The art of travel

FORDS AND BRIDGES.

Fords.--In fording a swift stream, carry heavy stones in your hand, for you require weight to resist the force of the current: indeed, the deeper you wade, the more weight you require; though you have so much the less at command, on account of the water buoying you up.

Rivers cannot be forded if their depth exceeds 3 feet for men or 4 feet for horses. Fords are easily discovered by typing a sounding-pole to the stern of a boat rowing down the middle of the stream, and searching those places where the pole touches the bottom. When no boat is to be had, fords should be tried for where the river is broad rather than where it is narrow, and especially at those places where there are bends in its course. In these the line of shallow water does not run straight across, but follows the direction of a line connecting a promontory on one side to the nearest promontory on the other, as in the drawing; that is to say, from A to B, or from B to C, and not right across from B to b, from A to a, or from C to c. Along hollow curves, asa, b, c, the stream runs deep, and usually beneath overhanging banks; whilst in front of promontories, as at A, B, and C, the water is invariably shoal, unless it be a jutting rock that makes the promontory. Therefore, by entering the stream at one promontory, with the intention of leaving it at another, you ensure that at all events the beginning and end of your course shall be in shallow water, which you cannot do by attempting any other line of passage.

To Cross Boggy and Uncertain Ground.--Swamps.--When you wish to take a wagon across a deep, miry, and reedy swamp, outspan and leg the cattle feed. Then cut faggots of reeds and strew them thickly over the line of intended passage. When plenty are laid down, drive the cattle backwards and forwards, and they will trample them in. Repeat the process two or three times, till the causeway is firm enough to bear the weight of the wagon. Or, in default of reeds, cut long poles and several short cross-bars, say of two fee long; join these as best you can, so as to make a couple of ladder-shaped frames. Place these across the mud, one under the intended track of each wheel. Faggots strewn between each round of the ladder will make the causeway more sound. A succession of logs, laid crosswise with faggots between them, will also do, but not so well.

Passing from Hand to Hand.--When many things have to be conveyed across a piece of abominably bad road--as over sand-dunes, heavy shingle, mud of two feet deep, a morass, a jagged mountain tract, or over stepping-stones in the bed of a rushing torrent--it is a great waste of labour to make laden men travel to and fro with loads on their backs. It is a severe exertion to walk at all under these circumstances, letting along the labour of also carrying a burden. The men should be stationed in a line, each at a distance of six or seven feet from his neighbour, and should pass the things from hand to hand, as they stand.

Plank Roads.--"Miry, boggy lines of road, along which people had been seen for months crawling like flies across a plate of treacle, are suddenly, and I may almost say magically, converted into a road as hard and good as Regent Street by the following simple process, which is usually adopted as soon as the feeble funds of the young colony can purchase the blessing. A small gang of men, with spades and rammers, quickly level one end of the earth road. As fast as they proceed, four or five rows of strong beams or sleepers, which have been brought in the light wagons of the country, are laid down longitudinally, four or five feet asunder; and no sooner are they in position than from other wagons stout planks, touching each other, are transversely laid upon them. From a third series of wagons, a thin layer of sand or grit is thrown upon the planks, which instantly assume the appearance of a more level McAdam road than in practice can ever be obtained. Upon this new-born road the wagons carrying the sleepers, planks, and sand, convey, with perfect ease, these three descriptions of materials for its continuance. The work advances literally about as fast as an old gouty gentleman can walk; and as soon as it is completed, there can scarcely exist a more striking contrast than between the two tenses of what it was and what it is. This 'plank road,' as it is termed in America, usually lasts from eight to twelve years; and as it is found quite unnecessary to spike the planks to the sleepers, the arrangement admits of easy repair, which, however, is but seldom required." (Sir Francis Head, in Times, Jan. 25.)

Snow.--Sir R. Dalyell tells me that it is the practice of muleteers in the neighbourhood of Erzeroum, when their animals lose their way and flounder in the deep snow, to spread a horse-cloth or other thick rug from off their packs upon the snow in front of them. The animals step upon it and extricate themselves easily. I have practised walking across deep snow-drifts on this principle, with perfect success.

