HUTS AND HOUSES.
{Timber felling.}
Before proceeding to give directions for building huts and houses,
it may not be amiss to give a few hints on felling trees. Hints they
can only be, as it is just as impossible to teach the art of wielding
the backwoodsman's axe by writing as it is to communicate the faculty
of tracking wild animals through the forest by verbal directions.
Experience and close observation are the only two true masters in both
cases; still, we may be enabled to give such general directions as may
save our readers from some of the humiliating predicaments we have seen
the inexperienced wood-chopper placed in. Nothing is more common than
to see one of this class hopelessly pinching his axe at every cut,
from having commenced his chop too narrow. The length of the chop, or
chip as it is sometimes called, will, of course, depend on the size of
the tree; but in all cases it should be made in a long wedge form, as
shown in the annexed illustration. [Illustration] By cutting in this
way, the surface of the stump is left as level as a planed board, and
the log which is separated from it has, when it falls, a wedge-shaped
end. It will, in most cases, be found that the tree which you are about
to fell will lean more or less in one direction. Station yourself, axe
in hand, on the side towards which the tree leans; then measure your
distance by placing the edge of your axe on the centre of the boll
of the tree, at such a height from the ground that the axe lays in a
straight and true line according to the stature of the axe man. The
check or flange at the end of the axe helve should rest in the hands
as the arms are extended towards the tree. This will give the distance
at which the axe blade may be best brought to bear on the tree trunk.
In delivering the cuts, which should follow the distance test, the axe
should be dexterously and powerfully whirled round the head; sometimes
obliquely from above downwards, and at others in a straight and direct
sweep across the line of the log. The horizontal form of the lower cut
and the wedge shape of the upper will be thus preserved until the tree
is half cut through, when exactly the same system of operation should
be followed out on the side of the tree opposite to that on which the
first incision was made. On the second chop being nearly completed,
the tree will fall directly away from the axe man in the line of its
inclination. On all the tops, lops, and branches being removed, and
the log cleared from surrounding impediments, it may become a question
as to what purpose it is to be applied. If it is of great length, and
comparatively short pieces are required, the process known as "logging
up" must be had recourse to. This is carried out as follows: After
measuring the length of the log, and dividing it into the requisite
number of pieces by marking it with the axe, stand on the tree trunk,
with your feet pointing across the grain of the wood, then with your
axe proceed to cut two sloping or wedge-shaped cuts, as shown in the
annexed illustration [Illustration], carrying them into the log until
half through it; then face about, and make two on the other side,
which, when finished, should meet the others at their widest diameter,
which will be that of the tree. Some settlers in wild countries burn
down the trees in order to save labour; others girdle them. To perform
this latter process, it is necessary to cut a wide band of bark from
the butt of the tree near the ground. This prevents the sap from
ascending, and thus quickly destroys vegetation. Where timber is scarce
and valuable, the cross-cut saw may be made to aid the axe, and the
tree taken off almost level with the ground. It sometimes, although not
frequently, happens that trees are found too large to be felled by the
axe or saw. This was the case with the so-called "big tree," one of
the "mammoth trees" of California. It was felled by boring a complete
circle of holes round and into its immense trunk with augers. Five men
were occupied during twenty-two days in completing the final overthrow
of the tree, which was effected, after all the holes had converged,
by the introduction of a number of wedges. Its period of growth was
estimated at 3000 years; it measured 302ft. high, and was 96ft. in
circumference at the butt. The bark measured nearly 1ft. in thickness.
{When to cut timber.}
The quality, strength, and durability of timber are much influenced by
the season of the year in which it is felled. In all temperate regions
the autumn or winter season should be chosen, as at that time little
sap is flowing through the vessels of the tree. In this country it but
too often happens that well-grown oak timber is all but sacrificed in
order that the bark may be procured. Early spring, the season for bark
rending, is the very worst that could by any possibility be chosen
for cutting timber. Charged as it is with vegetable juices, rich in
saccharine matter and albumen, the seeds of dry rot and decay are
carried with it, which no after treatment will serve to eradicate. In
tropical climates it is well to fell such timber as is intended to
be kept for future use at the end of the dry season and before the
setting in of the rains; all logs intended for rails, posts, &c.,
should be split up, immediately after felling, into the rough forms of
the objects into which, when fully seasoned, they will be converted.
The bark should be all stripped off, and the rough timber placed under
cover in such a situation as will admit of light and air penetrating
freely through it. Timber cut and thus treated one season, should not
be used until the next. The durability of seasoned timber is infinitely
greater than that of green.
{Timber, to split.}
For efficient timber splitting, a set of thoroughly well-made and
correctly-formed iron wedges, and a number of equally well-shaped
wooden wedges or gluts, are needed. The iron wedges should be made of
the very best tough iron, tipped with gad steel, as in the form of
the annexed illustration. [Illustration] All the edges and corners
should be slightly rounded off in order to give freedom in driving;
the length, from head to point, should be 10 in., the width across the
wedge 2-1/2 in., and the thickness of metal across the edge at the head
2 in. Some judgment is required in tempering wedges, as they must be
hard enough at the point to prevent bending, and yet not hard enough
to break. The file test is as good as any. The edge of the wedge point
should never be hammered thin before tempering, but left rather thick
to be reduced to the proper degree of sharpness on the grinding stone.
The wooden gluts are usually considerably larger than the iron wedges;
these are to be made from hard, tough, well-seasoned timber--round
stout poles are convenient for making them. The proper lengths, which
are mainly dependent on the size of the logs to be operated on, are
sawn off. The sides or cheeks of these pieces are then chopped off
with the axe in approximately true wedge form, an even surface and
exact pitch is afterwards given to them with a cooper's drawing knife
or a spoke shave. Wedges, whether of iron or wood, should never be
driven with an iron hammer. [Illustration] A wedging beetle, of form
shown in the accompanying illustration, should be always made use of.
The hardest and toughest wood to be obtained should be used to form
the head; the ends are usually hooped with flat iron rings, and the
handle fashioned from some tough elastic wood, such as ash or hickory.
Scarcely any two men use the same size beetle, but the following
will be found fair average dimensions from which to make one: Length
of beetle head 9in., binding hoops 1-1/4in. wide and 1/2in. thick,
diameter of beetle head 5-1/2in., length of handle 2ft. 8in. Great
care should be taken in fitting in the handle, as it is essential
to the efficiency of the instrument that it and the head should be
exactly true with each other. A slightly flattened handle lies in the
hand more compactly, and works more freely, than a perfectly round
one. Nearly all logs split best from the small or crown end towards
the butt. If it is intended to divide the log into four pieces, the
wedges must be inserted as shown in the annexed illustration (A), if
into three they are placed as at B. When rails, &c., are to be made,
the log must be divided into quarters, by first making a cross-shaped
cut in the end of the log, and striking the back of the axe with the
beetle until the edge enters deep enough to afford a hold for the iron
wedges. Longitudinal cuts with the axe are now to be made, the whole
length of the log corresponding with the cross. The wedges, gluts, and
beetle do the rest when the latter implement is properly wielded. Logs
for shingle making are quartered much in the same way, only instead
of being split out in the full length, the log is cut up into short
lengths before quartering. The shingles may be 15in. long by 9in.
wide, and in form like that represented in the above illustration. The
axe and beetle may be used for splitting off these wooden flakes, but
the lath render's _froe_ is a far more convenient instrument for the
purpose.
[Illustration]
[Illustration]
The diagrams in the next page will serve to show the mode by which the
long log quarters are split up into rails, &c. Some particular species
of tree will split without the aid of wedges; the axe alone being used
to cleave them. Two axe men attack a log, one chops in his axe blade in
the line of grain, the other follows behind and chops in his, when the
first man becomes the second, and so on until the cut is complete and
the log is split.
[Illustration]
Such posts as are intended to be driven into the earth require accurate
and careful pointing. Each cheek of the timber should be smoothly and
evenly sloped off to about the proportion shown in the illustration
representing the wedge. The centre of the post will thus become the
point.
[Illustration]
[Illustration]
The accompanying illustration represents a log clip for holding a post
whilst undergoing the process of pointing. The side wedge holds the
post securely in the notched piece of log laid to receive it. A camp,
garden, or cattle inclosure may be easily and expeditiously fenced in
by either of the plans shown in the following illustrations. The first
system of railing consists in driving double posts into the earth at
equal distances, and then dropping trimmed poles and pieces of wood
or stones alternately between them. A wooden pin driven through the
heads of both posts at each nip keeps all compact and secure. To erect
a fence by the second plan, posts are driven into the ground singly,
in the position shown in the diagram on the next page, and then poles
are laid with their ends crossing at a sufficient inclination to rest
against and be held by the posts. The rails can be adjusted to any
distance apart, by fitting in short pieces or junks of pole between the
ends of the long bars. A very simple and useful fence for marking the
bounds of a camp, or piece of cultivated ground, is formed by planting
short stout poles obliquely in the earth, so that they may cross each
other like the letters XX. The points at which the poles cross are
secured with a twisted withy, a bit of raw hide, a strip of twisted
bark or root. Fences of this kind are very useful to show natives the
nearest point to which they may stray towards the packs and bales of
goods.
[Illustration]
The natives of British Columbia and some other countries laboriously
hew and chop away the two cheeks of a log with their primitive hatchets
until they form a plank by the reduction of a whole tree. In India and
China the natives make use of a long cross-handled saw, not unlike our
pit saw, for the division of a log into planks. They do not, however,
sink a sawpit as we do in this country, but set up a pair of cross legs
or shears, and run the log obliquely across the upper fork until it is
some distance in the air. They then saw down to the fork of the shears,
and, when that is reached, reverse the log, end for end, by tilting
it, and commence at the other extremity. The hunter or explorer will,
as a rule, be mainly dependent on his skill as a woodsman, and wielder
of the axe, for a comfortable dwelling amongst the forests. The number
of a party and the duration of a visit to any particular locality will
influence the kind of structure it will be best to erect. A single
trapper or hunter naturalist can content himself with very moderate
accommodation.
