The Art of Travel Part 22

Gunpowder carried in a goat-skin bag, travels very safely. Mr. Gregory carried his in the middle of his flour; each flour-bag (see p. 69), during his North Australian expedition, had a tin of gunpowder in the middle of it.

To make Gunpowder.--It is difficult to make good gunpowder, but there is no skill required in making powder that will shoot and kill. Many of the negroes of Africa, make it for themselves--burning the charcoal, gathering saltpetre from salt-pans, and buying the sulphur from trading caravans: they grind the materials on a stone. In Chinese Tartary and Thibet, every peasant manufactures it for himself.

To make 8 lbs. of gunpowder, take 1 lb. of charcoal, 1 lb. of sulphur, and 6 lbs. of saltpetre. These proportions should be followed as accurately as possible. Each of the three materials must be pounded into powder separately, and then all mixed together most thoroughly. The mixture must have a little water added to it, Enough to make it bind into a stiff paste (about one-tenth part, by measure, of water is sufficient; that is to say, one cupful of water to ten cupfuls of the mixed powder).

The paste must be well kneaded together, with one stone on another, just as travellers usually make meal or grind coffee. It should then be wrapped up to a piece of canvas, or a skin, and pressed, with as heavy a pressure as can be obtained, to condense it. Next, the cake is squeezed and worked against a sieve made of parchment, in which the holes have been burnt with a red-hot wire, and through which the cake is squeezed in grains. These grains are now put into a box, which is well shaken about, and in this way the grains run each other smooth. The fine dust that is then found mixed with the grains, must be winnowed away; lastly the grains are dried.

Recapitulation.--1. Pound the ingredients separately. @. Mix them. 3.

Add a little water, and knead the ma.s.s. 4. Press it. 5. Rub the ma.s.s through a sieve. 6. Shake up the grains in a box. 7. Get rid of the dust.

8. Dry the grains.

The ingredients should be used as pure as they can be obtained. For making a few charges of coa.r.s.e powder, the sieve may be dispensed with: in this case, roll the dough into long pieces of the thickness of a pin; lay several of these side by side, and mince the whole into small grains; dust with powder, to prevent their sticking together: and then proceed as already described.

To procure good Charcoal.--Light woods that give a porous charcoal, are the best;--as poplar, alder, lime, horse-chestnut, willow, hazel-nut, and elder. It should be made with the greatest care, and used as soon as possible afterwards: it is the most important ingredient in gunpowder.

Sulphur.--The lumps must be melted over a gentle fire; the pot should then be put in a heap of hot sand, to give the impurities time to settle, before it cools into a ma.s.s. When this has taken place, the bottom part must be broken off and put aside as unfit for making gunpowder, and the top part alone used. Flower of sulphur is quite pure.

Saltpetre.--Dissolve the saltpetre that you wish to purify, in an equal measure of boiling water; a cupful of one to a cupful of the other.

Strain this solution, and, letting it cool gradually, somewhat less than three-fourths of the nitre will separate in regular crystals. Saltpetre exists in the ashes of many plants, of which tobacco is one; it is also found copiously on the ground in many places, in saltpans, or simply as an effloresence. Rubbish, such as old mud huts, and mortar, generally abounds with it. (It is made by the action of the air on the potash contained in the earths.) The taste, which is that of gunpowder, is the best test of its presence. To extract it, pour hot water on the ma.s.s, then evaporate and purify, as mentioned above.

Rocket Composition consists of gunpowder 16 parts, by Weight; charcoal, 3 parts. Or, in other words, of nitre, 16 parts; charcoal 7 parts; sulphur, 4 parts. It must not be forgotten that when rockets are charged with the composition, a hollow tube must be left down their middle.

Blue Fire.--4 parts gunpowder meal; 2 parts nitre, 3 parts sulphur; 3 parts zinc.

Bengal Fire.--7 parts nitre; 2 parts sulphur; 1 part antimony.

Bullets--Sportsmen, fresh from England, and acknowledged as good shots at home, begin by shooting vilely with b.a.l.l.s at large game. They must not be discouraged at what is a general rule, but be satisfied that they will soon do themselves justice.

Alloy.--Common bullets of lead, whether round or conical, are far inferior to those of hard alloy; for the latter penetrate much more deeply, and break bones, instead of flattening against them. A mixture of very little tin, or pewter (which is lead and tin), with lead, hardens it: we read of sportsmen melting up their spoons and dishes for this purpose. A little quicksilver has the same effect. Sir Samuel Baker, who is one of the most experienced sportsmen both in Ceylon and in Africa, latterly used a mixture of nine-tenths lead and one-tenth quicksilver for his bullets. He says, "This is superior to all [other] mixtures for that purpose, as it combines hardness with extra weight; the lead must be melted in a pot by itself to a red heat, and the proportion of quicksilver must be added a ladleful at a time, and stirred quickly with a piece of iron just in sufficient quant.i.ty to make three or four bullets. If the quicksilver is subjected to red heat in the large leadpot, it will evaporate." Proper alloy, or spelter, had best be ordered at a gun-maker's shop, and taken from England instead of lead: different alloys of spelter vary considerably in their degree of hardness, and therefore more than one specimen should be tried.

