Trenches and Holes.--In cooking for a large party with a small supply of fuel, either dig a narrow trench, above which all the pots and kettles may stand in a row, and in which the fire is made--the mouth being open to the wind, and a small chimney built at the other end;--or else dig a round hole, one foot deep, and place the pots in a ring on its edge, half resting on the earth, and half overlapping the hole. A space will remain in the middle of them, and through this the fire must be fed.
Esquimaux Lamp.--The cooking of the Esquimaux is wholly effected by stone lamps, with wicks made of moss, which are so carefully arranged that the flame gives little or no smoke. Their lamps vary in size from one foot and a half long to six inches. Each of the bits of moss gives a small but very bright flame. The lamp is all in all to the Esquimaux; it dries their clothes, and melts the snow for their drinking-water; its construction is very ingenious; without it they could not have inhabited the arctic regions.
Ovens.--Bedouin Oven.--Dig a hole in the ground; wall and roof it with stones, leaving small apertures in the top. They make a roaring fire in and about the oven (the roof having been temporarily removed for the purpose), and when the stones (including those of the roof) have become very hot, sweep away the ashes and strew the inside of the oven with grass, or leaves, taking care that whatever is used, has no disagreeable taste, else it would be communicated to the flesh. Then put in the meat: it is a common plan to sew it up in its own skin, which shields it from dust and at the same time retains its juices from evaporating. Now replace the roof, a matter of some difficulty, on account of the stones being hot, and therefore requiring previous rehearsal. Lastly, make the fire again over the oven and let the baking continue for some hours. An entire sheep can be baked easily in this way. The same process is used for baking vegetables, except with the addition of pouring occasionally boiling water upon them, through the roof.
Gold-digger's Oven.--The figure represents a section of the oven. A hole or deep notch is dug into the side of a bank, and two flat stones are slid horizontally, like shelves, into grooves made in the sides of the hole, as shown in the figure; where it will be observed that the uppermost stone does not quite reach to the face of the bank, and that the lower-most stone does not quite reach to the back of the hole. A fire of red-hot embers is placed on the floor of the hole; and the bread about to be baked is laid upon the lowermost stone. Lastly, another flat stone is used to close the mouth of the oven: it is set with its edge on the floor of the hole: it leans forward with the middle of its face resting against the front edge of the lowermost stone, a narrow interval being left between its top and the edge of the uppermost stone. This interval serves as a vent to the hot air from the embers, which takes the course shown in the figure. The oven should be thoroughly heated before the bread is put in.
Baking between two stones.--For baking slices of meat or thin cakes, it is sufficient to lay one large stone above another with a few pebbles between, to prevent them from touching. Next make a large fire about the stones until they are thoroughly hot; then sweep away the embers, and insert the slices.
Ant hills as Ovens.--Where there are no stones of which ovens may be built, and where there are old white-ant hills, the natives commonly dig holes in the sides of the ant hills and use them for that purpose.
Clay Ovens.--I have heard of a very neat construction, built with clay, in which grass had been kneaded. A fire was lit inside, to dry the work as it progressed; while the builder placed rings of clay, in tiers, one above the other, until a complete dome was made without mould or framework. Time was allowed for each ring to dry sufficiently, before the next one was added.
Baking beneath a camp fire.--A small piece of meat, enough for four or five people, can be baked by simply scraping a tolerably deep hole under the bivouac fire; putting in the meat rolled in the skin to which it is attached, and covering it with earth and fire. It is a slow process of cooking, for it requires many hours; but the meat, when done, is soft and juicy, and the skin gelatinous and excellent.
"Meat, previously wrapped up in paper or cloth, may be baked in a clay case, in any sort of pit or oven, well covered over, and with good economy." ('Handbook of Field Service.')
Baking in Pots.--A capital oven is improvised by means of two earthen or metal cooking-pots, of which one is placed on the fire, and in it the article to be baked; the other pot is put upon its top, as a cover, and in it a shovelful of red-hot embers.
Bush Cookery.--Tough Meat.--Hammer it well between two stones before putting it on the fire, and again when it is half cooked, to separate the fibres. I have often seen people save themselves much painful mastication, by hammering at each separate piece of meat, before putting it in their mouths.
Rank Meat.--I have spoken of this, in another section, Revolting Food, that may save the Lives of Starving Men.
Kabobs.--Broil the rib-bones, or skewer your iron ramrod through a dozen small lumps of meat and roast them. This is the promptest way of cooking meat; but men on hard work are not satisfied with a diet of nothing else but tough roasted flesh, they crave for succulent food, such as boiled or baked meat.
Salt Meat, to prepare hurriedly.--Warm it slightly on both sides--this makes the salt draw to the outside--then rinse it well in a pannikin of water. This process extracts a large part of the salt, and leaves the meat more fit for cooking.
