a useful pattern. The swivel is made of the joint of a fir tree, and any number of lines may be hooked on to it. The collar is made of two parts, lashed together and suspended from each end; the washer is also in two parts, like the collar. Fig. 6 is easily made with two pieces of wire. Fig. 7 would form either a crutch for a rowing or sculling oar, or a swivel rest for a gun or telescope, &c. Fig. 8 is a rod of flexible wood, with the two ends passed through the collar and fore-locked, leaving the loop to turn freely. Fig. 9 is simply a broad-headed nail passed through a piece of wood, and with its point bent into a hook: a washer of iron saves wear and tear. This is very similar to the swivels used by rope-makers.

FLAIL SWIVELS.

The common flail swivel is excellent for many purposes. Sometimes it is made with two pieces of stout hide or sole leather, shaped like Fig. 1. One of these is turned so that the narrow part in the middle 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 broad ends meet; and their edges are then securely stitched together so as to form a collar, which works freely on the handle (Fig. 2), at the end of which is a knob to prevent the collar slipping off.

Occasionally two flexible rods (withies) are bent for this purpose: one is firmly fastened by a leather band nailed or lashed to the extremity of the swinging arm (Fig. 5); the other 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 taking hold of the knob and drawing the thin end of the handle out of the collar. A slice of bullock's horn, shaped as Fig. 1, after softening it in hot water, makes an excellent collar.

Extemporary measurements.

Every traveller ought to carry with him the means of measuring feet and inches, and as instruments for that purpose are so cheap and portable there is hardly any excuse for being without something of the kind. We have a little waistcoat-pocket ivory rule, folding into lengths of 3in., and occupying no more room than a small penknife, and with this, even if an elephant were killed, we could mark off 5ft. or more upon a stem of grass, and use it as a measuring rod, with the little rule ready for the fractional parts. We had at one time half-a-dozen rules (sold at a penny each), 3ft. in length, and folding on pivot joints into lengths of 6in., and they were quite correct enough for common carpentry. Tape lines for 6ft. or 12ft. may be had in cases not larger than a Geneva watch. Chesterman's patent, shutting with a spring, is a good form. And even if a traveller should (as he may often be obliged to do) disburden himself of every incumbrance, he ought to have inches marked upon something he is sure to carry with him, say upon the ramrod of his gun, or perhaps on the rib of the gun itself; but let this be done neatly by a skilled 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 Africans with calico, we found it best to let every man measure off his own fathom, even though he protruded his chest and threw back his arms to the utmost, he generally took a trifle less, and was much better pleased than if we had measured it strictly with a rule. If a man stands with his back to a flat wall, and extends his arms, his fathom will be nearly equal to his own height; but if he tries to measure the girth of a tree by placing his breast against it, and as it were embracing it, he will find his fathom many inches short, and on an average perhaps not more than 5ft. The Dutch farmers at the Cape clench both fists, making the extended thumbs meet, and they call the whole 1ft., when it is sometimes nearer 15in.; and an elephant measured in this manner would be reported unduly small were it not that they also measure from the edge of the foot round the curve of the shoulder to the wither instead of taking a straight line, so that one error nearly balances the other. This is a very useful measure, but every man should grasp a foot rule, as in our sketch, and ascertain for himself how much his thumbs overlap in doing so.

FIST MEASURE AND PACING STICK.

The step is commonly supposed to be 3ft., and the pace 5ft., but this is a most uncertain mode of measurement; a man may step 3ft., measuring from the heel of one foot to the toe of the other, but even if he does so two steps must be less than 6ft. by the length of his own foot, and very few men can take with any correctness a hundred consecutive steps or paces. Besides 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. in length be fastened across the opened legs they will form an equilateral triangle, and the points will be 3ft. apart; with these, used like a pair of compasses, a man may measure off 100yds. almost as fast as he could walk it, and would be certain of his distance. A forked branch cut on the spot and trimmed, so that the ends are 3ft. apart, answers the same purpose.

HITCHES ON MEASURING LINE.

