The art of netting with the needle and mesh is so generally understood that it is not our intention to deal with the subject here further than to advise all those who may chance to be ignorant of the manner in which net making operations are conducted, to take a few lessons before quitting home to explore wild regions. The aborigines of every part of the known world can make nets, but it is well that the European traveller should be capable of manufacturing his own. Almost any piece of dry, tough wood, can, by the exercise of a little ingenuity, be fashioned into a needle and mesh, and twine, tendons, strips of hide, and a variety of other material, can be wrought into network, for hunting, fowling, fishing, &c.

Splicing is effected by opening the strands of the two ropes to be united, for some little distance down the cord. The two sets of diverging strands are then thrust between each other, so that they may be evenly reversed. A sharp bone, metal, or hard wood stilet or pricker is now used to raise the strands one by one for the passage of the corresponding strand, until both sets have been worked far enough down the rope to render the union complete. A loop is spliced by opening the strands of the end, forming a loop in the rope of sufficient capacity, and then raising the strands, in the manner before described, one by one at the required point of union.

Before starting on an expedition in which, the services of horses, mules, bullocks, and other animals are required it is well to be provided with such a store of veterinary requisites as are given at page 84 of this work; the nature of the work and the country in which it is intended to operate will mainly determine the necessity or otherwise for a portable forge and regular set of shoeing smith’s appliances. When these are requisite it will be well to secure the services of one or more working farriers to take charge of and use them. A loose shoe, or even a set ready fitted, can be pretty successfully applied by an ingenious and handy amateur; but few, save those practically acquainted with the smith’s art, could undertake the regular shoeing and fitting of an expedition train. Still we strongly recommend all those about to cast their fortunes in wild lands to attend frequently, before quitting England, at some good forge, in order that as many hints as possible may be gathered and stored up for future use. Horse shoeing like horse riding, cannot be taught by books. Every traveller should know how to take off and put on a shoe, and also how to use the drawing knife and searcher. In some countries horses are not shoed at all; in others, the fore feet only have shoes attached to them. And here we would offer a word of advice to travellers. Never attempt to alter the pattern of the shoe in which the horses of the country visited are in the habit of working, or disappointment and vexation are pretty sure to be the result. On our first visit to Turkey we regarded the round plates of iron with holes in their centres and hobnailed borders, called in that country by courtesy horse shoes, in the light of perfect abominations, and had our newly purchased animals shod in the English style. At the end of a week, however, we gladly gathered the cast off native shoes together and had them replaced by a native smith in order to avoid a broken neck. Should a horse or any other animal of burden, not excepting even an elephant, fall lame from any cause not absolutely patent and well known, look first to the foot of the affected limb and be sure that no stray nail, piece of broken iron, thorn, or other sharp substance, has found a lodgment. It is not our intention to enter on a consideration of the various diseases and ailments to which the animals of the traveller or settler are subject in different countries, as our space will not permit of our doing so. We must therefore content ourselves by giving such general hints and directions as may prove useful in the absence of a qualified veterinary surgeon. Many diseases to which pack and draught animals are subject are of such a character as to render it requisite that they should be either destroyed or left by the way in the hands of some responsible person for treatment.

It is never advisable to travel an animal suffering from lingering sickness. The first loss is generally the least in such cases. Severe cases of sore back should never occur in a well-regulated expedition; as pads or chambering should be had recourse to the very instant the slightest tendency to gall is perceived, and it is well, in many cases, to compel the rider of the animal to walk until the back is sound. Galls on the withers and poll of the head are more to be feared than any other injury of like kind, as matter is extremely liable to burrow in such situations, and lead to the formation of fistulous cavities and excessively troublesome wounds. Hot bathing and poultices formed from bran, or ground oil seeds and warm water, should be first used, with a view to the palliation of the mischief; but when once matter is formed, freely opening the pouch formed from top to bottom is the only course. To make a horse-poultice bag sew two pieces of soft tough material together in the form of a common shot-bag, closing both ends and sides; fasten a wide soft string to each corner, cut a straight slit in one face of the bag, and through it thrust the mixed poultice material until it is nearly full, when it can be secured over the seat of injury. Animals obtained from natives not unfrequently suffer from a peculiar description of gall, known as a “sitfast.” Examination shows an irregular piece of dry, hard, dead skin, surrounded by a border or channel of sore. The only way to effectually treat such a case as this is to first secure the animal, and then, with a sharp-pointed knife, cut the island of dead cuticle clean from the wound, which, if kept clean and properly treated with any simple dressing, will soon heal. A mixture, consisting of common nitre, 1oz., to a pint of cold water, we have found very useful in such cases.