Haggis.--Hearne, the North American traveller, recommends a "haggis made with blood, a good quantity of fat shred small, some of the tenderest of the flesh, together with the heart and lungs, cut or town into small skivers; all of which is put into the stomach, and roasted by being suspended before the fire with a string. Care must be taken that it does not get too much heat at first, or it will burst. It is a most delicious morsel, even without pepper, salt, or any seasoning."
Theory of Tea-making.--I have made a number of experiments on the art of making good tea. We constantly hear that some people are good and others bad tea-makers; that it takes a long time to understand the behaviour of a new tea=pot, and so forth; and lastly, that good tea cannot be made except with boiling water. Now, this latter assertion is assuredly untrue, because, if tea be actually boiled in water, an emetic and partly poisonous drink is the certain result. I had a tin lid made to my teapot, a short tube passed through the lid, and in the tube was a cork, through a hole in which a thermometer was fitted, that enabled me to learn the temperature of the water in the teapot, at each moment. Thus provided, I continued to make my tea as usual, and to note down what I observed. In the first place after warming the teapot in the ordinary way, the fresh boiling water that was poured into it, sank invariably to under 200 degrees Fahr. It was usually 180 degrees, so great was the amount of heat abstracted by the teapot. I also found that my teapot--it was a crockery one--allowed the water within it to cool down at the rate of about 2 degrees per minute. When the pot was filled afresh, of course the temperature of its contents rose afresh, and by the addition of water two or three times repeated, I obtained a perfect mastery over the temperature of the pot, within reasonable limits. Now, after numerous days in which I made tea according to my usual method, but measuring strictly the quantity of leaves, and recording the times and the temperature, and noting the character of tea produced; then, taking as my type of excellence, tea that was full bodied, full tasted, and in no way bitter or flat, I found that this was only produced when the water in the teapot had remained between 180º and 190 degrees Fahr., and had stood eight minutes on the leaves. It was only necessary for me to add water once to the tea, to ensure this temperature. Bitterness was the certain result of greater heat or of longer standing, and flatness was the result of colder water. If the tea did not stand for so long a time as eight minutes, it was not ripe; it was not full bodied enough. The palate becomes far less fastidious about the quality of the second cup. Other people may like tea of a different character from that which I do myself; but, be that as it may, all people can, I maintain, ensure uniformity of good tea, such as they best like, by attending to the principle of making it--that is to say, to time, and quantities, and temperature. There is no other mystery in the teapot.
Tea made in the kettle.--Where there are no cups or teapot put the leaves in the pot or kettle, and drink through a reed with a wisp of grass in it, as they do in Paraguay. If there are cups and no teapot, the leaves may be put into the pot, previously enclosed in a loose gauze or muslin bag to prevent their floating about. A contrivance is sold in the shops for this purpose; it is made of metal gauze, and shaped like an egg. A purse made of metal rings would be better, for it would pack flat; but the advantage of muslin over metal apparatus is that you may throw away bag and all, and avoid the trouble of cleaning.
Tea made in tin mugs.--A correspondent assures me that he considers the Australian plan of making tea to be preferable to any other, for travellers and explorers; as it secures that the tea shall be made both well and quickly, and without the necessity of carrying kettles on horseback. Each person has a common tin quart pot and a pint pot, slung to his saddle; the tea and sugar are carried in small bags. The quart pot requires very little fire to make it boil. When it begins to boil, it is taken from the fire, the tea is dropped in, and the pint pot is placed on its top as a cover. When the tea is ready, the sugar is dropped into the pint, and the tea is poured from one pot to the other till it is mixed. The pint is always kept clean for drinking out of, but not the quart, for the blacker it is, the sooner will the water boil.
Tea made over night.--To prepare tea for a very early breakfast, make it over night, and pour it away from the tea-leaves, into another vessel. It will keep perfectly well, for it is by long standing with the tea-leaves that it becomes bitter. In the morning simply warm it up. Tea is drunk at a temperature of 140 degrees Fahr., or 90 degrees above an average night temperature of 50 degrees. It is more than twice as easy to raise the temperature up to 140 than to 212 degrees, letting alone the trouble of tea-making.
Extract of Tea and Coffee.--Dr. Rae speaks very highly of the convenience of extract of tea. Any scientific chemist could make it, but he should be begged to use first-rate tea. The extract from first-rate tea makes a very drinkable infusion, but that from second-rate tea is not good, the drink made from the extract always a grade inferior to that made directly from the leaves. By pouring a small quantity of the extract into warm water, the tea is made; and, though inferior in taste to properly made tea, it has an equally good effect on the digestion.
Extract of coffee is well known. I believe it can be made of very good quality, but what is usually sold seems to me to be very much the contrary and not to be wholesome.
Tea and Coffee, without hot water.--In Unyoro, Sir S. Baker says, they have no idea of using coffee as a drink, but simply chew it raw as a stimulant. In Chinese Tartary, travellers who have no means of making a cup of tea, will chew the leaves as a substitute. Mr. Atkinson told me how very grateful he had found this makeshift.