Weak Ice.--Water that is slightly frozen is made to bear a heavy wagon, by cutting reeds, strewing them thickly on the ice, and pouring water upon them; when the whole is frozen into a firm mass the process must be repeated.

Bridges.--Flying Bridges are well known: a long cord or chain of poles is made fast to a rock or an anchor in the middle of a river. The other end is attached to the ferry-boat which being so slewed as to receive the force of the current obliquely, traverses the river from side to side.

Bridges of Felled Trees.--If you are at the side of a narrow but deep and rapid river, on the banks of which trees grow long enough to reach across, one or more may be felled, confining the trunk to its own bank, and letting the current force the head round to the opposite side; but if "the river be too wide to be spanned by one tree--and if two or three men can in any manner be got across--let a large tree be felled into the water on each side, and placed close to the banks opposite to each other, with their heads lying up-streamwards. Fasten a rope to the head of each tree, confine the trunks, shove the head off to receive the force of the current, and ease off the ropes, so that the branches may meet in the middle of the river at an angle pointing upwards. The branches of the trees will be jammed together by the force of the current, and so be sufficiently united as to form a tolerable communication, especially when a few of the upper branches have been cleared away. If insufficient, towards the middle of the river, to bear the weight of men crossing, a few stakes with the forks left near their heads, may be thrust down through the branches of the trees to support them." (Sir H. Douglas.)

CLOTHING.

General Remarks.--There are such infinite varieties of dress, that I shall only attempt a few general remarks and give a single costume, that a traveller of great experience had used to his complete satisfaction. The military authorities of different nations have long made it their study to combine in the best manner the requirements of handsome effect, of cheapness, and of serviceability in all climates, but I fear their results will not greatly help the traveller, who looks more to serviceability than to anything else. Of late years, even Garibaldi with his red-shirted volunteers, and Alpine men with their simple outfit, have approached more nearly to a traveller's ideal.

Materials for Clothes.--Flannel.--The importance of flannel next the skin can hardly be overrated: it is now a matter of statistics; for, during the progress of expeditions, notes have been made of the number of names of those in them who had provided themselves with flannel, and of those who had not. The list of sick and dead always included names from the latter list in a very great proportion.

Cotton is preferable to flannel for a sedentary life, in hot damp countries, or where flannel irritates the skin. Persons who are resident in the tropics, and dress in civilised costume, mostly wear cotton shirts.

Linen by universal consent is a dangerous dress wherever there is a chance of much perspiration, for it strikes cold upon the skin when it is wet. The terror of Swiss guides of the old school at a coup d'air on the mountain top, and of Italians at the chill of sundown, is largely due to their wearing linen shirts. Those who are dressed in flannel are far less sensitive to these influences.

Leather is the only safeguard against the stronger kinds of thorns. In pastoral and in hunting countries it is always easy to procure skins of a tough quality that have been neatly dressed by hand. Also it will be easy to find persons capable of sewing them together very neatly, after you have cut them out to the pattern of your old clothes.

Bark Cloth is used in several parts of the work. It is simply a piece of some kind of peculiarly fibrous bark; in Unyoro, Sir S. Baker says, the natives use the bark of a species of fig-tree. They soak it in water and then beat it with a mallet, to get rid of all the harder parts;--much as hemp is prepared. "In appearance it much resembles corduroy, and is the colour of tanned leather: the finer qualities are peculiarly soft to the touch, as though of woven cotton."

Effect of colour on warmth of clothing.--Dark colours become hotter than light colours in the sunshine, but they are not hotter under any other circumstances. Consequently a person who aims at equable temperature, should wear light colours. Light colours are far the best for sporting purposes, as they are usually much less conspicuous than black or rifle-green. Almost all wild beasts are tawny or fawn-coloured, or tabby, or of some nondescript hue and pattern: if an animal were born with a more decided colour, he would soon perish for want of ability to conceal himself.