For measuring a base for rough triangulation, a fishing line of 100ft. is easily carried; three measurements will give 100yds., and six will give as many fathoms. 120 fathoms is a cable's length, a common and useful unit in maritime surveying. To measure successive lengths let your line have a little stray end beyond the marks, and as the hanks are usually sold in lengths of 120ft., an overhand knot may be turned, 10ft. from each end, to mark the 100ft. Stick a perfectly smooth peg in the ground, without projecting head or catch of any kind, make a loop in the end of your line, and put it over the 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 or bush that stands fairly in the line you wish to measure. Pass the end twice round the branch or peg, then taking the end and a small bight of the measuring part, hitch them as if you were going to tie a reef knot, pull the first hitch tight, but do not complete the knot by making the second hitch; this will hold quite fast enough, and a slight jerk will be sufficient to set it free when you wish to haul in the end. Hitch it to another branch, and so in succession you may measure any number of lengths you wish, taking care always to keep the several pegs or points of fastening in a straight line.

A measuring line should merely be straight upon the ground, and never be subjected to any tension, still less should it be lifted up 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 it is being measured, but any experienced hand meets this by insisting that his cloth be laid fairly on the deck and measured there.

To make or build wheels.

The first step in diminishing the labour of dragging a heavy body along the ground is to put rollers underneath it, and the use of these is exemplified in the earliest Assyrian monuments; but these are left behind as the mass moves onward, and have to be constantly carried forward and replaced beneath. The next step is to connect them with the mass, or with the carriage supporting it, by axles, forming either integral parts of the rollers and 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 in the centre, with two arms projecting from it to form its axle, as shown in Figs. 2 and 3. The barrow itself may upon occasion be made of a forked tree, of which the single part is thick enough to have a space cut in it to receive the wheel, while the two branches serve as the handles, and minor ones from them perhaps answer the purpose of legs; otherwise a rough frame, as shown in our sketch, may be built, and pegged or treenailed together.

SOLID LOG WHEELS.

In Mexico, Chili, Tartary and elsewhere, rough discs of timber (Fig. 1) are sawed or chopped off from large trees. A hole is made in the centre to receive the axle. These wheels answer well enough for countries where time is of no value, mercy to draught oxen unthought of, and where the inhabitants would rather 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 wood or raw hide, and by binding it with the latter material let into a groove cut round the circumference in place of a tire; an endless band cut out of the hide of a rhinoceros, hippopotamus, elephant, or giraffe, put on wet, and allowed to shrink and dry before it was much used, would be almost everlasting.

WHEEL BUILT IN SEGMENTS.

A very neat and serviceable barrow wheel may be thus built: Take a piece of deal 4in. wide, 3in. thick, and 14in. long; set a pair of compasses to a radius of 8in.; and, fixing the centre leg 4in. from the block, describe on it the segment of a circle; draw this on both sides, and cut the block truly to the outline; then saw it down into six thicknesses of somewhat less than ?in.; lay three of these together, so that their chords form an equilateral triangle, each angle being 60°, and their segments will complete the circumference of a true circle. Then take the 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 iron hoop, reduce it, and rivet the ends together, so that it forms a tire that will just not go on; punch half a dozen holes in at intervals, heat it, put it on quickly, hammer it into place, and cool it with water; then put nails or screws through the holes, to keep it from working off, or tire it as before with an endless band of raw hide; or bore holes through it 1in. or 2in. apart all round, at about 1in. from the edge, and lace thongs of raw hide through these and round the edge, so as to preserve it from splitting, or being worn by contact with the ground.

THE CONSTRUCTION OF A WAGGON WHEEL.

To build a waggon wheel, clear a smooth place upon a floor, levelled with ant-hill clay, or preferably smooth planked. Take a ?in. straight-edged batten of rather more than 5ft. in length, and 3in. or 4in. in width; clench or screw a cross piece on this, so as to form a boss in the centre, as in the figure on next page; and through this, at the edge of the batten, bore a hole with a bradawl, which being also bored into the floor forms a pivot for it to work on. At 1in. from the centre, bore a hole, through which a pencil or a pointed scoring iron can be passed, to draw the first circle for the bore of the nave. At 4?in. bore another, to mark the circumference of the nave. If a front wheel is required, bore two holes at 15in. and 18in. for the inner and outer circumference of the felloes, or make them at 2ft. 2?in. and 2ft. 6in. for 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 again divided will give angles of 22?°; and the next subdivision would give the thirty-two points of the compass, equal to 11?° each. To obtain angles of 10°, divide each angle of 90° into three parts, and subdivide each of them into three. The strong lines in our next figure indicate angles of 22?° for a sixteen-spoke wheel, and the faint lines angles of 10°. Our diagram of the wheel was drawn with a bit of card cut to the exact size shown in our figure, pivoted on one pin, while the point of an HH pencil was passed through other pin-holes to draw the circumference. If two of these lines should come very close together, it will be seen that the pin-holes are not pierced in the same radial line, or they would break one into the other; but by placing them a little on either side concentric circles can be drawn as closely as requisite.