General Remarks.--In most of those countries where travelling is arduous, it is the daily care of an explorer to obtain water, for his own use and for that of his caravan. Should he be travelling in regions that are for the most part arid and rarely visited by showers, he must look for his supplies in ponds made by the drainage of a large extent of country, or in those left here and there along the beds of partly dried-up water-courses, or in fountains. If he be unsuccessful in his search, or when the dry season of the year has advanced, and all water has disappeared from the surface of the land, there remains no alternative for him but to dig wells where there are marks to show that pools formerly lay, or where there are other signs that well-water may be obtained.
Short Stages.--I may here remark that it is a good general rule for an explorer of an arid country, when he happens to come to water, after not less than three hours' travelling, to stop and encamp by it; it is better for him to avail himself of his good fortune and be content with his day's work, than to risk the uncertainty of another supply.
Purity of Watering-places.--Make no litter by the side of watering-places; and encourage among your party the Mahomedan feeling of respect for preserving the purity of drinking-water. Old travellers commonly encamp at a distance from the watering-place, and fetch the water to their camp.
Signs of the Neighbourhood of Water.--The quick intelligence with which experienced travellers discover watering-places, is so great that it might almost be mistaken for an instinct.
Intelligence of Dogs and Cattle.--Dogs are particularly clever in finding water, and the fact of a dog looking refreshed, and it may be wet, has often and often drawn attention to a pond that would otherwise have been overlooked and passed by. Cattle are very uncertain in their intelligence. Sometimes oxen go for miles and miles across a country unknown to them, straight to a pond of water; at other times they are most obtuse: Dr. Leichhardt, the Australian traveller, was quite astonished at their stupidity in this respect.
Trees and ordinary vegetation are not of much help in directing a traveller to water, for they thrive on dew or on occasional rain; but it is otherwise when the vegetation is unusually green or luxuriant, or when the vegetation is unusually green or luxuriant, or when those trees are remarked, that are seldom seen to grow except near water in the particular country visited, as the blackthorn-tree in South Africa.
Birds.--Some species of birds (as water-fowl, parrots, and the diamond bird) or animals (as baboons) afford surer promise; but the converging flight of birds, or the converging fresh tracks of animals, is the most satisfactory sign of all. It is about nightfall that desert birds usually drink, and hence it often happens that the exhausted traveller, abandoning all hope as the shades of evening close in, has his attention arrested by flights of birds, that give him new life and tell him where to go.
Tracks.--In tropical countries that have rainy and dry Seasons, it must be recollected that old paths of men or wild animals only mislead; they go to dry ponds that were full at the time they were trodden, but have since been abandoned on becoming exhausted.
Other Signs.--Well-water may be sought where the earth is still moist, though arid all around, or, failing that, where birds and wild animals have lately been scratching, or where gnats hover in swarms.
To find the Spring--From the number of birds, tracks, and other signs, travellers are often pretty sure that they are near water, but cannot find the spring itself. In this case the party should at once be spread out as skirmishers, and the dogs cheered on.
To probe for Well-water.--It is unusual, when no damp earth can be seen, but where the place appears likely to yield well-water, to force an iron ramrod deep into the soil; and, if it bring up any grains that are moist, to dig.
Pools of Water.--For many days after there has been rain, water is sure to be found among mountains, however desert may be their appearance; for not only does more wet fall upon them, but the drainage is more perfect; long after the ravines and stream-beds are quite dry, puddles and cupfuls of water will be found here and there, along their courses, in holes and chinks and under great stones, which together form a sufficiency. A sponge tied to the end of a stick will do good service in lapping these up.
The sandy Beds of Watercourses in arid countries frequently contain pools of stagnant water; but the places where these pools are to be found are not necessarily those where they have been found in preceding years. The conditions necessary for the existence of a pool are not alone those of the rocky substratum of the river-bed, but more especially, the stratifications of mud and clay left after each flooding. For instance, an extensive bed of sand, enclosed between two layers of clay, would remain moist, and supply well-water during the dry season; but a trivial variation in the force and Amount of the current, in different years, might materially affect the place and the character of the deposition of these clay strata.
In searching the beds of partly dried-up watercourses, the fact must never be forgotten, that it is especially in little tributaries at the point where they fall into the main one, that most water is to be found; and the most insignificant of these should never be overlooked. I presume that the bar, which always accumulates in front of tributaries, and is formed of numerous layers of alluvial deposit, parallel to the bed of the great stream, is very likely to have one, at least, of its layers of an impervious character. If so, the bar would shut in the wet sand of the tributary, like a wall, and prevent it from draining itself dry.
When a river-bed has been long followed by a traveller, and a frequent supply of water found along it, in pools or even in wells, say at every 5 or 10 miles--then, should this river-bed appear to lose itself in a plain that is arid, there is no reason why the traveller should be disheartened; for, on travelling further, the water will be sure to be found again, those plains being always green and grassy where the water in such river-beds entirely disappears.
