The Art of Travel Part 24

Hawking is a disappointing pursuit, owing to the frequent loss of hawks; and can hardly be carried on except in a hawking country, where the sportsman has a better chance than elsewhere, both of recovering and replacing them; it is impracticable except where the land is open and bare; and it is quite a science. There are some amateurs who will not hear a word of disparagement about their hawks, but the decided impression that I bear away with me from all I have learnt, is, that the birds are rarely affectionate or intelligent.

FIs.h.i.+NG.

Fis.h.i.+ng-tackle.--Fish-hooks are made of iron, not steel, wire. While the piece of wire is straight, it is laid along a little groove in a block of wood, and there barbed by the stroke of a chisel, slantwise across it.

The other end is flattened by a tap of the hammer, or roughened, that it may be held by the whipping; then the point is sharpened by a file, and finished on a stone. The proper curvature is next given, and then the hook is case-hardened (see "Case-hardening"); lastly, the proper temper is given, by heating the hook red-hot, and quenching it in grease.

A traveller should always take a few hooks with him: they should be of the very small and also of the middling-sized sorts; he might have a dozen of each sort whipped on to gut; and at least a couple of casting-lines, with which to use them: also several dozens of tinned iron fish-hooks, of various sizes, such as are used at sea; and plenty of line.

Fis.h.i.+ng-lines.--Twisted sinews will make a fis.h.i.+ng-line. To make a strong fine line, unravel a good silk handkerchief, and twist the threads into a whipcord. (See also "Subst.i.tutes for String.")

Gut is made from silkworms; but the sc.r.a.pings of the membrane in the manufacture of catgut (see "Sinew-thread") Make a fine, strong, and somewhat transparent thread: twisted horsehair can almost always be obtained: and boiling this in soap-lees, takes away its oiliness.

Shoemakers' Wax is made by boiling together common resin and any kind of soft grease, which does not contain salt, such as oil or b.u.t.ter. A sixth or seventh part of pitch makes it more tough, but it is not absolutely necessary for making the wax. Try if the quant.i.ty of grease is sufficient by dipping the stick with which the wax is stirred, into water to cool it. When the wax is supposed to be successfully made, pour it into water, then taking it out while yet soft, pull it and stretch it with your wet hands as much as it will bear; do this over and over again, after dipping it in lukewarm water, till it is quite tough. Wax is used of different degrees of hardness, according as the weather is warm or cold.

Reel. If you have no reel, make a couple of gimlet-holes, six inches apart, in the b.u.t.t of your rod, at the place where the reel is usually clamped; drive wooden pegs into these, and wind your spare line round them, as in fig. 1.

[Fig 1: ill.u.s.tration as described above].

The pegs should not be quite square with the b.u.t.t, but should slope a little, each away from the other, that the line may be better retained on them.

{Fig. 2 and Fig 3--line as described below].

A long line is conveniently wound on a square frame, as shown in the annexed sketch (fig. 2); and a shorter line, as in fig. 3.

If you have no equivalent for a reel, and if your tackle is slight, and the fish likely to be large, provide yourself with A bladder or other float; tie it to the line, and cast the whole adrift.

Trimmers are well known, and are a convenient way of fis.h.i.+ng the middle of a pool, with only a short line. Anything will do for the float--a bladder or a bottle is very good.

To recover a lost Line, make a drag of a small bushy tree with plenty of branches, that are so lopped off as to leave spikes on the trunk. This is to be weighted with a stone, and dragged along the bottom.

Otters.--What is called "an otter" is useful to a person on the sh.o.r.e of a wide river or lake which he has no other means of fis.h.i.+ng: it is a very successful at first, but soon scares the fish; therefore it is better suited to a traveller than to an ordinary sportsman. It is made as follows:--A board of light wood, fourteen inches long and eight inches high, or thereabouts, is heavily weighted along its lower edge, so as to float upright in the water; a string like the bellyband of a kite, and for the same purpose, is fastened to it; and to this belly-band the end of a line, furnished with a dozen hooks at intervals, is tied. As the fisherman walks along the bank, the otter runs away from him, and carries his line and hooks far out into the stream. It is very convenient to have a large hand-reel to wind and unwind the line upon; but a forked stick will do very well.

Boat fis.h.i.+ng.--In fis.h.i.+ng with a long ground-line and many hooks, it is of importance to avoid entanglements; make a box in which to coil the line, and a great many deep saw-cuts across the sides, into which the thin short lines, to which the hooks are whipped, may be jammed.

Fishermen who do not use oars, but paddles, tie a loop to their line: they put their thumb through the loop, and fish while they paddle.

