Shifts and expedients of camp life, travel & exploration

by William Barry Lord; Thomas Baines

Waggon equipment.

Every wheeled carriage used in exploring or travelling long journeys should have its own grease box secured in a convenient situation; just above and before the near fore wheel is a good place. The form of the common Indian bamboo grease box is shown at [p. 359], illustration No. 3. A good-sized ox-horn makes a convenient grease box. A mixture of Stockholm tar, 6lb., and fat, 1lb., makes a good grease. If a little common plumbago can be got to put into it, so much the better. In countries where native vegetable oils are abundant, they may be used, instead of the fat, to mix with the tar. Bear in mind that keeping the wheels well greased is a duty of no common importance. In hot countries it is an excellent plan to work the naves of the wheels over with strong twine, just as boys work balls in some parts of England. The twine-work affords a holdfast for a thick layer of wet cowdung, or clay, which should be renewed whenever the waggons are stationary for the day or night. We never omit this custom when it can be by any possibility adhered to. By keeping the nave moist the spokes of the wheel remain tight. It is a good plan to well water the ground under each wheel when encamping on very dry ground. The treatment of injured wheels will be found at pp. [219], 220. When any of the ironwork of your waggon becomes bent from an upset, or other accident, never attempt to straighten it cold. Light a fire, heat it to a red heat, hammer it back to its proper form, and then let it cool gradually before putting it in its place. Plunging it suddenly in cold water is apt to render the metal brittle. In the purchase of all iron fittings for either waggon work or horse equipment, about which we shall have more to say as our work proceeds, insist on seeing it, without paint or varnish, bare from the forge, as you can then see that there are no hollows, cracks, or defects in it. It is wonderful what a number of shortcomings a good thick coat of coal-tar will cover when laid on over the hot metal. Avoid malleable cast iron as you would a broken limb. It cannot be bent without the danger of nipping off short. When broken, it cannot be welded or faggoted up. It is not reliable in any way, and is a mere delusion and snare to the unwary; and yet, incredible as it may appear, not only the greater portion of the cheap horse equipment iron sent to the colonies is made from it, but we have ourselves seen more than one attempt made by unscrupulous contractors to introduce it in Government work, where wrought metal had been specially insisted on and agreed for. An experienced man will generally detect the nature of the material at once, but the inexperienced requires some rough and ready way of judging of the quality of that which he is about to purchase. Buckles, D’s, rings, hooks, &c., will not unfrequently show the mark of the mould in which they were cast. If there is no such mark, take one of the suspected objects in the tongs, put it on an anvil, and with a light hammer knock it about a little to see if it breaks up; as a further test put it in the forge fire, heat it to a bright red heat, cut and open out the object to its full length, and then proceed, with your hammer, to draw out the end, as if you were going to make a long sharp nail from it. If the suspected metal is wrought iron it readily takes the spike form, but if malleable it will give under the hammer and break up. Too much care cannot be exercised in the selection of all matters of iron intended to meet the vicissitudes of rough travel. The iron of Sweden, Russia, and India is excellent when it is obtained of native manufacture. Its admirable purity and toughness partly depend on the quality of the ore from which it is obtained, but mainly from the absence of sulphur in its composition. This arises from charcoal being used as a fuel for smelting instead of the coal made use of in this country, which, from its containing considerable quantities of sulphuret of iron (the mundic of the miners), is but ill-adapted for the production of iron of high quality. Thoroughly good iron is convertible and reconvertible into an endless number of objects of usefulness. Thus, the links of an old chain make excellent staples; these, when broken, can be worked up into nails, and pieces of these, when filed up, are used to make goad points and many other things. Every waggon should have its “odd and end” box for small matters in iron, such as linch pins, S hooks, D’s, spikes, union links, &c., &c. All these are worth their weight in gold in a wild country, and must, therefore, be kept carefully out of the reach of natives.

Field artillery.

The settler in the vicinity of a frontier beyond which native tribes, who may become hostile at any time, reside will not unfrequently find it useful to know how field artillery and the waggons belonging to it are handled in cases of breakage. Well-organised labour will perform more in a few minutes than would double the amount of force in hours expended in ill-directed efforts. Works exclusively on artillery matters rarely reach the hands of any save officers in that branch of the service. We, therefore, give the following directions for the management of disabled field artillery, furnished by General Lefroy, R.A., F.R.S., in his handbook of “Field Artillery Service.”

Case I.—Gun without a Waggon—Carriage disabled.

(1.) Dismount the gun.

(2.) Nos. 2 and 3 put a handspike in the muzzle, and raise it. Nos. 4 and 5 take a prolonge or drag rope, pass it in the rear of one trunnion and in front of the other, and sling the gun securely to the limber hook; then pass the long end of the rope between the boxes to the front. Nos. 6 and 7 steady the wheels. Nos. 8 and 9 raise and hold up the shafts whilst 4 and 5 sling the gun. As soon as the gun is slung, 8 and 9 haul down the shafts, and hold them about the same height they would be if a horse was hooked in them. Nos. 6 and 7 then take the long end of the rope left by 4 and 5, and bring it down at the end of the box frame, close to the boxes under the breech of the gun about the vent astragal, or between the frame and footboard, according to the length of the gun, so that the rope will have no tendency to slip off the carriage. When 6 has done this and handed the end of the rope to the other side to 7, and put the first part of a reef knot on it, 1 gives the word “Bear down the muzzle,” when 2 and 3 bear down. Nos. 6 and 7 take a turn round the breech, bring the end of the rope up at the end of the box frame, and secure it. Nos. 8 and 9 now let down the shafts and leave them.

(3.) The trail is now thrown round, and the carriage is dismounted and turned over.

(4.) To lift the carriage.—Nos. 8 and 9 place themselves at the breast, 6 and 7 at the axletree arms, 4 and 5 at the cheeks of the carriage, close to the axletree, 2 and 3 at the trail, 1 in the shafts. At the word “Lift,” the numbers all lift, and carry the carriage to the rear of the limber, and rest the breast on the rear of the boxes, as far on as the front cap square bolts. Nos. 8 and 9 then mount on the footboard, and, taking hold of the breast chains, the whole of the numbers lift again, and, moving forward, continue to lift until the elevating screw box rests on the rear of the limber boxes.

(5.) No. 1, who has been in the shafts during the operation, gives the proper directions for balancing the carriage.