Signets.--Many excellent and worthy bushmen have the misfortune of not knowing how to write: should any such be placed in a post of confidence by an explorer, it might be well that he should cut for himself a signet out of soft stone--such as the europeans of bygone generations, and the Turks of the last one, very generally employed. A device is cut on the seal; before using it, the paper is moistened with a wet finger, and the ink is dabbed over the ring with another; the impression is then made, using the ball of the thumb for a pad.
Sealing-wax Varnish.--Black or red sealing-wax, dissolved in spirits of wine, makes a very effective stiff and waterproof varnish, especially for boxes of paper or cardboard. It might be useful in keeping some iron things from rust: it is the same material that is used to cover toy magnets. When made stiff it is an excellent cement for small articles. Opticians employ it for many of these purposes. I have also used it as a paint for marking initials on luggage, cutting out the letters in paper and dabbing the red stuff through.
Small Boxes for Specimens.--Cut the side of a cigar-box, or a strip of pasteboard, half through in three places, add two smaller pieces like wings, one on each side, by means of a piece of gummed paper overlapping them, as in the picture.
Any number of these may be carried like the leaves of a book, and when a box is wanted they may be bent into shape, and by the adherence of the moistened gum-paper, can be made into a box at a moment's notice. The shaded border of the figure represents the gummed paper. Quills make convenient receptacles for minute specimens. They should be dressed (see "Quills"), and may be corked with a plug of wood or wax, or, for greater security, a small quill may be pushed, mouth forward, into a larger one, as into a sheath.
TIMBER.
Green Wood.--To season Wood.--Green wood cannot be employed in carpentry, as it is very weak; it also warps, cracks, and becomes rotten: wood dried with too great a heat loses its toughness as well as its pliability: it becomes hard and brittle. Green wood is seasoned by washing out the sap, and then drying it thoroughly. The traveller's way of doing this by one rapid operation, is to dig a long trench and make a roaring fire in it; when the ground is burning hot, sweep the ashes away, deluge the trench with boiling water; and in the middle of the clouds of steam that arise, throw in the log of wood, shovel hot earth over it, and leave it to steam and bake. A log thick enough to make an axletree may thus be somewhat seasoned in a single night. The log would be seasoned more thoroughly if it were saturated with boiling water before putting it into the trench; that can be done by laying it in a deep narrow puddle, and shovelling hot stones into the water. All crowbars, wagon-lifters, etc., should be roughly seasoned as green wood is far too weak for such uses. The regular way of seasoning is to leave the timber to soak for a long time in water, that the juices may be washed out. Fresh water is better for this purpose than salt; but a mineral spring, if it is warm is better than cold fresh water. Parties travelling with a wagon ought to fell a little timber on their outward journey, and leave it to season against their return, in readiness to replace strained axletrees, broken poles, and the like. They might, at all events, cut a ring round through the bark and sap-wood of the tree, and leave it to discharge its juices, die, and become half-seasoned as it stands.
To bend Wood.--If it is wished to bend a rod of wood, or to straighten it if originally crooked, it must be steamed, or at least be submitted to hot water. Thus a rod of green wood may be passed through the ashes of a smouldering fire and, when hot, bent and shaped with the hand; but if the wood be dry it must first be thoroughly soaked in a pond or puddle. If the puddle is made to boil by shovelling in hot stones, as described in the last paragraph, the stick will bend more easily. the long straight spears of savages are often made of exceedingly crooked sticks, straightened in the ashes of their camp fires. A thick piece of wood may be well swabbed with hot water, forcibly bent, as far as can be safely done, tied in position and steamed, as if for the purpose of seasoning (see last paragraph), in a trench; after a quarter of an hour it must be taken out, damped afresh if necessary, bent further, and again returned to steam--the process being repeated till the wood has attained the shape required; it should then be left in the trench to season thoroughly. The heads of dog-sledges, and the pieces of wood used for the outsides of snow-shoes, are all bent by this process.
Carpenters' Tools.--Tools of too hard steel should not be taken on a journey; they splinter against the dense wood of tropical countries, and they are very troublesome to sharpen. The remedy for over-hardness is to heat them red-hot; retempering them by quenching in grease. A small iron axe, with a file to sharpen it, and a few awls, are (if nothing else can be taken) a very useful outfit.