To see Things deep under Water, such as dead seals, use a long box or tube with a piece of gla.s.s at the lower end; this removes entirely the glare of the water and the effects of a rippled surface. Mr. Campbell, of Islay, suggests that a small gla.s.s window might be let into the bottom of the boat: Plate-gla.s.s would be amply strong enough. (See "Water-spectacles.")

Nets.--A small square net may be best turned to account by sinking it in holes and other parts of a river which fish frequent; throwing in bait to attract them over it; and then hauling up suddenly. The arrangement shown in the figure is very common. A seine net may be furnished with bladder for floats, or else with pieces of light wood charred to make them more buoyant. The hauling-ropes may be made of bark steeped for three weeks, till the inner bark separates from the outer, when the latter is twisted into a rope. (Lloyd.) Wherever small fish are swimming in shoals near the surface, there the water is sure to be rippled.

[Sketch of net arrangement as described].

Spearing Fish.--The weapon used (sometimes called the "grains") is identical with Neptune's or Britannia's trident, only the p.r.o.ngs should be more numerous and be placed nearer together, in order to catch small fish: the length of the handle gives steadiness to the blow. In spearing by torchlight, a broad oval piece of bark is coated with wet mud, and in it a blazing fire is lighted. It is fixed on a stage, or it is held in the bow of the boat, so high as to be above the spearman's eyes. He can see everything by its light, especially if the water be not above four feet deep, and the bottom sandy. But there are not many kinds of wood that will burn with a sufficiently bright flame; the dry bark of some resinous tree is often used. If tarred rope can be obtained, it may simply be wound round a pole fixed in the bow of the boat, and lighted.

Fish can also be shot with a bow and a barbed arrow, to which a string is attached.

Intoxicating Fish.--Lime thrown into a pond will kill the fish; and the similar but far more energetic properties of Cocculus Indicus are well known. Throughout tropical Africa and in South America, the natives catch fish by poisoning them. Dams are made, which, when the river is very low, Enclose deep pools of water with no current; into these the poison is thrown: it intoxicates the fish, which float and are taken by the hand.

Otters, Cormorants, and Dogs.--Both otters and cormorants are trained to catch fish for their masters; and dogs are trained by the Patagonians to drive fish into the nets, and to frighten them from breaking loose when the net is being hauled in. Cormorants, in China, fish during the winter from October to May, working from 10 A.M. to 5 P.M., at which hour their dinner is given to them. When they fish, a straw tie is put round their necks, to keep them from swallowing the fish, but not so tight as to slip down and choke them. A boat takes out ten or twelve of these birds. They obey the voice: if they are disobedient, the water near them is struck with the back of the oar; as soon as one of them has caught a fish, he is called to the boat, and the oar is held out for him to step upon. It requires caution to train a cormorant, because the bird has a habit, when angry, of striking with its beak at its instructor's eye with an exceedingly rapid and sure stroke.

SIGNALS.

Colomb and Bolton's flas.h.i.+ng signals, adopted in our Army and Navy, and used in many other countries as well, are eminently suited to the wants of an expedition. Anything may be used for signalling, that appears and disappears, like a lantern, or an opened and closed umbrella, or that moves, as a waved flag or a person walking to and fro on the crest of a hill against the sky. Sound also can be employed, as long and short whistles. Their use can be thoroughly taught in two hours, and however small the practice of the operators, communication, though slow, is fairly accurate, while in practised hands its rapidity is astonis.h.i.+ng.

The proportion of time occupied by the flashes and intervals is as follows. (I extract all the rest of the article from the pamphlet published by the inventors of the system.)

Flas.h.i.+ng Signals, with Flags.--Supposing the short flash to be half a second in duration, the long flash should be fully a second and a half.

The interval between the flashes forming a figure should be equal to a short flash, and the interval between two figures should be equal to a long flash. After the last figure of the signal is finished, there should be a pause equal to at least one-third of the time taken up by the figures. After this pause, the signal should be again repeated with the same measured flashes and intervals, and so continued until answered by all to whom it is addressed.

[Example of Morse code].

Care must be taken never to commence a fresh signal before the answers to the last have ceased; and signals are never to be answered until their repet.i.tions have been observed a sufficient number of times to make an error impossible.

[Fig. 1 and Fig 2--sketch of signalling with flags as described below].

The signalman may work from left to right, or from right to left, as shown in figs. 1 and 2, according to convenience and the direction of the wind. To make a short flash, the flag is waved from a to b, and back to the normal position a. To make a long flash, the flag is waved from a to c, and back to the normal position a.

The numerals 1 to 5 are, therefore, denoted by one to five waves of the flag from a to b, recovering to a.

