Reflecting the Sun with a Mirror.—To attract the notice of a division of your party, five or even ten miles off, glitter a bit of looking-glass in the sun, throwing its flash towards where you expect them to be. It is quite astonishing at how great a distance the gleam of the glass will catch the sharp eyes of a bushman who has learnt to know what it is. It is now a common signal in the North American prairies. (Sullivan.) It should be recollected that a passing flash has far less briliancy than one that dwells for an appreciable time on the retina of the observer; therefore the signaller should do all he can to steady his aim. I find the steadiest way of holding the mirror is to rest the hand firmly against the forehead, and to keep the eyes continually fixed upon the same distant object. The glare of the sun that is reflected from each point of the surface of a mirror forms a cone of light whose vertical angle is constant, and equal to that subtended by the sun. Hence when a flash is sent to a distant place, the size of the mirror is of no appreciable importance in affecting the size of the area over which the flash is visible. That area is the section of the fasciculus of cones that proceed from each point of the mirror, which, in the case we have supposed, differs immaterially from the cone reflected from a single point. Hence, if a man watches the play of the flash from his mirror upon a very near object, it will appear to him of the shape and size of the mirror; but as he retreats from the object, the edges of the flash become rounded, and very soon the flash appears a perfect circle, of precisely the same apparent diameter as the disc of the sun: it will, in short, look just like a very faint sun. The signaller has to cause this disc of light to cover the person whose notice he wishes to attract. I will proceed to show how he can do so; but in the mean time it will be evident that a pretty careful aim is requisite, or he will fail in his object. The steadiness of his aim must be just twice as accurate, neither more nor less, as would suffice to point a rifle at the sun when it was sufficiently obscured by a cloud to bear being looked at: for the object of the aim is of the same apparent size, but a movement of a mirror causes the ray reflected from it to move through a double angle.

The power of these sun-signals is extraordinarily great. The result of several experiments that I made in England showed that the smallest mirror visible under atmospheric conditions such that the signaller's station was discernible, but dim, subtended an angle of only one-tenth of a second of a degree. It is very important that the mirror should be of truly plane and parallel glass, such as instrument-makers procure; the index glass of a full-sized sextant is very suitable for this purpose: there is a loss of power when there is any imperfection in the glass. A plane mirror only three inches across, reflects as much of the sun as a globe of 120 feet diameter; it looks like a dazzling star at ten miles' distance.

To direct the flash of the Mirror.—There are makeshift ways of directing the flash of the mirror; as, by observing its play on an object some paces off, nearly in line with the station it is wished to communicate with. In doing this, two cautions are requisite: first, the distance of the object must be so large compared to the diameter of the mirror that the play of the flash shall appear truly circular and exactly like a faint sun (see preceding paragraph): secondly, be careful to bring the eye to the very edge of the mirror; there should be as little "dispart" as possible, as artillerymen would say. Unless these cautions be attended to very strictly, the flash will never be seen at the distant station.

[Sketch of arrangement as described below].

An object, in reality of a white colour but apparently dark, owing to its being shaded, shows the play of a mirror's flash better than any other. The play of a flash, sent through an open window, on the walls of a room, can be seen at upwards of 100 yards. It is a good object by which to adjust my hand heliostat, which I describe below. Two bits of paper and a couple of sticks, arranged as in the drawing, serve pretty well to direct a flash. Sight the distant object through the holes in the two bits of paper, A and B, at the ends of the horizontal stick; and when you are satisfied that the stick is properly adjusted and quite steady, take your mirror and throw the shadow of A upon B, and further endeavour to throw the white speck in the shadow of A, corresponding to its pin-hole in it, through the centre of the hole in B. Every now and then lay the mirror aside, and bend down to see that A B continues to be properly adjusted.

Hand Heliostat.—Some years ago, I took great pains to contrive a convenient pocket instrument, by which a traveller should be able to signal with the sun, and direct his flash with certainty, in whatever direction he desired. I did so in the belief that a signalling power of extraordinary intensity could thus be made use of; and, I am glad to say, I succeeded in my attempt. I at last obtained a pretty pocket instrument, the design of which I placed in the hands of Messrs. Troughton and Simms; and upon the earlier models of which I read a paper before the British Association in 1858. I called it a "hand heliostat." I always carry one when I travel, for it is a continual source of amusement. The instrument is shown in fig. 1 (p. 280), and its principle is illustrated by fig. 2. The scale is about 2/3.

E is the eye of the signaller; M the mirror; and L, S, fig. 2, a tube containing at one end, L, a lens, and at the other, S, a screen of white porcelain or unpolished ivory, placed at the exact solar focus of L: a shade, K, with two holes in it, is placed before L. Let R, r, be portions of a large pencil of parallel rays, proceeding from any one point on the sun's surface, and reflected from the mirror, as R' r' (fig. 2). R' impinges upon the lens, L, through one of the holes in K, and R' goes free toward some distant point, O. Those that impinge on the lens will be brought to a focus on S, where a bright speck of light might be seen. This speck radiates light in all direction; some of the rays, proceeding from it, impinge on the lens at the other hole in the shade K, as shown in fig. 2, and are reduced by its agency to parallelism with r' and R', that is, with the rays that originally left the mirror: consequently E, looking partly at the edge of the lens, and partly into space, sees a bright speck of light in the former, coincident with the point O in the latter.

[Fig 1 and Fig 2, as described in the text].

What is true for one point in the sun's disc, is true for every point in it. Accordingly, the signaller sees an image of the sun, and not a mere speck of light, in the lens; and the part of the landscape which that image appears to overlay, is precisely that part of it over which the flash from his mirror extends; or, in other words, it is that from any point of which a distant spectator may see some part or other of the sun's disc reflected in the mirror. There is no difficulty in signalling when the sun is far behind the back, if the eye-tubes are made to pull out to a total length of five inches, otherwise the shadow of the head interferes. For want of space, the drawing represents the tubes as only partly drawn out. The instrument is perfectly easy to manage, and letters can be signalled by flashes. Its power is perfectly marvellous. On a day so hazy that colours on the largest scale—such as green fields and white houses—are barely distinguishable at seven miles' distance, a looking-glass no larger than the finger-nail transmits its signals clearly visible to the naked eye.

I have made a makeshift arrangement on the principle of my heliostat, using the object glass of an opera-glass for the lens, and an ordinary looking-glass: the great size and short focus of the object glass is a great convenience when using a mirror with a wide frame.

Professor W. H. Miller, the Foreign Secretary of the Royal Society, has since invented a yet more compact method of directing the flash, which he has described in the Proceedings of the Royal Society for 1865. It consists of a plate of silvered glass, one of whose rectangular corners is accurately ground and polished. On looking into the corner when the glass is properly held an image of the sun is seen, which overlays the actual flash. Beautifully simple as this instrument is, I do not like it so much as my own, for the very fact of its requiring no "setting" is its drawback. With mine, when the image of the sun is lost it is immediately found again by simply rotating the instrument on its axis; but with Professor Miller's the image must be felt for wholly anew.

