Shifts and expedients of camp life, travel & exploration

by William Barry Lord; Thomas Baines

Candles.

It is often desirable to make candles, and for this purpose the hard fat and tallow of any animal that may be killed should be preserved, that is, if it can be spared from the no less important purpose of greasing the axles; or beeswax, if it can be obtained, may be used either in combination with it or separately. If you wish to make dip candles, take a sufficient number of strands twice the length you require, twist them slightly and double them, and let the parts twist together; pass a small rod through the “bights” of as many of these wicks as you find convenient, say half a dozen; take a bucketful of hot water, throw the fat or wax in, and it will soon melt and float upon the surface; let the wicks absorb as much as they will, straighten and let them harden; then, holding the rod by the end left for that purpose, dip them quickly to their full length, withdraw and allow them to cool, and repeat the operation till your candles attain the desired size. If you have fat enough you may have half a dozen or more sets of wicks and can keep on dipping in rotation, thus allowing each plenty of time to cool before its turn comes round again. If you aspire to mould candles, nothing is better for your purpose than a piece off the end of a gun-barrel—and very few African hunters make a journey without shortening some lengthy weapon by eight or ten inches. In this case, pass a small stick an inch or two in length through the bight of the wick, bring the end out through the “mould” and make it fast to another, or pass it through a gun wad or section of a cork, so as to stretch it fairly and evenly in the centre, and stop the lower end; then pour in the tallow or wax, and, when cool, warm the mould slightly and the candle will draw out. In some countries wood may be found sufficiently resinous to be used as candles, but a supply of sticks cut to a convenient size must be prepared and a rest of some sort contrived so that they may be easily placed in it or withdrawn when nearly burnt out; the angle they ought to make with the horizon varies with the quality of the wood, if very combustible they may be set nearly upright, if less so they must be more nearly horizontal.

All candles, however, waste rapidly unless screened from the wind, if the traveller can carry a spring burner, this inconvenience is in a great measure obviated; but often this is impossible, and he must make the best shelter he can with a bit of bent tin, a joint of bamboo, or whatever material may be at hand. If the candles have to be packed in bags where stowage is of importance, and cases must be thrown away, it is best to cut them in two, as the risk of breakage is much reduced by the diminution of their length; in cutting them the knife should be warmed slightly, as it divides them without chipping off fragments. In lighting the lower half, if you have wax vestas, and stick one of them in alongside the wick that has been cut, you avoid the necessity of cutting down the wax to expose the end, and so may save three quarters of an inch of candle.

Torches.

We have seen the Malays, in the Island of Timor, take a soft porous stick, or the pith of a peculiar rush, and then wrap round it a coating of beeswax, to serve as a torch or candle. The natives of the shores of British Columbia and Vancouver Island use a fish known as the Eulachon, or North-West Capelin, as a source of light. The leaf of the cocoa-nut palm possesses strong illuminating power. The pine knot and birch bark of North America and Canada are extensively used for giving light in deer-hunting, fish-spearing, and on other occasions. The bog deal of Ireland is also used. The Damaras, who have a custom of obtaining their fire only from that kept burning at the hut of their chief, carry with them dry flakes of “Kraal mist” or cattle droppings, ignited and held between the forks of a cleft stick; and the Indian matchlock men carry fire in the same way. The mussalchees or torch-bearers of Central India, who commonly accompany troops during night marches, use long sausage-shaped rolls of cotton cloth; the ends of these they from time to time moisten with oil poured from a vessel carried for the purpose. The hill guides usually employ large splinters cut from the Deodar cedar. In Mexico, the brilliant fire-flies are sometimes caught and used for giving a temporary light: the direction of a letter, or the points of a compass, may be read by them.

The sparks from a flint and steel, a bit of quartz, sulphuret of iron or agate, and a pocket knife, will give light enough to read the compass, or to form a night signal.

There are many very nice arrangements for the purpose of light giving and cooking, which may be obtained from any military outfitter; but their chief defect is, that they will only answer their purpose under tolerably convenient circumstances, and become useless when the real hard work of travel begins.

Samovar.

Travellers, both on sea and land, often require to cook a small allowance of coffee or tea when, from severity of weather, scarcity of fuel, or the impossibility of halting long enough, it is impossible to kindle a fire in any of the ordinary methods, and frequently when, from the pitching of a small vessel or the jolting of a waggon, it would be dangerous to use a spirit lamp, an Etna, or an uncovered fire of any kind. Under these circumstances we should think the principle of internal heat, as applied in the Russian samovar or tea urn, might be successfully adopted. This, with various modifications in outward form, may be described as a small furnace for burning wood or charcoal in that part which serves as the base of the urn, with a funnel or stove pipe, wide at the bottom, but tapering rather sharply upward, leading straight up through the water, and having at top a telescope joint, by which the funnel can be lengthened and the draught increased when requisite.