The frightful wounds on the backs of camels, too often caused by the carelessness of native camel-drivers, are particularly liable to take on an almost putrid condition. In the treatment of these we have found leather burned to a black, crisp mass, and then reduced to a fine powder, a most valuable preparation. Simply strewed over and into the wound, it quickly causes healthy action to be set up. Any sproutings of new flesh which mount above the surface of the skin are known as “proud flesh,” and should be reduced to the proper level by the use of nitrate of silver, blue stone (sulphate of copper), nitric acid, or even the red-hot iron. In order to perform many of the operations for the treatment of diseased or injured animals, it will be requisite to cast and properly secure them. The horse is best thrown by the aid of hobbles, a set of which, as adjusted for use, are represented in the above illustration. The leather strap attached from the fore to the hind-leg is put on after the animal has been thrown down by hauling on the rope-ended chain, shown at the front of the fore-foot. When the legs are drawn sufficiently close together, a spring clip is passed through a link of the chain; when the horse is to be released, a small screw-pin is drawn, which causes all the four hobbles to be set free, they then fall off as the animal rises. Makeshift casting ropes. In the absence of regular hobbles, a very good substitute may be formed by doubling a very long pliant rope, knotting it securely far enough down the doubled end to form a collar for the head and neck of the animal to pass through (see Fig. 11, p. 796p. 796); the two free ends are now carried between the fore legs, under the body, inside the two hind legs, above the hocks; the ends are then brought forward on each side, and passed from within outwards, through the collar rope. When all is adjusted, the hind-leg rope loops may be evenly and gently shaken down until they rest in the hollows of the fetlock joints. On the free ends being hauled on the horse will be thrown, when the ends of the rope are secured by half-hitches. The annexed illustration will serve to explain the nature of this contrivance. A soft spot should be chosen to cast on; a halter should always be securely placed on the head, and in cases of great timidity a folded rug as a blind over the eyes. The head of a cast horse should be firmly held down by a man told off for the purpose, until the animal is freed from the ropes and about to rise. An ox is cast by catching his hind-leg, or both if possible, in a noose in the end of a reim held by means of a vangstock, or “catching stick;” another noose is thrown about his horns, one or two fellows catch his tail and pull against those who have the legs, while very likely, if he has tolerably large horns, another uses them as levers to throw him off his balance, and the spare hands assist by pushing with all their might at his broadside, when, as a matter of course, he must go down.

Large open gashes from horns, weapons, or tusks can be sewn up by separate stitches of either flexible wire or fine, smoothly-cut strips of raw hide. A very useful dressing for wounds of this character is made as follows: Common aloes, ½lb.; gum myrrh, ¼lb.; spirits of almost any kind, 2 quarts; water, 1 quart; place the vessel containing this mixture in moderate sun heat for from twelve to fourteen days; strain and bottle for use; apply on lint, tow, or the plume of a large feather; myrrh can be obtained in the East from one of the Mimosa tribe, and aloes from the plant of that name.

In South Africa aloes juice is thus collected by the Hottentots: a hole is made in the earth, and a sheepskin forced into it. The leaves of the aloe are all cut off except two pairs of the youngest left in the form of a cross in the centre; the leaves are then ranged with their cut ends over the hollow in the sheepskin, and left to drain. If wind arises, however, it stops the drainage by coagulating the gum on the surface, and the labour is lost; the juice is thickened by boiling, and sold for exportation to England. The farmers use the fresh juice as a varnish for wood-work, to which it gives a good polish and a brown colour; it is said, also, to be an effectual vermifuge.

Wherever the aloe plant grows, the above rough and ready mode of obtaining its juices may be had recourse to. A very useful purgative for mules and horses is made by breaking a pound of aloes into rough pieces; throw these into seven pints of rain water, and then add a pint of spirit of some kind. The dose will vary with the size and condition of the animal from 4oz. to 6oz. Liquids are best given to animals from a small thin horn from which a long tapering slice has been cut, so as to form a sort of scoop.