Warmth of different Materials.--"The indefatigable Rumford made an elaborate series of experiments on the conductivity of the substances used in clothing. His method was this:--A mercurial thermometer was suspended in the axis of a cylindrical glass tube ending with a globe, in such a manner that the centre of the bulb of the thermometer occupied the centre of the globe; the space between the internal surface of the globe and the bulb was filled with the substance whose conductive power was to be determined; the instrument was then heated in boiling water, and afterwards, being plunged into a freezing mixture of pounded ice and salt, the times of cooling down 136 degrees Fahr. were noted. They are recorded in the following table:--

Among the substances here examined, hare's fur offered the greatest impediment to the transmission of the heat. The transmission of heat is powerfully influenced by the mechanical state of the body through which it passes. The raw and twisted silk of Rumford's table illustrate this" (Prof. Tyndall on Heat.)

Waterproof Cloth.--Cloth is made partly waterproof by rubbing soap-suds into it (on the wrong side), and working them well in: and when dry, doing the same with a solution of alum; the soap is by this means decomposed, and the oily part of it distributed among the fibres of the cloth. (See "Tarpaulins.")

Incombustible Stuffs.--I extract the following paragraph from a newspaper. Persons who make much use of musquito curtains, will be glad to read it. "The Répertoire de Chimie Pure et Appliquee publishes the following remarks by the celebrated chemists, MM. D¦bereiner and Oesner, on the various methods for rendering stuffs incombustible, or at least less inflammable than they naturally are. The substances employed for this purpose are borax, alum, soluble glass, and phosphate of ammonia. For wood and common stuffs, any one of these salts will do; but fine and light tissues, which are just those most liable to catching fire, cannot be treated in the same way. Borax renders fine textile fabrics stiff; it causes dust, and will swell out under the smoothing-iron; so does alum, beside weakening the fibres of the stuff, so as to make it tear easily. Soluble glass both stiffens and weakens the stuff, depriving it both of elasticity and tenacity. Phosphate of ammonia alone has none of these inconveniences. It may be mixed with a certain quantity of sal-ammoniac, and then introduced into the starch prepared for stiffening the linen; or else it may be dissolved in 20 parts of water, in weight, to one of phosphate, and the stuff steeped into the solution, then allowed to dry, and ironed as usual.

Phosphate of ammonia is cheap enough to allow of its introduction into common use, so that it may be employed at each wash. Phosphate of ammonia is obtained by saturating the biphosphate of lime with liquid ammonia.

Sewing Materials.--An outfit of sewing materials consists of needles and thread; scissors; tailor's thimble; wax; canvas needles, including the smaller sizes which are identical with glove needles and are used for sewing leather; twine; a palm; awls for cobbling, both straight and curved; cobbler's wax; and, possibly, bristles. The needles and awls in use are conveniently carried in some kind of metal tube, with wads of cork at either end, to preserve their points. (See also the chapter on "Thread, for stitches," etc.)

Articles of Dress.--Hats and Caps.--There is no perfect head-dress; but I notice that old travellers in both hot and temperate countries have generally adopted a scanty "wide-awake." Mr. Oswell, the South African sportsman and traveller, used for years, and strongly recommended to me, a brimless hat of fine Panama grass, which he had sewn as a lining to an ordinary wide-awake. I regret I have had no opportunity of trying this combination, but can easily believe that the touch of the cool, smooth grass, to the wet brow, would be more agreeable than that of any other material. I need hardly mention Pith hats (to be bought under the Opera Colonnade, Pall Mall), Indian topees, and English hunting-caps, as having severally many merits. A muslin turban twisted into a rope and rolled round the hat is a common plan to keep the sun from the head and spine: it can also be used as a rope on an emergency.

Coat.--In nine cases out of ten, a strong but not too thick tweed coat is the best for rough work. In a very thorny country, a leather coat is almost essential. A blouse, cut short so as to clear the saddle, is neat, cool, and easy, whether as a riding or walking costume. Generally speaking, the traveller will chiefly spend his life in his shirt-sleeves, and will only use his coat when he wants extra warmth.