By Sea-shore.--Fresh water is frequently to be found under the very sands of the sea-shore, whither it has oozed underground from the upper country, and where it overlies the denser salt water; or else abuts against it, if the compactness of the sand resists free percolation. In very many places along the skirt of the great African desert, fresh water is to be found by digging two or three feet.
Fountains.--Fountains in arid lands are as godsends. They are far more numerous and abundant in limestone districts than in any others, owing to the frequent fissures of those rocks: therefore, whenever limestone crops out in the midst of sand deserts, a careful search should be made for water. In granite, and other primary rocks, many, but small springs, are usually seen.
The theory of ordinary fountains is simple enough, and affords help in discovering them. In a few words, it is as follows:--All the water that runs from them has originally Been supplied by rain, dew, or fog-damp, falling on the face of the land and sinking into it. But the subsoil and rocks below, are far from being of a uniform character: they are full of layers of every imaginable degree of sponginess. Strata of clay wholly impenetrable by water, often divide beds of gravel that imbibe it freely. There are also cracks that make continuous channels and dislocations that cause them to end abruptly; and there are rents, filled with various materials, that may either give a free passage or entirely bar the underground course of water. Hence, when water has sunk into the earth, it does not by any means soak through it in an equable degree. It is an easier matter for it to ooze many miles, along a layer of gravel, than to penetrate six inches into a layer of clay that may bound the gravel. Therefore, whenever a porous earth or a fissured rock crops out to the light of day, there is, in ignorance of all other facts, some chance of a spring being discovered in the lowest part of the outcrop. A favourable condition for the existence of a large and permanent fountain, is where a porous stratum spreads over a broad area at a high level, and is prolonged, by a gradually narrowing course, to an outlet at a lower one. The broad upper part of the stratum catches plenty of water during the wet season, which sinks into the depths as into a reservoir, and oozes out in a regular stream at its lower outlet. A fissured rock makes a still easier channel for the water.
As examples of ordinary cases of fountains, we will take those represented in the following figures. Fig. I is a mountain. Fig. 2 is a model, made to explain more clearly the conditions represented in fig. I. It will be observed that there is a ravine, R, in front; a line of fault, L, M. N, on its left side, Supposed to be filled with water-tight rock; and a valley, V (fig. 1), on the extreme right. The upper part of the mountain is supposed to be much more porous than its base, and the plane which divides the porous from the non-porous rock, to cut the surface of the mountain along the line, A, N, M, B, C, D, E, F. The highest point of the plane is F, and the lowest point A. The effect of rain upon the model fig. 2 would be, to wet its upper half: water would ooze out along the whole of the lines A, N, and M, B, C, D, E, F; and there would be a small fountain at A, and a large one at M. But in the actual mountain, fig. 1, we should not expect to find the same regularity as in the model. The rind of the earth, with its vegetation and weather-impacted surface, forms a comparatively impermeable envelope to the mountain, not likely to be broken through, except at a few places. But ravines, such as r, would be probably denuded of their rind, and there we should find a line of minute fountains at the base of the porous rock. If there be no actual fountains, there would at least be some vegetation that indicated dripping water: thus the appearance is well known and often described, of a ravine utterly bare of verdure above, but clothed with vegetation below a sharply defined line, whence the moisture proceeds that irrigates all beneath. We should also be almost certain of finding a spring breaking forth near m or even near a. But in the valley V we should only see a few signs of former moisture, along e, f; such as bunches of vegetation upon the arid cliff, or an efflorescence of salts. Whenever a traveller remarks these signs, he should observe the inclination of the strata, by which he would learn the position of m, where the probability of finding water is the greatest. In a very arid country, the anatomy of the land is so manifest, from the absence of mould, that geological indications are peculiarly easy to follow.
Wells.--Digging Wells.--In default of spades, water is to be dug for with a sharp-pointed stick. Take it in both hands, and, holding it upright like a dagger, stab and dig it in the ground, as in fig. 1; then clear out the loose earth with the hand, as in fig. 2. Continue thus working with the stick and hand alternately, and a hole as deep as the arm is easily made. In digging a large hole or well, the earth Must be loosened in precisely the same manner, handed up to the surface and carried off by means of a bucket or bag, in default of a shovel and wheelbarrow.
After digging deeply, the sand will often be found just moist, no water actually lying in the well; but do not, therefore, be disheartened; wait a while, and the water will collect. After it has once begun to ooze through the sides of the well, it will continue to do so much more freely. Therefore, on arriving at night, with thirsty cattle, at a well of doubtful character, deepen it at once, by torch-light, that the water may have time to collect; then the cattle may be watered in the early morning, and sent to feed before the sun is hot.
It often happens when digging wells in sandy watercourses, that a little water is found, and that below it is a stratum of clay. Now if the digging be continued deeper, in hopes of more water, the result is often most unfortunate; for the clay stratum may prove extremely thin, in which case the digging will pierce it: then the water that had been seen will drain rapidly and wholly away, to the utter discomfiture of the traveller.
