INTRODUCTION.
Like two voyagers returned from a long cruise in far-off seas, we throw together our joint gleanings in many lands. These do not consist of jewels, gems, gold, or furs; no piles of costly merchandise do we lay at the reader’s feet as offerings from distant climes, but simply the experiences of two roving Englishmen who have roughed it. By those who have to pass through a campaign, travel wild countries, or explore little known regions, shifts must be made, and expedients of many kinds had recourse to, of which the inexperienced in such matters would but little dream.
As necessity is the mother of invention, so is self-reliance the father of its practical application, and it is with a strong desire (by explaining how constantly recurring wants may be overcome, and apparently hopeless difficulties surmounted) to strengthen that quality in those who roam that we write this volume. In our travels and adventures we have not been associated, the paths trodden by us being widely separated. Whilst one was exploring in the wilds of North Australia, the other was dwelling in a canvas-covered hole in the earth before Sebastopol. The scenes change; Southern and Tropical Africa is visited by the late Australian traveller, whilst the Crimea, with its rugged hills and wild ravines, is exchanged for the jungles of Central India by the other. So the two barques have drifted here and there on the world’s tide, but are anchored side by side, and have compared logs at last; and if amongst the heterogeneous odds and ends therein contained the reader can find the aid he seeks, our shifts and expedients will not have been made in vain.
CHAPTER I.
OUTFIT TO TAKE ABROAD.
Equipment to be purchased in England.
In dealing with this portion of our subject we can but generalise, as the destination of the traveller and the objects he has in view will materially modify the nature and extent of his equipment. The military officer who is bound on a long march, through a comparatively wild country, needs a very different outfit from that which a hunter or trader of experience would procure for himself before starting for the home of the elephant and the savage. The man who, with his wife and family, seeks a new home beyond the border line which divides the unreclaimed wilderness from civilised society, needs an infinitely more voluminous store of requisites—not to say comforts—than the small band of hardy explorers or hunter naturalists, who, with horse, mule, pack and rifle, wend their way over prairies and mountains without path, and thread the forests and thickets where no traveller has penetrated. There are other members of the human family who prefer prosecuting their wanderings alone, carry all their worldly possessions with them, and whose equipment is usually of a particularly simple and practical character. The sea, the inland lake, and the rivers flowing through little known regions, each have their explorers, for whose use a variety of contrivances are needed. Some of these are best made at home; others it will be found most convenient to prepare in the localities in which their aid are required; whilst at times adverse circumstances will render it necessary to improvise rough and ready appliances to save life and prolong its duration when saved. We shall therefore endeavour to give such hints and directions as will enable our readers who intend visiting far-off countries to select such matters as may be best purchased before quitting England, and to avoid encumbering themselves with useless impedimenta. As we have first made mention of the military officer about to depart on service, we will suppose that he is in London, or any other large town, gathering together his traps for a start. We will then accompany him on his shopping expeditions, and give him a few hints as to what will prove most useful. On matters of uniform we can have nothing to say further than to advise, as we do in every case of purchase, that it be obtained from some tradesman of well-established reputation. The raiment calculated to meet the requirements of refined society, when the uniform is for the time cast aside, must also be left to the dictates of the prevailing mode and the good taste of the wearer.
Shirt making and clothing.
Where fashion and the dress regulations of the army end there do we begin, and as flannel is, perhaps, the most important as an article of under clothing, we will first make a few remarks on shirts of that material, of which plenty should be taken. First, then, have them made to measure from flannel which has been previously well shrunk, of thoroughly good quality, of medium substance, and unobtrusive pattern or colour. It will be well to order them of extra length, both of sleeve and body, so as to allow for the shrinkage which is certain to take place after a few washings, in spite of all precautions. Two breast pockets should be made in each. These are very convenient for holding a variety of small matters when no waistcoat is worn. For outer clothing nothing can surpass good heather-coloured tweed, or Waterford frieze, for ordinary wear; jackets of shooting-coat pattern, made with plenty of pockets, formed from much stronger materials than are usually made use of by tailors for that purpose, will be found most useful for knocking about in. One or two pairs of trousers may be strapped up the inside and bottoms of the legs with leather, after the cavalry rough-rider pattern. A pair or two of Oxford cord hunting breeches will also be found useful to wear with long boots, with ankle jacks and gaiters. The waistcoats should be cut rather long, made with four pockets, two breast and two bottom. All these should have flaps or “salt-box” covers to them. Each half of the waistcoat, from about the level of the bottom button and button-hole to where the back is joined in, should be lined with a strip of leather. A long loose gaberdine of woollen stuff, made to button up the front, and secured round the waist by a long narrow scarf or “cummerbund,” is an immense comfort in camp or quarters, let the climate be hot or cold. A good supply of reddish-brown woollen socks should be laid in; a moderate number of long stockings, of the same material, to wear with the breeches; and a few dozen pairs of the “heelless cotton” socks, for use on board ship, or when the weather is hot; nothing can be more agreeable to wear, except silk, and the cost is a mere trifle when compared to that of other hosiery. White cotton pocket handkerchiefs, as a rule, last their owners very much longer than silk, being less tempting to native servants or followers. Braces should be always ordered of the saddler, and made from the material used for the surcingles of racehorses. One pair of these lasts longer than half-a-dozen of the flimsy affairs usually sold ready made. There are those who dispense with braces, find great relief by the practice, and wear an ordinary waist-belt instead; but to some persons much discomfort is caused by so doing. A soft felt hat, with a moderately wide brim, is a convenient head dress in most temperate climates. With the head gear made use of in the tropics and the far north we shall have to speak hereafter. The best gloves for general and moderately rough usage are those sold under the name of driving gloves. They should be obtained of the regular glover, and have buckskin let in between the fingers. A pair of common hedging gloves well repays the trouble of taking, when the brush of the thicket has to be handled and firewood arranged.