To carry a Coat.--There are two ways. The first is to fold it small and strap it to the belt. If the coat be a light one it can be carried very neatly and comfortably in this way, lying in the small of the back. The second is the contrivance of a friend of mine, an eminent scholar and divine, who always employs it in his vacation rambles. It is to pass an ordinary strap, once round the middle of the coat and a second time round both the coat and the left arm just above the elbow, and then to buckle it. The coat hangs very comfortably in its place and does not hamper the movements of the left arm. It requires no further care, except that after a few minutes it will generally be found advisable to buckle the strap one hole tighter. A coat carried in this way will be found to attract no attention from passers by.

Waistcoats are more convenient for their pockets than for their warmth. When travelling in countries where papers have to be carried, an inside pocket between the lining and the waistcoat, with a button to close it, is extremely useful. Letters of credit and paper money can be carried in it more safely than in any other pocket.

Trousers.--If you are likely to have much riding, take extra leather or moleskin trousers, or tweed covered down the inside of the legs with leather, such as cavalry soldiers generally wear. Leather is a better protection than moleskin against thorns; but not so serviceable against wet: it will far outlast moleskin. There should be no hem to the legs of trousers, as it retains the wet.

Watch-pocket.--Have it made of macintosh, to save the watch from perspiration. The astronomer-royal of Cape Town, Sir T. Maclear, who had considerable experience of the bush when measuring an arc of the meridian, justly remarked to me on the advantage of frequently turning the watch-pocket inside out, to get rid of the fluff and dust that collects in it and is otherwise sure to enter the watch-case.

Socks.--The hotter the ground on which you have to walk, the thicker should be your socks. These should be of woollen, wherever you expect to have much walking; and plenty of them will be required.

Substitute for Socks.--For want of socks, pieces of linen may be used, and, when these are properly put on they are said to be even better than socks. They should be a foot square, be made of soft worn linen, be washed once a-day, and be smeared with tallow. They can be put on so dexterously as to stand several hours' marching without making a single wrinkle, and are much used by soldiers in Germany. To put them on, the naked foot is placed crosswise; the corners on the right and on the left are then folded over, then the corner which lies in front of the toes. Now the art consists in so drawing up these ends, that the foot can be placed in the shoe or boot without any wrinkles appearing in the bandage. One wrinkle is sure to make a blister, and therefore persons who have to use them should practise frequently how to put them on. Socks similar to these, but made of thick blanket, and called "Blanket Wrappers," are in use at Hudson's Bay instead of shoes.

Shirt-sleeves.--When you have occasion to tuck up your shirt-sleeves, recollect that the way of doing so is, not to begin by turning the cuffs inside out, but outside in--the sleeves must be rolled up inwards, towards the arm, and not the reverse way. In the one case, the sleeves will remain tucked up for hours without being touched; in the other, they become loose every five minutes.

Gloves, Mits, and Muffs.--In cold dry weather a pair of old soft kid gloves, with large woollen gloves drawn over them, is the warmest combination. Mits and muffetees merely require mention. To keep the hands warm in very severe weather, a small fur muff may be slung from the neck, in which the hands may rest till wanted.

Braces.--Do not forget to take them, unless you have had abundant experience of belts; for belts do not suit every shape, neither are English trousers cut with the intention of being worn with them. But trousers made abroad, are shaped at the waist, especially for the purpose of being worn without braces; if desired. If you use braces, take two pairs, for when they are drenched with perspiration, they dry slowly. Some people do not care to use a belt, even with trousers of an ordinary cut, but find that a tape run through a hem along the upper edge of the trousers acts sufficiently well. Capt. Speke told me he always used this plan.