Kerkari.--I am indebted to correspondents for an account of a method employed in the plains of the Sikhim Himalaya, and in Assam, where it is called a "Kerkari," also in lower Bengal, for digging deep holes. The natives take a freshly cut bamboo, say three inches in diameter: they cut it just above one of the knots, and then split the wood as far as to the next joint, in about a dozen places, and point the pieces somewhat. The other end of the instrument should be cut slantingly, to thrust into the earth, and its other end is afterwards worked vertically with both hands.
The soft soil is thus forced into the hollow of the bamboo, and spreads out its blades, as is intended to be shown in the figure. The bamboo is next withdrawn and the plug of earth is shaken out: it is then reintroduced and worked up and down as before. It is usual to drive a stake in the ground to act as a toothed comb, to comb out the plug of earth. Mr. Peal writes from Assam:--"I have just had 4 holes dug in the course of ordinary work, in hard earth. Two men dug the holes in 1 1/2 hour; they were 3 feet 6 inches deep and 6 inches in diameter. I weighed the clay raised at each stroke. In 4 consecutive strokes the weights were 1 1/4 lbs., 1 3/4 lbs., 1 3/4 lbs., 2 lbs. Another trial gave 7 lbs. lifted, after 5 or 6 strokes." According to the above data, an Assamese workman makes a hole, 1 foot deep and 6 inches in diameter in 6 minutes. Holes 10 feet deep and 6 inches wide can be made, as I am informed, by this contrivance.
Protecting Wells.--The following extract from Bishop Heber, though hardly within the scope of the 'Art of Travel,' is very suggestive. "The wells of this country (Bhurtpoor, India), some of which are very deep, are made in a singular manner. They build a tower of masonry of the diameter required, and 20 or 30 feet high from the surface of the ground. This they allow to stand a year or more, till its masonry is rendered firm and compact by time; then they gradually undermine it, and promote its sinking into the sandy soil, which it does without difficulty, and altogether. When level with the surface, they raise its walls higher; and so go on, throwing out the sand and raising the wall, till they have reached the water. If they adopted our method, the soil is so light that it would fall on them before they could possibly raise the wall from the bottom; nor, without the wall, could they sink to any considerable depth." A stout square frame of wood scantling, boarded like a sentry-box, and of about the same size and shape, but without top or bottom, is used in making wells in America. The sides of a well in sandy soil are so liable to fall in, that travellers often sink a cask or some equivalent into the water, when they are encamped for any length of time in its vicinity.
Scanty wells in hot climates should be brushed over, when not in actual use, to check their evaporation.
Snow-water.--It is impossible for men to sustain life by eating snow or ice, instead of drinking water. They only aggravate the raging torments of thirst, instead of assuaging them, and hasten death. Among dogs, the Esquimaux is the only breed that can subsist on snow, as an equivalent for water. The Arctic animals, generally, have the same power. But, as regards mankind, some means of melting snow into water, for the purposes of drinking, is an essential condition of life in the Arctic regions. Without the ingenious Esquimaux lamp (p. 205), which consists of a circle of moss wicks, fed by train-oil, and chiefly used for melting snow, the Esquimaux could not exist throughout the year, in the countries which they now inhabit.
That eating large quantities of snow should seriously disturb the animal system is credible enough, when we consider the very large amount of heat that must be abstracted from the stomach, in order to melt it. A mouthful of snow at 32 degrees Fahr., that is to say, no colder than is necessary for it to be snow at all, robs as much heat from the stomach, as if the mouthful had been of water 143 degrees colder than ice-cold water, if such a fluid may, for the moment, be imagined to exist. For the "latent heat" of water is 143 degrees Fahr. In other words, it takes the same quantity of heat to convert a mass of snow of 32 degrees into water of 32º, as it does to raise the same mass of water from 32 degrees to 141º + 32 degrees = 175 degrees Fahr. It takes in practice about as long to melt snow of a low temperature into water, as it does to cause that same water to boil. Thus to raise snow of 5 degrees below zero Fahr. To 32 degrees, takes 37 degrees of heat, and it requires 143 degrees more, or 180 degrees altogether, to melt it into water. Also it requires 180 degrees to convert water of 32 degrees into water of 212 degrees, in other words, into boiling water.
Distilled Water.--It will take six or seven times as long to convert a kettle full of boiling-water into steam, as it did to make that kettle boil. For the "latent heat" of steam is 967 degrees Fahr.; therefore, if the water that was put into the kettle was 60 degrees, it would require to be raised through (212 degrees--60º degrees =) 152º degrees of temperature in order to make it begin to boil; and it would require a further quantity of heat, to the extent of 967 degrees (= about 6 1/2 times 152 degrees), to boil it all away. Hence, it is of no use to attempt to distil, until you have provided abundance of good firewood of a fit size to burn quickly, and have built an efficient fireplace on which to set the kettle. Unfortunately, fuel is commonly deficient in those places where there is a lack of fresh water.