Fire Signals.—Fire-beacons, hanging up a lantern, or setting fire to an old nest high up in a tree, serve as night-signals; but they are never to be depended on without previous concert, as bushes and undulations of the ground will often hide them entirely. The sparks from a well-struck flint and steel can be seen for much more than a mile.

Smoke Signals.—The smoke of fires is seen very far by day; and green wood and rotten wood make the most smoke. It is best to make two fires 100 yards apart, lest your signalling should be mistaken for an ordinary fire in the bush. These double fires are a very common signal to vessels in the offing, on the African coast.

Other Signals.—By Sight.—A common signal for a distant scout is, that he should ride or walk round and round in a circle from right to left, or else in one from left to right.

Mr. Parkyns, speaking of Abyssinia, describes the habits of a caste of robbers in the following words:—"At other times they will lie concealed near a road, with scouts in every direction on the look-out; yet no one venturing to speak, but only making known by signs what he may have to communicate to his companions or leader. Thus he will point to his ear and foot on hearing footsteps, to his eyes on seeing persons approach, or to his tongue if voices be audible; and will also indicate on his fingers the numbers of those coming, describing also many particulars as to how many porters, beasts of burden or for riding, there may be with the party."

A kite has been suggested as a day signal; and also a kite with some kind of squib, let off by a slow-light and attached to its tail, as one by night. (Colonel Jackson.)

Sound.—Whistling through the fingers can be heard at considerable distances: the accomplishment should be learnt. Cooing in the Australian fashion, or jvdling in that of the Swiss, are both of them heard a long way. The united holloa of many voices, is heard much further than separate cries. The cracking of a whip has a very penetrating sound.

Smells.—An abominable smell arrests the attention at night.

Letters carried by Animals.—In short reconnoitring expeditions made by a small detachment from a party, the cattle or dogs are often wild, and run home to their comrades on the first opportunity; in the event of not being able to watch them, owing to accident or other cause, advantage may be taken of their restlessness, by tying a note to one of their necks, and letting them go and serve as postmen, or rather as carrier-pigeons.



BEARINGS BY COMPASS, SUN, ETC.

Pocket Compass.—A pocket compass should not be too small; if one of the little toy compasses be carried in the pocket, it should be as a reserve, and not for regular use. A toy compass will of course tell N. from N.N.E., and the like; and that may be very useful information, but the traveller will find that he constantly needs more precise directions. He doubts the identity of some hill or the destination of some path, and finds on referring to his map, that the difference of bearing upon which he must base his conclusion, is small: he therefore requires a good sized compass, to determine the bearing with certainty. One from 1 1/2 to 2 inches in diameter is practically the best. It should have plenty of depth, so that the card may traverse freely, even when the instrument is inclined: it should be light in weight, that it may not be easily jarred by a blow; the catch that relieves the card, when the instrument is closed, should be self-acting and should act well: lastly the movements of the needle should be quick; one that makes slow oscillations should be peremptorily refused, whatever its other merits may be: the graduation of the degrees on the card should be from 0 degrees to 360 degrees, North being 0 degrees and East 90 degrees. I wish some optician would make aluminum cards. The material can be procured as foil, like tinfoil. It can then be stamped and embossed, in which case it retains its shape perfectly, but I cannot satisfy myself as to a good pattern, nor do I see how to make the North and South halves of the disc sufficiently different in appearance.

Compass for use at night.—The great majority of compasses are well-nigh useless in the dark, that is, when it is most important to be able to consult them. They are rarely so constructed, that the difference between the north and south sides is visible by moonlight or by the light of a cigar or piece of tinder. The more modern contrivances are very effective; in these the southern half of the compass card is painted black, the northern being left white. With a very faint light, this difference can be appreciated. In compasses consisting simply of a needle, the north end of the needle should have a conspicuous arrow-head. It is extraordinary how much the power of seeing a compass or a watch at night is increased by looking nearly at it through a magnifying-glass. Thus, young people who can focus their vision through a wide range may be observed poring with their eyes close to their books when the light wanes. So again, at night-time, a placard, even in large type, is illegible at a short distance, but easily read on approaching it. It seems, in order that a faint image on the retina should be appreciated by the nerves of sight, that image must have considerable extent.

Moonlight or the light of a cigar may be condensed on the compass by a burning glass, or other substitute for it. (See "Burning Glass.")

True and Magnetic Bearings.—The confusion between true and magnetic bearings is a continual trouble, even to the most experienced travellers. Sir Thomas Mitchell's exploring party very nearly sustained a loss by mistaking the one for the other. I recommend that the points of the compass, viz. North, N.N.E., etc., should be solely used for the traveller for his true bearings; and the degrees, as 25 degrees (or N. 25 degrees E.), for his magnetic. There would then be no reason why the two nomenclatures should interfere with one another, for a traveller's recollection of the lay of a country depends entirely upon true bearings—or sunrise, sunset, and the stars—and is expressed by North, N.N.E., etc.; but his surveying data which find no place in his memory, but are simply consigned to his note-book, are necessarily registered in degrees. To give every facility for carrying out this principle, a round of paper should be pasted in the middle of the traveller's pocket-compass card, just large enough to hide the ordinary rhumbs, but leaving uncovered the degrees round its rim. On this disk of paper the points of the compass (true bearings) should be marked so as to be as exact as possible for the country about to be visited.

Errors in Magnetic Bearings.—The compass-needle is often found to be disturbed, and sometimes apparently bewitched, when laid upon hill-tops; even when they consist of bare masses of granite. The disturbance is easily accounted for by the hornblende in the granite, or by other iron-bearing rocks. Explorers naturally select hills as their points of triangulation; but compass observations on hill-tops, if unchecked by a sextant observation of the sun's bearings, are never so reliable as those taken on a plain.

[Sketch of card as described on following pages].

Bearings by Sun and Stars.—It requires very great practice to steer well by stars, for, on an average, they change their bearings even faster than they change their altitudes. In tropical countries, the zodiacal stars - as Orion and Antares—give excellent east and west points. The Great Bear is useful when the North Pole cannot be seen, for you may calculate by the eye whereabout it would be in the heavens when the "pointers" were vertical, or due north; and the Southern Cross is available in precisely the same way. The true North Pole is about 1 1/2 degree or 3 diameters of the full moon, apart from the Pole star; and its place is on a line between the Pole Star and the Great Bear. An almanac, calculated to show the bearing, and the times of moonrise and moonset, for the country to be travelled over, as well as those of sunrise and sunset, would be a very great convenience; it would be worth while for a traveller accustomed to such calculations to make one for himself.

Diagram.—The diagram (preceding page) is intended to be traced in lines of different colours, when it will be found to be far less confused than at present.

Its object is to enable a traveller to use the sun, both as a rude watch and as a compass. The diagram is calculated for the latitude of London, but will do with more or less accuracy for the whole of England. A traveller going to other countries may easily draw up one for himself, and on a larger scale if he prefers it, by using the Azimuth tables and the Horary tables of Lynn.