Boots.--Boots of tanned leather such as civilised people wear, are incomparably better for hard usage, especially in wet countries, than those of hand-dressed skins. If travelling in a hot, dry country, grease plentifully both your shoes and all other leather. "La graisse est la conservation du cuir," as I recollect a Chamouni guide enunciating with profound emphasis. The soles of plaited cord used in parts of the Pyrenees, are durable and excellent for clambering over smooth rock. They have a far better hold upon it than any other sole of which I have knowledge. Sandals are better than nothing at all. So are cloths wound round the feet and ankles and tied there: the peasants of the remarkable hilly place where I am writing these lines, namely Amalfi, use them much. They are an untidy chaussure, but never seem to require to be tied afresh. In the old days of Rome this sort of foot-gear was common. Haybands wound round the feet are a common makeshift by soldiers who are cut off from their supplies. It takes some months to harden the feet sufficiently to be able to walk without shoes at all. Slippers are great luxuries to foot-sore men. They should of course be of soft material, but the soles should not be too thin or they will be too cold for comfort in camp life.

Leggings.--Macintosh leggings to go over the trousers are a great comfort in heavy showers, especially when riding.

Gaiters.--If the country be full of briars and thorns, the insteps suffer cruelly when riding through bushes. It is easy to make gaiters either with buttons or buckles. A strip of wood is wanted, either behind or else on each side of them, to keep them from slipping down to the ankle.

Dressing Gown.--Persons who travel, even with the smallest quantity of luggage, would do wisely to take a thick dressing-gown. It is a relief to put it on in the evening, and is a warm extra dress for sleeping in. It is eminently useful, comfortable and durable.

Poncho.--A poncho is useful, for it is a sheet as well as a cloak; being simply a blanket with a slit in the middle to admit the wearer's head. A sheet of strong calico, saturated with oil, makes a waterproof poncho.

Complete Bush-costume.--Mr. Gordon Cumming describes his bush-costume as follows:--"My own personal appointments consisted of a wide-awake hat, secured under my chin by 'rheimpys' or strips of dressed skin, a coarse linen shirt, sometimes a kilt, and sometimes a pair of buckskin knee-breeches, and a pair of 'veltschoens,' or home-made shoes. I entirely discarded coat, waistcoat, and neckcloth; and I always hunted with my arms bare; my heels were armed with a pair of powerful persuaders, and from my left wrist depended, by a double rheimpy (thong), an equally persuasive sea-cow jambok (whip of solid leather). Around my waist I wore two leathern belts or girdles. The smaller did the duty of suspender, and from it on my left side depended a plaited rheimpy, eight inches in length, forming a loop, in which dangled my powerful loading-rod, formed of a solid piece of horn of the rhinoceros. The larger girdle was my shooting-belt; this was a broad leather belt, on which were fastened four separate compartments, made of otterskin, with flaps to button over, of the same material. The first of these held my percussion-caps; the second, a large powder-flask; the third and fourth, which had divisions in them, contained balls and patches, two sharp clasp-knives, a compass, flint and steel. In this belt I also carried a loading-mallet, formed from the horn of the rhinoceros; this and the powder-flask were each secured to the belt by long rheimpys, to prevent my losing them. Last, but not least, in my right hand I usually carried my double-barrelled two-grooved rifle, which was my favourite weapon. This, however, I subsequently made up my mind was not the tool for a mounted man, especially when quick loading is required."

Wet Clothes, to dry.--Fire for drying Clothes.--To dry clothes it is a very convenient plan to make a dome-shaped framework of twigs over a smouldering fire; by bending each twig or wand into a half-circle, and planting both ends of it in the ground, one on each side of the fire. The wet clothes are laid on this framework, and receive the full benefit of the heat. Their steam passes readily upwards.

To keep Clothes from the wet.--Mr. Parkyns says, "I may as well tell, also, how we managed to keep our clothes dry when travelling in the rain: this was rather an important consideration, seeing that each man's wardrobe consisted of what he carried on his back. Our method was at once effective and simple: if halting, we took off our clothes and sat on them; if riding, they were placed under the leathern shabraque of the mule's saddle, or under any article of similar material, bed or bag, that lay on the camel's pack. A good shower-bath did none of us any harm; and as soon as the rain was over, and the moisture on our skins had evaporated, we had our garments as warm, dry, and comfortable as if they had been before a fire. In populous districts, we kept on our drawers, or supplied their place with a piece of rag, or a skin; and then, when the rain was over, we wrapped ourselves up in our 'quarry,' and taking off the wetted articles, hung them over the animal's cruppers to dry." Another traveller writes:--

"The only means we had of preserving our sole suit of clothes dry from the drenching showers of rain, was by taking them off and stuffing them into the hollow of a tree, which in the darkness of the night we could do with propriety."