Rate of Distillation.--A drop per second is fully equivalent To an imperial pint of water in three hours, or be an imperial gallon in an entire day and night.
The simplest way to distil, but a very imperfect one, is to light a fire among stones, near a hollow in a rock, that is filled, or can be filled with salt-water. When the stones are red-hot, drop them one by one into it: the water will hiss and give out clouds of vapour, some of which may be collected in a cloth, and wrung or sucked out of it. In the same way a pot on the fire may have a cloth stretched over it to catch the steam.
Still made with a Kettle and Gun-barrel.--There is an account of the crew of the 'Levant' packet, which was wrecked near the cosmoledo Islands, who supplied themselves with fresh water by means of distillation alone, and whose Still was contrived with an iron pot and a gun-barrel, found on the spot where they were wrecked. They procured, On the average, sixty bottles, or ten gallons, of distilled water in each twenty-four hours. "The iron pot was converted into a boiler to contain salt water; a lid was fitted to it out of the root of a tree, leaving a hole of sufficient size to receive the muzzle of the gun-barrel, which was to set as a steampipe; the barrel was run through the stump of a tree, hollowed out in the middle, and kept full of cold water for the purpose of condensation; and the water so distilled escaped at the nipple of the gun-barrel, and was conducted into a bottle placed to receive it." The accompanying sketch is taken from a model which I made, with a soldier's mess-tin for a boiler, and a tin tube in the place of a gun barrel. The knob represents the breech; and the projection, through which the water is dropping, the nipple. I may remark that there is nothing in the arrangement which would hurt the most highly-finished gun barrel; and that the trough which holds the condensing water may be made with canvas, or even dispensed with altogether.
Condensing Pipe.--In default of other tubes, a reed may be used: one of the long bones of an animal, or of a wading bird, will be an indifferent substitute for a condensing pipe.
Still, made with Earthen Pots and a Metal Basin.--A very simple distilling apparatus is used in Bhootan; the sketch will show the principle on which it is constructed.
Salt water is placed in a pot, set over the fire. Another vessel, but without top or bottom, which, for the convenience of illustration, I have indicated in the sketch by nothing more than a dotted line, is made to stand upon the pot. It serves as a support for a metal basin, S, which is filled with salt water, and acts as a condenser. When the pot boils, the steam ascends and condenses itself on the under surface of the basin S, whence it drops down and is Collected in a cup, C, that is supported by a rude tripod of sticks, T, standing in the inside of the iron pot.
Occasional Means of Quenching Thirst.--A Shower of Rain will yield a good supply. The clothes may be stripped off and spread out, and the rain-water sucked from them. Or, when a storm is approaching a cloth or blanket may be made fast by its four corners, and a quantity of bullets thrown in the middle of it; they will cause the water that it receives, to drain to one point and trickle through the cloth, into a cup or bucket set below. A reversed umbrella will catch water; but the first drippings from it, or from clothes that have been long unwashed, as from a macintosh cloak, are intolerably nauseous and very unwholesome. It must be remembered, that thirst is greatly relieved by the skin being wetted, and therefore it is well for a man suffering from thirst, to strip to the rain. Rain-water is lodged for some days in the huge pitcher-like corollas of many tropical flowers.
Sea-water.--Lives of sailors have more than once been saved when turned adrift in a boat, by bathing frequently and keeping their clothes damp with salt-water. However, after some days, the nauseous taste of the salt-water is very perceptible in the saliva, and at last becomes unbearable; such, at least was the experience of the surgeon of the wrecked 'Pandora.'
Dew-water is abundant near the sea-shore, and may be collected in the same way as rain-water. The storehouse at Angra Pequeña, in S. W. Africa, in 1850, was entirely supplied by the dew-water deposited on its roof. The Australians who live near the sea, go among the wet bushes with a great piece of bark, and brush into it the dew-drops from the leaves with a wisp of grass; collecting in this way large quantities of water. Eyre used a sponge for the same purpose, and appears to have saved his life by its use.
Animal Fluids are resorted to in emergencies; such as the contents of the paunch of an animal that has been shot; its taste is like sweet-wort. Mr. Darwin writes of people who, catching turtles, drank the water that was found in their Pericardia; it was pure and sweet. Blood will stand in the stead of solid food, but it is of no avail in the stead of water, on account of its saline qualities.
Vegetable Fluids.--Many roots exist, from which both natives and animals obtain a sufficiency of sap and pulp, to take the place of water. The traveller should inquire of the natives, and otherwise acquaint himself with those peculiar to the country that he visits; such as the roots which the eland eats, the bitter water-melon, etc.
To purify water that is muddy or putrid.--With muddy water, the remedy is to filter, and to use alum, if you have it. With putrid, to boil, to mix with charcoal, or expose to the sun and air; or what is best, to use all three methods at the same time. When the water is salt or brackish, nothing avails but distillation. (See Distilled Water," p. 218.)