The diagram represents, 1st, circles of equal altitudes; 2ndly, the path of sun, stars, etc., for each 10th degree of declination; 3rdly, the hour angles, all projected down upon—4thly—the level compass card.

Thus, six circles are drawn round the centre of the compass card at equal distances apart, each ring between them representing a space of 15 degrees in altitude.

The following angles were then calculated for each 10th degree of declination in turns, viz.:—The height of the sun, etc., when above the horizon at each point of the compass. 2ndly, the bearing of the sun at each consecutive hour. These points were dotted out; and, by joining the several sets of them, the drawing was made.

The broken lines which diverge in curves from P are hour lines; those which surround P in more or less complete ovals, are the paths of the sun and stars, for each 10th degree of declination; the prominent line running from E. round to W. being its path when on the Equator.

The diagram, when it is traced out for use, should have the names of the months written in coloured ink on either side of the south line at places corresponding to the declination of the sun during those months: viz.:—

January S. 23 degrees to S. 17 degrees February S. 17 " S. 8 March S. 7 " N. 4 April N. 5 " N. 15 May N. 15 " N. 22 June N. 22 " N. 23 July N. 23 " N. 18 August N. 18 " N. 8 September N. 8 " S. 3 October S. 3 " S. 14 November S. 15 " S. 22 December S. 22 " S. 23

To use the card.—Draw a broad pencil line, which may afterwards be rubbed out, corresponding to the date of travel, and there will be no further confusion.

Then, to know what o'clock it is, "span out" (see "Spanning") roughly the altitude of the sun. The point in the diagram where the altitude so obtained crosses the pencil mark, corresponds to the position of the sun. The hour is then read off; and the compass bearings on the diagram are adjusted by holding it level, and turning it round until a line, drawn from its centre through the point in question, points towards the sun. As to the moon or a star, if its declination be unknown, but its bearing and altitude being given, its declination and path may be found, and therefore the time since its rising or before its setting; a most useful piece of information to a traveller. Watches break, and compasses cannot be used on horseback without stopping, and therefore a diagram of this description, of which any number of copies can be traced out, may be of use for rough purposes.

Other Signs of Direction.—Bearings by the Growth of Trees.—In exposed situations and near the sea, the growth of trees is rarely symmetrical; they betray by their bent heads and stunted branches the direction of the prevalent influences most adverse to their growth. This direction is constant over wide districts in a flat country, but cannot be equally relied upon in a hilly one, where the mountains and valleys affect the conditions of shade and shelter, and deflect the course of the wind.

Moss grows best where there is continuous damp, therefore it prefers that side of a tree which affords the most suitable combination of exposure to damp winds and shelter from the sun. When the winds do not differ materially in dampness, the north side of the forest trees are the most thickly covered with moss.

Bearings by the shape of Ant-hills.—That most accurate observer, Pierre Huber, writes as follows concerning the nests of the yellow ants, which are abundantly to be found in the Swiss Alps and in some other mountainous countries. It must be recollected, in reading his statement, that the chief occupation of ants is to move their eggs and larvae from one part of the nest to another, to ensure them a warm and equable temperature; therefore, it is reasonable to expect that the nests of ants should be built on a uniform principle as regards their shape and aspect. Huber says "they serve as a compass to mountaineers when they are surrounded by thick mists, or have lost their way during the night; they do so in the following manner:—The ant-hills (of the yellow ants), which are by far more numerous and more high in the mountains than anywhere else, are longer than they are broad, and are of a similar pattern in other respects. Their direction is invariably from east to west. Their highest point and their steepest side are turned towards the point of sunrise in the winter-time (au levant d'hiver), and they descend with a gradual slope in the opposite direction. I have verified these experiences of the shepherds upon thousands of ant-hills, and have found a very small number of exceptions; these occurred only in the case where the ant-hills had been disturbed by men or animals. The ant-hills do not maintain the constancy of their form in the lowlands, where they are more exposed to such accidents."

Ripple-marks on Snow or Sand.—The Siberians travel guided by the ripples in the snow, which run in a pretty fixed direction, owing to the prevalence of a particular wind. The ripples in a desert of sand are equally good as guides; or the wind itself, if it happens to be blowing, especially to a person pushing through a tangled belt of forest. Before leaving a well-known track, and striking out at night into the broad open plain, notice well which way the wind blows as regards the course you are about to pursue.

Flight of Birds.—I have read somewhere that in the old days coasting sailors occasionally took pigeons with them, and when they had lost their bearings they let one fly, which it did at once to the land.

To follow a Track at Night.—Where the track is well marked, showers of sparks, ably struck with a flint and steel, are sufficient to show it, without taking the pains of making a flame.

Smell of an Old Track.—The earth of an old and well-trodden road has a perceptible smell, from the dung and trampling of animals passing over it, especially near to encampments. It is usual at night, when a guide doubts whether or no he is in the track, to take up handfuls of dirt and smell it. It is notorious that cattle can smell out a road.



MARKS FOR THE WAY-SIDE.

Marks on Trees—Cutting Marks.—A very excellent "tree-line" is made by cutting deep notches in a line of trees, starting from some conspicuous object, so that the notches will face the men that are to be guided by it: the trees must be so selected that three, or at least two of them, are in sight at once. The notch or sliced bark of a tree is called a "blaze" in bush language. These blazed trees are of much use as finger-posts on a dark night. They are best made by two persons; one chipping the trees on his right, and the other those on his left. If the axes are quite sharp, they only need to be dropped against the tree in order to make the chip. Doing so, hardly retards a person in his walking. Another way more suitable to some kinds of forests, is to strike the knife into the left side of the tree, to tear down a foot of bark, and to leave the bark hanging, for a double extent of white surface is shown in this way. Also, to break down tops of saplings and leave them hanging: the undersides of the leaves being paler than the upper, and the different lines of the reversed foliage make a broken bush to look unnatural among health trees, and it quickly arrests the attention. If you want a tree to be well-scored or slashed, so as to draw attention to it without fail, fire bullets into it, as into a mark, and let the natives cut them out in their own way, for the sake of the lead. They will effect your purpose admirably, without suspecting it.

Stamping Marks on Trees.—The keepers of some of the communal forests in Switzerland are provided with small axes, having the back of the axe-head worked into a large and sharp die, the impression of the die being some letter or cipher indicating the commune. When these foresters wish to mark a tree, they give it first a slice with the edge of the axe, and then (turning the axe) they deal it a heavy blow with the back of the axe-head. By the first operation they prepare a clean surface for their mark; and, by the second, they stamp their cipher deeply into the wood.

Branding Trees.—Some explorers take branding irons, and use them to mark each of their camping-places with its number. This is especially useful in Australian travel, where the country is monotonous, and there are few natives to tell the names of places.

Faggot hung to a Tree.—A bundle of grass or twigs about 2 feet long, slung by its middle athwart a small tree, at the level of the eye, by the side of a path, is well calculated to catch the attention. Its lines are so different to those seen elsewhere in the forest, that it would be scarcely possible to overlook it.