The water and grain of some districts cause severe attacks of colic or gripes; these need immediate attention. A dose consisting of linseed oil, 1 pint; tincture of opium, 1oz.; nitric spirit of ether, 1oz.; mixed, should be given, and repeated in half an hour, if the pain is not subdued. Warm soapy water enemas should be frequently thrown up. An enema apparatus is easily extemporised from a large bladder or leather bag and hollow stick with its extreme end or mouth cut perfectly round and even. Soap suds are best formed by rubbing a piece of soap on a rough brush in a pail of warm water.

Opium is a most valuable pain-killer, either in its solid or liquid form. To prepare makeshift laudanum: Take of rough bazaar opium 3oz.; powder it roughly between two stones; throw the powder into an earthen pot, and add a quart of good clear sound spirit; cover with a flat stone, and place in the shade for twelve days; strain through a double cotton cloth, and bottle for general use of man or beast.

Animals much fed on barley or other heating grain are very liable to become affected with mange. Separate all the diseased from the healthy, as the disease is exceedingly contagious. Dress all your diseased cases with the following mixture, which may be rubbed in with a brush or piece of hide with the hair on: Common oil of tar, 1 quart; common spirits of turpentine, 1 quart; fish oil of any kind, or, in the absence of that, native seed oil, 1 quart; powdered brimstone, ½lb.; mix thoroughly in a convenient vessel with a stick. Rub in the mixture every other day for three complete dressings, and on the day after the last, wash well with warm water and plenty of rough soap. 1oz. of gunpowder and ¼oz. of brimstone, rubbed into an ointment with 6oz. of fat, is a good makeshift remedy.

To prevent attacks of mange and other skin diseases in animals kept much on grain, it is well to give occasional doses of the following powder in the food: Common bazaar antimony (the kohl of the dealers) ½lb.; brimstone in powder, 1lb.; nitre, ½lb.; mix: dose ½oz. Strains or severe injuries to joints or tendons, are often benefited in their second stage, that is, after all the benefit arising from fomentations, poultices, &c., has been taken advantage of, by the action of counter-irritation, in the form of a blister. Cantharides, or Spanish flies are commonly used for blistering purposes, but the spotted fly of India (Mylabris cichorii) answers every purpose. Blistering oil, which is useful for sprains or to rub into sore throats, is made as follows: Dried flies, roughly crushed, 1oz.; good clear vegetable oil, 1 pint; spirits of turpentine, 4oz.; mix; place the whole in an earthen chatty pot or jar; put the vessel in warm camp fire ashes for three hours, and then strain for use. Blistering ointment is made by reducing the dry fly to powder, taking care to cover the nostrils during the operation, and mixing 1oz. of the dust to 6oz. of clear fat; stand the pot containing the mixture in the hot ashes for eight hours, and then strain whilst warm through a coarse cloth doubled. Horses when blistered should have cane joint necklaces, or cradles as they are called, fitted on their necks, in order to prevent them from biting the blistered surface. It is generally best to remove the hair before applying the blister. When the skin has been well acted on, the blister may be washed off with warm water and soap, and fat or palm-oil applied in order to allay irritation.

The flies of tropical countries are much to be dreaded when the wounds of animals are under treatment; ova deposited by them arrive at maturity in an incredibly short space of time, when they burrow into the tissues, and cause much trouble to the attendant as well as pain to the animal. The “sheaths” of even healthy horses and mules not unfrequently become charged with a living mass of these carnivorous larvæ, which cause such irritation as to make the suffering animal kick violently up under its belly, and manifest other symptoms of uneasiness; a sharp watch should be kept for these symptoms, and when observed the animal should be at once cast, and the intruders routed out by manual manipulation; warm water and soap will cleanse the part, and a good dressing of oil will allay the irritation. Fly-infested wounds are best dressed with the following ointment: Common verdigris, ground to a very fine powder and sifted, 1oz.; common resin, 1oz.; fat or lard, 10oz.; first melt the fat in an earthen pot, and then stir in the powder; warm for one hour in the ashes, and stir till cold with a stick. There is an oil prepared from a species of Indian gum resin called “diccimaulieh,” which is a valuable addition to the above ointment, as flies appear to entertain a rooted antipathy to it. Flies are not the only pests one has to guard against. Mule leeches, to destroy. Mules, especially those purchased in Spain, are not unfrequently found to have the insides of their mouths, as far back as the roots of their tongues, festooned with huge, bloated, black and green leeches. A number of our Andalusian mules were, on our voyage from Spain to the East, found by our chief muleteer to be so infested. We therefore brought the mules, one by one, to a stout post or stanchion, placed rope hobbles on their feet, and rope halters on their heads; when the head was well secured, a stout rope loop at the end of a stick was used to keep the mouth open, whilst a tow-ended stick, dipped in a strong solution of common salt in sea-water was used to thoroughly wash out the whole cavity of the mouth. The result was most satisfactory; the leeches tumbled helplessly out into the bucket of pickle held for their reception, and ultimately found their way into the sea. Our mules commenced to thrive from the day of our successful pickle hunt, and we never discovered another mule-leech during the expedition.