{Board wigwam.}
A simple form of wigwam can be thus built with the aid of the axe only,
in a very short time; search out and cut four stout fork ended posts
between 6ft. and 7ft. long, sharpen their ends, drive two of them into
the earth firmly at 9ft. apart, then cut a couple of straight strong
poles of about 1ft. girth and 10ft. long, lay one of these in the forks
of the two posts and fasten it there with a twisted withy or a bit of
raw hide; then measure off 5ft. from one of the posts, and, parallel
with it, set up one of the others, plant the remaining one at the other
end, lay in the second pole, secure it as before, and the framework
is complete. Now look out for a free splitting tree, log it up into 13
ft. lengths, split these into boards, place them in a sloping direction
against the poles which rest in the forks, and arrange them so that the
upper ends do not meet, but leave a good wide opening for the smoke to
come out. Split up a log or two the length required to board up the
ends of the wigwam; this can be done by setting the boards upright,
leaving a wide one movable to form a door, drive in a few hard wood
pegs so as to catch the bottoms of the boards and all is made secure.
During the day a board or two to leeward may be slid aside to let in
light, by night air enough comes in through the chinks. {Log house, to
build.} As a more permanent home for a party who are about wintering
in the woods, it is best to construct a log hut of the description
represented in the following illustration [Illustration]; its size
must, of course, depend on the number of its proposed occupants; it
can be made either oblong or square. When a sufficient number of trees
of convenient bulk for handling have been felled and logged up into
proper lengths, the ends should be notched with the axe, as shown in
the illustration. [Illustration] The four ground logs are then laid
and keyed together by their notches; the second row are then placed on
these, either by the aid of skid bars placed in a slanting direction
on the lower logs, or by manual labour. When all the walls are high
enough, the doorway must be cut in the following manner: Begin on
the upper log and chop through at each end, the exact width of the
proposed opening follow down, cutting log by log until the ground log
is reached; cut this nearly half through and then split out the piece,
the other portion below forms your threshold. Take a fresh log, and in
it split out a space exactly to correspond with that in the ground log,
place this as a crowning log with three others, uncut, to form your
wall plate, the split-out piece will form the top of your doorway; the
square hole for the window or shutter is chopped out in the same way.
The gable ends and ridge log must be adjusted at such a pitch as to
insure a free run for rain water or melted snow; the four ends or butts
of the gable angles should rest and be firmly wedged in four holes axed
out for them in the ends of the upper row of wall-plate logs; where the
gable peak crosses, the logs should be notched together and pinned; the
ridge log will then rest in the crutches formed by the intersection.
Now, after having selected the most convenient spot for a fire-place,
chop a hole through the logs, including that on the ground, about 3ft.
wide and 4ft. 6in. high. There are several ways of forming a chimney
and fire-back; one is to build a beehive-shaped wall outside the
opening, plastering the inside with clay, and forming a rough chimney
stack with turf and stones. All chinks or crevices between the logs are
stopped with clay and moss. Some American trappers and hunters proceed
as follows: They cut a number of poles long enough to reach the top of
the proposed chimney, which is, of course, a little higher than the
ridge of the roof; they then plant the sharpened ends of the poles in
the earth in such a way as to form a semicircular hedge surrounding the
back of the hole in the logs, and about 6ft. at its widest part from
them. An inner hedge of sticks about 6ft. long is now planted within
the row of long poles, at about 8in. from them; a number of bushy twigs
are now collected and interwoven between the poles and sticks until
a sort of double wall of basket work is formed between these wicker
partitions; a quantity of wet clay and small gravel is firmly impacted,
and rammed down until the space will hold no more. The long poles are
then gathered together into a sort of inverted funnel form, a hole
being left where their small ends meet for the smoke to pass through;
a thorough slap-dashing with thin wet clay within and without finishes
the affair. The inner layer of basket work consumes in time, but leaves
the clay and stone hard enough to resist an ordinary heat. Huts of this
description are either half log-roofed or shingled; that represented in
the illustration is covered by the former mode. Logs of fitting size
and length are split in halves; the surfaces of one-half of these are
slightly hollowed with the axe or adze, and then placed side by side
with the round surface downward on the ridge bar and wall plate; on the
hollowed faces of these over every interval is laid face downward one
of the flat-faced pieces. (See illustration, p. 275.)
{Temporary wigwams.}
To roof-in one of these log huts with the shingles we have before
described, the builder must proceed in a different manner; rows of
rafters must be pinned on to catch the shingles. The first row, or
that at the wall plate, should project some inches beyond it; on the
heels of these a long flat lath or batten of wood is secured by wood
pegs driven in here and there, this nips the row of shingles and keeps
them in place. The second row is laid over and beyond the batten and
so on, much as slates or tiles are laid for the roof of an English
house. Doors and shutters for log houses are usually made of boards
obtained from split logs pinned together with cross-bars, and are
generally called _dowel hinged_; an auger hole is bored a few inches
into both frame and door, a hard wood peg placed half-way into each
hole gives perfect freedom of motion, and will last as long as the
house. A flooring is very easily made by splitting a large log into
rough boards, and much increases the comfort of the establishment.
[Illustration] The above illustration represents a rough temporary
wigwam, which may be easily made as follows: Select either a large
fallen log or high bank for a back; drive two stout forked pieces
sufficiently far from the back and far apart to give space for the
interior; lay another pole across the crutches for a front wall plate,
and two side poles from the back, long enough to rest on and be secured
to this. Thatch with hemlock or balsam fir branches, arranging them
layer upon layer, butt end upwards. The gable ends can be closed with
either branches or grass-covered hurdles or frames. Another kind is
made by placing all the posts double, and then dropping the planks down
between them, so that they are nipped by the uprights, as shown in the
accompanying sketch.
[Illustration]
{The huts of savages.}
As an almost invariable rule, the huts built by savage nations are
round, or approximate more or less to the circular form. But sometimes
they are shapeless things, like the rude "gunyah" of the Australian,
which consists merely of a sheet of bark of the tea-tree (one of
the Eucalypti) broken across the middle and set up in a triangular
form to shelter "the body" from the inclemency of the weather; while
small fires are lighted all around for warmth and defence against the
mosquitoes, or a dry log, 6ft. or 8ft. long, is laid on either side,
and set on fire in several places. Equally simple is the hut of the
desert bushman. A few sticks are set up against each other, so as to
form an irregular cone, with one side left open to admit "the body"
of the sleeper, as shown in the illustration on p. 279. In almost
all tribes the commencement is made in the same manner. A circle is
traced or imagined on the ground, and the women, squatting down, with
sharp pointed sticks work holes a foot or more apart all round it;
long flexible wands are inserted, and their tops bent over and lashed
together, and if the hut be large, one or more poles are placed inside
the circle as supports. In Kafirland the fire-place is simply a flat
hearth, occupying the centre, so that the poles, when there are any,
are arranged round it. Smaller rods are wattled all round, or bound
tightly to the ribs with strips of the inner bark of the mimosa, or
other tree, and the hut is thatched with reeds, grass, or whatever may
be the favourite or most convenient material of the country.
[Illustration]
In Kafirland the huts are hemispherical, like beehives, or rather like
inverted bowls, slightly flattened on the top. The thatching is very
neatly and compactly done, and generally small ropes of grass are
carried many times round and round outside the hut, and laced with
smaller strips through the thatching to the _inner_ frame. The floor is
nicely clayed with a compost of "kraal mist" or cattle dung, and the
fine clay of ant-hills broken up and well mixed. Sometimes the inner
wall for 2ft. or 3ft. high is plastered with the same, and pumpkin
seeds stuck into it in fanciful patterns, and picked off again, when
the clay is dry, leaving a glazed film sparkling in the hollow.
In one of our sketching trips through Kafirland in 1848 we had been
advised by Captain Roper, of the Rifle Brigade, who commanded at the
Buffalo Mouth, always to go to a hut or village at night, as should
any accident befall us our "spoor" could be traced, and the owner of
the hut or headman of the village be held responsible; while, on the
contrary, should we sleep in the bush, and our horse be stolen, and the
thieves act on the principle that "dead men tell no tales," it would be
very long before we were missed, and tracing might be impossible.
There is one fault in these Kafir huts. They resemble an inverted
bowl; the door is cut out of the edge, and there is no other aperture
whatever. The consequence is that if one stands up his lower
extremities may be absolutely chilled, while from the waist upward he
is immersed in a bath of smoke or heated air; and when the fire has
gone low, and the intensely cold air of the early morning fills the
lower part, driving the warm air above the level of the doorway, the
sleeper is glad to wrap himself more closely in his mantle.
[Illustration]
In countries where stratified rocks, as sandstone, &c., which split
easily into flat slabs, abound, huts are frequently built of stone. A
circle of blocks is laid on the ground, then another on them, with the
edges projecting a little inward, so that the circumference of each
course is less than that of the one immediately beneath it; a large
slab covers the top, and finishes the building. Such huts are found in
the north-eastern part of the Free State in South Africa, formerly the
Orange River Sovereignty.
Among the various Bechuana tribes in and beyond the Free State, the
building of a hut is a more elaborate and artistic affair; in fact,
it deserves rather to be called a house, consisting, as it does, of
walls and a roof perfectly distinct from each other. In its simplest
form it consists of a row of stakes from 4ft. to 7ft. high, set up in a
circular form, and of a conical roof, the frame of which is mostly made
separately on the ground, and then lifted into its place, and bound
firmly upon the upright wall. In the larger huts a smaller concentric
circle of stakes (of course much longer than the first, as they have to
reach the roof at a higher point) forms an inner chamber, and generally
the eaves of the roof are extended, so as to form also a verandah, or
shade, all round; and, besides this, there will be a larger circular
wall inclosing a courtyard, frequently of considerable dimensions.