Shape of Bullets.--Round iron bullets are worthless, except at very close quarters, on account of the lightness of the metal: for the resistance of the air checks their force extremely. Whether elongated iron bullets would succeed, remains to be Tried. Some savages--as, for instance, those of Timor--when in want of bullets, use stones two or three inches long. Some good sportsmen insist on the advantage, for shooting at very close quarters, of cleaving a conical bullet nearly down to its base, into four parts; these partly separate, and make a fearful wound. I suppose that the bullet leaves the gun with the same force as if it were entire; and that it traverses too short a distance for the altered form to tell seriously upon the speed: when it strikes, it acts like chain-shot.

Bullets, to carry.--Bullets should be carried sewn up in their patches, for the convenience of loading, and they should not fit too tight: a few may be carried bare, for the sake of rapid loading.

Recovering Bullets.--When ammunition is scarce, make a practice of recovering the bullets that may have been shot into a beast; if they are of spelter, they will be found to have been very little knocked out of shape, and may often be used again without recasting.

Shot and Slugs.--Travellers frequently omit to take enough shot, which is a great mistake, as birds are always to be found, while large game is uncertain: besides this, shot gives amus.e.m.e.nt; and ducks, quails, and partridges are much better eating than antelopes and buffaloes. It must be borne in mind, that a rifle will carry shot quite well enough, on an emergency. Probably No. 7 is the most convenient size for shot, as the birds are likely to be tame; and also because a traveller can often fire into a covey or dense flight of birds--and the more pellets, the more execution. If birds are to be killed for stuffing, dust-shot will also be wanted; otherwise, it is undoubtedly better to take only one size of shot.

Shot is made in manufactories, as follows:--a.r.s.enic is added to the lead, in the proportion of from 3 lbs. to 8 lbs. of a.r.s.enic to 1000 lbs.

of lead. The melted lead is poured through cullenders drilled with very fine holes, and drops many feet down, into a tub of water; 100 feet fall is necessary for manufactories in which No. 4 shot is made; 150, for larger sorts. If the shot turns out to be lens-shaped, there has been too much a.r.s.enic; if hollow, flattened, or tailed, there has been too little.

Pewter or tin is bad, as it makes tailed shot. The Shot are sorted by sieves; bad shot are weeded out, by letting the shot roll over a slightly-inclined board, then the sho that are not quite round roll off to the side. Lastly, the shot is smoothed by being shaken up in a barrel with a little black-lead.

Slugs are wanted both for night-shooting and also in case of a hostile attack. They can be made by running melted lead into reeds, and chopping the reeds into short length; or by casting the lead in tubes made by rolling paper round a smooth stick: whether reeds or paper be used, they should be planted in the ground before the lead is poured in. The temperature of the lead is regulated by taking care that a small quant.i.ty of it remains unmelted in the ladle, at the moment of pouring out: if it be too hot it will burn the paper. (See "Lead.")

HINTS ON SHOOTING.

When lying down.--Loading.--Put in the powder as you best can, and ram the bullet home, lying flat on your back, with the barrel of the gun athwart your breast. It is easy to load in this way with cartridges.

On Horseback.--Loading.--Empty the charge of powder from the flask into the left hand, and pour it down the gun; then take a bullet, wet out of your mouth, and drop it into the barrel, using no ramrod; the wet will cake the bullet pretty firmly in its right place.

Firing.--"In firing, do not bring the gun to your shoulder; but present it across the pommel of the saddle, calculating the angle with your eye, and steadying yourself momentarily by standing in the stirrups, as you take aim." (Palliser.) In each bound of the horse, the moment when his fore legs strike the ground is one of comparative steadiness, and is therefore the proper instant for pulling the trigger.

On Water.--Boat-shooting.--A landing-net should be taken in the boat, as Colonel Hawker well advises, to pick up the dead birds as they float on the water, while the boat pa.s.ses quickly by them.

Shooting over Water.--When shooting from a river-bank without boat or dog, take a long light string with a stick tied to one end of it, the other being held in the hand: by throwing The stick beyond the floating bird, it can gradually be drawn in. The stick should be 1 1/2 or 2 feet long, 2 inches in diameter, and notched at either end, and attached to the hand-line by a couple of strings, each 6 feet long, tied round either notch. Thus, the hand-line terminates in a triangle (see the figure I have given, of a rude Stirrup), the two sides of which are of string, with the stick for a base. A stout stick of this kind can be thrown to a great distance; either it may be "heaved," as a sailor's Deep-sea Lead, or it may be whirled round the head, and then let fly.