Now, cut a piece of thin board or stiff paper to the angle at which the spokes are to be set-in this instance 22?°-and with the aid of your straight-edge draw a line 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 quarter will contain four times the mould you have cut to the angle of 22?°; then draw two other lines of 45°, and subdivide each space into the required angles of 22?°.

Suppose your spokes are to be 1in. thick, withdraw the bradawl that has served you as a pivot, and bore two holes, each ?in. from the central line, and, pivoting the batten on each of these in succession, you will be able to draw the lines showing the thickness of your spokes, a, the original line still indicating the direction of their centre. Then divide the circumference of your felloe into eight segments of 45°, and draw short lines across it as at d (p. 368), to indicate the length of the felloe pieces, each of which must contain one pair of 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. or 10in. long, and it should have a hole 1in. in diameter through its centre. A narrow pit, 3ft. in depth, is dug, and two stout beams, 9in. apart, laid along its edges; a 1in. rod of iron is passed through the hole in the nave, which, with its iron bands already driven on, is placed between the beams, supported by the ends of the rod which rest upon them (stout trestles, 3ft. high, are sometimes used instead of the pit). In one of the beams at the back of the nave is a stout upright, with a line marked upon it as a guide in boring the holes truly.

Naves, to turn.

To turn a nave to the proper form without the assistance of a turning lathe, the following makeshift contrivance will be found useful and efficient. Fit up four strong planks, or a strong stool, of form shown in the accompanying illustration. Cut out two upright cheeks, which must be fitted by mortices to the upper surface of the stool. Then make a Ｔ rest, and fit it in the centre of the stool, in one of a train of square holes cut behind the line of the cheeks. The block of wood 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 man about to officiate as turner sits astride on the stool, presses a long-handled gouge or chisel by the action of his shoulder firmly down on the rest, with its cutting edge against the nave log, which is turned steadily round by an assistant who has charge of the handle; the whole operation being conducted much on the principle of tool grinding, only that the motion of the log is always towards the man who manages the chisel. The rest is advanced as the log decreases in diameter.

Wheels, to build.

If the wheel is to have what is called a dish, cut a small piece of wood (Fig. 3, p. 368) to the angle at which the spokes are to project forward; and, having marked off all the mortices, which will be ?in. wide by 1?in. long, take a brace and ?in. bit, or a ?in. screw auger, and bore two holes in the space marked for each mortice, as in Fig. 2, taking care to centre most accurately the spot at which the point of your bit or auger is inserted, and to keep its true direction by the aid of the upright line and the small angled board. The mortices will then be finished with a ?in. mortice chisel and mallet. The holes in the felloe (Fig. 4) will be bored at the same angle with a 1in. auger; for, as the spoke will be 1?in. from back to front, there will be shoulder enough in those directions without weakening it by cutting a shoulder on the sides. Of course, the shoulders, both at the felloe and at the nave, will be cut to the same angle at which the holes are bored. 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 it does not bottom in the hole; leave half its length projecting. Take a screw clamp and compress two of the spokes together till their ends will enter the holes in one felloe piece; drive it about ? in. on, and slack off the clamp. If you have not a clamp, pass three or four turns of rope or thong round the two spokes, and twist them tightly with a hammer handle or other lever. Do the same with the next pair, and fit on the next felloe piece, taking care that it receives fairly the dowel of the first. Proceed in this manner all round, then look carefully to the fair insertion of all the spoke ends and dowels, and, being satisfied of this, keep the wheel turning slowly, and strike the felloe pieces homeward by smart blows of a mallet as each spoke passes you. When they are all fairly home, drive in the wedges to the spoke ends, trim off the felloe as neatly as you wish, insert the bush in the nave, and have the wheel tired in the manner described at pp. 195, 196.

To make a steering wheel.

