Fig. 10.
By means of two half-hitches (Fig. 7) one can secure with the end of a rope almost anything. When the same hitch is made around a spar it is called a clove-hitch (Fig. 8). A fisherman once had a daughter for whose hand there were two suitors—a sailor and a landsman. The father of the maiden was in a quandary which of the young men to choose for her future husband, as they both seemed to be equally attractive; so one day he summoned them to his side, and gave each a long cord, saying that the one who made the greatest number of overhand knots (Fig. 1) in the least time should be accepted. They started to work in good earnest, the landsman drawing his long ends carefully through the loops, while the sailor rapidly slipped small half-hitches over his thumb as in Fig. 9, and when he had used up his cord in this way, passed the end through all the hitches, and quickly drew it out with the effect seen in Fig. 10, to the astonishment of his rival, who gave up the contest in despair.
Fig. 11.
Fig. 12.
If you have a very long rope and wish to shorten it, the best way to do is to make a sheep-shank, which will never slip, no matter how taut the strain may be. Lay the parts as in Fig. 11, and then take half-hitches over the bights as in Fig. 12.
Fig. 13.