Both horses and mules will at times be found to “quid” their food as it is called, that is, to form during the process of mastication irregularly formed balls of partially crushed hay, straw, or grass. The discovery of these pellets should always be followed by an examination of the molar teeth, even should it be found necessary to cast the animal before the examination can be made, as loss of condition too frequently follows quidding. It will generally be found that irregularity of the edges of either the upper or lower rows of teeth have caused the infliction of wounds on the inside surfaces of the cheeks. In other cases, it will be found that from the decay of one or more teeth, those which should meet friction and consequent wear have, in the absence of it, grown to an inordinate and inconvenient length. These irregularities are best corrected by the aid of the tooth rasp, which is readily made by welding a worn out flat rasp to an iron rod about two feet in length. Bend your rasp, when united to the rod and still hot, into the form of a shallow gouge, and shorten it to about six inches; reset the teeth with a sharp punch, retemper, and insert in a common wooden handle for use. When about to purchase either horses or mules, see that the upper row of incisor teeth do not overhang the lower, constituting what is called parrot mouth. Animals so malformed rarely thrive well, from inability to crop their food. Cautions regarding glanders. Always regard with extreme suspicion any animal suffering from a thin, glue-like discharge from either one or both nostrils: look well up the nose, and be perfectly certain that there are no ulcers on the membrane, or perchance you may introduce a glandered subject, which will endanger the lives of both men and animals. Should such appearances as those just described present themselves in an animal after purchase, order it to be instantly destroyed, together with all the woollen or leather equipment belonging to it. The metal can be rendered free from the glander poison by thoroughly heating it in the camp fire, and then throwing it whilst fizzing hot into water. Never attempt to treat a case of even suspected glanders whilst travelling: shooting is the only safe method of relieving the animal from its sufferings. Horses or mules can be readily shot dead with either ball or small shot. To do this instantly, stand on the off-side of the animal, about six feet from and in a line behind the shoulder; aim well below the ear, in a direction from behind forwards, and from below upwards. A charge thus delivered from a gun, rifle, or large heavy pistol—not an insignificant popgun revolver—will strike the creature dead on the spot, and thus save it unnecessary torture.

Before quitting the subject of “Veterinary Surgery,” it may be well to caution the intending purchaser against laying out his money in animals affected by cataract. In order to discover whether this defect exists, place the animal with its head just in a line with the two posts of a stable or shed doorway; screen the eye under examination from the direct rays of the sun with your cap or felt hat, look steadily and keenly down into the interior of the eye, and if a cataract is there it will be perceived in a pearl-tinted spot or patch on the crystalline lens of the eye, just as though the bull’s-eye of a miniature lantern had received a mark from French chalk. Clouds on the outer surface of the ball of the eye or cornea are in no way to be confounded with cataract; clouds such as these are caused in a variety of ways—strokes from flexible branches, whip lashes, &c., and generally yield to treatment with as much calomel as will fill an ordinary percussion cap, rubbed up with a half-teaspoonful of honey. Place a piece as large as a No. 4 shot in the affected eye every other day, until the opacity passes away. Cataract, on the other hand, is beyond treatment, and greatly detracts from the value of the animal suffering from it. Bony excrescences round the coronets, constituting ring bone, and slits in the wall of the hoof, called sand-cracks, also detract much from either a horse’s or mule’s value for travelling, and should be carefully looked for. Do not, as a rule, purchase very young horses or mules, as they are far more likely to give trouble and fall sick than those of more matured age; those of from six to ten, or even eleven years old, if sound and in good condition, will do good service.

