Shifts and expedients of camp life, travel & exploration

by William Barry Lord; Thomas Baines

The number of pieces composing the “Search”—the boat used in the expedition sent in quest of Dr. Livingstone—were as follows: Thirty-six side pieces of steel, each being a load for one man; the midship piece required 2; the stern piece, 3; the bow piece, 3; the mast, 2; the boom, 2; the sails, 2; chain cable, 6; anchor, 1; and the whole with provisions, luggage, &c., made up 180 loads.

Captain Faulkner, who, as a volunteer, accompanied Mr. Young on the Search Expedition, has determined on returning with a party of ardent hunters and explorers, and an engineer, to Lake Nyassa, and for this purpose an iron steamer has been built 50ft. long, 5½ft. deep, and 11½ft. broad. The little craft, appropriately named the “Faugh-a-ballagh,” is composed of 75 sections, put together with 8000 screws, so that she may be carried, as was the “Search,” past the rapids and cataracts of the Shire River.

American life raft.

The American life raft “Nonpareil,” which recently made the voyage across the Atlantic, may be taken as a successful application of the tubular system. It will be seen that she was constructed of three parallel inflatable tubes, covered with stout canvas, connected by breadths of the same, and with a rectangular frame laid over all to support the masts and rudder fittings; but the sketch is introduced here also to show the use of the droge, by which the little craft may in effect be anchored in the open sea, or at least may have her drift effectually checked, while the sea itself is broken before it reaches her. The droge in the present instance is of canvas, stretched on a large hoop with four lines, so attached to its circumference that when the strain comes on it it stands vertically in the water, and opposes the resistance of its entire surface. The oars or mast, and sails of a boat, will also answer this purpose; and we have heard of one instance in which the imperilled crew added also a number of the skins of freshly-killed seals, the oil working out of which calmed the water for a considerable distance. It is necessary to watch the length of the sea, so that the boat may be veered as far from the droge or raft as it will serve to protect her against the breaking waves. We have heard the captain of a vessel say that he would never incur the risk of wearing in a gale, but would rather sacrifice some spar or piece of lumber to bring the ship’s head to the wind. In doing this, the hawser would be carried round from the droge on the weather bow, under the bobstays and bowsprit rigging to the lee bow, and finally to the quarter; the droge would be thrown over, sufficient line paid out, and then held on to till the ship’s head came to the wind; the strain would be then changed for a moment to the lee bow, and then to the quarter, whence it would be cut away as the ship fell off upon the other tack. A spar held by a hawser and bridle, with a stout sail bent to it—the clews, or lower corners, being weighted with shot, lead, or iron, to make them heavy—forms an excellent droge for a small craft to lie to under.

Temporary repairs of vessels.

Although this subject may seem almost beyond the province of our work, it is by no means improbable that explorers may have to turn their attention to it, or that shipwrecked crews, or dwellers on a lonely coast, may have to repair or build small craft for themselves. We have seen first-class waggons built by missionaries, and others have built vessels; and the reader may remember with advantage the description given by Ulysses of his laying down side by side ten or a dozen pine trees more or less smoothed off as a foundation on which to build his upper works.

During the progress of the North Australian Expedition, we were ascending the Victoria River with our little schooner, the “Tom Tough.” There was little or no wind, and with the boat ahead towing and the lead going we were drifting up with a strong flood-tide, and the captain, elated by success, and anxious to make the most of his opportunity, kept going onward instead of prudently anchoring while the tide was still rising. In consequence of this, when the vessel touched the ground, there was no subsequent rise of water to float her off; indeed, it was remarked that the water began to fall while the tide was still running upward, and she was left at low water on the 27th of September, 1855, on a mud bank, with her bows uncomfortably propped up by a projecting rock.

On the 29th she floated; but the flood-tide was so nearly done, that we had no time to choose an anchorage, and the schooner grounding with the ebb, parted her chain cable and heeled over with the force of the tide till we could barely stand upon her decks.