The inhabitants of some of the Pacific Islands obtain fire by placing a piece of bamboo, which has been previously split in half, convex side upwards, on the ground; a small cut is then made in it as a sort of holding-point for the end of a flat piece of bamboo, held somewhat after the manner of a chisel, to work on. The flat piece, on being driven by the hands rapidly forward and back on the surface, or back of the long hollow piece of cane joint, rapidly works a hole through it; the wood dust, formed by the friction, falling through the orifice soon begins to smoke, smoulder, and burn, when it is placed in a tuft of dry fibre, like an egg in a nest. A small creeper or vine is now fastened to the nest, which is then rapidly whirled round the head until it flames.
There is a very convenient and portable means of carrying fire, sold under the name of a “strike-a-light,” or “chucknuck;” it is formed from a brass tube of 1in. calibre and 3in. in length, which has a cap and a sliding bottom to it; it is filled with tinder, made as usual by setting fire to a piece of rag and extinguishing it as soon as it has ceased to blaze; it contains also a gun flint or bit of agate, and its chain passes through an oval of steel or case-hardened iron. When fire is required, the cap is taken off, and the box held in the left hand, with the flint so held against its edge that any sparks struck from it by the steel, which is taken in the right, must fall upon the tinder. When it is done with, the flint is put in again, the cap put on, and the movable bottom is pushed up so as to leave no vacant space, but to exclude all the air, and to extinguish the burning timber. These tinder-boxes are highly prized; and one of them, value one shilling or so, is by no means a despicable present to a native in the remote interior. The shank bone of any small animal is easily converted into a chucknuck tube.
Slow match and tinder are important matters to the explorer. Loose cotton, or almost any other vegetable fibre twisted into a cord, and then soaked in water in which a little saltpetre or gunpowder has been dissolved, will serve for a slow match. The large puff-balls, or devil’s snuff-boxes as they are called by hunters, found growing about the borders of the forest, form excellent punk or tinder. After being gathered they should be hung on a string to dry, then cut into thin slices, and beaten on a board with a stick until all the powder or snuff is driven off, when it will be fit for use, either as tinder or to smoke wild bees from their holes. The soft, partially-decayed wood found in dry dead logs or hollow trees makes a very good description of tinder.
In default of a tinder-box, most persons carry a pocket-knife and a gun-flint. If a bit of rag, with a little dry gunpowder bruised into it, is rolled up tightly, and held with the flint in the left hand so that the sparks may fall on the end of the roll, it is very likely to take fire.
Many stones, as quartz, agate, jasper, iron pyrites, &c., will give forth a spark, so that if the traveller has a knife, a bit of steel, or case-hardened iron about him, he need not despair if he can only find a stone.
The Malays not unfrequently obtain a spark by striking a piece of broken chinaware sharply against the hard flinty surface of a well-developed bamboo joint.
Lucifer, congreve, or vesta matches are now so common, that few travellers think of carrying anything else; yet it is not safe to trust to them alone, as a little accidental damp may spoil the whole stock. If they ignite by simple friction there is danger of accident; if they “ignite only on the box,” a supply of friction tablets should be carried, for the box will soon go to pieces with rough usage.
The trappers of North-West America make use of the German matches, such as are packed in round wooden boxes being preferred. The composition ends of these are dipped in a varnish composed of shellac and a little methylated spirit, which, when dry, as it will be in about half-an-hour, renders them perfectly damp-proof.
In countries where the sun shines continuously, a burning glass, such as the lens of a telescope or a Stanhope microscope, will obtain fire at any time during the day.
The Parsees, when serving on board European ships, carry their own fire; and we have seen a boat’s crew with 3ft. of good stout rope, used as a slow match to retain it.