[Illustration: CHIEF'S HUT, VAAL RIVER.]
Sometimes, as on the Lower Zambesi, the row of stakes forming the outer
wall of the house is plastered round with a broad central horizontal
band of red or yellow clay, leaving about a third above and below it
open for ventilation, and sometimes the whole is elaborately smoothed
with a mixture of the fine clay of broken ant-hills and cattle dung,
which, being left of its natural colour, has the appearance of a light
greyish stone. All this is performed by the women, who put it down
and smooth it with their hands, finishing not only the house, but the
outer walls and even the floor of the courtyard, with so much nicety
that, as good housewives say at home, "you might eat off it." Raised
seats are generally built in the form of segments of a circle, and
these are as carefully smoothed over as the rest. The hut of a Bechuana
chief at Vaal River was a model of neatness in its way; the walls had
been marked off into blocks, zigzag lines had been traced on them,
and uncouth patterns were painted in black or coloured clay over the
low door of his inner chamber, which, hung round with antelope skins,
was, as he said, very nice and warm--in fact, insufferably hot. The
outer apartment was 3ft. or 4ft. broad, and ran all round the inner.
The part nearest the door served as a reception room, and the remoter
regions were used for the stowage of rough skins, household gear, the
musket and ammunition, and large pots and calabashes of outchulla or
native beer, which kept up a constant simmering as it fermented, and to
the taste seemed very like spoiled vinegar. Large frames are made of
wattled work, and coated with clay till they resemble capacious jars;
in these the corn is stored, small roofs are raised over them, and the
timber around is wastefully heaped up to form a kind of shelter from
the sun for the chief and council to sit under.
The hartebeeste hut shown in the full-page camp scene in Kafirland,
mostly used by colonial Hottentots, is simple and easy enough to make.
It has one straight side, and one lean-to, and derives its name from
its resemblance to the sloping back of the animal.
The huts of the Damaras are generally of very rude construction. A
circle of sticks is planted in the ground, and the tops bent over and
lashed together, generally with their own bark; they are then roughly
wattled, and plastered over with clay and "kraal mist." Rain so seldom
falls that they seem to take no precaution against it, preferring
rather to risk the few drenching showers of the wet season than to take
the trouble of making their huts waterproof. Sometimes the hides of the
few cattle they slaughter are spread over their huts, and kept in their
places by stones or heavy poles laid on them. In one respect only they
have an advantage over the Kafir hut, and that is, the smoke escapes
through the cracks and interstices of the roof. Internally there may be
a dried hide to sit or sleep on, an earthen pot for cooking, a calabash
or two, or a bambuse or wooden bowl for milk or water; two or three
skins stripped off whole, as sacks for "uintjies" or earth nuts; and it
may be an axe, of Ovampo, or more rarely of European, manufacture.
[Illustration]
The box made of stiff leather, in which they carry grease and red
ochre, may also be here; but, with the exception of their cattle, the
Damaras seldom possess much more property than can be carried on the
person.
The huts of the Berg Damaras are still more primitive; and sometimes
they seek no other shelter than one or two small bushes, the lower
branches of which are cut away, while the upper ones are brought
together and interwoven--others being added if needful--and grass
thrown loosely over all.
Indeed, small trees, with the lower branches cleared away, and the
upper ones drawn together and interlaced, form very convenient huts
or arbours. The Bechuana women, in making a kraal, beat the mimosa
branches on the ground till they flatten them into a fan-like form,
then they plant them side by side and interlace the branches.
[Illustration]
The Namaqua Hottentots, the Makobas or canoemen of the B[=o]-tlét-t[=e]
River, and many of the Bechuana tribes in the Orange River Sovereignty
and elsewhere, build hemispherical frames of flexible wands, and cover
them with mats of rushes like cheese mats. These are very neatly made.
The Hottentots use flat awls, 18in. or 20in. long, for this purpose,
but the Makoba awl is not more than 5 in. or 6 in. Small thongs of
dressed antelope skin, or cords twisted from the fibres of different
plants, are used for sewing the mats. These might be easily made by a
traveller needing them, and he could best do it by having two or three
needles of any convenient length, from 4in. or 5in. to 20in.; they
should be flattened at the point, and pierced with an eye to carry the
cord on which the reeds are strung. The most convenient method would be
to fix the needles upright at the proper distance from each other, and
then press upon them as many rushes as their length would allow; these,
with the strings drawn through, should then be removed, and a fresh
set threaded on, care being taken to see that the strings are kept
clear, so that they reeve consecutively through all the rushes, and
make a smooth uniform mat. Generally, however, it will be found that,
where the proper materials grow, the natives will make and sell them
cheaply enough. Mats of this description are much used by the natives
of North-West America in hut building; the needles used in that country
are not unfrequently 5ft. long.
{Crook and prong house, to build.}
It often becomes necessary for the traveller, if he contemplates a
stay of a few months, or even weeks, in any one place, to build his
own hut; and it is as well that this should be, if possible, somewhat
superior in size and form to the dwellings of the natives around him.
If the nature of the ground and the materials at hand will admit of
it, this may as well be a house regularly walled and roofed, and at
least the four corner posts, as well as the two which support the
gables, should be firmly let into the ground. If care is taken to cut
all these with a fork, so that the ridge pole of the roof may rest in
the forks of the gable poles, and the wall plates in those of the four
corner posts, the building will be much stronger, and the work greatly
facilitated. The rafters may also have forks, which can rest upon the
wall plate, but this would leave the thickest part of the branches
upward; a little labour in thinning them off would remedy this, or
they might, in favourable localities, be so chosen that it would be of
very little consequence. Every alternate rafter should be reversed,
so that its forks might help to support the battens. All the poles
forming the side walls should have forks to help to support the wall
plate, and those which form the sides of the doors or windows should be
so selected that smaller forks, at the proper height, would serve to
receive the sills of the door and windows. Such a frame as this would
present the greatest amount of strength and firmness with the least
possible necessity for lashing, pegging, or other fastening.
[Illustration]
The sketch of the framework of a house indicates the manner in which
the forks and branches may be used to the best advantage. If trees of
proper size are abundant, the builder will be able to choose them so
as to suit their places, with as much regularity as indicated in the
drawing; if not, he must make the best of the materials.
The smaller framework beside it represents that of a hut we built at
Depôt Creek. We set up three forked poles as a triangle at either end,
laid a ridge pole between them, and lashed it firmly there. Rafters and
battens were added, and we stripped off large sheets of tea-tree bark
(_Eucalyptus melaleuca?_) to cover it. We also obtained some of the
white-barked red-gum tree (_Eucalyptus resinifera_); but this is more
brittle, and did not answer so well.
[Illustration]
The roof may be covered with the reed mats already spoken of, one or
two thicknesses of which, if the roof has a pitch of _not less_ than
45°, will suffice to keep out rain; or it may be thatched with grass,
reeds, or the broad leaves of the fan palm-remembering that, whatever
material is used, it will cast off water much better if the point of
the leaf is downward. The lowest course will be laid and securely
fastened first; then the next, overlapping it; and so on to the top.
This may be done by simply lashing the stalks of each course to the
proper batten; or a thatching needle may be made of wood, smooth and
flat, an inch or more in breadth, and pierced near the point with an
eye to carry the lashing. The inner bark of many trees, though unfit
to make cord which is to remain permanently flexible, will answer very
well for this purpose; for if stripped as required, and used while
still wet, it will tie in any knot, and bear straining tightly. It will
hold well enough when dry, though it would not again bear working up,
on account of its brittleness. The leaves of the _Phormium tenax_, of
New Zealand, which grow much like those of the common flag, are very
generally used in that country, just as they are gathered, for binding
various matters. Excellent twine, thread, cloth, and rope are made from
the fibre, as will be seen as our work proceeds.
The walls may be filled up, according to taste or necessity, with
mats or reeds; or, if permanent shelter from bad weather is required,
nothing is better than wattle and daub, and if the wattling is
carefully done, and good clay or broken ant-hills and "kraal mist"
used for the daub, a very neat job may be made of it. We have shared
the hut of a sergeant of Sappers in the forest of the Pierie Hills in
Kafirland, where he had a clay hearth, and wattle and daub chimney,
and, though a roaring fire was kept up, he did not anticipate any
danger. He had charge of a party who were cutting timber, and one noble
"yellow wood" they had just felled was no less than 7ft. diameter at
its base. The bush vines hung in long straight lines, like ropes from
the upper branches of this tree; and on one of these, 60ft. or 80ft.
long, and not more than an inch thick, the sergeant, who was a heavy
man, raised himself, and swung to and fro without fear of breaking it.
In fact, these vines may be used while green for many of the purposes
of rope or cord. We have disentangled nearly 30ft., as fine and almost
as tough as a small fishing line, from the forest in front of the
Victoria Falls, and rolled it into a small coil; but once dry, it
becomes brittle, and cannot be straightened. Some of these vines bear
fruit, which, though not equal to the cultivated grape, is by no means
to be despised.
When looking for a spot along the banks of the Zambesi on which to
establish a camp and rebuild our boat, in September, 1862, Ave were
warned by the natives who came to meet us against the pretty little
sequestered spots beside the tributary rivulets, as they were certain
to be infested by mosquitoes. We, therefore, having in view also the
probability of being obliged to stay far into the unhealthy season,
tried back about a mile, and selected a limestone spur which had a
small valley between it and the higher range in its rear.
