The Draughtsman's Handbook of Plan and Map Drawing / Including instructions for the preparation of engineering, architectural, and mechanical drawings.

by George G. André

Grass-land.

—Various combinations of lines and dots are used, conventionally, to represent certain natural features of common occurrence. As far as convenient execution will allow, these signs are made to resemble the objects denoted. Thus the sign for grass-land consists of groups of short lines, arranged like tufts of herbage, as shown in [Fig. 52]. Each tuft is composed of five or seven lines converging towards a point situate below the base, the middle line being the longest, and the outside ones mere dots. In drawing these groups, the base must be kept quite straight, and parallel to the base of the drawing whatever the shape of the enclosure may be. Beginners usually experience considerable difficulty in keeping the base straight, the tendency being to make it curved. Great care is needed to distribute the groups evenly over the paper, and to avoid the appearance of being in rows, for the latter arrangement is destructive of that natural aspect which this sign otherwise possesses.

Fig. 53.

Swamps and Marshy Ground.

—As the surface of marshy ground consists of water and grass, a combination of the signs for these objects is employed to represent it. An illustration of this is given in [Fig. 53]. The lines representing the water should always be ruled parallel to the base of the drawing, and they should be grouped in an irregular manner so as to leave small islands interspersed throughout the locality. These islands should be covered with grass, and to show them out more distinctly, there should be nothing but water immediately around them. The division between the land and the water should be sketched in lightly before proceeding to rule in the lines. Sometimes dotted lines are used for the water, but full lines are to be preferred. The addition of a tree here and there improves the appearance of a drawing. A distinction is frequently made between a swamp and a marsh by watering the former more extensively than the latter. In drawing in marsh land, care should be taken to make the fineness of the lines in accordance with the scale of the map, as otherwise an offensive appearance will be produced. This caution applies equally to all signs.

Fig. 54.

Sand and Gravel.

—Sand and gravel are represented by dots, the dots being made larger for the latter than for the former, as shown in [Fig. 54]. Simple as the operation of filling in these dots is, it is one that requires some degree of care. Beginners are apt to mar the appearance of their drawings by inattention in this respect. The dots should be made in the manner already described when speaking of the dotted line, that is, the point of the pen should be brought slowly down upon the paper, and lifted without dragging it; and no dot should be made without a deliberate intention respecting its position. All arrangement in rows must be carefully avoided. In sand-hills, the slopes should be made darker than the level parts by placing the dots closer together. Mud in tidal rivers may be represented by very fine dots placed close together.