The sketch represents a section of the pack-saddle, at the place where one of the hooks is situated on either side, but the front of the kegs themselves, and not their section, is given. Above and between the kegs lies a bag, and a strap passing from the near side of the saddle goes over the whole burden, and is buckled to a similar short strap on the other side. It is of importance that the bung-hole should be placed even nearer to the rim than where it is drawn, for it is necessary that it should be convenient to pour out of and to pour into, and that it should be placed on the highest part of the keg, both when on the beast's back and also when it stands on the ground, lest water should leak and be lost. According to the above plan, when water is ladled into it, the rim keeps it from spilling; and in pouring out water, the run acts as a spout. In making the bung-hole, a metal plate, with a screw-hole in it, is firmly fixed in the face of the cask; into this a wooden stopper, bound with iron, is made to screw (natives would probably steal a metal one). The stopper has a small head and a deeply-cut neck, by which it is tied to the cask, and its body has a large hole bored in it, which admits of a stick being put through, to prize it round, if it should become jammed. A spigot, to screw into the bung-hole on arriving at camp, might be really useful; but if used, a gimlet-hole must be bored in the cask to act as an air-vent. A large tundish is very convenient, and a spare plug might be taken; but a traveller, with a little painstaking, could soon cut a plug with his own knife, sufficiently well made to allow of its being Firmly screwed in, and of retaining the water, if it had a bit of rag wrapped round it. A piece of rag rolled tightly, will suffice to plug a hole.
Siphons.--A flexible tube of some kind, whether of india-rubber, gutta-percha, or, still better, of macintosh, strained over rings, would be very valuable as a siphon: both for filling large kegs out of buckets and for emptying them again. Vulcanised india-rubber becomes rotten after short use, and gutta-percha will stand no extremes of temperature.
Tanks for Wagons.--There still remain many large districts in Asia, Africa, and Australia which may be explored in wagons, but, so far as I am aware, no particular pattern of a water-tank, suitable for carriage on wheels, has yet been adopted by travellers. I believe kegs are generally used, but they are far too heavy for the requirements of a wagon. Probably the tins used for sending milk by cart and railway to towns, would be very serviceable for carrying water on expeditions. They are invariably made of the same shape, and only of few different sizes. Therefore experience must have shown that their pattern is better than any other yet devised. Their mouths can be padlocked, which is an important matter.
Macintosh Bags.--I would also recommend a trial of square bags of strong macintosh--say 18 inches deep and 10 inches square, in which case they would hold 60 lbs. of water--fitting into square compartments, in large panniers, like those in a bottle-basket. I have made some experiments upon this arrangement. The basket-work gives protection against blows and the jolting together of packages, and it yields without harm to a strain, and the bags yield also. Moreover, water is less churned in half-empty bags than in half-empty barrels. No unusual strength of materials would be required in making these bags: their mouths should be funnel-shaped, and corked at the neck of the funnel. The funnels should be wide at their mouths, for convenience in filling them; and a string to secure the cork should be tied round the neck of the funnel. The bags should have loops on their sides, through which a strap, passing underneath, might run, in order to Give a good hold for lifting them up. They could easily be filled as they lay in their compartments, and would only require to be lifted out in order to empty them; there is, therefore, no objection to their holding as much as 60 lbs. weight of water. An india-rubber tube as a siphon, and with a common spigot at the end of it, would be particularly useful. A pannier not much exceeding 30 inches long, by 20 broad, and 18 deep, would hold six of these bags, or 360 lbs. weight of water in all; and two such panniers would be ample for exploring purposes. I had a pannier and two bags made for a trial, which were quite satisfactory, and I found that the weight of the panniers and bags together was at the rate of 6 lbs. for each compartment; therefore the weight of these water-vessels is not more than 10 per cent. Of that of the water which they carry. It might be well to vary the contents of some of the compartments; putting, for instance, two or even three small bags into one, and tin cases into a few of the others, instead of the large bags. These panniers, with the bags inflated, and connected together by a stage, would form an excellent and powerful raft. If secured within a wagon about to cross a deep river, they would have enough power, in all ordinary cases, to cause it to float and not to sink to the bottom. I trust some explorer will try this plan. I may add that the macintosh water-bags cost me about 1 pound each.
Raw Hide Bags.--Captain Sturt, when he explored in Australia, took a tank in his cart, which burst, and besides that, he carried casks of water. By these he was enabled to face a desert country with a degree of success to which no traveller before had ever attained. For instance, when returning homewards, the water was found to be drying up on all sides of him. He was encamped by a pool where he was safe, whence the next stage was 118 miles, or 4 days' journey, but it was a matter of considerable doubt whether there remained any water at the end of the stage. It was absolutely necessary to reconnoitre, and in order to do so, he had first to provide the messenger with the means of returning, should the watering-place be found dry. He killed a bullock, skinned it, and filling the skin with water (which held 150 gallons), Sent it by an ex-dray 30 miles, with orders to bury it and to return. Shortly after he despatched a light one-horse cart, carrying 36 gallons of water; the horse and man were to drink at the hide, and then to go on. Thus they had 36 gallons to supply them for a journey of 176 miles, or 6 days, at 30 miles a day at the close of which they would return to the ox-hide--sleeping, in fact, 5 nights on 36 gallons of water. This a hardy, well-driven horse could do, even in the hottest climate.
To raise Water from Wells for Cattle.--By hand.--Let one man stand in the water, or just above it; another 5 feet higher; and again another higher still, if the depth of the well requires it. Then let the lowermost man dip a bucket in the water, and pass it from hand to hand upwards; the top man pours the water into a trough, out of which the cattle drink. This trough may be simply a ditch scratched in the ground; a piece of canvas should be thrown over it, if the soil be sandy, to keep the water from being lost before the cattle have time to drink it. Thus Eyre speaks of watering his horse, out of his black servant's duck frock. Light gutta-percha buckets are very useful in temperate climates; and so are baskets, with oilcloth inside them.
The drove of cattle should be brought up to 60 yards from the watering-place; then three or four should be driven out--they will run at once to the water. After they have drunk, drive them to one side, and let another three or four take their place, and so on; keeping the two droves quite distinct--those that have drunk, and those that are waiting to drink. They will drink at the rate of one per minute; sheep and goats drink very much faster. Never let the cattle go in a rush to the well, else they will stamp it in, most of them get no water, and they will all do a great deal of damage.
By horse power.--It does not fall within the scope of this book to describe water-wheels worked by cattle, or elaborate mechanism of any kind; I therefore only mention under this head, that the Tartars sometimes draw water from their wells, of 150 feet deep and upwards, by a rider harnessing the bucket-rope to his horse, and galloping him off to a mark that tells the proper distance. Their ropes are of twisted hair, and are made to run over a smoothed stone, or a log of wood.