To filter Muddy Water.--When, at the watering-place, there is little else but a mess of mud and filth, take a good handful of grass or rushes, and tie it roughly together in the form of a cone, 6 or 8 inches long; then dipping the broad end into the puddle, and turning it up, a streamlet of fluid will trickle down through the small end. This excellent plan is used by the Northern Bushmen--at their wells quantities of these bundles are found lying about. (Anderson.) Otherwise suck water through your handkerchief by putting it over the mouth of your mug, or by throwing it on the gritty mess as it lies in the puddle. For obtaining a copious supply, the most perfect plan, if you have means, is to bore a cask full of auger holes, and put another small one, that has had the bottom knocked out, inside it; and then to fill the space between the two, with grass, moss, etc. Sink the whole in the midst of the pond; the water will run through the auger-holes, filter through the moss, and rise in the inner cask clear of weeds and sand. If you have only a single cask, holes may be bored in the lower part of its sides, and alternate layers of sand and grass thrown in, till they cover the holes; through these layers, the water will strain. Or any coarse bag, kept open with hoops made on the spot, may be moored in the mud, by placing a heavy stone inside; it will act on The same principle, but less efficiently than the casks. Sand, charcoal, sponge, and wood, are the substances most commonly used in properly constructed filters: peat charcoal is excellent. Charcoal acts not only as a mechanical filter for solid impurities, but it has the further advantage of absorbing putrid gases. (See below, "Putrid Water.") Snow is also used as a filter in the Arctic regions. Dr. Rae used to lay it on the water, until it was considerably higher than its level, and then to suck the water through the snow.
Alum.--Turbid water is also, in some way as yet insufficiently explained, made clear by the Indian plan of putting a piece of alum into it. The alum appears to unite with the mud, and to form a clayey deposit. Independently of the action, it has an astringent effect upon organic matters: it hardens them, and they subside to the bottom of the vessel instead of being diffused in a glairy, viscous state, throughout the water. No taste of alum remains in the water, unless it has been used in great excess. Three thimblefuls of alum will clarify a bucketful of turbid water.
Putrid Water should always be purified by boiling it together with charcoal or charred sticks, as low fevers and dysenteries too often are the consequences of drinking it. The mere addition of charcoal largely disinfects it. Bitter herbs, if steeped in putrid water, or even rubbed well about the cup, are said to render it less unwholesome. The Indians plunge hot iron into putrid water.
Thirst, to relieve.--Thirst is a fever of the palate, which may be somewhat relieved by other means than drinking fluids.
By exciting Saliva.--The mouth is kept moist, and thirst is mitigated, by exciting the saliva to flow. This can be done by chewing something, as a leaf; or by keeping in the mouth a bullet, or a smooth, non-absorbent stone, such as a quartz pebble.
By Fat or Butter.--In Australia, Africa, and N. America, it is a frequent custom to carry a small quantity of fat or butter, and to eat a spoonful at a time, when the thirst is severe. These act on the irritated membranes of the mouth and throat, just as cold cream upon chapped hands.
By Salt Water.--People may live long without drinking, if they have means of keeping their skin constantly wet with water, even though it be salt or otherwise undrinkable. A traveller may tie a handkerchief wetted with salt water round his neck. See p. 223.
By checking Evaporation.--The Arabs keep their mouths covered with a cloth, in order to prevent the sense of thirst caused by the lips being parched.
By Diet.--Drink well before starting, and make a habit of drinking only at long intervals, and then, plenty at a time.
On giving Water to Persons nearly dead from Thirst.--Give a little at a time, let them take it in spoonfuls; for the large draughts that their disordered instincts suggest, disarrange the weakened stomach: they do serious harm, and no corresponding good. Keep the whole body wet.
Small Water Vessels.--General Remarks on Carrying Water.--People drink excessively in hot dry climates, as the evaporation from the skin is enormous, and must be counterbalanced. Under these circumstances the daily ration of a European is at least two quarts. To make an exploring expedition in such countries efficient, there should be means of carrying at least one gallon of water for each white man; and in unknown lands this quantity should be carried on from every watering-place, so long as means can possibly be obtained for carrying it, and should be served out thus:--two quarts on the first day, in addition to whatever private store the men may have chosen to carry for themselves; a quart and a half during the second day; and half a quart on the morning of the third, which will carry them through that day without distress. Besides water-vessels sufficient for carrying what I have mentioned, there ought to be others for the purpose of leaving water buried in the ground, as a store for the return of a reconnoitring expedition; also each man should be furnished with a small water-vessel of some kind or other for his own use, and should be made to take care of it.
Fill the Water-vessels.--"Never mind what the natives may tell you concerning the existence of water on the road, believe nothing, but resolutely determine to fill the girbas (water-vessels)." (Baker.)
Small Water-vessels.--No expedition should start without being fully supplied with these; for no bushman however ingenious, can make anything so efficient as casks, tin vessels or macintosh bags.