The numeral 6 by a wave from a to c, recovering to a. The numeral 7 by a wave from a to b, back to a, and then to c, recovering to the normal position a. The numeral 8 is denoted by a wave from a to c, back to a, and then to b, recovering to the normal position a. The numeral 9 is denoted by two waves from a to b, and one from a to c. The numeral 0 by one wave from a to c, recovering again to a, and then two waves from a to b. The other signs are made in the same manner, so that a short motion shall always represent a short flash, and a long motion a long flash.

On the completion of the motions required for each sign, the flag must always be brought to the position a. When the word, or group of figures, is completed, the flag may be lowered in front of the body.

In receiving a message, the flag should always be kept in the position a, except when answering.

In waving the flag, the point of the staff should be made to describe a figure of 8 in the air to keep the flag clear.

Each signal party must consist of not less than two men, whose duties will be as follows:--

In receiving messages: No. 1 works the flag for answering, etc., and refers to the code for the interpretation of the numbers received, and calls out the words to No. 2. No. 2 fixes the telescope and reads from the distant station, calling out the numbers as they are made for the information of No. 1, and writes down the numbers and meaning thereof.

Suppose station "A" in communication with station "B":--No. 1 at "A" on being told by No. 2 that "B" is about to send a message, takes up his position at attention, holding the flag over the left arm and under the right, or vice versa across his body, according to the wind, with the code book in his hand. No. 2 fixes his eyes on the gla.s.s, and on receiving the numbers from "B" calls them out to No. 1, who ascertains their meaning from the code, and gives the words to No. 2, who writes them down in his book, and then placing his eye to the gla.s.s, tells No. 1 to make the answer. No. 2 does not, however, direct the answer to be made until he is sure of the correctness of the signal received.

Flas.h.i.+ng Alphabet, for Use without a Code.--The following alphabet, etc., can be used under circ.u.mstances when it is not convenient or possible to have recourse to the Signal Book, and forms in itself a perfect telegraphic system, necessarily somewhat slow in its application, but having the great advantage of requiring very little previous knowledge and practice to work with correctness. The symbols and numbers expressing the alphabet are identical with those forming the alphabet in the Signal Book.

[Chart with code signals].

All particulars as to the machines and lanterns used in the Service, for making these flas.h.i.+ng signals, and the code, can be procured at W. Nunn and Co.'s Army and Navy Lamp and Signal Works, 65, George Street East, London, E.

Reflecting the Sun with a Mirror.--To attract the notice of a division of your party, five or even ten miles off, glitter a bit of looking-gla.s.s in the sun, throwing its flash towards where you expect them to be. It is quite astonis.h.i.+ng at how great a distance the gleam of the gla.s.s will catch the sharp eyes of a bushman who has learnt to know what it is. It is now a common signal in the North American prairies. (Sullivan.) It should be recollected that a pa.s.sing flash has far less briliancy than one that dwells for an appreciable time on the retina of the observer; therefore the signaller should do all he can to steady his aim. I find the steadiest way of holding the mirror is to rest the hand firmly against the forehead, and to keep the eyes continually fixed upon the same distant object. The glare of the sun that is reflected from each point of the surface of a mirror forms a cone of light whose vertical angle is constant, and equal to that subtended by the sun. Hence when a flash is sent to a distant place, the size of the mirror is of no appreciable importance in affecting the size of the area over which the flash is visible. That area is the section of the fasciculus of cones that proceed from each point of the mirror, which, in the case we have supposed, differs immaterially from the cone reflected from a single point. Hence, if a man watches the play of the flash from his mirror upon a very near object, it will appear to him of the shape and size of the mirror; but as he retreats from the object, the edges of the flash become rounded, and very soon the flash appears a perfect circle, of precisely the same apparent diameter as the disc of the sun: it will, in short, look just like a very faint sun. The signaller has to cause this disc of light to cover the person whose notice he wishes to attract. I will proceed to show how he can do so; but in the mean time it will be evident that a pretty careful aim is requisite, or he will fail in his object.

The steadiness of his aim must be just twice as accurate, neither more nor less, as would suffice to point a rifle at the sun when it was sufficiently obscured by a cloud to bear being looked at: for the object of the aim is of the same apparent size, but a movement of a mirror causes the ray reflected from it to move through a double angle.

The power of these sun-signals is extraordinarily great. The result of several experiments that I made in England showed that the smallest mirror visible under atmospheric conditions such that the signaller's station was discernible, but dim, subtended an angle of only one-tenth of a second of a degree. It is very important that the mirror should be of truly plane and parallel gla.s.s, such as instrument-makers procure; the index gla.s.s of a full-sized s.e.xtant is very suitable for this purpose: there is a loss of power when there is any imperfection in the gla.s.s. A plane mirror only three inches across, reflects as much of the sun as a globe of 120 feet diameter; it looks like a dazzling star at ten miles'

distance.