APPENDIX.

Velocity Table.

The following is a tabular form showing the velocities of moving bodies as given by Peschel:

Weight of a Superficial Foot of Plate or Sheet Iron.

Weight in Pounds of One Cubic Foot of the following Substances

Weight of Rod Iron One Foot in Length of the following Dimensions:

Relative Heat-conducting Power of different Bodies.

Relative Conducting Power of different Substances compared with each other.

Relative Conducting Power of Fluids.

Radiating Power of different Bodies.

The Stone Weight.

The term “stone” is often used to indicate weight, but some confusion is apt to arise if the nature of the object or substance to be weighed is not clearly indicated; thus, in weighing men according to what is known as “horseman’s weight,” 14lb. avoirdupois are made use of; in weighing butcher’s meat, 8lb.; iron, 14lb.; glass, 5lb.; hemp, 32lb.; cheese, 16lb.

The Qualities of Gold.

Very few terms are more loosely used than that of “gold,” and it is therefore necessary that the traveller should make himself fully acquainted with the nature of the alloy made use of under the name of gold in the various countries he may chance to visit. Let him not suppose that, because the glittering chain or ring displayed in an English jeweller’s window is marked in conspicuous letters “Warranted fine gold,” the ornament is as a matter of course composed of pure gold, or he will buy experience dearly. Fine gold means nothing further than that an alloy of some kind containing some gold is for sale. It is well, therefore, to insist on the exact quality of the article (in carats—18 carats, 22 carats, or whatever it is represented to be) being stated on the vendor’s bill of charge.

The nature of gold alloy differs materially in various countries. We have, therefore, thought it well to provide the reader with the following useful tables compiled by Mr. E. W. Streeter and used in his “Hints to Purchasers of Jewellery.”

Qualities of Gold manufactured in different Parts of the World.

The following table by the same author will serve to show in a condensed form, the value of different gold alloys relatively, and also the extremely low standard at which so called “gold articles” are manufactured in this country.

Gold Value Table.

Since writing the early portion of this work, we have found it requisite, in order to supply a manifest want, to have manufactured a small leather case (on the exact model of our own), containing all the tests and appliances requisite for the identification of precious metals or precious stones.[D]

We have also caused to be constructed, from our own pattern, a small triple branch of gold of different degrees of alloy. Each branch, when rubbed on the touch stone, and treated with nitric acid, will leave a characteristic streak, which may be compared with one formed by rubbing the article to be tested, and treating it with acid in the same manner; the nature of the alloy will thus be found by comparison.[E]

Emerson’s Table of Strengths, showing the Load that can be safely borne by a square inch Rod of each of the following Substances:

Emerson’s rule is, that a cylinder, the diameter of which is d inches, loaded to one fourth of its absolute strength, will carry as follows:

Another of his rules is that a cylindrical rod of well-seasoned clean-grown fir of an inch circumference drawn in length will bear at its extremity 400lbs. and a spar of fir 2in. in diameter will bear about 7 tons, but not more. A well-made and carefully-kept hemp rope of one inch in circumference, will bear 1000lbs. being at its extremity.

Mr. Barlow has formed the following table as a mean resulting from experiments on the strength of direct cohesion on a square inch of the following substances:

He also states as follows regarding the transverse strength of beams, &c. Mr. Weale thus quotes from Mr. Barlow’s essay: “The transverse strength of rectangular beams, or the resistance which they offer to fracture, is as the breadth and square of the depth; therefore, if two rectangular beams have the same depth, their strengths are to each other as their breadths, but if their breadths are the same, then their strengths are to each other as the square of their depths. The transverse strengths of square beams are as the cubes of the breadths or depths. Also in cylindrical beams the transverse strengths are as the cubes of the diameters. Thus, if a beam which is one foot broad and one foot deep support a given weight, then a beam of the same depth and two feet broad will support double the weight; but if a beam be one foot broad and two feet deep it will support four times as much as a beam one foot broad and one foot deep. If a beam one foot square support a given weight, then a beam two feet square will support eight times as much. Also a cylinder of two inches in diameter will support eight times as much as a cylinder one inch in diameter. The appended table gives data bearing on the subject.

INDEX.