A tin vessel of the shape shown in the sketch, and large enough to hold a quart, is, I believe, the easiest to carry, the cleanest, and the most durable of small water-vessels. The curve in its shape is to allow of its accommodating itself to the back of the man who carries it. The tin loops at its sides are to admit the strap by which it is to be slung, and which passes through the loops underneath the bottom of the vessel, so that the weight may rest directly upon the strap. Lastly, the vessel has a pipette for drinking through, and a larger hole by which it is to be filled, and which at other times is stopped with a cork or wooden plug. When drinking out of the pipette, the cork must be loosened in order to admit air, like a vent hole. Macintosh bags, for wine or water, are very convenient to carry and they will remain water-tight for a long period when fairly used. (Mem.--Oil and grease are as fatal to macintosh as they are to iron rust.) But the taste that these vessels impart to their contents is abominable, not only at first but for a very long time; in two-thirds of them it is never to be got rid of. Never believe shopkeepers in an india-rubber shop, in their assurances to the contrary; they are incompetent to judge aright, for their senses seem vitiated by the air they live in. The best shape for a small macintosh water-vessel has yet to be determined. Several alpine men use them; and their most recent patterns may probably best be seen at Carter's, Alpine Outfitter, Oxford Street. A flask of dressed hide (pig, goat, or dog) with a wooden nozzle, and a wooden plug to fit into it, is very good. Canvas bags, smeared with grease on the outside, will become nearly waterproof after a short soaking. A strong glass flask may be made out of a soda-water bottle; it should have raw hide shrunk upon it to preserve it from sharp taps Likely to make a crack. Calabashes and other gourds, cocoa-nuts and ostrich eggs, are all of them excellent for flasks. The Bushmen of South Africa make great use of ostrich shells as water-vessels. They have stations at many places in the desert, where they bury these shells filled with water, corked with grass, and occasionally waxed over. They thus go without hesitation over wide tracts, for their sense of locality is so strong that they never fear to forget the spot in which they have dug their hiding-place.
When a Dutchman or a Namaqua wants to carry a load of ostrich eggs to or from the watering-place, or when he robs a nest, he takes off his trousers, ties up the ankles, puts the eggs in the legs, and carries off his load slung round his neck. Nay, I have seen a half-civilised Hottentot carry water in his leather breeches, ties up and slung in the way I have just described, but without the intervention of ostrich eggs; the water squired through the seams, but plenty remained after he had carried it to its destination, which was a couple of miles from the watering-place. In an emergency, water-flasks can be improvised from the raw or dry skins of animals, which should be greased down the back; or from the paunch, the heart-bag (pericardium), the intestines, or the bladder. These should have a wooden skewer runing and out along one side of their mouths, by which they can be carried, and a lashing under the skewer to make all tight (fig. below).
The Bushmen do this. The water oozes through the membrane, and by its evaporation the contents are kept very cool. Another plan is, after having tied a length of intestine at both ends, to roll it up in a handkerchief and wear it as a belt round the waist. The fault of these membranous bags, besides their disgusting character and want of strength is, that they become putrid after a few days' use.
Vessels for Cooling Water may be made that shall also act efficiently as flasks. Porous earthen jars are too brittle for long use, and their pores choke up if slimy water be put inside them. But the Arabs use a porous leather flask, called a Zemsemiya, which is hung on the shady side of the camel, and by evaporation keeps the water deliciously cool: it is a rather wasteful way of carrying water. Canvas bags are equally effective.
Open Buckets, for carrying water for short distances, or for storing it in camp, may be made of the bark of a tree, either taken off in an entire cylinder, and having a bottom fitted on, or else of a knot or excrescence that has been cut off the outside of a tree, and its woody interior scooped out; or of birth bark sewed or pegged at the corners, and having its seams coated with the gum or resin of the pine-tree. Baskets with oiled cloth inside, make efficient water-vessels; they are in use in France as firemen's buckets. Water-tight pots are made on the Snake river by winding long touch roots in a spiral manner, and lashing the coils to one another, just as is done in making a beehive. Earthenware jars are excellent, when they can be obtained.
To prevent Splashing.--When carrying water in buckets, put a wreath of grass, or something else that will float, on the water, to prevent it from splashing; and also make a hoop, inside which the porter may walk, while his laden hands rest on its rim: the hoop keeps his hands wide from his body, and prevents the buckets from knocking against his legs.
Mending Leather Water-vessels.--If a water-vessel becomes leaky, the hole should be caulked by stuffing a rag, a wedge of wood, a tuft of grass, or anything else into it, as shown in the upper figure and also in the left side of the lower one (p. 230), and then greasing or waxing it over. A larger rent must be Seized upon, the lips of the wound pinched up, a thorn or other spike run through the lips, and lastly a piece of twine lashed firmly round, underneath the thorn; the thorn keeps the string from slipping off (See the right-hand corner of the lower figure.) When there is an opportunity, the bag must be patched, as is also shown in the lower figure.