Boat or Canoe Routes through lakes well studded with islands, can be well marked by trimming conspicuous trees until only a tuft of branches is left at the top. This is called, in the parlance of the "Far West," a "lopstick."

Wooden Crosses.—A simple structure like fig. 1 is put together with a single nail or any kind of lashing. It catches the attention immediately.

[Fig. 1. Sketch of cross as described].

Marks with Stones.—Marks cut on Stone.—I have observed a very simple and conspicuous permanent mark used in forest-roads, as represented in fig. 2. The stone is 8 inches above ground, 3 1/2 wide, 8 inches long: the mark is black and deeply cut. An arrow-head may be chiselled in the face of a rock and filled with melted lead. With a small "cold" chisel, 3 inches long and 1/4 inch wide, a great deal of stone carving may be readily effected.

[Sketch of stone with incised cross].

Piles of Stones.—Piles of stones are used by the Arabs in their deserts, and in most mountain-tracts. "An immense length of the road, both in the government of the Don Cossacks and in that of Tambov, is marked out on a gigantic scale by heaps of stones, varying from 4 to 6 feet high. These are visible from a great distance; and it is very striking to see the double row of them indicating the line of route over the Great Steppe - undulations which often present no other trace of the hand of man." (Spottiswoode.)

[Sketch of piled stones].

Gipsy Marks.—When gipsies travel, the party that goes in advance leaves marks at cross-roads, in order to guide those who follow. These marks are called "patterans;" there are three patterans in common use. One is to pluck three large handfuls of grass and to throw them on the ground, at a short distance from one another, in the direction taken; another is, to draw a cross on the ground, with one arm much longer than the rest, as a pointer—a cross is better than any other simple mark, for it catches many different lights. (In marking a road, do not be content with marking the dust—an hour's breeze or a shower will efface it; but take a tent-peg, or sharpened stick, and fairly break into the surface, and your mark will be surprisingly durable.) The third of the gipsy patterans is of especial use in the dark: a cleft stick is planted by the road-side, close to the hedge, and in the cleft, is an arm like a signpost. The gipsies feel for this at cross-roads, searching for it on the left-hand side. (Borrow's 'Zincali.') A twig, stripped bare, with the exception of two or three leaves at its end, is sometimes laid on the road, with its bared end pointing forwards.

Other similar marks of direction and locality, in use in various parts of the world are as follows:—Knotting twigs; breaking boughs, and letting them dangle down; a bit of white paper in a cleft stick; spilling water, or liquid of any kind, on the pathway; a litter made of paper torn into small shreds, or of a stick cut into chips, or of feathers of a bird; a string, with papers knotted to it, like the tail of a boy's kite—tie a stone to the end of it, and throw it high among the branches of a tree.

Paint.—Whitewash (which see), when mixed with salt, or grease, or glue size, will stand the weather for a year or more. It can be painted on a tree or rock: the rougher the surface on which it is painted, the longer will some sign of it remain.

Black for Inscriptions is made by mixing lamp-black (which see) with some kind of size, grease, wax, or tar. Dr. Kane, having no other material at hand, once burnt a large K with gunpowder on the side of a rock. It proved to be a durable and efficient mark. When letters are chiselled in a rock, they should be filled with black to make them more conspicuous.

Blood leaves a mark of a dingy hue, that remains long upon a light-coloured, absorbent surface, as upon the face of sandy rocks.



ON FINDING THE WAY.

Recollection of a Path.—It is difficult to estimate, by recollection only, the true distances between different points in a road that has been once travelled over. There are many circumstances which may mislead, such as the accidental tedium of one part, or the pleasure of another; but besides these, there is always the fact, that, in a long day's journey, a man's faculties of observation are more fresh and active on starting than later in the day, when from the effect of weariness, even peculiar objects will fail to arrest his attention. Now, as a man's recollection of an interval of time is, as we all know, mainly derived from the number of impressions that his memory has received while it was passing, it follows that, so far as this cause alone is concerned, the earlier part of his day's journey will always seem to have been disproportionately long compared to the latter. It is remarkable, on taking a long half-day's walk, and subsequently returning, after resting some hours, how long a time the earlier part of the return journey seems to occupy, and how rapidly different well-remembered points seem to succeed each other, as the traveller draws homewards. In this case, the same cause acts in opposite directions in the two journeys.

To Walk in a Straight Line through Forests.—Every man who has had frequent occasion to find his way from one place to another in a forest, can do so without straining his attention. Thus, in the account of Lord Milton's travels, we read of some North American Indians who were incapable of understanding the white man's difficulty in keeping a straight line; but no man who has not had practice can walk through trees in a straight line, even with the utmost circumspection.

After making several experiments, I think the explanation of the difficulty and the way of overcoming it are as follows:—If a man walks on a level surface, guided by a single conspicuous mark, he is almost sure not to travel towards it in a straight line; his muscular sense is not delicate enough to guard him from making small deviations. If, therefore, after walking some hundred yards towards a single mark, on ground that preserves his track, the traveller should turn round, he will probably be astonished to see how sinuous his course has been. However, if he take note of a second mark and endeavour to keep it strictly in a line with the first, he will easily keep a perfectly straight course. But if he cannot find a second mark, it will not be difficult for him to use the tufts of grass, the stones, or the other accidents of the soil, in its place; they need not be precisely in the same line with the mark, but some may be on the right and some on the left of it, in which case, as he walks on the perspective of their change of position will be symmetrical. Lastly, if he has not even one definite mark, but is walking among a throng of forest trees, he may learn to depend wholly on the symmetry of the changes of perspective of the trees as a guide to his path. He will keep his point of sight unchanged and will walk in its direction, and if he deviates from that direction, the want of symmetry in the change of perspective on either side of the point on which he wishes to walk, will warn him of his error. The appreciation of this optical effect grows easily into a habit. When the more distant view happens to be shut out, the traveller must regain his line under guidance similar to that by which a sailor steers who only looks at his compass at intervals—I mean by the aspect of the sky, the direction of the wind, and the appearance of the forest, when it has any peculiarity of growth dependent on direction. The chance of his judgment being erroneous to a small extent is the same on the right hand as on the left, consequently his errors tend to compensate each other. I wish some scientific traveller would rigidly test the powers of good bushmen and find their "probable" angular deviation from the true course under different circumstances. Their line should be given to them, and they should be told to make smokes at intervals. The position of these smokes could be easily mapped out by the traveller.

The art of walking in a straight line is possessed in an eminent degree by good ploughmen. They always look ahead, and let the plough take care of itself.

To find the way down a Hill-side.—If on arriving at the steep edge of a ridge, you have to take the caravan down into the plain, and it appears that a difficulty may arise in finding a good way for it; descend first yourself, as well as you can, and seek for a road as you climb back again. It is far more easy to succeed in doing this as you ascend, than as you descend: because when at the bottom of a hill, its bold bluffs and precipices face you, and you can at once see and avoid them: whereas at the top, these are precisely the parts that you overlook and cannot see.