A ship's wheel differs from that of a waggon in being, not a roller moving freely on its axle and supporting the carriage and its load, but rather a series of levers arranged as spokes, connected and supported by the felloe for the purpose of turning the axle and gathering in or slacking off on either side the ropes or chains by which the tiller is moved; the spokes, therefore, project 6 in. or 8 in. beyond the circumference of the felloe, and are smoothed and rounded off so as to be easily and conveniently grasped by the steersman's hand. The diameter of the felloe should not be less than 30 in., or it will not give sufficient leverage; nor more than 4 ft., or a man cannot command it easily. Neither 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. broad, and 1in. thick: the back pieces are laid so that their centres come upon the spokes and their ends between; the next set, exactly as thick as the spokes, are laid in the intervals; and the front pieces are laid so that their ends meet upon the spokes, where they are generally confined by an ornamental lozenge, a cross, or an oval of brass, screwed down upon them. The axle is supported in a true fore and aft line by a couple of stancheons, with bushes for it to work in; and on some part of it, behind the wheel, is fixed the drum, over which the tiller chains or hide ropes are passed with two or three turns, so that as one is gathered in by a turn of the wheel, the other may be slacked off.

SPANISH WINDLASS.

Windlass.

A windlass may be of any size, from that of the old crossbow, to one fitted to weigh the anchor of a vessel, although in large ships the capstan is thought to afford the best and steadiest means of applying the continuous exertions of the men. A windlass may be roughly formed by setting up a couple of forked logs, or still better, if possible, choosing two forked trees firmly rooted in the proper place, and laying across them another log, thinned off as much as possible where it rests in the forks, to reduce the friction without too much impairing the strength. The central part ought to have paul notches cut in it, and a heavy paul log may be hinged or pivoted to a stout staple, nearly level with the ground, so that its end, acting as a "paul," catches the paul notches and prevents the windlass giving 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 grummet strop or a short piece of rope is made fast to the middle of each of the boat's stretchers; if the end is frayed out, so much the better. The end is applied to the loom of the oar that represents the windlass, and the stretcher is turned round and round it until the rope tightens so much as to make it an efficient handspike. It should then be "stopped" in position with a bit of yarn. If there is a davit in the boat, the buoy rope is carried over the sheave, three or four turns are passed over the "windlass oar" and the end is carried forward and held by one of the boat's crew, who gathers in all he can and loses none as the men heave round. When the boat's stern is hove down as low in the water as is prudent, all the men go in the bow, and sometimes jump there, to jerk the anchor from the ground.

GUNNER'S CAPSTAN.

The gunner's capstan is made by sinking one end of a waggon or gun axle in the ground, placing a wheel on it upside down, and lashing handspikes to the spokes to act as capstan bars. The rope to be hove on is passed round the nave of the wheel below the line of the spokes, as shown in the annexed illustration.

Anchors.

MAKESHIFT ANCHORS.

In many countries where navigation is not very far advanced, wooden anchors are commonly used. We have seen and sketched these on the coast of Java, and elsewhere. In tropical countries the hard heavy wood that sinks of its own weight is peculiarly suited for this. A forked tree of suitable size is chosen, and sometimes, but not always, the fork or fluke of the anchor is strengthened by a cross lashing to the shank. A heavy stone, as long as possible in proportion to its thickness, is lashed across underneath the shank, serving the purpose of a stock. A loop for the attachment of the cable is made above it, so that the anchor, when 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 crossed under the bottom, the lower ends being guyed in the same manner, but this would be dangerous in a strong tide-way. If the boat is dropping down with the tide, a pole over the stern, about a foot longer than her draught of water, will take the ground and either prevent her running ashore or at least give warning before she does so. Where heavy wood cannot be obtained, a couple of holes may be bored in a slab of sandstone (Fig. 4), the ends of a forked branch thrust through and forelocked, another stone being jammed into the fork at right angles with the first. We have often seen anchors of this description in use among Indians.

BORING WITH SLINGER STICKS.

Working in timber.

A pump, or nave auger, may be advantageously worked with what are called "slinger sticks." Set the log upright, either in a hole in the ground by shoring it, or by a combination of both methods. Above it rig a stage, on the forks of trees, with a firm socket 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, and crutch handles for the men to take hold of. In some parts of the Indian Archipelago even gun barrels are bored out in nearly similar fashion, only two boys walk slowly round with a kind of capstan bar, the drill being weighted with a basket of stones.

