Part 31 (1/2)
St.i.tches.--The enthusiastic traveller should be thoroughly grounded by a tailor in the rudiments of sewing and the most useful st.i.tches. They are as follows:--To make a knot at the end of the thread; to run; to st.i.tch; to ”sew';” to fell, or otherwise to make a double seam; to herring-bone (essential for flannels); to hem; to sew over; to bind; to sew on a b.u.t.ton; to make a b.u.t.ton-hole; to darn; and to fine-draw. He should also practise taking patterns of some articles of clothing in paper, cutting them out in common materials and putting them together. He should take a lesson or two from a saddler, and several, when on board s.h.i.+p, from a sail-maker.
Needles, to make.--The natives of Unyoro sew their beautifully prepared goat-skins in a wonderfully neat manner, with needles manufactured by themselves. ”They make them not by boring the eye, but by sharpening the end into a fine point and turning it over, the extremity being hammered into a small cut in the body of the needle, to prevent it from catching.”--Sir S. Baker.
MEMBRANE, SINEW, HORN.
Parchment--The substance which is called parchment when made from sheep or goat skins, and vellum when from those of calves, kids, or dead-born lambs, can also be made from any other skin. The raw hide is buried for one or two days, till the hair comes off easily; then it is taken out and well sc.r.a.ped. Next a skewer is run in and out along each of its four sides, and strings being made fast to these skewers, the skin is very tightly stretched; it is carefully sc.r.a.ped over as it lies on the stretch, by which means the water is squeezed out; then it is rubbed with rough stones, as pumice or sandstone, after which it is allowed to dry, the strings by which the skewers are secured being tightened from time to time. If this parchment be used for writing, it will be found rather greasy, but was.h.i.+ng it will oxgall will probably remedy this fault. (See ”Ox-gall,” p. 331.) In the regular preparation of parchment, the skin is soaked for a short time in a lime-pit before taking off the hairs, to get rid of the grease.
Catgut.--Steep the intestines of any animal in water for a day, peel off the outer membrane, then burn the gut inside out, which is easily to be done by turning a very short piece of it inside out, just as you would turn up the cuff of your sleeve; then, catching hold of the turned-up cuff, dip the whole into a bucket, and scoop up a little water between the cuff and the rest of the gut.
[Sketch of making catgut as described].
The weight of this water will do what is wanted: it will bear down an additional length of previously unturned gut; and thus, by a few successive dippings, the entire length of any amount of intestine, however narrow it may be, can be turned inside out in a minute or two.
Having turned the intestine inside out, sc.r.a.pe off the whole of its inner soft parts; what remains is a fine transparent tube, which, being twisted up tightly and stretched to dry, forms catgut.
Membrane Thread.--Steep the intestines of any animal in water for a day; then peel off the outer membrane, which will come off in long strips; these should be twisted up between the hands, and hung out to dry; they form excellent threads for sewing skins together, or indeed for any other purpose.
Sinews for Thread.--Any sinews will do for making thread if the fibres admit of being twisted or plaited together into pieces of sufficient length. The sinews lying alongside the backbone are the most convenient, on account of the length of their fibres. After the sinew is dried straight strips are torn off it of the proper size; they are wetted, and sc.r.a.ped into evenness by being drawn through the mouth and teeth; then, by one or two rubs between the hand and the thigh, they become twisted and their fibres are retained together. A piece of dried sinew is usually kept in reserve for making thread or string.
Glue is made by boiling down hides, or even tendons, hoofs, and horns, for a long time, taking care that they are not charred; then drawing off the fluid and letting it set.
Isingla.s.s is made readily by steeping the stomach and intestines of fish in cold water, and then gently boiling them into a jelly: this is spread into sheets and allowed to dry. The air-bladder of the sturgeon makes the true isingla.s.s. (See ”Paste and Gum,” p. 332.)
Horn, Tortoisesh.e.l.l, and Whalebone.--Horn is so easily worked into shape that travellers, especially in pastoral countries, should be acquainted with its properties. By boiling, or exposing it to heat in hot sand, it is made quite soft, and can be moulded into whatever shape you will. Not only this, but it can also be welded by heating and pressing two edges together, which, however, must be quite clean and free from grease, even the touch of the hand taints them. Sheets of horn are a well-known subst.i.tute for gla.s.s, and are made as follows:--The horn is left to soak for a fortnight in a pond; then it is well washed, to separate the pith; next it is sawn lengthwise, and boiled till it can be easily split into sheets with a chisel; which sheets are again boiled, then sc.r.a.ped to a uniform thickness, and set into shape to dry. Tortoisesh.e.l.l and whalebone can be softened and worked in the same way.
POTTERY.
TO GLAZE POTTERY.--Most savages have pottery, but few know how to glaze it. One way, and that which was the earliest known of doing this, is to throw handfuls of salt upon the jar when red-hot in the kiln. The reader will doubtless call to mind the difficulties of Robinson Crusoe in making his earthenware water-tight.
Subst.i.tute for Clay.--In Damara land, where there is no natural material fitted for pottery, the savages procured mud from the interior of the white-ant hills, with which they made their pots. They were exceedingly brittle, but nevertheless were large and serviceable for storing provisions and even for holding water over the fire. I have seen them two feet high. What it was that caused the clay taken from the ant-hills to possess this property, I do not know.
Pots for Stores and Caches.--An earthen pot is excellent for a store of provisions or for a cache, because it keeps out moisture and insects, and animals cannot smell and therefore do not attack its contents.
CANDLES AND LAMPS.
Candles.--Moulds for Candles.--It is usual, on an expedition, to take tin moulds and a ball of wick for the purpose of making candles, from time to time, when fat happens to be abundant. The most convenient mould is of the shape shown in the figure. The tallow should be poured in, when its heat is so reduced that it hardly feels warm to the finger; that is, just before setting. If this be done over-night, the candles will come out in the morning without difficulty. But, if you are obliged to make many at a time, then, after the tallow has been poured in, the mould should be dipped in cold water to cool it: and then when the tallow has set, the mould should be dipped for a moment in hot water to melt the outside of the newly-made candle and enable it to be easily extracted. By this method, the candles are not made so neatly as by the other, though they are made more quickly.
[Sketch of candle mould].
It is well to take, if not to make, a proper needle for putting the wicks into the moulds. It should be a hooked piece of wire, like a crochet needle, which catches the wick by its middle and pulls it doubled through the hole. A stick across the mouth of the mould secures the other end.