Blind Paths.—Faintly-marked paths over grass (blind paths) are best seen from a distance.

Lost in a Fog.—Napoleon, when riding with his staff across a shallow arm of the Gulf of Suez, was caught in a fog: he utterly lost his way, and found himself in danger. He there-upon ordered his staff to ride from him, in radiating lines, in all directions, and that such of them as should find the water to become more shallow, should shout out.

Mirage.—When it is excessive, it is most bewildering: a man will often mistake a tuft of grass, or a tree, or other most dissimilar object, for his companion, or his horse, or game. An old traveller is rarely deceived by mirage. If he doubts, he can in many cases adopt the following hint given by Dr. Kane: "Refraction will baffle a novice, on the ice; but we have learned to baffle refraction. By sighting the suspected object with your rifle at rest, you soon detect motion."

Lost Path.—If you fairly lose your way in the dark, do not go on blundering hither and thither till you are exhausted; but make as comfortable bivouac as you can, and start at daybreak fresh on your search.

The bank of a watercourse, which is the best of clues, affords the worst of paths, and is quite unfit to be followed at night. The ground is always more broken in the neighbourhood of a river than far away from it; and the vegatation is more tangled. Explorers travel most easily by keeping far away from the banks of streams; because then they have fewer broad tributaries and deep ravines to cross.

If in the daytime you find that you have quite lost your way, set systematically to work to find it. At all event, do not make the matter doubly perplexing by wandering further. Mark the place very distinctly where you discover yourself at fault, that it may be the centre of your search. Be careful to ride in such places as will preserve your tracks. Break twigs if you are lost in a woodland: if in the open country, drag a stick to make a clear trail. Marks scratched on the ground to tell the hour and day that you passed by, will guide a relieving party. A great smoke is useful for the same purpose and is visible for a long distance. (See "Signals.")

A man who loses himself, especially in a desert, is sadly apt to find his presence of mind forsake him, the sense of desolation is so strange and overpowering; but he may console himself with the statistics of his chance of safety—viz., that travellers, though constantly losing their party, have hardly ever been known to perish unrelieved.

When the lost traveller is dead beat with fatigue, let him exert a strong control over himself, for if he gives way to terror, and wanders wildly about hither and thither, he will do no good and exhaust his vital powers much sooner. He should erect some signal—as conspicuous a one as he can—with something fluttering upon it, sit down in the shade, and, listening keenly for any sound of succour, bear his fate like a man. His ultimate safety is merely a question of time, for he is sure to be searched for; and, if he can keep alive for two or three days, he will, in all probability, be found and saved. (To relieve thirst, p. 223; hunger, p. 197)

Theory.—When you discover you are lost, ask yourself the following three questions: they comprise the ABC of the art of pathfinding, and I will therefore distinguish them by the letters A, B, and C respectively:—A. What is the least distance that I can with certainty specify, within which the caravan-path, the river, or the sea-shore, that I wish to regain, lies? B. What is the direction, in a vague general way, towards which the path or river runs, or the sea-coast tends? C. When I last left the path, did I turn to the left or to the right.

As regards A, calculate coolly how long you have been riding or walking, and at what pace, since you left your party; subtract for stoppages and well-recollected zigzags; allow a mile and a half per hour for the pace when you have been loitering on foot, and three and a half when you have been walking fast. Bear in mind that occasional running makes an almost inappreciable difference; and that a man is always much nearer to the lost path, than he is inclined to fear.

As regards B, if the man knows the course of the path to within eight points of the compass (or one-fourth of the whole horizon), it is a great gain; or even if he knows B to within twelve points, say 120 degrees, or one-third of the whole horizon, his knowledge is available. For instance, let us suppose a man's general idea of the run of the path to be, that it goes in a northerly and southerly direction: then if he is also positive that the path does not deviate more than to the N.E. on the one side of that direction, or to the N.W. on the other, he knows the direction to within eight points. Similarly he is sure to twelve points, if his limits, on either hand, are E.N.E. and W.N.W. respectively.

C requires no further explanation.

Now, if a man can answer all three questions, A, B, to within eight points of the compass, and C, he is four and a half times as well off as if he could only answer A; as will be seen by the following considerations. A knowledge of B in addition to A, is of only one-third the use that it would be if C also were known.

1. Let P (fig. 1) be the point where the traveller finds himself at fault, and let P D to be a distance within which the path certainly lies; then the circle, E D F, somewhere cuts the path, and the traveller starting from P must first go to D, and then make the entire circuit, D E H F D, before he has exhausted his search. This distance of P D + D E H F D = P D + 6 P D nearly, = 7 P D altogether, which gives the length of road that the man must be prepared to travel over who can answer no other than the question A. Of course, P D may cut the path, but I am speaking of the extreme distance which the lost man may have to travel.

[Sketch as described above].

Supposing that question B can be answered as well as question A, an that the direction of the line of road lies certainly within the points of the compass, P S and P R. Draw the circumscribing parallelogram, G L H E M, whose sides are respectively parallel to P S and P R. Join L M. By the conditions of this problem, the path must somewhere cut the circle E D F; and since L M cuts L H, which is a tangent to it, it is clear it must cut every path—such as a a, parallel to L H, or to P R—that cuts the circle. Similarly, the same line, L M, must cut every path parallel to P S, such as b b. Now if L M cuts every path that is parallel to either of the extreme directions, P R or P S, it is obvious that it must also cut every path that is parallel to an intermediate direction, such as c c, but

PL = PH/cos HPL = PD/cos 1/2 RPS;

The consequence of which is that P L exceeds P D by one-sixth, one-half as much again, or twice as much again, according as R P S = 60 degrees, 90 degrees degrees, or 140 degrees.

The traveller who can only answer the questions A and B, but not C, must be prepared to travel from P to L, and back again through P to M, a distance equal to 3 P L. If, however, he can answer the question C, he knows at once whether to travel towards L or towards M, and he has no return journey to fear. At the worst, he has simply to travel the distance P L.

The probable distance, as distinguished from the utmost possible distance that a man may have to travel in the three cases, can be calculated mathematically. It would be out of place here to give the working of the little problem, but I append the rough numerical results in a table.

[Table as referred to above].

The epitome of the whole is this:—1. If you can only answer the question A, you must seek for the lost path by the tedious circle plan; or, what is the same, and a more manageable way of setting to work, by travelling in an octagon, each side of which must be equal to four-fifths of P D. (See fig. 2.)

[Fig. 2].

That is to say, look at your compass and start in any direction you please; we will say to the south, as represented in the drawing. Travel for a distance, P D; then supposing you have not crossed the path, turn at right angles, and start afresh—we will suppose your present direction to be west—travel for a distance 4/10 of P D, which will take you to 1; then turn to the N.W. and travel for a distance 8/10 of P D, which will take you to 2; then to the N. for a similar distance, which will take you to 3; and so on, till the octagon has been completed. If you know B to eight points, and not C, adopt the L M system; also, if you know A and C, and B to within thirteen points (out of the sixteen that form the semicircle), you may still adopt the L M system; but not otherwise. A rough diagram scratched on the ground with a stick would suffice to recall the above remarks to a traveller's recollection.