THE TREATMENT OF TIMBER BY STEAM AND SAW.

Saws and drills.

STOCKS AND DRILLS.

We have seen Africans, in Portuguese service, working a common handsaw very efficiently by fixing a cross handle to the end of the blade; then two men would sit opposite each other, and holding the log between the soles of their feet, as shown in the full page illustration, would work the saw between them. For rough work this serves well enough. In such case let them have a saw with teeth widely set, and pretty much their own way; but if you want anything well done do it yourself. Saws for natives need not have much temper, and the teeth should be set very wide, so as to do a great deal of what carpenters call "sawing wood." The Germans are very fond of using frame saws, like 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 arm of a tree will afford a socket above, and the wood or iron to be bored must be firmly fixed below; a good sized disc of heavy wood, the sheave say of an old block, or a piece sawed off a hard tree, acts as a fly wheel. For smaller work a cotton reel (Fig. 2) does well for the bow strings to work on; in this case the stock ought to be of iron, purchased at home. The Bowditch islanders lash their drill on alongside the stock (Fig. 3), but we can hardly sanction this plan, though it might exceptionally prove useful. If weight and not rapid motion is desired, make the drill stock of a heavy log (Fig. 4), with the pivot going up through the upper socket, and fit a crank on it.

HOOPING AND BUCKETING OF CASKS.

Coopers' work.

We have had at times not actually to make casks ab initio, but what comes to very nearly the same thing, to pick out the materials of old ones "shaken out," when we abandoned a camp, to tie them in bundles, and carry them as best we could till they were again required. Sometimes it is impossible to gather all the individual parts of one cask, and heads and staves must be taken as they come. In this case, pick out two heads of the same size, or pieces which will make two. Measure their diameter, and as the circumference is, for practical purposes, three times as much, measure across the ends of the staves on the inside of the chine groove, until their united widths fully equal three times the diameter. If you have another cask a little larger, set up the staves inside it; or if you have one somewhat smaller, arrange them outside, and put on temporarily a larger hoop, or lash them with a turn or two of rope. Then take the hoops which you have selected for the cask, and get the larger ones over the end, drive them down tolerably tight, nearly to the centre. Then, taking one of the heads, bore a couple of gimlets into it to hold it by, or screw on it 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 trees or posts, or set up the head itself on a pole, breast high, for the staves to lean against, or dig a circular trench a few inches deep in the ground to set the staves in. Remember that if iron hoops are worn or rusted or bent much, and have to be straightened out, they are very easily broken or burst by driving too tightly. Of course they can be mended by punching holes and riveting a piece in; but they require good punches and a matrix, for which a piece of hardened wood may be substituted, and some skill and patience. Always heat both the iron and rivets, and do not punch holes or clench rivets cold. Wooden hoops are generally withies or saplings, split down the middle, and left with one flat side and one round. The ends are thinned a little, and notches cut on the upper edge of one and the lower of the other. These are made to catch each other, either with a short overlap, as in Fig. 1, in which case the two parts lie parallel with each other, or with a long joint (Fig. 2), in which each takes a half turn round the other, between the notches. The joint is then served either with slips of osier or split rattan, or other substitute for cord.

If it is necessary to make a cask, the pieces forming the discs used for the heads should be dowelled together, with a bit of pith of reed, or other caulking material between them, and the circumference must be thinned off to an obtuse edge. The staves, to look neat, ought to be nicely rounded as segments of a circle, and the ends should be narrower than the centre 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 staves in a cask their edges must be cut at an angle of 18°, thus 360 divided by 20 is 18, and the angle of any other number may be found by dividing 360 by the number of staves. The chine groove may be cut with a saw, and it is better that the staves should be always a little narrower at the ends than in the middle, so that the hoops may tighten in being driven on.

Water casks, to embark.

To becket a cask, slacken off one or more of the hoops, take a strip of raw hide, slip one end under, twist the middle a little, then turn it, slip the other end under, nick them that they may not draw out, and tighten up the hoop. A kind-hearted American, captain of the "Mechanic," of Boston, who filled our water casks 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 the other, so as to leave but one wake; let the bung-hole be downward, for if the cask leak, the salt water being heaviest, will not run up into the fresh, nor will the fresh run down into the salt; whereas, if the bung is up, the fresh water may splash out and the water of the sea run in and spoil the remaining contents.