Night-shooting.--Tie a band of white paper round the muzzle of the gun, behind the sight. Mr. Andersson, who has had very great experience, ties the paper, not round the smooth barrel, but over the sight and all; and, if the sight does not happen to be a large one, he ties a piece of thick string round the barrel, or uses other similar contrivance, to tilt up the fore end of the paper. By this means, the paper is not entirely lost sight of at the moment when the aim is being taken. Mr. Andersson also pinches the paper into a ridge along the middle of the gun, to ensure a more defined foresight.

Nocturnal Animals.--There are a large number of night-feeding animals, upon whose flesh a traveller might easily support himself, but of whose existence he would have few indications by daylight observation only. The following remarks of Professor Owen, in respect to Australia are very suggestive:--"All the marsupial animals--and it is one of their curious peculiarities--are nocturnal. Even the kangaroo, which is the least so, is scarcely ever seen feeding out on the plains in broad daylight: it prefers the early morning dawn, or the short twilight; and, above all, the bright moonlight nights. With regard to most of the other Australian forms of marsupial animals, they are most strictly nocturnal; so that, if a traveller were not aware of that peculiarity, he might fancy himself traversing a country dest.i.tute of the mammalian grade of animal life. If, however, after a weary day's journey, he could be awakened, and were to look out about the moonlight glade or scrub, or if he were to set traps by night, he would probably be surprised to find how great a number of interesting forms of mammalian animals were to Be met with, in places where there was not the slightest appearance of them in the daytime."

Battues.--In Sweden, where hundreds of people are marshalled, each man has a number, and the number is chalked upon his hat.

Scarecrows.--A string with feathers tied to it at intervals, like the tail of a boy's kite, will scare most animals of the deer tribe, by their fluttering; and, in want of a sufficient force of men, pa.s.ses may be closed by this contrivance. The Swedes use "lappar," viz. Pieces of canvas, of half the height of a man, painted in glaring colours and left to flutter from a line.

Mr. Lloyd tells us of a peasant who, when walking without a gun, saw a glutton up in a tree. He at once took off his hat and coat and rigged out a scarecrow, the counterpart of himself, which he fixed close by, for the purpose of frightening the beast from coming down; he then went leisurely home, to fetch his gun: this notable expedient succeeded perfectly.

Stalking-horses.--Artificial.--A stalking-horse, or cow, is made by cutting out a piece of strong canvas into the shape of the animal, and painting it properly. Loops are sewn in different places, through which sticks are pa.s.sed, to stretch the curves into shape: a stake, planted in the ground serves as a b.u.t.tress to support the apparatus: at a proper height, there is a loophole to fire through. It packs up into a roll of canvas and a bundle of five or six sticks.

[Sketch of stalking-horse as described below].

Bushes are used much in the same way. Colonel Hawker made a contrivance upon wheels which he pushed before him. The Esquimaux shoot seals by pushing a white screen before them over the ice, on a sledge. See figure.

- (Kane.)

Real.--Both horses and oxen can be trained to shield a sportsman: they are said to enter into the spirit of the Thing; and to show wonderful craft, walking round and round the object in narrowing circles, and stopping to graze unconcernedly, on witnessing the least sign of alarm.

Oxen are taught to obey a touch on the horn: the common but cruel way of training them is to hammer and batter the horns for hours together, and on many days successively: they then become inflamed at the root and are highly sensitive.

Pan-hunting (used at salt-licks).--"Pan-hunting is a method of hunting deer at night. An iron pan attached to a long stick, serving as a handle, is carried in the left hand over the left shoulder; near where the hand grasps the handle, in a small projecting stick, forming a fork on which to rest the rifle, when firing. The pan is filled with burning pine-knots, which, being saturated with turpentine, shed a brilliant and constant light all around; shining into the eyes of any deer that may come in that direction, and making them look like two b.a.l.l.s of fire. The effect is most curious to those unacc.u.mstomed to it. The distance between the eyes of the deer as he approaches, appears gradually to increase, reminding one of the lamps of a travelling carriage." (Palliser.)

The rush of an enraged Animal is far more easily avoided than is usually supposed. The way the Spanish bull-fighters play with the bull, is well known: any man can avoid a mere headlong charge. Even the speed of a racer, which is undeniably far greater than any wild quadruped, does not exceed 30 miles an hour or four times the speed of a man. The speed of an ordinary horse is not more than 24 miles an hour: now even the fastest wild beast is unable to catch an ordinary horse, except by crawling un.o.bserved close to his side, and springing upon him; therefore I am convinced that the rush of no wild animal exceeds 24 miles an hour, or three times the speed of a man. (See Measurements of the rate of an animal's gallop, p. 37.) It is perfectly easy for a person who is cool, to avoid an animal, by dodging to one side or other of a bush. Few animals turn, if the rush be unsuccessful. The buffalo is an exception; he regularly hunts a man, and is therefore peculiarly dangerous.

