[Sketch of bag in two positions].
When the peg is drawn out by the usual jerk, the bag no longer presents
its mouth to the water, but is easily drawn in by the line attached to
its point.
Boat Building.--Caulking.--Almost anything that is fibrous does for
caulking the seams of a boat. The inner bark of trees is one of the
readiest materials.
Securing Planks.--In default of nails, it is possible to drill or to
burn holes in the planks and to sew them together with strips of hide,
woodbine, or string made from the inner bark of fibrous trees. Holes may
be drilled on precisely the same principle as that which I have described
in making fire by friction.
Lengthening Boats.--If you have an ordinary boat, and wish to make it of
greater burden, saw it in half and lengthen it. Comparatively coarse
carpentering is good enough for this purpose.
Boat Management.--Hauling boats on Shore.--To haul up a boat on a
barren shore, with but a few hands, lay out the anchor ahead of her to
make fast your purchase to; or back the body of a wagon underneath the
boat as she floats, and so draw her out upon wheels. A make-shift
framework, on small solid wheels, has been used and recommended.
Towing.--A good way of fastening a tow-rope to a boat that has no mast
is shown in the diagram, which, however, is very coarsely drawn. A curved
pole is lashed alongside one of the knees of the boat, and the tow-rope,
passing with a turn or two round its end, is carried on to the stern of
the boat. By taking a few turns, more or less, with the rope round the
stick, the line of action of the tow-rope on the boat's axis may be
properly adjusted. When all is right the boat ought to steer herself.
[Sketch of boat being towed].
When Caught by a Gale recollect that a boat will lie-to and live through
almost any weather, if you can make a bundle of a few spare spars, oars,
etc., and secure them to the boat's head, so as to float in front of and
across the bow. They will act very sensibly as a breakwater, and will
always keep the boat's head towards the wind. Kroomen rig out three oars
in a triangle, lash the boat's sail to it, throw overboard, after making
fast, and pay out as much line as they can muster. By making a canvas
half-deck to an open boat, you much increase its safety in broken water;
and if it be made to lace down the centre, it can be rolled up on the
gunwale, and be out of the way in fine weather.
In Floating down a Stream when the wind blows right against you (and on
rivers the wind nearly always blows right up or right down), a plan
generally employed is to cut large branches, to make them fast to the
front of the boat, weight them that they may sink low in the water, and
throw them overboard. The force of the stream acting on these branches
will more than counterbalance that of the wind upon the boat. For want of
branches, a kind of water-sail is sometimes made of canvas.
Steering in the Dark.--In dark nights, when on a river running through
pine forests, the mid stream canbe kept by occasionally striking the
water sharply with the blade of the oar, and listening to the echoes.
They should reach the ear simultaneously, or nearly so, from either bank.
On the same principle, vessels have been steered out of danger when
caught by a dense fog close to a rocky coast.
Awning.--The best is a wagon-roof awning, made simply of a couple of
parallel poles, into which the ends of the bent ribs of the roof are set,
without any other cross-pieces. This roof should be of two feet larger
span than the width of the boat, and should rest upon prolongations of
the thwarts, or else upon crooked knees of wood. One arm of each of the
knees is upright, and is made fast to the inside of the boat, while the
other is horizontal and projects outside it: it is on these horizontal
and projecting arms that the roof rests, and to which it is lashed. Such
an awning is airy, roomy, and does not interfere with rowing if the
rowlocks are fixed to the poles. It also makes an excellent cabin for
sleeping in at night.
Sail Tent.--A boat's sail is turned into a tent by erecting a
gable-shaped framework: the mast or other spar being the ridge-pole, and
a pair of crossed oars lashed together supporting it at either end; and
the whole is made stable by a couple of ropes and pegs. Then the sail is
thrown across the ridge-pole (not over the crossed loops of the oars, for
they would fret it), and is pegged out below. The natural fall of the
canvas bends to close the two ends, as with curtains.
[Sketch of tent].
Tree-snakes.--Where these abound, travellers on rivers with overhanging
branches should beware of keeping too near inshore, lest the rigging of
the boat should brush down the snakes.