Bent wood.

Hoops may be made by taking thin strips of any flexible wood, three or four times as long as the circumference of the required hoop, coiling them as it were, and then binding or clenching them together. These are very strong and flexible (Fig. 3). Jib stay hanks (Figs. 1 and 2) are made of any tough 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 of the sail. They are not fastened as the sailor opens them to put them on the stay, and the lashing to the leach rope fastens them sufficiently. Hanks may be made of the fork of a branch (Figs. 4, 6 and 7), and if a double hank is required, a branch with two forks (Fig. 5) will serve the purpose.

In South America stirrups are very neatly made by taking a bar of tough wood (Fig. 1), 1ft. or 14in. long, notching it so as to leave in the centre a piece of the full thickness 4in. long, and leaving the ends of the full thickness, thinning down from them to the notch on each side till the wood can be safely turned up so that the ends meet and form the bow of the stirrup (Fig. 2). The ends are cut to the proper bevel, and fastened by a thong in a hole bored through them. A couple of horizontal bars, 2in. long, fastened above, form a slip for the stirrup leather to pass 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 arms forms the tread or bottom piece, a thong of hide making the other side of the triangle, will answer if sufficiently heavy. The hide of the hippopotamus, rhinoceros, or giraffe, when sufficiently dried, may be cut into stirrups, and left to harden. Sometimes the block which forms the stirrup is cut with a projecting spike to form a spur; but the Mexican wooden spurs, consisting of two sticks a little thicker than a pencil, 4in. long, armed with small iron points, and provided with straps as in Fig. 4, are about the neatest and most easily extemporised form we know.

Makeshift axes or adzes.

Among the native tribes of South Africa, where iron, owing to the small scale on which they smelt it, is very scarce and valuable, considerable ingenuity is shown in the mounting of an axe blade. This is generally a triangular piece of iron, with one of its sides thinned down and ground to a rounded edge, and the other two tapered to a spike. It is well known that weight is an essential quality in all chopping instruments, and the deficiency of iron has therefore to be made up 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 inserting it again athwart the hole instead of keeping it parallel with the handle; the two lower figures will give a sufficiently good idea of this. We have seen these tools very efficiently wielded by honey hunters and by native woodsmen and carpenters, who, when tired of work, convert the axe handle into a pipe by taking out the iron, partially stopping the middle of the hole with a few green leaves, putting the tobacco into one end, and applying their broad lips to the other.

MAKESHIFT AXES OR ADZES

The other two figures represent the manner in which a broad chisel may be converted into a serviceable axe or adze, by smoothing off and channelling the front of the knob, and firmly lashing the chisel to it with raw hide either fore and aft or athwartships as required. A plane 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 the blade, but in all cases a spike is left at the top for insertion into the heavy knob of the handle. At times this knob is cut where two branches project from it, so as to form a double-handled hoe, an example of which is shown in our engraving of a Bechuana hut on p. 281.

Hurdle or wattle work.

It may not be amiss here to give an example of the manner of making a piece of wattled work for a door, a window shutter, a table, a bedstead, or any other purpose. As many stakes as are required are planted firmly in the ground, either in a trench or, which is better, in holes separately made with a "grauwing" stick for the purpose. Rattans, osiers, twigs, reeds, or grass, are then wattled 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 the other, and set it between the stakes to keep them apart, removing it when it is necessary to put fresh wattles over the top, and replacing it when they are to be forced down. Baskets, crates, or gabions of any size, may be made by setting up squares or circles of stakes, and removing them when wattled; or houses may be built by fixing them more permanently and using them as the walls.

WATTLED WORK.

We have often admired the simplicity of the equipment of a Javanese ship carpenter; the ponderous maul or heavy axe and adze of our workman is unknown to him; all his tools, axe, adze, maul, hammer, and augers, 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 squatting about the decks and sides of our little schooner busy as bees, and tapping away like so many woodpeckers, where one-fourth the number of English carpenters could not have worked without injuring each other.

Blocks or pulleys.

The attention of the traveller is too seldom directed to blocks and tackle. These useful and unpretending economisers of labour are thought to belong to a ship, and therefore to be out of place on an inland journey. 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 find them necessary, where perhaps nothing but rope of hide or native vegetable fibre can be obtained, we subjoin directions for making the simplest forms, which we believe will meet most of the probable requirements:

SINGLE AND COMPOUND BLOCKS.