Mr. Palliser's boatmen at Chagre took each a small piece of cloth, under which they laid their clothes every time that they stripped in expectation of a coming storm.

Dipping clothes wetted with rain, in Sea-water.--Captain Bligh, who was turned adrift in an open boat after the mutiny of the 'Bounty,' writes thus about his experience:--"With respect to the preservation of our health, during a course of 16 days of heavy and almost continual rain, I would recommend to every one in a similar situation the method we practised, which is to dip their clothes in the salt water and wring them out as often as they become filled with rain: it was the only resource we had, and I believe was of the greatest service to us, for it felt more like a change of dry clothes than could well be imagined. We had occasion to do this so often, that at length our clothes were wrung to pieces; for except the few days we passed on the coast of New Holland, we were continually wet, either with rain or sea."

Washing Clothes.--Substitute for Soap.--The lye of ashes and the gall of animals are the readiest substitutes for soap. The sailor's recipe for washing clothes is well known, but it is too dirty to describe. Bran, and the meal of many seeds, is good for scouring: also some earths, like fuller's-earth. Many countries possess plants that will make a lather with water. Dr. Rae says that in a very cold climate, when fire, water, and the means of drying are scarce, it will be found that rubbing andbeating in snow cleanses all clothing remarkably well, particularly woollens. When preparing for a regular day's washing, it is a good plan to boil an abundance of ashes in water, strain off the lye, adding the gall of any animal you may have killed, and let the clothes soak in it. Next morning, take them to the water-side, and wash and beat them with a flat piece of wood, or lay them on a broad stone and knead and wring them with the hands.

Lye of Ashes.--In choosing plants to burn for ashes (whence the lye is to be made by pouring hot water on them), it must be recollected that all plants are not equally efficacious: those that contain the most alkali (either potash or soda) are the best. On this account, the stalks of succulent plants, as reeds, maize, broom, heath, and furze, are very much better than the wood of any trees; and twigs are better than timber. Pine and fir-trees are the worst of woods. The ashes of most kinds of seaweed yield abundance of alkali. Potash is the alkali that is obtained from the ashes of land plants, and soda from those of marine plants.

Soap is made by keeping fat constantly simmering in lye of ashes (see preceding paragraphs) for some days; adding fresh lye as fast as the water boils away, or is sucked up by the fat. After one or two trials, the knack of soap-making is easily caught. The presence of salt makes the soap hard; its absence, soft; now many ashes contain a good deal of salt, and these may make the soap too hard, and will have to be mixed with other sorts of ashes before being used: experience must guide the traveller in this. A native woman will be probably be found without difficulty, who will attend night and day to the pot-boiling for a small payment. Inferior soap may be made by simply putting some grease into a tub of very strong lye, and letting it remain for two or three weeks, without any boiling, but stirring it every day.

Marine Soap is made of soda lye (the lye of seaweeds) and cocoa-nut oil; it makes a lather with salt water, but it has the defect of being very bulky.

To wash Flannels.--Make a lather of soap on a small piece of flannel, and rub with it those parts that require the most cleansing, such as the neck and wristbands of a shirt; then plunge the shirt in water as hot as you can bear it, rinsing it and wringing it out very thoroughly, and hang it up to dry as quickly as possible. Soda should not be used with coloured flannels.