CACHES AND DEPOTS.

Caches.—It is easy enough to choose a spot, which you yourself shall again recognise, for digging a hole, where stores of all kinds may be buried against your return: neither is it difficult to choose one, so that you may indicate its position to others, or else leave it to a party who are travelling in concert, to find it out for themselves. But excessive caution in the mode of depositing the stores is, in every case, required, as hungry and thieving natives keep watch on all the movements of a party; they follow their tracks and hunt over their old camping-places, in search of anything there may be to pick up. And hyenas, wolves, wild dogs, and all kinds of prowling animals, guided by their sharp scent, will soon scratch up any provisions that are buried carelessly, or in such a way as to taint the earth.

The natives in Ceylon, when they wish to make a depot of game, jerk it, put the dry meat into the hollow of a tree, fill up the reservoir with honey, and plaster it over with clay.

Some dried plants of M. Bourgeau, the botanist attached to Captain Palliser's expedition to the Rocky Mountains, remained underground for ten months without injury.

Newly disturbed Ground sinks when Wetted.—If a cache be made in dry weather, and the ground be simply levelled over it, the first heavy rain will cause the earth to sink, and will proclaim the hidden store to an observant eye. Soldiers, in sacking a town, find out hastily-buried treasures by throwing a pailful of water over any suspected spot: if the ground sinks, it has surely been recently disturbed.

Best place for a Cache.—The best position to choose for a cache is in a sandy or gravelly soil, on account of its dryness and the facility of digging. Old burrows, or the gigantic but abandoned hills of white ants, may be thought of, if the stores are enclosed in cases of painted tin: also clefts in rocks: some things can be conveniently buried under water. The place must be chosen under circumstances that admit of your effacing all signs of the ground having been disturbed. A good plan is to set up your tent and to dig a deep hole in the floor, depositing what you have to bury wrapped in an oil-cloth, in an earthen jar, or in a wooden vessel, according to what you are able to get. It must be secure against the attacks of the insects of the place: avoid the use of skins, for animals will smell and dig them out. Continue to inhabit the tent for at least a day, well stamping and smoothing down the soil at leisure. After this, change the position of the tent, shifting the tethering-place or kraal of your cattle to where it stood. They will speedily efface any marks that may be left. Travellers often make their fires over the holes where their stores are buried; but natives are so accustomed to suspect fireplaces, that this plan does not prove to be safe. During summer travel, in countries pestered with gnats, a smoke fire for the horses (that is, a fire for keeping off flies), made near the place, will attract the horses and cause them to trample all about. This is an excellent way of obliterating marks left about the cache.

Hiding Small Things.—It is easy to make a small cache by bending down a young tree, tying your bundle to the top, and letting it spring up again. A spruce-tree gives excellent shelter to anything placed in its branches. (See also what is said on "Burying Letters," p. 303.)

Hiding Large Things.—Large things, as a wagon or boat, must either be pushed into thick bushes or reeds and left to chance, or they may be buried in a sand drift or in a sandy deposit by a river side. A small reedy island is a convenient place for such caches.

Double Caches.—Some persons, when they know that their intentions are suspected, make two caches: the one with a few things buried in it, and concealed with little care; the other, containing those that are really valuable, and very artfully made. Thieves are sure to discover the first, and are likely enough to omit a further search.

To find your Store again, you should have ascertained the distance and bearing, by compass, of the hole from some marked place—as a tree—about which you are sure not to be mistaken; or from the centre of the place where your fire was made, which is a mark that years will not entirely efface. If there be anything in the ground itself to indicate the position of the hole, you have made a clumsy cache. It is not a bad plan, after the things are buried, and before the tent is removed, to scratch a furrow a couple of inches deep, and three or four feet long, and picking up any bits of stick, reeds, or straw, that may be found at hand lying upon the ground, to place them end to end in it. These will be easy enough to find again by making a cross furrow, and when found will lead you straight above the depot. They would never excite suspicion, even if a native got hold of them; for they would appear to have been dropped or blown on the ground by chance, not seen and trampled in. Mr. Atkinson mentions an ingenious way by which the boundaries of valuable mining property are marked in the Ural, a modification of which might serve for indicating caches. A trench is dug and filled with charcoal beat small, and then covered over. The charcoal lasts for ever, and cannot be tampered with without leaving an unmistakable mark.

Secreting Jewels.—Before going to a rich but imperfectly civilised country, travellers sometimes buy jewels and bury them in their flesh. They make a gash, put the jewels in, and allow the flesh to grow over them as it would over a bullet. The operation is more sure to succeed if the jewels are put into a silver tube with rounded ends, for silver does not irritate. If the jewels are buried without the tube, they must have no sharp edges. The best place for burying them is in the left arm, at the spot chosen for vaccination. A traveller who was thus provided would always have a small capital to fall back upon, though robbed of everything he wore.

A Chain of gold is sometimes carried by Arabs, who sew it in dirty leather under their belt. They cut off and sell a link at a time. (Burton)

The gun-stock is a good receptacle for small valuables. Unscrew the heel-plate and bore recesses; insert what you desire, after wrapping it tightly in cloth and plugging it in; then replace the heel-plate. (Peal.)

Depositing Letters.—To direct Attention to the Place of Deposit.—When you make a cache in an inhabited land, for the use of a travelling party who are ignorant of your purpose, there is of course some difficulty in ensuring that their attention should be directed to the place, but that the natives should have no clue to it. If you have means of gashing, painting or burning characters, something of this sort (see fig.), they will explain themselves.

[Sketch of direction plate].

Savages, however, take such pains to efface any mark they may find left by white men, entertaining thoughts like those of Morgiana in the 'Arabian Nights' tale of the Forty Thieves, that it would be most imprudent to trust to a single mark. A relief party should therefore be provided with a branding-iron and moveable letters, and with paints, and they should mark the tree in many places. A couple of hours spent in doing this would leave more marks than the desultory efforts of roving savages would be likely to efface. A good sign to show that Europeans have visited a spot is a saw mark (no savages use saws): it catches the eye directly.

A system occasionally employed by Arctic expeditions, of making a cache 10 feet true north (and not magnetic north) from the cairn or mark, deserves to be generally employed, at least with modifications. Let me therefore suggest, that persons who find a cairn built of a tree marked, so as to attract notice, and who are searching blindly in all directions for further clue, should invariably dig out and examine that particular spot. The notice deposited there may consist of no more than a single sentence, to indicate some distant point as the place where the longer letter is buried. I hope it will be understood, that the precaution of always burying a notice 10 feet true north of the cairn mark is proposed as additional to and not in the place of other contrivances for giving information. There will often arise some doubt as to the exact point in the circumference of the cairn or mark whence the 10 feet measurement should be made. This is due to the irregularity of the bases of all such marks. Therefore, when searching for letters, a short trench, running to the north, will frequently have to be dug, and not a mere hole. I should propose that the short notice be punched or pricked on a thin sheet of lead, made by pouring two or three melted bullets on a flat stone, and that the plate so made and inscribed should be rolled up and pushed into a hole bored or burnt through the head of a large tent peg. The peg could be driven deeply in the ground, quite out of sight, without disturbing the surrounding earth. It might even suffice to pick up a common stone and to scratch or paint upon it what you had to say, and to leave it on the ground, with its written face downwards, at the place in question.