Unthinking persons talk of the fearful rapidity of a lion or tiger's spring. It is not rapid at all: it is a slow movement, as must be evident from The following consideration. No wild animal can leap ten yards, and they all make a high trajectory in their leaps. Now, think of the speed of a ball thrown, or rather pitched, with just sufficient force to be caught by a person ten yards off: it is a mere nothing. The catcher can play with it as he likes; he has even time to turn after it, if thrown wide. But the speed of a springing animal is undeniably the same as that of a ball, thrown so as to make a flight of equal length and height in the air. The corollary to all this is, that, if charged, you must keep cool and watchful, and your chance of escape is far greater than non-sportsmen would imagine. The blow of the free paw is far swifter than the bound.

Dogs kept at bay.--A correspondent a.s.sures me that "a dog flying at a man may be successfully repelled by means of a stout stick held horizontally, a hand at each end, and used to thrust the dog backwards over, by meeting him across the throat or breast. If followed by a blow on the nose, as the brute is falling, the result will be sooner attained."

A watch-dog usually desists from flying at a stranger when he seats himself quietly on the ground, like Ulysses. The dog then contents himself with barking and keeping guard until his master arrives.

Hiding Game.--In hiding game from birds of prey, brush it over, and they will seldom find it out; birds cannot smell well, but they have keen eyes. The meat should be hung from an overhanging bough; then, if the birds find it out, there will be no place for them to stand on and tear it. Leaving a handkerchief or a short to flutter from a tree, will scare animals of prey for a short time. (See "Scarecrows."_

Tying up your Horse.--You may tie your horse, on a bare plain, to the horns of an animal that you have shot, while you are skinning him, but it is better to hobble the horse with a stirrup-leather. (See "Shooting-horse.")

Division of Game.--Some rules are necessary in these matters, to avoid disputes, especially between whites and natives; and therefore the custom of the country must be attended to. But it is a very general and convenient rule (though, like all fixed rules, often unfair) that the animal should belong to the Man who first wounded him, however slight the wound might have been; but that he or they who actually killed the animal, should have a right to a slice of the meat: it must however, be understood, that the man who gave the first wound should not thenceforward withdraw from the chase; if he does so, his claim is lost.

In America the skin belongs to the first shot, the carcase is divided equally among the whole party. Whaling crews are bound by similar customs, in which nice distinctions are made, and which have all the force of laws.

Duck-shooting.--Wooden ducks, ballasted with lead, and painted, may be used at night as decoy-ducks; or the skins of birds already shot, may be stuffed and employed for the same purpose. They should be anch.o.r.ed in the water, or made fast to a frame attached to the shooting-punt, and dressed with sedge. It is convenient to sink a large barrel into the flat marsh or mud, as a dry place to stand or sit in, when waiting for the birds to come. A lady suggests to me, that if the sportsman took a bottle of hot water to put under his feet, it would be a great comfort to him, and in this I quite agree; I would take a keg of hot water, when about it. If real ducks be used as decoy-birds, the males should be tied in one place and the females in another, to induce them to quack. An artificial island may be made to attract ducks, when there is no real one.

Crocodile-shooting.--Mr. Gilby says, speaking of Egypt, "I killed several crocodiles by digging pits on the sand-islands and sleeping a part of the night in them; a dry shred of palm-branch, the colour of the sand, round the hole, formed a screen to put the gun through. Their flesh was most excellent eating--half-way between meat and fish: I had it several times. The difficulty of shooting them was, that the falcons and spurwing-plovers would hover round the pit, when the crocodiles invariably took to the water. Their sight and hearing were good, but their scent indifferent. I generally got a shot or two at daybreak after sleeping in the pit."

Tracks.--When the neighbourhood of a drinking-place is trodden down with tracks, "describe a circle a little distance From it, to ascertain if it be much frequented. This is the manner in which spoor should at all times be sought for." (c.u.mming's 'Life in South Africa.') To know if a burrow be tenanted, go to work on the same principle; but, if the ground be hard, sprinkle sand over it, in order to show the tracks more clearly. It is related in the Apocrypha, that the prophet Daniel did this, when he wished to learn who it really was who every night consumed the meat which was placed before the idol of Bel, and which the idol itself was supposed to eat: he thus discovered that the priests and their families had a secret door by which they entered the temple; and convinced the king of the matter, by showing him their footprints.