To make a single block, take a piece of good sound wood of medium density, and of a kind that will not easily split. Elm is much used at home: oak will do very well; so will also the stinkwood of Africa, and others of like quality in other countries. Let it be, for instance, 7in. long, 4in. wide, and 3in. thick; suppose it is to carry a rope of 1in. in diameter, properly called a 3in. rope, all ropes being measured by their circumference. 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 bore in like manner from the other side; take a chisel and mallet and clean away all the intermediate parts, and you will have a sheave hole 5in. long and 1in. wide. Clean it up with a file or rasp. Then, drawing a longitudinal line along the centre of each of the broader sides, mark it at 3in. from one end and 4in. from the other on each side, and, placing the centre of the bit on these marks, bore through each side for the pin-hole.

Then for the sheave select a log of the hardest wood conveniently obtainable; lignum vit? is generally used, but many kinds of acacia would answer very well. See that it is large enough to cut away all the sap wood, and leave a heart 4in. in diameter; trim this to a circular 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 finished; bore an inch hole in the centre, place it in the shell, drive a pivot of hard wood right through, and you will find that at one end of the block the sheave very nearly fills the hole, while at the other a vacancy of about an inch is left to reeve the rope through.

Then, with a gouge or half round rasp, sink hollows in the outside of the shell along the centre line toward each end, and across the ends, to receive the strop; round off the corners and edges as neatly as 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 ought to be let into the sheave as in Fig. 2. Some sheaves have small iron rollers let into them to run round on the pivot, and so diminish the friction; but a traveller need not work to such a nicety as this.

The snatch-block.

The snatch-block has already been two or three times mentioned, and perhaps this is a good opportunity to show its form, which is given in Fig. 3. The shell is longer and stouter 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 opened when the bight of a rope is to be passed into the natch and shut down upon its staple and forelocked to keep the rope from coming out should the strain be suddenly released.

Signal block.

Fig. 4 is a very useful kind of block for signalling; it has ten or more sheaves side by side, and as many lines running over them; in fact it ought to have as many sheaves as there are flags. It is kept in the signal locker with the halyards always rove, and each flag 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 they may read properly one under the other in the required order. These being done with are hauled down and others sent up, and much confusion and loss of time is saved by thus avoiding the necessity of bending on and unbending the several flags from one pair of halyards.

Double block.

We give also figures of two useful forms of double block. No. 5, on which the sheaves are side by side, is called a sister block. No. 6, in which they are one above the other, is a fiddle block. Notice that in this form the lowermost sheave is the smallest, and thus the rope passing over it is not jammed by the one that passes over the upper.

MAKESHIFT LATHES.

Makeshift lathes

In the manufacture of a number of wooden articles, such as the sheaves of blocks, bowls, round balls, &c., the aid of a makeshift lathe will be required. There are several forms of lathe made use of in different countries. No. 1 in the annexed illustration is the best we know of for the use of the traveller or explorer. To make a contrivance of this kind proceed as follows: Prepare three squared posts, bore an auger hole through the top of each at about 5in. from its head; to these holes fit a spindle made of some hard tough wood, in such a way that it will just easily play round in the holes without shaking about; cut a slice from a log about 7in. in diameter; trim it until 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 action of the spring overhead, which is usually made from a tough elastic pole or bamboo cane. The end of the spring is fitted with a long strip of hide or a rope, which, passing once round the grooved slice of log, is attached to the end of the treadle. This is made from a naturally-forked branch, with a bit of plank lashed fast to it for a foot board. The chisel rest is made by driving a post into the ground in front of the work, making a saw-cut in its head, and then driving a bit of thin board or a piece of broad hoop iron into it, in the form of the letter T. The spindle is prevented from moving too far back by having pins driven through it before and behind the tail-post.

The lathe represented at Fig. 2 is common throughout the East. It is by the use of this contrivance that we have seen the long and beautifully straight pipe tubes, for 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 bow-lathe (Fig. 2). It is erected much on the principle of Fig. 1; but is usually placed so close to the ground that no one but an Asiatic could work conveniently at it.

Grinding stones, to mount.

GRINDING STONES.