Hats, ground sheets, and india-rubber garments.
Take a blue cloth pilot coat, cut long enough to reach just below the knees; have it lined throughout with woollen material; let the pockets be made extra strong, and order the buttons to be large, of black horn, and sewn on with double-waxed thread. The left hand breast pocket should be deep and lined with leather, as it not unfrequently becomes a resting-place for the revolver when you do not wish to make an ostentatious display of it. Get a couple of real Scotch caps, such as the Highland shepherds wear; nothing can equal them for sleeping in when camping out, and they form a most convenient head-covering for camp use, or when the sun is not too powerful. Get from some sailors’ outfitter a regular seagoing sou’wester hat, with ear and neck flaps, and a pair of oiled canvas overalls to match. Procure also from some first-class maker a thoroughly good india-rubber coat; long enough to come well below the tops of the butcher boots. Buttons should be sewn in at the back and sides of the collar, in order to admit of a hood of the same material being put on when needed. An arrangement of this kind we have found most useful for boat work and in heavy tropical rains. Order also a piece of the best Russia duck, 9ft. by 8ft.; have this subjected to the waterproofing process; have the edges turned in to form a 2in. hem; and at every two feet, at both sides and ends, have good sized wide flanged brass eyelets punched in. Then in the centre of the piece have a longitudinal slit made 16in. in length, have the raw edge bound with a broad strong tape, and at every 3in. on each side have an eyelet of less size than those at the edges put in. This arrangement admits of the slit being laced close when it is not required. A waterproof square of this kind is useful for an almost endless number of purposes. In the first place it can be used as a ground sheet to sleep on; it can, by thrusting the head through the unlaced opening, be converted into an excellent cloak; it can by fastening strings and pegs to the sides, and cutting a ridge pole, be converted into a very fair substitute for a small tent; it forms an excellent carpet to lay by the side of the tent bed, when you are fortunate enough to be able to use one, keeping down insects, and protecting the feet from sharp grass, stumps, and twigs. If during rain the tent should admit water, as it sometimes will (especially if heedlessly touched when saturated with moisture), this universal square of duck can by the aid of some upright sticks or canes, one at the head and another at the foot of the bed, and a bit of rope stretched like a clothes line from one to the other, be at once made use of as a roof to the bed, the sides being made to slope and stand out by attaching pieces of twine to a few of the side poles. Clothes and other matters can be securely carried when rolled up in this, even in the heaviest rain. On a pinch, even a river might be crossed with its assistance, but the method adopted for constructing extempore rafts, boats, canoes, and floats, will be fully treated on when that subject comes under consideration.
Boots and shoes.
Boots and shoes for real work are in no part of the world equal to those made at home, and a thoroughly good stock should be laid in before quitting England; “butcher boots,” so made as to fit the leg compactly just below the bend of the knee, with low heels, and broad heel seats; several pairs of shooting boots of the regular ankle-jack gamekeeper’s pattern, tipped at toe and heel. A pair or two of high shoes made from soft undressed russet leather will be found very useful to wear instead of slippers, or for camp use when the ground is dry. A pair of Cording’s wading boots will be found invaluable. They occupy little space, are comparatively light, and keep the legs and feet dry and warm when nothing else will. The late Mr. Wheelwright—better known in the sporting and scientific world as the “Old Bushman”—thus speaks of them in a communication to the Field: “I can add the testimony of five years’ experience to all you can say in their favour. For wading, flight shooting, boat fishing or punting, and all winter water work, they are invaluable. They are a little too heavy for a hard day’s walking, and soon cut through in the leg or foot among stakes or bushes; but use them carefully, and they will be found by far the best water boots ever made. They are very warm, stand a long while, are perfectly water-tight to the last, and they have this advantage over a leather boot—they want no dressing. Only never keep them near a fire. I lost three or four pairs in the bush by neglecting to draw them off before I lay down for the night before a camp fire. And what is worth all the rest, they never get hard, but are always as easy to draw off and on as a glove.” It will be well also to provide two or three pairs of brown leather shooting boots without heels and with single soles, free from nails, and flexible enough to admit of the wearer walking softly and with perfect freedom.
Foot gear, adapted to the nature of most countries to which the traveller is likely to proceed, will be fully described when bush shoemaking is under consideration.
It will be well also to procure from a saddler a good supply of bootlaces. These should be cut straight and in the way of the grain of the hide. The white leather used by carters for mending their harness is by far the best for the purpose. Strips of this cut to about the eighth of an inch square, and well greased with mutton suet, are next to indestructible, and are available for all sorts of purposes apart from that of lacing boots or shoes. Slightly burning or roasting the ends in the candle or fire hardens them sufficiently to pass freely through the lace holes without a tag.
TWO BOXES ON ENDS OF POLE.
RESTING POLE FOR BURDENS ON TUE ZAMBESI.