To secure Buried Letters from Damp.—They may be wrapped in waxed cloth or paper, if there be no fear of the ravages of insects. Lead plate is far more safe: it can be made easily enough by a traveller out of his bullets. (See "Lead.") A glass bottle (with something that insects cannot eat, such as lead-plate, sealing-wax or clay, put carefully over the cork) or an earthen jar may be used. The quill of a large feather will hold a long letter, if it is written in very small handwriting and on thin paper, and it will preserve it from the wet. After the letter has been rolled up and inserted in the quill, the open end of the latter may be squeezed flat between two stones, heated sufficiently to soften the quill (see "Horn") but not so hot as to burn it, and then, for greater security against wet, the end of the quill should be twisted tight. Wax affords another easy means of closing the quill.

Picture-writing.—A very many excellent bushrangers are unable to read, rude picture-writing is often used by them, especialy in America. The figure of a man with a spear or bow, drawn as a child would draw, stands for a savage; one with a hat or gun for a European; horses, oxen, and sheep are equally to be drawn; lines represent numbers, and arrow-heads direction. Even without more conventional symbols, a vast deal may be expressed by rude picture-writing.

Reconnoitring Barren Countries by help of Porters and Caches.—The distance to which an explorer can attain in barren countries depends on the number of days' provisions that he can carry with him. Half of his load supports him on his way out, the other half on his way home. But if he start in company with a laden porter, he may reserve his own store and supply both himself and the porter from the pack carried by the latter. When half of this is consumed, the other half may be divided into two equal portions. The one is retained by the porter who makes his way back to camp, consuming it as he goes, and the other is cached (see "Caches") for the sustenance of the traveller on his return journey. This being arranged, the traveller can start from the cache with his own load of provisions untouched, just as he would have started from the camp if he had had no porter to assist him. It is evident a process of this description might be frequently repeated; that a large party of porters might start, and by a system of successive subdivisions, they could enable the traveller to reach a position many days' journey distant from his camp, with his own load of provisions and with other food placed in a succession of caches, for the supply of his wants all the way home again. The principle by which this may be effected without waste, is to send back at each successive step the smallest detachment competent to travel alone, and to do this as soon as one half of their load of food has been consumed by the whole party. Then, the other half is to be divided into two portions; one consisting of rations to supply the detachment back to the previous cache, whence their journey home has been provided for, the other portion to be buried, to supply rations for the remainder of the party, when they shall have returned (either all together or else in separate and successive detachments) back to the previous cache, whence their journey home has also been provided for. An inspection of the Table which I annex (p. 307) makes details unnecessary. The dotted lines show how the porters who first return may be dispatched afresh as relief parties. I give, in the table, a schedule of the three most important cases. In these the regular supply of two meals per diem, and a morning and an afternoon journey, are supposed. I wrote a paper on this subject, which is published in the 'Royal Geographical Society's Proceedings,' vol. ii., to which I refer those who care to inquire further into the matter. Cases where each man or horse carries a number of rations intermediate to those specified in the Table, are, perhaps, too complicated for use without much previous practice. It would be easy for a leader to satisfy himself that he was making no mistake, and to drill his men to any one of the tabulated cases, by painting a row of sticks, 50 yards apart, to represent the successive halting-places of his intended journey, and by making his men go through a sham rehearsal of what they would severally have to do. Then each man's duties could be written down in a schedule and all possibility of mistake be avoided.

The Table represents the proceedings of four men (or horses and men), who leave camp. Two turn back at P1, one more turns back at P2, and the remaining man pushes on to P3. Food has been cached for him both at P2 and P1; but to make matters doubly sure, a relief party, as shown by the dotted line, can be sent to meet him at P2.

In Case A, each man carries 1 1/2 day's rations. " B. " (or horse) " 3 1/2 days' rations for himself (and drivers). " C. each man (or horse) carries 5 1/2 days' rations for himself (and drivers).

We will take the case C as an example. The figures that refer to it are in the lines adjacent to the letter C in the Table. They are those in the uppermost line, and also those in the line up the left-hand side of the diagram, and they stand for days' journey and for days respectively. P1 is reached after 1 1/2 day's travel, P2 after 3 days, P3 after 6 days from camp. The entire party might consist of 5 men, 2 carts (one a very light one), and four horses, together with one saddle and bridle. The heavier cart and 2 men and 2 horses would turn back at P1. One of the two horses of the second cart would be saddled and ridden back by a third man from P2; and, finally, the remaining cart, single horse, and 2 men, would turn back, after 6 days, from P3.—The relief party would originallyconsist of the first cart and 3 horses. On arriving at P1, a horse and man would be sent back. At P2 it would have more than enough spare rations to admit of its waiting two whole days for the exploring cart, if it were necessary to do so.

[Full page diagram as described above].

It will be seen from the Table that as 6 days' journey is the limit to which C can explore, so 4 days' journey is the limit for B, and 2 days for A. But where abundance of provision is secured at P2 by means of a relief party, the explorers might well make an effort and travel on half rations to a greater distance than the limits here assigned.



MANAGEMENT OF SAVAGES.

General Remarks.—A frank, joking, but determined manner, joined with an air of showing more confidence in the good faith of the natives than you really feel, is the best. It is observed, that a sea-captain generally succeeds in making an excellent impression on savages: they thoroughly appreciate common sense, truth, and uprightness; and are not half such fools as strangers usually account them. If a savage does mischief, look on him as you would on a kicking mule, or a wild animal, whose nature is to be unruly and vicious, and keep your temper quite unruffled. Evade the mischief, if you can: if you cannot, endure it; and do not trouble yourself overmuch about your dignity, or about retaliating on the man, except it be on the grounds of expediency. There are even times when any assumption of dignity becomes ludicrous, and the traveller must, as Mungo Park had once to do, "lay it down as a rule to make himself as useless and as insignificant as possible, as the only means of recovering his liberty."

Bush Law.—It is impossible but that a traveller must often take the law into his own hands. Some countries, no doubt, are governed with a strong arm by a savage despot; to whom or to whose subordinates appeals must of course be made; but, for the most part, the system of life among savages is—

"The simple rule, the good old plan— That they should take, who have the power; And they should keep, who can."

