Part 11 (1/2)
Gloves, Mits, and m.u.f.fs.--In cold dry weather a pair of old soft kid gloves, with large woollen gloves drawn over them, is the warmest combination. Mits and m.u.f.fetees merely require mention. To keep the hands warm in very severe weather, a small fur m.u.f.f 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 makes.h.i.+ft 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 b.u.t.tons 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 quant.i.ty 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 c.u.mming 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 coa.r.s.e linen s.h.i.+rt, 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 b.u.t.ton 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 b.a.l.l.s and patches, two sharp clasp-knives, a compa.s.s, 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 pa.s.ses readily upwards.
[Two sketches of drying frame].
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 pa.s.sed on the coast of New Holland, we were continually wet, either with rain or sea.”
Was.h.i.+ng Clothes.--Subst.i.tute for Soap.--The lye of ashes and the gall of animals are the readiest subst.i.tutes for soap. The sailor's recipe for was.h.i.+ng 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 was.h.i.+ng, 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.
10,000 parts of pine or fur.......contain.... 4 parts of alkali.
” poplar ” 7 ”
” beech-wood ” 14 ”
” oak ” 15 ”
” willow ” 28 ”
” elm, maple, and wheat straw. ” 39 ”
” thistles, flax-stems, and small rushes ” 50 ”
” large rushes ” 72 ”