[Illustration]
{Roof, to raise.}
This we named Logier Hill, after our old and steadfast friend in Cape
Town; and, setting to work with a keen American felling axe, cut down
the thorns and brushwood on the top, while the people assisted us in
cutting or dragging the fallen bushes to the verge. Three mimosas,
which were in a good position, we left standing, and added one for
the fourth corner post. Then selecting flexible branches, we framed
upon the ground an oval of corresponding size; on this with lighter
poles (most of them the young straight branches of the "kookom boyou,"
a gigantic sterculia in general appearance, somewhat resembling the
baobab), we framed a roof similar in form to that of a marquee,
using for lashings the inner bark, stripped from the branches just
mentioned. To lift this, as its weight was considerable in proportion
to its strength, and all the people were away collecting poles or
grass for the completion of our huts, was rather difficult, but we
had fortunately a small coil of manilla line and a few blocks. With
two of these we made a tackle, and lifting one side of the roof 2ft.,
supported it by a forked branch while we raised the rest, shoring it
in the same manner all round, and then lifting it again and supporting
it on longer forks till it was high enough to be fastened securely in
its place. We placed forked uprights under it at proper intervals,
but as the eaves projected considerably we did not find it necessary
to close in the walls, but when the rain came on laid fresh poles
upon the roof and thatched it with grass and reeds to the ground. For
central supports we took two forked poles, and instead of setting them
upright at the two ends of the ridge pole gained additional rigidity
by crossing them like an X, and lashing them together in the centre.
At one end, raised upon forks above 18in. high, we made a platform of
small poles as straight as we could get them to serve for a bed, and
when a buffalo was shot spread over it the dried hide to level it a
little more. This platform was continued all round between the uprights
and the eaves, and various stores were laid on it.
One advantage here was the immunity from the ravages of the white ant,
which is seldom found in a limestone country. But as the rainy season
came on hosts of the destructive little white-shouldered beetle that
feeds on skins, preserved hides, and specimens of all kinds--seeming
rather to enjoy arsenic soap and other preservatives--ravaged
everything made of untanned leather; while other kinds, larger and
still more unpleasant to the eye and touch, would actually commence
eating the velschoens off our feet during the short meal time.
We should have preferred reeds for thatching, as when laid at a
sufficient angle, say anything above 45°, they cast off water
perfectly, although if laid at a lower angle they might be by no means
water-proof. Of course the cut ends of the stems must be upward, and
the leaves pointing down, or the water will be retained, and allowed to
leak through instead of being thrown off; and this rule holds good when
grass or such like material is used. If the roof of the hut be conical,
the ends may simply be brought up and tied tightly together, or they
may be worked into an ornamental form like those of the Bechuana (see
p. 281). If it has a ridge as ours had, it must be covered with a
horizontal layer, sufficiently thick to keep the water from insinuating
itself between the meeting of the two sides.
In our own house we stretched the sails of our boat and calico tent
within the roof to keep off any leakage during heavy showers, and added
fresh poles and grass to the outside. Sir Richard Glyn, who visited the
hill after we had been compelled to abandon it, and who returned to
England before us, reported that our house was the strongest building
of the kind he had ever seen.
{Bamboos, for building.}
In countries like the Indian islands, where bamboo can be obtained in
any quantity and of any size, from a reed fit for a lady's arrow to one
big enough for the mast of a small sloop, it is easy enough to build
a house; the extreme strength and lightness of the material, with its
glossy surface and neat and uniform appearance, rendering it in every
sense most valuable for such purposes. Poles of uniform size may be
planted closely so as to form a wall, or pillars may be placed more
or less apart, and mats or blinds of smaller reeds, or larger ones
split up, may occupy the intervals. Balconies, strong and sufficiently
ornamental, may be formed; and the eaves of the roof may be made to
project to any distance, so as to form an effectual verandah; while
palisades or fences of any form or height may be constructed _ad
libitum_.
Bamboo, from its polished siliceous covering, is, externally at least,
proof against the ravages of the white ant, which destroys without
mercy all the softer kinds of wood and vegetable or animal fibre,
whether in the form of boxes, furniture, books, clothing, specimens of
natural history or botany, drawings, or articles of necessity or luxury
of any kind.
If thunderstorms are frequent or dangerous, a glass bottle on the
highest point of the roof will act as a non-conductor, and may not
unfrequently avert the flash that might otherwise destroy the building.
It is not always, however, effectual.
{Doors and gates, to make and hang.}
Doors or gates may be made as closely worked or as open as may be
desired; and, while upon this subject, it may be as well to mention a
very convenient way of hanging them in the absence of regular hinges.
The hinge side of the door or gate should be a standard of some
strength, to which all the rest is framed and securely fastened with
pegs or lashings; round this and the corresponding doorpost a strap or
thong of leather or cord should be passed in figure of 8 fashion to
form each hinge, or it may simply be passed round both and "seized"
between them with smaller cords. This, however, will not hold the door
with sufficient stiffness to let it swing true and easily; therefore,
take a common ale or porter bottle, bury it neck downwards in the
ground, leave the lower end of the standard somewhat longer than the
door, point it a little, and insert it in the hollow at the bottom of
the bottle--the gate will swing fairly on such a pivot, as it never
gets out of order, and it may almost be said will never wear out.
[Illustration: 1-11]
The gate itself (Fig. 1) may be built of rough branches--one tolerably
stout limb, for the hinge or swinging side, should have a good branch
projecting from its lower part diagonally upwards to the upper part
of the latch side; another fork, with its branches as nearly at right
angles as possible, will form the latch side and top rail; and a
third will make the lower one. Never be in a hurry to trim off small
branches; generally they will weave in and add to the strength; and,
if not, they are easily cut off afterwards. When the posts are set up
on the ground, it is as well to char the ends as a protection against
damp or wood-destroying insects; cut notches near the ends, and in
them wedge good heavy stones--they will keep the posts firm, and in
countries where there is frost nothing else can prevent their rising
out of the ground. We found this arrangement very valuable in the
Crimea. It is not necessary that the bottle should be whole; if the
"cup" under the bottom is perfect, the broken edges of the sides will
give it additional firmness.
In Fig. 2 the gate post has a fork, and another on the branch serving
as the top rail makes the upper hinge. One of the other branches has a
fork projecting from the lower angle and working on the gate post as a
cutter's gaff does on the mast. This is easy to make, can be unshipped
at a moment's notice, and hung up again as readily. Fig. 3 is a more
regularly made gate on the same principle. The top rail has a hole
working on the thinned upper part of the gate post, which is pierced
with holes, and has a peg so that the gates may be raised or lowered as
required; the lower part works on the gaff principle.
It is generally desirable to hang a gate so that it may shut of itself
after it has been opened; and to ensure this, if iron hook and staple
hinges can be had, let the hook of the upper hinge project a little
farther from the gate post than the lower one, as in Fig. 5. If it is
requisite that the gate should remain open--which is sometimes, though
not often, the case--the upper hook should project less than the lower,
as in Fig. 4. Generally, if the hinges be equal, the gate will hang in
whatever position it may be left; but if the post inclines from the
perpendicular to right or left, the gate will swing to the same side.
Very good standards for fences may be made by cutting half mortices
in the opposite sides of a squared log, 4ft. or 5ft. long, as in Fig.
6, then cutting it into planks, and, before these are quite detached,
sawing it down in the direction of the diagonal line; a pair of these
are matched together, as in Fig. 7, and the lower end morticed into a
flat plank so far as to let one hole come below it to receive a key to
fix it there. The horizontal plank should rest upon a short log at each
end, and it may be held in place by a couple of notched pegs driven
into the ground.
{Walls, to build.}
Many of the natives of South Africa are very handy at building rough
stone walls; but they require an overseer to insure the proper binding
of the stones as they are laid. Some of their own countrymen may
be found with skill enough for this. It is no use to build up two
fair faces, as in Fig. 8, and then fill up the middle with loose
stones--their weight would be sure to force out the sides and bring
down the whole structure; but large flat stones should be chosen, as
in Fig. 9, to reach either quite through the wall, or at least so far
that the stones on the other side may meet and have a bond with them.
Such walls, miles in length, are built without cement of any kind. If
galvanised iron wire is to be used for fencing, to support upright
rails, it is a good plan to have two rail-heads fixed at the proper
distance, and to make the turns of the wire on these to insure each
loop being equidistant, as in Fig. 10.
Chalk lines and measuring lines of all kinds suffer from being coiled
or rolled up by hand--turns and kinks are put on or taken out of them;
and it is much better to have reels, either like the log-reel of a
ship, or like Fig. 11 (see p. 290), where a peg in the circumference of
the disc serves as the crank by which to wind it up.
[Illustration]
{Plank screens to make.}
Effective screens can be readily extemporised with planks of any kind
and ropes; the simplest plan is to double the rope, making one part
somewhat longer than the breadth of all the planks to be used, and
leaving whatever spare end may be upon the other to hoist the screen by
when finished. The first plank is laid in the bight of the rope, the
two parts of which are then crossed and the next plank laid between
them; they are crossed again for the third plank, and so on till
all are inclosed. If there is not an eye on the shorter end of the
rope, make a bow-line knot or two half hitches on it (see "Knots and
Hitches"), and pass the longer end through; then lead the spare line
at each end of your screen over the forks of trees, or sheer legs,
or whatever support you mean to use, and hoist away simultaneously
and carefully; for this arrangement, though perfectly strong and
secure while every part remains in its proper place, is most easily
disarranged; and in fact the great advantage of it is that, when no
longer required, it can be shaken to pieces like a house of cards,
leaving neither holes or imperfections in the planks nor kinks or
knots in the rope. We have shown the boards rather far apart in our
illustration for the sake of distinctness, they will lie closer, but
they must always be separate by more than the thickness of the rope.
They may be made to lie closer by omitting to cross the ropes and
"stopping" them together with small cord, as in Fig. 2; or a perfectly
weather-proof wall with overlapping edges may be obtained by looping
the rope into a chain, as in Fig. 3, taking care to make the lower
link well fast, for on this the security of the whole depends. To take
this to pieces nothing more is necessary than to slip each loop off the
end of the plank; let go the fastening of the lower end, and all the
links of the rope chain will shake out.