Where there is no civil law, or any kind of substitute for it, each man is, as it were, a nation in himself; and then the traveller ought to be guided in his actions by the motives that influence nations, whether to make war or to abstain from it, rather than by the criminal code of civilised countries. The traveller must settle in his own mind what his scale of punishments should be; and it will be found a convenient principle that a culprit should be punished in proportion to the quantity of harm that he has done, rather than according to the presumed wickedness of the offence. Thus, if two men were caught, one of whom had stolen an ox, and the other a sheep, it would be best to flog the first much more heavily than the second; it is a measure of punishment more intelligible to savages than ours. The principle of double or treble restitution, to which they are well used, is of the same nature. If all theft be punished, your administration will be a reign of terror; for every savage, even your best friends, will pilfer little things from you, whenever they have a good opportunity. Be very severe if any of your own party steal trifles from natives: order double or treble restitution, if the man does not know better; and, if he does, a flogging besides, and not in place of it.

Seizing Food.—On arriving at an encampment, the natives commonly run away in fright. If you are hungry, or in serious need of anything that they have, go boldly into their huts, take just what you want, and leave fully adequate payment. It is absurd to be over-scrupulous in these cases.

Feast-Days.—Interrupt the monotony of travel, by marked days, on which you give extra tobacco and sugar to the servants. Avoid constant good feeding, but rather have frequent slight fasts to ensure occasional good feasts; and let those occasions when marked stages of your journey have been reached, be great gala-days. Recollect that a savage cannot endure the steady labour that we Anglo-Saxons have been bred to support. His nature is adapted to alternations of laziness and of severe exertion. Promote merriment, singing, fiddling, and so forth, with all your power. Autolycus says, in 'A Winter's Tale'—

"Jog on, jog on, the foot-path way, Merrily bent the stils-a: A merry heart goes all the day, Your sad tires in a mile-a."

Flogging.—Different tribes have very different customs in the matter of corporal punishment: there are some who fancy it a disgrace and a serious insult. A young traveller must therefore be discriminating and cautious in the licence he allows to his stick, or he may fall into sad trouble.

Kindliness of Women—Wherever you go, you will find kindheartedness amongst women. Mungo Park is fond of recording his experiences of this; but I must add that he seems to have been an especial favourite with the sex. The gentler of the two sexes is a "teterrima causa belli."

When you wish a Savage to keep count, give him a string of beads. The boxes and parcels that are sent by the overland route are, or were, counted in this way by an Arab overseer. He was described as having a cord with great beads strung on it, and the end of the cord was thrown over his shoulder. As each box passed him, he jerked a bead from the fore part of the cord to the back part of it, over his shoulder.

Drawing Lots.—It is often necessary to distribute things by lot. Do it by what children call "soldiering:" One stands with his back to the rest' another, pointing to the portions in succession, calls out "Who is to have this?" To which the first one replies by naming somebody, who at once takes possession.



HOSTILITIES.

To Fortify a Camp.—Forts at opposite Corners.—Explorers have frequent occasion to form a depot: either a few men are left in charge of the heavy luggage, while the rest of the party ride on a distant reconnoitring expedition; or else the whole party may encamp for weeks, until the state of the season, or other cause, permits further travel. In either case, a little forethought and labour will vastly increase the security of the depot against hostile attempts. For instance, it should be placed at least 200 yards from any cover, or commanding heights; if the ground on which it stands have any features of strength about it, as being near the side of a stream, or being on a hill, so much the better; the neighbourhood of shingle prevents persons from stealing across unheard; and, finally, the camp should be fortified. Now the principle of fortification best suited to a small party, is to form the camp into a square, and to have two projecting enclosures at opposite corners, where all the men who have guns may place themselves to fire on the assailants. It will be seen by the sketch, how completely the guns in each enclosure can sweep the edges as well as the whole of the environs of the camp.

[Sketch of camp with fortifications].

A square is better than a round for the projecting enclosures, as it allows more men to use their guns at the same time on the same point; but it is so convenient to make the walls of the enclosure serve as sidings for the tents, that it is perhaps best to allow the size and shape of the tent to determine those of the enclosures. A square of nine or ten feet, inside measurement, is amply sufficient for three guns or archers. The parapets can be built of large stones. A travelling party rarely carries spades, but when they have them, the parapet may be formed of the earth thrown up by digging a trench outside it; the common calculation is, that, with good tools, a labourer can dig one cubic yard of earth an hour, and can continue working for eight hours in the day. The parapet should be raised four feet above the ground, as that is the most convenient height to fire from when standing; and it is high enough to shield a person kneeling down to load. Upon this parapet, large stones should be laid, having loop-holes between them, and above the stones the tent may be pitched; its pole being lengthened by lashing apiece of wood to it, or by cutting a fresh pole altogether. It will make a high roof to the enclosure, and will complete a comfortable abode. We have thus a square enclosed camp for the cattle, the wagons, and the natives of the party; and, at opposite corners of it, two fortified houses: one of which would naturally be inhabited by the leaders of the party; and the other, either by the storekeeper, or by the white servants generally

Trous de Loup are holes, with sharp stake driven in the bottom of each of them (see "Pitfalls," p. 264) with the pointed end upwards. The South Sea Islanders use them in multitudes to prevent the possibility of an enemy's approach at night, otherwise than along the narrow paths that lead to their villages: if a man deviates from a path, he is sure to stumble into one of these contrivances, and to be lamed. The holes need not exceed one foot in diameter; and the stake may be a stick no thicker than the little finger, and yet it will suffice to maim an ill-shod man, if its point be baked hard. A traveller could only use these pitfalls where, from the circumstances of the case, there was no risk of his own men, cattle, or dogs falling into them.

Weapons, to resist an Attack.—Unless your ammunition is so kept as to be accessible in the confusion of an attack, the fortifications I have just described would be of little service. If the guns are all, or nearly all, of the same bore, it is simple enough to have small bags filled with cartridges, and also papers with a dozen caps in each. Buck-shot and slugs are better than bullets, for the purposes of which we are speaking. Bows and arrows might render good service. The Chinese, in their junks, when they expect a piratical attack, bring up baskets filled with stones from the ballast of the ship, and put them on deck ready at hand. They throw them with great force and precision: the idea is not a bad one. Boiling water and hot sand, if circumstances happened to permit their use, are worth bearing in mind, as they tell well on the bodies of naked assailants. In close quarters, thrust, do not strike; and recollect that it is not the slightest use to hit a negro on the head with a stick, as it is a fact that his skull endures a blow better than any other part of his person. In picking out the chiefs, do not select the men that are the most showily ornamented, for they are not the chiefs; but the biggest and the busiest. A good horseman will find a powerful weapon at hand by unhitching his stirrup leather and attached stirrup from the saddle. I know of a case where this idea saved the rider.

Rockets.—Of all European inventions, nothing so impresses and terrifies savages as fireworks, especially rockets. I cannot account for the remarkable effect they produce, but in every land, it appears to be the same. A rocket, judiciously sent up, is very likely to frighten off an intended attack and save bloodshed. If a traveller is supplied with any of these, he should never make playthings of them, but keep them for great emergencies.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

[Sketch of horse tethered as above].

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

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

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

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

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

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

[Sketch of hands tied as above].

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

[Sketch of person with bound hands].

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

[Sketch of man in waistcoat].

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

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

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

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

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



MECHANICAL APPLIANCES.

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