Washing Oneself.--Warmth of Dirt.--There is no denying the fact, though it be not agreeable to confess it, that dirt and grease are great protectors of the skin against inclement weather, and that therefore the leader of a party should not be too exacting about the appearance of his less warmly-clad followers. Daily washing, if not followed by oiling, must be compensated by wearing clothes. Take the instance of a dog. He will sleep out under any bush, and thrive there, so long as he is not washed, groomed, and kept clean; but if he be, he must have a kennel to lie in, the same is the case with a horse; he catches cold if he is groomed in the day, and turned out at nights; but he never catches cold when left wholly to himself. A savage will never wash unless he can grease himself afterwards--grease takes the place of clothing to him. There must be a balance between the activity of the skin and the calls upon it; and where the exposure is greater, there must the pores be more defended. In Europe, we pass our lives in a strangely artificial state; our whole body swathed in many folds of dress, excepting the hands and face--the first of which are frequently gloved. We can afford to wash, but naked men cannot.

Best Times for Washing.--The most convenient time for a traveller to make his toilet, in rough travel, is after the early morning's ride, a bath being now and then taken in the afternoon. It is trying work to wash in ice-cold water, in the dark and blowing morning; besides which, when the sun rises up, its scorching heat tells severely on a face that has been washed.

Toilet made overnight.--During the harassing duties of active warfare, officers who aim at appearing in a decorous dress, in whatever emergency their presence may be required, make their toilet overnight before going to sleep.

Economising Water in Washing.--Where water has to be economised, by far the best way of using it is after the Mahomedan fashion. An attendant pours a slender stream from a jug, which the man who washes himself receives in his hands and distributes over his person.

Bath-glove.--Fold a piece of very coarse towel in two parts: lay your hand upon it, and mark its outline rudely; then guided by the outline, cut it out: sew the two pieces together, along their edges, and the glove is made. It is inexpensive, and portable, and as good a detergent as horsehair gloves or flesh-brushes.

Brushes.--It is well to know how to make a brush, whether for clothes, boots, or hair, and the accompanying section of one will explain itself. Bristles are usually employed, but fibres of various kinds may be used.

BEDDING.

General Remarks.--The most bulky, and often the heaviest, parts of a traveller's equipment are his clothes, sleeping-mat, and blankets: nor is it at all desirable that these should be stinted in quantity; for the hardship that most tries a man's constitution and lays the seeds of rheumatism, dysentery, and fever, is that of enduring the bitter cold of a stormy night, which may happen to follow an exhausting day of extreme heat or drenching wet. After many months' travel and camping, the constitution becomes far less susceptible of injury from cold and damp, but in no case is it ever proof against their influence. Indeed, the oldest travellers are ever those who go the most systematically to work, in making their sleeping-places dry and warm. Unless a traveller makes himself at home and comfortable in the bush, he will never be quite contented with his lot; but will fall into the bad habit of looking forwards to the end of his journey, and to his return to civilisation, instead of complacently interesting himself in its continuance. This is a frame of mind in which few great journeys have been successfully accomplished; and an explorer who cannot divest himself of it, may suspect that he has mistaken his vocation.

It is a common idea among men who are preparing to travel for the first time, that all the bed-clothing about which they need concern themselves, is a sufficiency to cover them, forgetting that a man has an under as well as an upper side to keep warm, and must therefore have clothing between him and the earth, as well as between him and the air. Indeed, on trying the experiment, and rolling oneself up in a single blanket, the undermost side in a cold night is found to be by far the colder of the two. The substance of the blanket is compressed by the weight of the sleeper; the interstices between its fibres cease to exist; and the air which they contained and which is a powerful non-conductor of heat, is squeezed out. Consequently wherever the blanket is compressed, its power of retaining the heat of the sleeper is diminished. Soft fleecy substances, like eider-down quilts, which are extremely warm as coverlets, are well-nigh useless as mattresses. There is another cause why a sleeper requires more protection from below, than from above: it is that if the ground be at all wet, its damp will penetrate through very thick substances laid upon it. It will therefore be clearly understood that the object of a mattress is not alone to give softness to the bed, but also to give warmth; and that if a man lies in a hammock, with only the hammock below, and blankets above, he will be fully as much chilled as if the arrangement had been reversed, and he had lain upon blankets, with only the hammock as a sheet to cover him.