[Illustration]
Great firmness may be imparted to any of these arrangements by placing
a small pole inside, and securing every plank to it by successive
hitches of a smaller line, as in Fig. 4; or, if stouter poles be used,
the walls may be built up in this manner, commencing from the bottom
plank and fastening the upper ones as you go on. Each plan will have
its advantages under peculiar circumstances. In the Indian islands,
large hollow bamboos are either split into three or four parts, making
somewhat rounded narrow planks, or an incision is made in the side of
the cane, when it is opened out, laid flat, pressed, and converted into
a single plank. Movable screens of considerable size are made in the
same manner as in Figs. 1 and 2 already referred to.
{Makeshift shelves.}
A shelf is easily made by piercing holes in the four corners of a
plank, passing lines through, and suspending it to a beam. A very neat
set of bookshelves may be obtained by doubling two cords of sufficient
length, working an eye in the bight of each, passing the ends down
through the holes in the first plank, and turning double knots on
them, so that it hangs fairly; then passing them through the next and
knotting them, and successively through as many more planks as you
require shelves.
{Reed houses, screens, and sheds.}
We have seen houses built by traders or missionaries almost entirely
of reeds, some of which grow from 10ft. to 20ft. long and more than
1in. thick. Bundles of these, with the thin ends and butts reversed,
and overlapping each other so as to equalise their strength as much
as possible, are laid on the ground to serve for top, bottom, and
centre battens; then across these the reeds are distributed in two or
three layers, according to the required thickness of the wall; other
battens are laid on the upper side to correspond with those below, and
the cords--slips of bark, palm leaf, twisted grass rope, or thin and
flexible forest creepers--are passed through to bind the whole tightly
together. If a number of these are made say 12ft. or 15ft. square, they
may easily be arranged on the framework of a house, or set up as a
continuous fence. A trench is dug about 1ft. deep, the screen inserted
in it, the earth well pressed down, and support is given either by
shores, if needful, or by the next screen forming an angle with the
first. If the wood of the country is more available for making hurdles,
they can be used in the same manner.
[Illustration]
We have had very excellent temporary stables and sheds erected in
Central India, composed entirely of poles, cords, and grass, forming
what is called "chupper" screens. These are formed by laying together
double poles; in the space left between these poles long tufts of
jungle grass are arranged, until the whole frame is filled up, when
the sticks or poles, being tightly drawn together with cord, the grass
is nipped between them, as shown in the above illustration. When in
the Tartar country, we saw a number of very comfortable huts made by
cutting out a kind of notch in the hill side. The space thus formed was
first framed over with strong poles, and then covered with brushwood; a
layer of turf covered all, and soon took root, forming feeding grounds
for whole families of goats, which walked about on the houses quite
at home. The fronts of these hill dwellings were composed of wicker
work, plastered with clay. Logs were hollowed out by the Tartars almost
as thin as paper, when their ends were stopped with clay. In those
the bees laid up their stores of honey, which was taken as required,
without disturbing the industrious swarm in the next log. The annexed
illustration represents one of these huts and a pile of bee logs.
[Illustration]
[Illustration]
{Defensible farm-houses.}
During the Kafir war we visited the homestead of a Scottish farmer,
who, although upon the very border, had gallantly determined to stand
his ground, and to that end he had built a small defensible tower;
the flat roof covered with raw hides, and surrounded by a loopholed
parapet, and the only door fronted by a solid shield of brickwork, with
a small aperture on one side, so that an enemy attempting to enter must
do it in a stooping position, and before he could turn and straighten
himself in the doorway, must present his head in the most convenient
possible position to have it split by the defenders. A large water cask
was kept filled in the fort, and even should the enemy gain possession
of the lower room the women and children could still be tolerably safe
in the upper, except from random shots fired upwards through the floor,
and which of course could be returned in the same manner from above.
Against fire their only defence lay in the supply of water we have
already mentioned, but care was taken to have nothing inflammable in
the lower room. There was no staircase; the ladder would be drawn up
through the trap. The beams and flooring would require a considerable
blaze to ignite them, and against any quantity of material being
brought in for that purpose the defenders relied upon their rifles, or
no less deadly smooth bores, loaded with loopers or buck shot.
{Blockhouse.}
Blockhouse, among military edifices, is, as its name implies, a
building constructed chiefly of timber. If alone, it constitutes
an independent fort; if formed in the interior of a field-work, it
becomes a retrenchment or redoubt, and serves to protect the defenders
from the inclemency of the weather when the work is occupied during a
considerable time, or to prolong the defence when the work is attacked,
and after it is taken to enable the garrison to obtain a capitulation.
When the blockhouse is to be employed only as a retrenchment, its plan
is generally a simple rectangle, and its walls consist of a single row
of piles placed upright in the ground. These are pierced with loopholes
at the distance of 3ft. from each other, in order that the building
may be defended by a fire of rifles from within. The roof is formed
by laying timbers horizontally across the inclosed area and covering
them with fascines and earth. The interior breadth of the building
may be from 18ft. to 20ft., in order to allow a passage between the
two rows of bedsteads. These are placed with their heads to the side
walls, and serve as stages on which the men may stand to fire through
the loopholes when the latter are much elevated above the floor. In
a mountainous country the blockhouse possesses great advantages over
an ordinary field fort, inasmuch as the interior of the latter would
be incessantly ploughed up by the fire of artillery directed into it
by the enemy from the surrounding heights. Here, then, the blockhouse
may with propriety be constructed as an independent work; its plan may
have re-entering angles, or be in the form of a cross, in order to
allow the faces to be defended by flanking fires from the rifles and
revolvers from within; and the walls may be thick enough to resist even
the shot from 9-pounder guns. For this purpose they must be made by
planting parallel to each other, at a distance of 3 ft. or 4ft., two
rows of strong piles, those in each row being close together, and the
interval between the rows being filled with earth up to the height of
the loopholes, which should never be immediately under the roof of the
building. The roof must be made shell proof, as before; but it has
been recommended, when the work is not overlooked by the enemy, and
when its breadth will permit, to have the piles forming the side walls
long enough to arise above the roof, and, either alone or with a mass
of earth behind them, to serve as a parapet.
Where blockhouses have to be constructed among hostile or doubtful
Indian tribes, who are not the possessors of artillery, the fascine and
earth roof and double rows of piles may be easily and safely dispensed
with.
Logs, squared with the axe and laid on each other, may be substituted
for piles with advantage, as the labour of planting firmly in the
earth so many ponderous beams of wood is considerable. It is well,
in building a blockhouse, to construct a raised breastwork of small
logs round the margin of the roof; these may be roughly squared and
doweled together with short wooden pins. The roof itself should, after
shingling, have a goodly layer of sand, earth, or raw hides laid over
it in order to guard against the fire-tipped arrows of hostile savages.
A few auger holes here and there serve to carry off rain water or
melted snow, and the log breastwork can be both loopholed and fired
over with ease.
Frontier blockhouses are usually built of squared logs of timber
dowelled together; loopholes are made for firing rifles through, and
portholes for one or two iron guns. Some frontier posts are merely
squares of heavy log palisades, with all the requisite offices and
buildings erected within them. A banquet runs from end to end of
each side of the square in order that the defenders may command the
attacking force. All trees and bushes within long shooting range are
carefully removed so that there shall be no cover.
{Waggon burgs, to make.}
Bands of travellers in Africa not unfrequently so arrange their waggons
as to form substantial defences against the attacks of hostile natives.
We have often assisted in forming these so-called "waggon burgs." They
are made as follows: One waggon, with all the women, children, and
ammunition, is placed in the centre. Others are drawn up, each with
its inner fore wheel nearly touching the outer hind wheel of the one
before it, and forming just such an angle with it that the dozen or
thereabouts of vehicles form an almost perfect circle, their poles
and trek gear extending on the outside, so that the oxen can again
be yoked to each without disorder or confusion. There is room inside
for the horses and cattle beside the defenders; and, should danger be
imminent, the waggons can be locked together by the drag chains, and
all the interstices choked with thorn bushes, the stems of which thrust
inward would be securely fastened by pegs driven into the ground, or by
lashing branches, cut short for the purpose, to the inner wheels, or by
"reims" or thongs reeved through the bifurcations; while the tangled
branches would oppose a barrier that no enemy could force in the face
of the bullets or the small shot that would be poured through. The gear
of the oxen would also be brought in and used in strengthening the
defences.
[Illustration]
{Farm and village, to fortify.}
In rendering a farmhouse defensible regard must be had to the character
of the expected enemy. In countries like South Africa, where the main
object of the Kafir is the acquisition of cattle, the house ought to
command and protect the kraal, the fence of which will often of itself
form a shelter for the crafty foe. It is usually circular, as this form
is most easily made, and will inclose the greatest number of cattle,
with a given amount of material; but, if it were made triangular, with
bastions on the two angles nearest, the guns of the defenders would
sweep the other two sides, their fire crossing at the farthest angle,
and leaving no place for an enemy to conceal himself. The house itself,
with its outbuildings, should if possible be in the form of a square,
inclosing as large a courtyard as is convenient for the accommodation
of the defenders and their allies, and on emergencies for their horses,
with a few sheep or oxen. If there be a spring or well in it so much
the better; a ledge or bank, 18in. or 2ft. high, should run along the
inside of the wall, so that the loopholes may be too high for the enemy
to look in at or fire through; and there should be small chambers
projecting from the angles, or at least from two diagonally opposite
loopholed, so that each can enfilade two sides of the wall.
[Illustration: ENTRENCHED VILLAGE OF OBJIMBENGUE.]