Few border stores will be found without a Newcastle grinding stone, and very few expeditions of any magnitude omit including one or more in their list of useful matters. There are several modes had recourse to for setting up a grinding stone, but we usually adopt one of the plans shown in the accompanying illustration. Fig. 1 represents a natural fork set up in a slanting direction, and then treenailed against the trunk of a tree. To mount the stone, a straight bar of wood or iron, squared in 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 bearing or revolving surfaces made round by the use of the hammer and file. Wooden pins or iron staples will serve to keep the axles from rising out of the notches and becoming displaced. A suspended bullock's horn, with a hole in the small end, through which a wisp of tow or moss is loosely pulled, makes a very good water drip, to prevent the tools from losing their temper when being ground. Some prefer putting a wooden trough, to contain water, under the stone. This is a mere matter of taste.

PACK-SADDLE CROOKS.

The use of forked sticks.

A vast deal of trouble may be saved when various useful articles are being made from wood, by a judicious selection of such branches as nature has already fashioned to the hand of the bush carpenter. The above illustration will serve to give an example of this; it represents 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 shown in the engraving. The hooks are then ready to be placed on the pack saddle, to which they are secured by a girth, which is attached at each end to the side bars of the hooks. We have found these contrivances most useful for carrying dead game, packs, or bundles of poles.

Hand-barrow.

A very useful description of makeshift hand-barrow can be made from four forked branches arranged as shown in the following illustration, and lashed together with strips of raw 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 was collected among the ravines between the hills, and used for the manufacture of pottery. These barrows, from their lightness, elasticity, and great strength, answer admirably.

MAKESHIFT HAND-BARROW.

Camp furniture.

CAMP TABLE AND STOOL.

Excellent camp tables and stools can be made by selecting such branches or tree trunks as have grown in either three or four prong form, as shown in the engraving (Figs. 1 and 2 represent a table and stool). The tops are made from slices cut from convenient-sized logs. The 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, when driven in, the pillar head is split with a chisel, and then wedged tight. Should a larger table leaf be required than an ordinary log slice will afford, one may be built up by boring holes in the edges of boards, and treenailing them together, as shown in Fig. 3 (p. 389).

Gate latches.

Latches for gates and doors can be made entirely of wood, as represented in the illustration A, in which Fig. 1 shows the latch in use, and Figs. 2 to 7 the form to which each part 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 box hinges. Fig. 1 is the swivel hinge; Fig. 2 the salt-box hinge; and Fig. 3 the claw hinge. Their mode of construction will be at once understood on reference to the illustration B.

NATIVE PLOUGH.

The knee-like bends and forks so often found to exist in the branches of trees are often taken advantage of in the manufacture of makeshift ploughs. The preceding and following illustration represent a native and settler's makeshift plough.

SETTLER'S PLOUGH.

Agricultural implements, &c.

Many useful agricultural and other implements can be made by the use of forked sticks, some of which are shown in the above illustrations.

A strong fork, with treenails driven through holes bored in its ends, makes a very convenient yoke for carrying pails of water or other heavy weights, as shown in the accompanying illustration.

It not unfrequently happens that pigs, when the settler is fortunate enough to have any, are apt to cause much mischief among the young canes or maize plants. To prevent them from doing so, prepare a good number of "hogs' cravats" from stout forked sticks, as shown in the annexed illustration, put them on, and a fence of very moderate strength will keep the pilferers out effectually.

Many descriptions of trees will be found on which the branches grow in a species of crown at each joint of the trunk. The holly and some kinds of pines are familiar examples, and are commonly found in this country. From a piece of the main stem of a young tree of a suitable size, a contrivance called a "supple jack" can be made by cutting off the radiating branches to a convenient length, removing all the bark, and then pointing each projecting 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 passing one hind leg through a space formed by cutting a slit behind the back tendon of the other. The legs thus form a loop to slip over one of the hooks of the jack. The foregoing illustration shows the jack in use. Saddle rests, wall and tent pole hooks, &c., can be made from knee, elbow, or hooked branches of trees. They can be attached to any fixed point either by the use of treenails or lashing, as shown in the preceding illustration.

The maple and some other kinds of trees are not unfrequently found with large projecting excrescences growing on their trunks; these, when carefully chopped off with the axe, will be found 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 are sufficiently large to admit of vessels capable of containing from eight to ten gallons being made from them. Very excellent platters or shallow trays can be obtained from the same source.

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Chapter 6 TIMBER AND ITS UTILISATION.

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