When this can be done at a wharf, the operation is simply the reverse of embarking.
When wharf accommodations are not available, arrangements will have to be made for transferring the men, horses, and material from the vessel to the shore. Bridges may be made of pontoons, or of trestles and pontoons combined, and the horses and material carried ashore on these; canal-barges may be used and towed close to shore by light-draught steamers, from which horses and material can be landed by a gang-plank; by lashing two of the canal-barges together, placing the boats some 12 feet apart, and throwing a false or additional deck over the whole, a platform is formed, about 40 feet long, capable of holding all the pieces and caissons of a six-gun battery, or from 40 to 50 horses. A raft of this kind should have a strong railing around it.
In disembarking horses the same precautions are necessary as when embarking them. For some days after a long voyage they should be led about at a walk, and no weight put on their backs unless it is absolutely necessary.
The disembarkation of horses by swimming is more easily effected than their embarkation by the same method, as their instinct assists in bringing them ashore. The horse should be lowered in the sling over the side of the vessel, without fastening the breast-strap or breeching. When the tackle is unhooked, the sling opens and is at once slipped from under. In smooth water a horse can easily swim half a mile.
When the deck of a vessel is low, say not over 10 feet, and there is a gangway, the horses may be backed off into the water without slinging. This method should never be resorted to if it can possibly be avoided; it is liable to strain and injure the animal, and it is said to injure his pluck and make him shy about entering water.
CHAPTER IX.
Machine-guns. The Hotchkiss Revolving Cannon. The Gatling Gun. The Gardner Gun. The Maxim Gun. The Metallic Carriage for Machine-guns.