But perhaps it will be better, instead of describing an ideal
defensible homestead, to give an example of a real one, which,
though not quite perfect in a military view, was as nearly so as the
accommodation required for the traffic and the work carried on there
would allow. Our illustration is a plan, drawn from memory, of the
village of Objimbengue, to the south of which (Fig. 1) is the flat
sandy bed, 400yds. wide, of the Swakop River, filled only during the
flooded season, but in the dry retaining a vast amount of water beneath
the sand, while a little rivulet represented by the faint line appears
here and there upon the surface. Fig. 2 is a low bank or foreshore,
overgrown with wild tamarisks or dabbie bushes, and partly cleared
for a garden (Fig. 3) in which is a well, and used in other places
for corn land, care being taken to reap the crop before there is any
possibility of its being swept away by the floods of the next season.
On the east of the village is a small tributary, generally dry, called
the Artip (Fig. 4), and beyond this, and the limits of the picture,
would be the Mission House of Regterveldt and the Damara village, with
its curious entrenchments scattered without order, but not without
great judgment, over the face of the hill wherever a few men could
find a place to shoot from. The trench (Fig. 5), fronted by the mound
of earth thrown out of it, and by a breastwork of dabbie logs, made by
the Damaras, formed the outer line of defence of his homestead, and he
could in emergency have depended on a thousand men to man it. Fig. 6
is the opening for the southern road leading across the river from the
country of the hostile Namaquas. Fig. 7, the road leading from Walvisch
Bay; and Fig. 8, the continuation of it toward Lake Ngami, and Fig.
9 is the steep edge, 15ft. or 20ft. high, of the plain, on which the
village is built. Fig. 10 is a small breastwork for a brass 1-pounder
gun commanding the southern road, and Fig. 11 for another sweeping the
open space to the south-east, where, in fact, an attack actually took
place. The guns were, however, usually kept beside the house, where
one served as a time gun, and they could easily be moved whenever they
were wanted. Fig. 12 was a dwelling-house; the central space is open
and would serve as a shelter for native fugitives, for horses, sheep,
and a few of the most valuable working oxen; the front is composed of
a voor-house or entrance-hall, usually occupied for general family
purposes and reception of visitors, and before it is a verandah.
At each angle are rooms used as sitting or bed chambers; on the western
side are spare chambers for the reception of guests; in the rear are
kitchen, bath-room, and other offices; and on the east are store-rooms
and the entrance gate. Fig. 13 is the wheelwright and waggon maker's
shop; Fig. 14, the smithy; Fig. 15, the sawpit; Fig. 16, the tiring
plate; Fig. 17, small trenches with angular mounds before them,
commanding the eastern gate of the village; Fig. 18, the graveyard;
Fig. 19, the workmen's cottages; Fig. 20, the slaughter-house and
waggon-shed; the walls of all these buildings being musket-proof,
and the windows more or less convenient for firing from. Figs. 21
and 22 are stoutly stockaded cattle kraals; they were both square,
but the triangular outline of Fig. 21 shows what would be gained in
defensibility and lost in accommodation by adopting that form; Fig. 22
has small "scherms" at the angles protected by the fire from the house,
and commanding the other two sides; Fig. 23 is a storehouse, adding but
little to the strength of the position, but indispensable for its use.
The dotted lines indicate the directions of effective fire from the
dwelling-house.
In most frontier villages the church, as the most substantial building,
is used as a place of refuge, and as a last stronghold against savage
assailants; and on the east coast, the natives, when they throw up
a rough tower of defence, always call it by the Portuguese name,
"Egregia," or church.
{Churches, to fortify.}
We have seen the church at Shiloh converted into a very pretty little
fortification by one of our own engineer officers. Bastions were raised
at the angles of the outer wall, the building itself was unthatched,
and a breastwork, with loopholes, raised upon the walls.
We have known friends who have had to entrench their waggons for months
among tribes whose friendship was dubious; and they seemed to prefer
that, especially for a night attack, or for a sentry's accommodation,
the embankment should be behind the trench, and not before it, so that
they might look from the very edge of the pit and see the dark figure
of an approaching enemy against the sky, whilst they would be invisible
against the mound behind them; whereas, if the mound were in front,
they would have to raise their heads to look over it, and an enemy
creeping close to the ground, would be absolutely invisible, and would,
moreover, be able to see clearly the elevated figure of the sentry.
{Mission churches, plans for building.}
We have on several occasions been asked to draw plans for churches on
remote stations, and for defensible farmhouses; in the former case,
regard must be had to the nature of the materials at the disposal
of the missionary, to the number of the congregation he wishes to
accommodate, and also to the number and skill of the assistants,
whether European or native, he can employ or persuade to join in the
work. Generally, it is better so to draw the plan that a portion of
the church may be commenced, and sufficiently furnished for almost
immediate use; while the remainder is left to be finished as the
congregation increases, and as the tribe become more and more alive to
the benefit conferred on them by religion and civilisation. Some regard
must also be had to the doctrinal views of the missionary requiring the
plan.
If, as is frequently required, the men and women of the congregation
are to be separately seated, the best form is that of the Greek cross,
and the seats of the men must be placed in one arm and those of the
women in the other; while the position of the pulpit, with its back
against the angle of the other two, gives every individual a fair
opportunity of seeing and hearing the minister.
Where this regulation does not prevail, the Latin cross is the best
form; the longest limb lying east and west affords space for the
congregation and the preacher. The wings or shorter limbs on the
north and south give very great support to the walls, and serve for
vestries or other offices; the tower and porch at the eastern end form
the continuation of the longer limb, and it should also be capable of
increase if necessary, by the addition of a smaller continuation at the
western end.
In this case, too, it is the part intended for the congregation that
should be first built. It is most probable that the materials would
be rough unhewn surface stones, for powder to blast out more solid
material would be expensive. Tools for quarrying would be unattainable,
and men with skill or industry to work them even still more so, while
ant-hill clay would be the only available cement, unless the erection
should be in a limestone district, or near a beach, where shells in
abundance could be procured and burnt into lime.
Bricks are often made, but they are frequently of inferior clay, and
often merely sun-dried, or inefficiently burned, and are in no case
equal to the well-squared and hardened article known by the same name
in England.
It would, therefore, be prudent not to make the walls more than 10ft.
or 15ft. in height, and to allow at least 2ft. of thickness at the base
for every 10ft. of height, and even then they ought to be supported by
buttresses not more than 20ft. apart; the top should not be less than
12in. or 15in. in width, and if good planks for wall plates cannot be
procured, they ought to be rather more to allow for the proper bedding
in of rough substitutes. The roof must have a pitch of 45° to enable
it to throw off water in the rainy season, and each rafter must be
two-thirds the width of the building to the outside of the walls, and
so much more as is required for the projection of the eaves.
If, therefore, rafters can be procured 20ft. in length, of which 2ft.
are required for projection, this will leave 18ft., and the possible
width of the church may be found by adding half the length of the
rafter thus--18+9=27--27ft. to the outside of the walls, or about 24ft.
in the clear; this, with 4ft. of passage down the centre will give two
benches of 10ft. capable of accommodating six persons each. Each sitter
ought to have 3ft. of space from front to rear, although it is possible
to sit in 2ft.; thus, a space of 60ft. would accommodate a congregation
of 240 or 360 persons, according to the room allowed.
In many cases the fitting-up of benches may be deferred, as the natives
will sit naturally on the ground, or will bring their own seats with
them. At least 15ft. or 20ft. ought to be reserved for the pulpit and
the communion table, and this would give an aisle of 80ft. long by
24ft. wide.
A high gable and Gothic window is doubtless a great ornament to a
church, but it would be dangerous to build the wall 15ft. higher for
that purpose; and it is much better, therefore, to make the end no
higher than the sides, and let the roof incline at an angle of 45°
instead of having a gable end.
[Illustration]
The windows must be small, and it is better to make them lancet-shaped
and narrow; if the buttresses are 20ft. apart there may be two windows,
2ft. wide between each. The rafters ought not to come over the windows,
even if the wall plates be good, but ought to rest on the solid space
between them.
The rafters are half checked at each end to the cross-beam and let
into checks on the king-post; thus (Fig. 1) struts to the beam will
considerably strengthen them, and if these are fitted into checks
nailed on instead of being mortised or half checked in, the strength
will not be impaired. Fig. 2 shows more clearly the manner in which
the square ends of the rafters abut on the king-post. If it should be
desirable to avoid having cross-beams the rafters may be framed as in
Fig. 3; but unless this is very substantially done the weight of the
roof is apt to expand them and force the walls outward. We, therefore,
advise the common form, at least until the assistance of skilled
workmen can be procured. The upper part of the king-posts may be a
forked branch, and the ridge pole will lie very nicely in this.
{Makeshift houses, foundations, and fences.}
In extemporising rough frame-houses in dry countries, the foundation is
a matter of small importance; generally, when the ground is cleared, a
place sufficiently hard and smooth, and a little elevated so that rain
may not flood the house, is easily found. But sometimes a foundation
must be formed, not only to afford a support to the fabric, but to
raise the floor above the influence of damp or of low-lying noxious
vapours. We have heard of barges or vessels being grounded and houses
built upon them, and have in fact seen instances of this as well as of
the deck houses being removed from wrecks and set up, sometimes raised
on low walls, forming very comfortable habitations ashore, and of tents
being set up as roofs over walls of rough stone. We have heard of the
foundations of a house in San Francisco being laid with the 21lb.-sized
oblong boxes of tobacco with which the market had been glutted. In Cape
Town, when meat was a few halfpence a pound, we have seen bullocks'
heads used as stop-gaps in the fences near Green Point. The cores of
bullocks' horns are not unfrequently used for the same purpose in this
country. In Walvisch Bay we saw bags of coarse salt used as part of the
foundation of the original wooden shed in which, notwithstanding its
lowly appearance, many a traveller has found so hospitable a reception.
We wondered a little at first at the use of such a material on a beach
overflowing for miles at every spring tide, but found it was protected
from actual contact with the sea by an embankment of sand, supported
by posts and planking. Rain would not occur perhaps once in two years,
and the fresh water from the Kuisip overspread the flats so rarely that
such a contingency was hardly taken into account. The bags and their
contents seemed to be in a normal state of dampness, but did not appear
to waste in consequence of it.