Vital Heat.--The vital heat of a man, either in an active or a latent form, is equal to that which is given out by two ordinary candles: I judge so from the following reasons. All our vital heat is produced by the combustion--for it is simple combustion--of the carbon in our food. Now the quantity of carbon consumed by a man in full diet, in 24 hours, is about 22 oz. in weight. On the other hand, I find that ordinary candles, which mainly consist of carbon, burn at the rate of 11 oz. in 24 hours. Therefore the heat given out by two candles is just about the same as that given out by one man, either in a sensible form, or else under a latent form by the vapour of the breath. Secondly, I have frequently heard it estimated, as the result of the ordinary experience of social life, that a saloon is warmed by each couple of candles somewhat more than it is by the presence of a single guest. Where I write these lines, I have not an opportunity of verifying my rough estimate, by reference to physiological works, but accuracy is of little consequence to my present purpose, which is to give a general idea of the magnitude of the problem to be solved by clothes and tenting. Their joint office is to retain the heat of a mass of flesh and blood, the size and shape of a man, warmed by two candles burning within it, at a temperature of not less than 96 degrees in its inward parts.

Mattresses and their Substitutes.--A Strip of Macintosh.--If a traveller can do so, he should make a point of having a strip of macintosh sheeting 7 feet by 4, certainly not less than 6 feet by 3, to lay on the ground below his bedding. Every white servant in the expedition ought to be furnished with a strip of macintosh sheeting, or, failing that, with a strip of painted canvas. However, painted cloth is much inferior to macintosh, as it will not fold up without cracking: it also tears easily, and is heavy. Macintosh, of the sort that suits all climates, and made of linen, not of silk, is invaluable to an explorer, whether in the form of sheeting, coats, water-bags. swimming belts, or inflatable boats. A little box full of the composition for mending it, and a spare bit of macintosh, should always be taken.

Mattress.--Making a mattress is indeed a very simple affair. A bag of canvas, or other cloth, is made of the size wanted. It is then stuffed full of hair, wool, dry leaves, or cotton, and a strong stitch is put through it every few inches. The use of the stitching is to prevent the stuffing from being displaced, and forming lumps in different parts of the bag.

Palliasse.--Straw, well knitted or plaited together, forms a good mattress, commonly called a palliasse.

Shavings of Wood.--Eight pounds' weight of shavings make an excellent bed, and I find I can cut them with a common spokeshave, in 3 1/2 hours, out of a log of deal. It is practicable to make an efficient spokeshave, by tying a large clasp-knife on a common stick which has been cut into a proper shape to receive it.

Oakum.--Old cord, picked into oakum, will also make a bed.

Various Makeshifts.--If a traveller, as is very commonly the case, should have no mattress, he should strew his sleeping-place with dry grass, plucked up from the ground, or with other things warm to the touch, imitating the structure of a bird's-nest as far as he has skill and materials to do so. Leaves, fern, feathers, heather, rushes, flags of reeds and of maize, wood-shavings, bundles of faggots, and such like materials as chance may afford, should be looked for and appropriated; a pile of stones, or even two trunks of trees rolled close together, may make a dry bedstead in a marshy land. Over these, let him lay whatever empty bags, skins, saddle-cloths, or spare clothes he may have, which from their shape or smallness cannot be turned to account as coverings, and the lower part of his bed is complete.

If a night of unusual cold be expected, the best use to make of spare wearing-apparel, is to put it on over that which is already on the person. With two or three shirts, stockings, and trousers, though severally of thin materials, a man may get through a night of very trying weather.

Preparing the Ground for a Bed.--Travellers should always root up the stones and sticks that might interfere with the smoothness of the place where they intend to sleep. This is a matter worth taking a great deal of pains about; the oldest campaigners are the most particular in making themselves comfortable at night. They should also scrape a hollow in the ground, of the shape shown in fig. 2 (next page), before spreading their sleeping-rugs. It is disagreeable enough to lie on a perfectly level surface, like that of a floor, but the acme of discomfort is to lie upon a convexity. Persons who have omitted to make a shapely lair for themselves, should at least scrape a hollow in the ground, just where the hip-bone would otherwise press.