Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1855-08-20
EVENING STAR.
HOW TO SEE THE WORLD.

dOW 10 SEE THE WORLD.
Among the valuable lessons which travellers
teach, is the art of making the best Of every
thing just at the time when most wanted A
traveller, especially in thiuly yinhabitedor or semi.
barbarons countries, is perpetualiy put to his
wits to devise mode of overcoming difficulties.
His food fails, his beverage fails, his fuel fails
his clothing fails-his instruments, his arms,
his cooking-vessels, his tents, his wagons, his
beasts of burden, his guides, his servants, hi:
money, his health-any Of these may faii him
at pinch; and it is a part of his duty as a
| traveller, an almost indispensable condition OF
his success, to possess facility Of contriying
make-shifts instead of sitting down hopelessly
| to mourn over something which Is lesf or used
| up, or broken. To catalogue such probable
make-shifts, and to supply hints for surmount
ing difficulties, are the objects of Mr.. Galtou' {
remarkable volume, lately published. 1t is
| q small book, but is stuffed full Of facts; and
many of these facts are not only Of great valu
| to the traveller. but are worth knowing by those
whose travels extend ouly little way beyond
their own fresides. He treats Ia succession o
water, fire, bivouac, clothes, food, cookery,
discipline, defence, hiding-places, boats and
RATS, paths, carrying weights, carpentry
smith 's-work, skins and horn, writing mate
rails. riding and draught animals, saddles and
harness, wagons and vehicles, guns, trapping,
| fishing medicines, presents, articles for barter
| and mapping implements. Itmay be interest
| ing to jot down a few curiOsities from this
budget.
| When an exhausted traveller is in want of
water, the cOnverging flight of birds, or the
converging fresh tracks of animals, may often
guide him to a spring or pool it is about night
| fall that desert-birds u.ually driuk, and tie
thirsty traveller looks out for their course of
flight at such time. If thirsty man strips,
aud exposes his person to shower of rain, his
thirst is greatly allayed. Ii he has nothing to
drink but muddy water, let him tie together a
good handful of grass in the form of cone,
place the large end of the cone up the stream,
and the water viii become partially filtered in
the act Of passing through the grass Ii
traveller be short of water-vessels, a Canvass
bag, well creased, viii hold water for con-
siderable time.
For striking light in the bush or the desert,
agate is better than flint: it makes a hotter
spark. Cigar fusees are not worth taken: wet
spuils them. The crystalline lens of dead
animals eye has been sometimes used as a
burning glass, wherewitb 70 obtain fire. The
ashes OF a cigar rubbed into piece Of paper
will qualify the paper to serve as TIMBER In
the absence OF wood fuel, dried ANNA! manure
makes an excellent subst tute. The same may
be said of bones; the Falkland Islanders often
cook part of the meat OF slaughtered OK by
the heat of his own bones; and the Russians,
when in Turkey in 1929, were given to use
bones from the cemetery at AdrianOple as fuel.
Ia biyouackiug for the night, 1.-THE oldest trav-
elers will ever be found to be those who gp the
most Systematically to work in max NJ their
sleeping places dry and warm A bush is
not good shelter for a sleeping man; it may
be leafy and close at yard from the ground,
but it lets through the cutting wind lower
down. "A man as he lies down upon his
mosher-earth, is but a small low object, and
screen eighteen inches high will guard him
securely fir IN the sue sth # a storm" abroad
sod, seven feet by two, and turned up ON end,
will form such screen. If nothing better
offers, "a European can live through bitter
night on a sandy plain, without any clothes
besides those he has on if he buries his body
pretty deeply in the sand, keeping only his
head above ground" and Mr. Moffit, speaks
of "the real comfort, even luxury" which he
once found in such a sandy blanket That
sleepers find snow to be a warm bed in a bitter
climate, is well known. -v -..--
Woven clOaks and cOverlets admit the wind
as through a sieve, unless the texture be close.
"It is in order TO ma ke their coverings wind
proof that shepherd lads on the hill of Scotland,
when the nights are cold, dip thier plaids in
water before sitting or lying down in them: the
wet swell up the fbres of the plaid, and makes
the texture of it perfectly dense and close"
The Highland pOacheIs adopt an odd mode Of
''tucking" each other in at night when on the
mOOr-side on frosty night, they cut quantities
or heather, and strew part of it as bed on the
ground; then all the party lie down, side by
side, excepting one man, whose place among
the rest is kept vacant for him; his business is
to spread plaids upon them as they lay, and
to heap up the rest Of the heather upon the
plaids; this being accomplished, the man
wriggles and works himself into the gap that
has been left for him IL the midst of his COM
II
skin cannot be overrated: In the stati ties OF
peditious, it has been found that men without
this comfort sicken and die in greater number
than those provided with it. Mr.. Parkyns, the
Abyssinian traveller, adopted very primitive
mode of keeping his apparel dry, at time
when he had no change Of suit: he simply took
off his clothes, and sat upon them in a bui dl-
until the rain was over! The following sounds
oddly to stay-at-home people;-''There is no
denying the fact, though it be not agreeable
to confess it, that dirt and grease are great pro-
tectors of the skin agai. 81 incl ment weather;
and that, therefore the leader OF a party shou d
not be too exacting about the appearance #
his less warmly clad followers Daily washing,
If not followed by oiliRg, must be compensated
for by wearing clothes. Take the instance Of
dog: he will sleep out under any bush, and
thrive there, so long as he is not washed,
groOmed, and kept clean; but if he be, he must
wash, unless he can grease himself afterwards
grease takes the place of clothing to him. |
We can afford to wash, but naked men can
not"
Nettles make dish which travellers welcome
II other food be scarce; when gathered quite
young, and boiled, they are innocuous and
Messrs. Hue and CADET ''were able to enj
this delightful variety of esculent more than a
month" The young stems of fern, boiled in
pure water, ''realize a dish of delicious aspara-
gus" Old hides and skins, untanned Improve
all soup, by being mixed with it, or they may
be toasted and hammeredn Travellers in thin
ly inhabited districts are frequently taught by
their wants to make jerked meat, consisting Of
dried pieces; or pemDstcdn, made Of meat
dried, pounded, and mixed with grease aud
meal; or cGUatrs, consisting Of dried fish roe,
or the whole Of a fish dried; or dried and pound
ed eggs An animal may be bOiied in has Osc,l
htae, in default of a caldron or saucepan
Stick four stakes in the ground, and tie the IDur
corners of the hide up to them, leaving the
hide hollow or concave in the middle then cut
up your animal into small pieces, and put it
into the hollow Of the hide, with sufhciency Of
water; put in several large very hot stones,