When more commodious houses were required, the samphire, that formed
the only vegetation on the flats, was collected by the Hottentot women,
spread in layers alternated with sand well trodden down into it until
mounds were formed about 4ft. high. On one of these a store was erected
of corrugated iron, and on another the Rhenish missionaries built a
wooden house they had brought out in frame, so solid and substantial,
as to prove that timber in the land it came from was of far less value
than metal or any other material. Perhaps for parties who can afford
the carriage, corrugated galvanised iron houses offer as convenient a
method as any of obtaining accommodation sufficiently permanent, and
yet easily removable. The rigidity imparted by the corrugation could
not be attained by any thickening of plain sheets, while scarcely more
room is required in packing; for although one sheet of plain iron
occupies much less room than one of corrugated, the sheets of the
latter fit so closely one upon the other that a dozen or twenty require
not much more space than one. Dr. Livingstone took a house of this kind
to the Zambesi in 1858; it formed a very efficient shelter for our
stores on Expedition Island, but, as we never made any permanent camp
beyond the Portuguese town of Tette, it was not again required. The
sheets, however, used separately or together in any number according
to the weight they were to support, formed excellent bases for tables,
beds, settees, as well as benches, raised a few inches from the floor,
on which to store such things as we wished to preserve from the white
ants.
{Buildings of the Portuguese in Africa.}
At Tette, on the Zambesi, there are ridges running parallel to the
banks of the river, with hollows between them, which may have served
as supplementary channels during extraordinary floods; and, to avoid
the low-lying malaria, which is of greater specific gravity than common
air, the Portuguese colonists erect their houses on these ridges. The
hollows serve as streets or roadways, and also as channels to carry
off the deadly exhalations, which, being heavier than air, naturally
seek the lowest level. The dwelling rooms are also further elevated
by being built over a basement, which serves as a store-room, the
elevation of a few feet frequently making all the difference between
the chance of catching fever and of escaping it. In these store-rooms
they build isolated platforms about 3ft. high, on forked posts of hard
wood, which are carefully swept every morning, while salt is strewed
around their base to prevent the white ants approaching. Probably tar
or turpentine would have the same effect, but in remote regions these
are not always at command. The tarred wood of our iron house was never
touched; and the camphor wood of India is valued very much on account
of its immunity from their attacks.
[Illustration: PORTUGUESE HOUSE--ZAMBEZI RIVER.]
When the Portuguese on the Zambesi build large houses that are to be
divided into rooms, they build into the central and side walls a row of
pillars, into the thickness of which stout poles are built, with the
forks left upon them, and perhaps other rows of pillars without the
connecting walls are built for the verandah.
Dr. Kirk, when consulted as to the best method of colonising the Shire,
or Sheeree River, gave it as his opinion that the estates lying low
in the fertile valleys should be cultivated by natives only (who in
their _own country_ do not seem susceptible to the deadly influence of
fever, though when removed to another locality that is not perceptibly
worse, they are as liable to be attacked as Europeans), and that the
proprietors should have their residences upon the hills, as far as
possible above the level of the malaria, with a small military force
at their disposal, to keep order when necessary among the inhabitants
of the valley. This certainly appears to be the only feasible plan
of occupying such a country with any benefit to the various parties
concerned.
{Rio Negro huts.}
An Indian cottage, on the banks of the Rio Negro, has been thus
described:--"The main supports are trunks of some forest tree, of
heavy and durable wood; but the light rafters are the straight,
cylindrical, and uniform stems of the Jará palm. The roof is thatched
with the large triangular leaves of the Caraná palm in regular
alternate rows, neatly bound with sipos or forest creepers. The door
is a frame of thin strips of wood neatly thatched over. It is of the
split stems of the Pashiuba palm. In one corner is a heavy harpoon for
cow-fish; it is of the black wood of the Pashiuba barriguda. By its
side is a blowpipe, 10ft. or 12ft. long, and a little quiver of small
poisoned arrows hangs near it. With these the Indian procures birds
for food or for gay feathers, or shoots the hog or tapir; and it is
from the stem and spines of two palms that they are made. His great
bassoon-like musical instruments are of palm stems; the cloth to wrap
his valued feather ornaments is a fibrous palm spathe, and the rude
chest for his treasures is woven from palm leaves. His hammock, his
bowstring, and his fishing line are fibres of palm leaves; the first
from the miriti, and the other two from the tucum. The comb on his head
is the hard bark of a palm. He makes fish-hooks of the spines, or uses
them to puncture on his skin the peculiar markings of his tribe. His
children eat the agreeable red and yellow fruit of the pupunha or peach
palm, and from the assai he has prepared and offers you a favourite
drink. A carefully-suspended gourd contains oil from the fruit of
another, and the long elastic-plaited cylinder used for squeezing dry
the mandiocca pulp to make his bread is of the bark of one of the
singular climbing palms which alone can resist for any considerable
time the action of the poisonous juice. In each of these cases a
species is chosen adapted to the special object to which it is to be
applied, and often having different uses which no other plant can serve
so well."
{Papuan tree houses.}
The arboreal dwellings of the Horaforo tribe in New Guinea have been
thus described by Dr. J. Coulter:--"Against each tree rested a notched
pole, and at a whistle from the chief, answered by hundreds of similar
sounds in every direction, natives with flambeaux flitted down the
poles till the whole forest was brilliantly illuminated. In fact, they
had their houses, or rather nests, in the trees, and when they retired
for the night the pole was hauled up to prevent surprise. These abodes
were made by thinning away some of the branches, and laying horizontal
poles on others sufficiently stout to bear them; the uprights are cut
with forks, which rest on the lower branches, while their upper ends
are lashed with cocoa-nut fibre to those above; the sides are formed by
bamboos lashed closely together; the roofing is also of cane covered by
sheets of thick bark sewed together, and perfectly proof against the
heavy rains. The flooring is laid with split bamboos and light wood,
and the walls are lined with stout matting, which gives sufficient
shelter against the piercing winds. The shape varies according to the
spread of the tree; sometimes when they extend all round an extensive
house is made to inclose the whole tree; the smallest will measure
16ft. square, but sometimes they are longer and less wide; and when
the whole tree is built in they are three times as large. They are
perfectly safe, for the lower branches are as thick as an ordinary
tree."
[Illustration: PAPUAN TREE HOUSE.]
{American Indian lodges.}
The lodges of the North-American Indians are perhaps the most
convenient residences which could be devised for people of their
nomadic habits. The lodge poles, or supports, are made from tough
durable wood, well-grown young saplings being selected for the purpose.
On the line of march they are, by fastening them to a sort of pad,
secured on each side of a horse, or even dog. The ends trail on the
ground like the skids of a sledge, and are packed with various odds
and ends, which are prevented from falling off by cross-bars and
a lashing of hide or twisted bark rope, as shown in the full-page
illustration. When the camp is about being formed, the poles are freed
from their attachments and set up in a circle, forming an irregular
cone, the apex of which consists of the converging and collected ends
of the poles, through which the smoke escapes. The lodge covers are
made from prepared skins, on which are depicted, in rough outline,
some of the most noteworthy achievements and events in the life of the
owner. The lower borders of the skin covers are secured to the ground
with pegs, whilst thongs are made use of for binding the poles in
places and uniting the skins. The tracks of the trailing lodge poles
in the sand, or across the plains, may be looked on by the traveller
as peaceful indications, as, where the lodge gear is, the squaws and
papooses will be found. On the war path all such impedimenta are left
behind in some place of safety.
[Illustration: INDIAN LODGES.]
The full-page illustration, representing "Indian Lodges," will serve to
explain the manner in which dwelling places of this description are set
up.
{Fuegean pole houses.}
Some of the natives of Terra del Fuego construct small but tolerably
comfortable huts from straight trimmed poles; these are arranged in a
shallow pit, the exact size of the floor of the intended hut; they are
arranged side by side in conical form, the tops of all the poles being
brought together become self-supporting. All the interstices, except
those where the heads of the poles come together (which form exits for
the smoke), are filled in tightly with a mixture of clay and thick soft
moss. Huts thus built will resist the action of the heaviest storms,
and are tolerably dry. Peat, when cut in slabs or blocks, makes a
valuable building material. We once built a shooting house, or rather
hut, near the banks of a large river with this substance. We thatched
it with reeds laid over willow poles. The door was made of wicker work
covered with clay; the hinges were twisted willows. The window was made
of oiled paper; the fireplace was plastered with clay, and we mounted a
small barrel in lieu of a chimney pot. The fuel used was peat, so there
was no danger of its taking fire.
{Hutting in the Arctic regions.}
In a continuous Arctic winter the usual relations of fluids and
solids are so completely changed that entirely new necessities arise,
accompanied by as novel means for supplying them. Water, either for
drinking or other purposes, is as scarce as in the driest parts of
India or Africa; for though in temperate countries it may be a luxury
to let a piece of ice melt in the mouth, the expenditure of animal heat
in thawing a mouthful of snow in the Arctic regions would be greater
than even the most robust constitution could afford.
Water, in fact, unless kept in constant agitation, loses its fluidity.
A sheet of ice is as dry as a piece of glass, and snow seems to have no
more moisture in it than the dust of the highway on a Derby day.
Owing to this quality snow does not accumulate on small surfaces
elevated and exposed to the wind. Captain Parry found that from the
roof of his vessel a fresh breeze invariably carried off any snow that
had settled on it in calm weather, and also from the masts, yards,
sails and rigging. His opinion is that in high latitudes the less the
ship is dismantled the better, for the frost does not hurt the gear,
and no harm can occur from thawing till the season for refitting
arrives.
Should you at any time be so situated as to be compelled to winter on
board ship in the Arctic regions, it will be well to follow the plan
pursued by Dr. Kane to render his ship and cabin as cold proof as
possible. He procured large quantities of moss and turf, with which the
quarter-deck was thickly covered. Down below he inclosed a space about
18ft. square, and packed the walls forming it, from floor to ceiling,
with the same materials. The floor was carefully caulked with plaster
of Paris and common paste, on this was laid a stratum of Manilla oakum
2in. thick, and over this deposit a canvas carpet was spread. The
entrance was from the hold, by a long moss-lined passage or tunnel,
formed after the manner in which the Esquimaux arrange the "topsut," or
rabbit-burrow like passage which leads to their huts, as shown in the
illustrations at pp. 313 and 315. A number of doors and curtains were
then constructed at such points as afforded a chance for the ingress of
cold. This moss nest, or den, was constructed to accommodate ten men.
The outside of the ship was banked up with moss, and over that a thick
bank of snow was made.
The snow, indeed, when lying in proper thickness, and sufficiently
compressed, forms the best possible material for building. Cold as it
is in itself, it seems to act as a non-conductor of heat; and if an
internal structure, however slight, can be set up, the thicker the
outer wall of snow is made the better. Captain Parry's men proceeded
in the following manner: In banking the snow against the ship's sides,
a wall of sufficient height was built about 4ft. from them, and loose
snow was thrown in till it covered nearly the whole of the upper
works; about 8in. of snow was also laid on the decks and hatches, and
above this a layer of sand cemented by water, for the double purpose of
preventing the escape of heat from below, and saving the planks from
being rifted by the frost; and the waste heat of the galley fire was
utilised by making the funnel pass up through a tank, which was kept
filled with snow, thus without any extra fuel producing 65galls. of
water per diem. A wall of snow, 12ft. high, was built at a distance
of 25yds. all round the ship, to afford a comfortable shelter from
the wind. It is also essential to make and keep always clear of ice a
'fire-hole,' from which water can be procured at any moment in case of
need.
The observatory was built on shore: first of planking lined with
canvas, with a layer of turf outside, and completed by an extra
thickness of solid slabs of snow; it was flat-roofed, and as small as
possible, the instrument room being 8ft. square, and the working room
5ft. by 8ft., thus economising either natural or artificial heat. In
fact, it seems that the primary object in building a house is to make
the actual dwelling room as small as possible, and the passage to it so
long and narrow, that it requires almost a long journey to reach the
external air. Dr. Hayes describes a snow house, or rather cave, dug by
an Esquimaux in a snow drift that had collected in a sheltered hollow.
He dug downward first about 5ft., then horizontally about 10ft. more,
tossing the detached snow blocks out behind him, and then began to
excavate his cavern, to which, when finished, he built a doorway just
large enough to crawl through. The floor was covered with a layer of
stones, and then with several layers of reindeer skins; the walls were
also hung with skins; two native lamps lighted, a skin hung across the
doorway, and he and his family were "at home," the temperature soon
rising to the freezing point.
[Illustration: SNOW HUT--ARCTIC REGIONS.]
The doctor's temporary encampments were thus formed: A pit is dug 18ft.
long by 8ft. wide and 4ft. deep; over the top are placed the oars to
support the sledge; over the sledge is the boat's sail, and on that is
thrown loose snow. In one end of this den is a small entrance hole,
closed with blocks of snow; over the floor is a strip of india-rubber
cloth; over this two buffalo skins, between which the whole party of
twelve pack themselves as closely as possible, the only change of
costume being to take off the boots and stockings and replace them
with sleeping hose of reindeer skin. A pot of hot coffee, or a hash of
dried meat and preserved potatoe, cooked over a lamp of oil or alcohol,
forming the repast, of which the most estimable quality is its warmth.
Captain Parry, being rather surprised at the short time in which an
Esquimaux village sprung up near the vessel, induced some of the
natives to build a hut, and found that two or three hours were enough
to complete the establishment. The only materials are snow and ice,
the latter being only used for windows. A number of slabs of compact
snow, 6in. or 7in. thick and 2ft. long, are cut and laid edgewise in
a circle, on a level spot, covered with snow, from 8ft. to 15ft. in
diameter; on this is a second tier, sloping a little inward, each slab
made to fit closely by running a knife along its edges, the top is then
smoothed off with the knife, and the builder, standing in the centre,
receives the slabs for the successive tiers from the men outside. When
the walls are 4ft. or 5ft. high they begin to lean inward, so that it
appears as if the blocks laid on them would fall; but the workman still
goes on raising and closing in the hemispherical walls, and when they
have become too high for the slabs to be handed over to him he cuts a
hole at the bottom with his knife and has them passed through. The dome
is often 9ft. or 10ft. high, and it is carefully finished by the men
outside dropping the nicely rounded block that serves as a keystone,
to be received and fitted by the man within. The outside workers heap
snow round the foundations, and carefully stop up any accidental
holes between the blocks. The builder lets himself out by cutting an
arch 3ft. high and 2-1/2ft. wide, and from this they construct two
passages--end to end--each 10ft. or 12ft. long and 4ft. or 5ft. high,
the lowest being next the hut, as shown in the outline ground plan. The
roofs of these passages are sometimes arched, and at others covered
with flat slabs.
If a single apartment is required the hut is now complete, but if
several families are to reside together the passage is made common to
all, the first hut becoming a kind of antechamber, and is commonly a
little smaller than the rest, which are entered by arched doors 5ft.
high. Sometimes the ground plan assumes the form of a cross, as in
the instance we now illustrate. A hole is cut into the side of each
compartment, and a circular plate of ice 3in. or 4in. thick, and 2ft.
in diameter, let into it. The light is like that transmitted through
ground glass, and is quite sufficient.
[Illustration: GROUND PLAN OF SNOW HUT.]
A bank of snow, 2-1/2ft. high, round the interior of each room, except
near the door, forms the bed and fireplace, the former occupying the
sides and the latter the end opposite the door. The beds are made by
covering the snow with a layer of stones, on which are spare paddles,
tent poles, whalebone, pieces of network, and a quantity of birch
twigs, reindeer skins in profusion are heaped on these, creating not
only a comfortable but a luxurious resting place.
The fireplace is a shallow vessel of stone, the wick is of moss rubbed
dry between the hands, disposed along the straight edge for about
18in., it supplies itself from a long strip of blubber hung near enough
to be melted gradually, and drop slowly into the hollow of the stone;
over the lamp is a network, on which wet boots or mittens are usually
laid. Frequently there are two other lamps in the corners next the
door, for no married woman or widow can be without her separate fire.
With all the lamps lighted, and the room full of people and dogs, the
thermometer on the net over the fire stands at 58°; 2ft. or 3ft. away
it falls to 32°, close to the wall it is 23°, the temperature of the
open air being at the same time 25° below zero. If the temperature
is raised higher than this, the melting of the roof causes great
inconvenience; but when an inclination to drip is observed, a patch of
cold snow is plastered on to absorb the superfluous heat. In the time
between the extreme cold of winter, and the season when it is possible
to live in tents, the natives suffer much from this melting of their
walls.
The cooking is done in pots of hollowed stone (_lapis ollaris_),
slung over the lamps. Many of these are cracked, but are joined by
lacings of sinew, or rivets of copper, iron, or lead, which, with a
sufficient coating of dirt, makes them again watertight. Their knives
are sometimes of ivory, but the best are of iron, obtained from the
Hudson's Bay Company.
They procure fire by striking two pieces of iron pyrites over a
leather case with dried moss in it, and a little floss from the seed
of the ground willow helps to convey the flame to a bit of oiled
wick--sometimes the wick for the lamp is made of asbestos.
At times, especially in the commencement of the winter, the huts are
built of ice instead of snow. They approximate to a circular form,
but from the flatness of the material necessarily present a number
of flat sides and obtuse angles. They are cemented entirely with
snow and water, and roofed with skins, which are replaced by snow as
winter advances. The entering tunnels are also of slabs of ice, as are
the kennels for bitches and puppies. The skin canoes are propped up
on slabs of ice high enough to be out of the reach of the dogs. The
semi-transparency of the walls give these huts a strange effect, and
some of our later voyagers have called them crystal palaces; but all
the purity, either of ice or snow, disappears, and whatever cleanliness
the Esquimaux possess is forced upon them by the annual thawing of
their houses.
[Illustration: ESQUIMAUX HUT OF ICE SLABS.]
The summer tents are made of several seal or walrus skins, the former
without the hair, and the latter with the thick outer coat taken off,
and the rest shaved down so thin as to admit light through them. They
are irregularly sewn together, forming a kind of oval bag, supported in
the middle by a pole of several deers' horns or bones of other animals
lashed together. On the top of this is a cross or T-piece, which serves
to extend the top of the tent, 6ft. or 7ft. from the ground the lower
part of the tent pole rests loosely on a large stone, from which any
accident will knock it off. The borders of the skins are kept down by
stones laid on them, and the top is stayed by a thong on the outer
side, stretching to a heavy stone at some distance. The door is merely
two flaps, one of which overlaps the other, secured by another stone.
Sometimes a little shelter from the wind is given by an outer wall of
stone.
If a larger tent is required, two of these bags are made to overlap at
the edges, and are set up with a couple of poles.
The accumulation of seal and walrus flesh and blubber during the summer
months makes these habitations disgustingly filthy; but it is to be
remembered that the great necessity of the Esquimaux is to keep himself
warm, and he cannot afford to lower the temperature of his skin by
washing off the grease and dirt which encrust it.
On one experimental trip Captain Parry was compelled by a sudden
decrease of temperature to shelter his party in a small tent. They
attempted to warm themselves by smoking, and found the temperature at
their feet to be 1° below zero, while overhead the smoke had raised
it to +7°, the outer air being -5°, soon falling to -15°. It was then
found possible to dig a kind of cavern in the snow, the spade being
lent as a favour to the men who most required to warm themselves, a
small fire and a pot of soup were made, and by confining the smoke and
hot air the temperature was raised to +20°, while outside it was -25°.