Part 16

"In a box 2 feet long and 1 foot square at the ends, the lid and its bottom, of course, both measure 2 feet by 1 foot. Now, if the bottom opens on hinges, just like the lid, and if the hinges of both lid and bottom are fixed to the hindmost side of the box, then when the box is laid face downwards, and both the lid and the bottom are opened out and secured in the same horizontal plane with the side to which they are hinged, a table of 3 feet by 2 feet is made. The lid and bottom form the two leaves of the table, and what was the hindmost side, when the box stood on its bottom, is now uppermost, and forms the middle of the table. Such a box would hold, during travel, the things wanted when encamping." --(Peal.)

Hooks.--I have spoken of the way of hanging articles in tents, under "Tent Poles." In a permanent bivouac or in a hut, it is convenient to fix hooked sticks or the horns of animals, against the walls, as pegs.

FIRE.

General Remarks.--Although, in the teeth of every precaution, fires constantly break out, yet when a traveller wants a light and does not happen to have any of his ingenious fire-making contrivances at hand, it is very difficult for him to obtain it. And further, though sparks, of their own accord and in the most unlikely places, too often give rise to conflagrations, yet it requires much skill and practice to succeed without fail, in coaxing a small spark into a serviceable camp fire. Therefore every traveller should carry on his person the means of procuring a light, under ordinary circumstances of wind and weather; that is to say, he should have in his pocket a light handy steel, a flint or an agate, and amadou or other tinder. I also strongly recommend that he should carry a bundle of half-a-dozen fine splinters of wood, like miniature tooth-picks, thinner and shorter than lucifer-matches, whose points he has had dipped in melted sulphur; also a small spare lump of sulphur of the size of a pea or bean, in reserve. The cook should have a regular tinder-box, such as he happens to have been used to, and an abundance of wax lucifers. Paper fusees are not worth taking in travel, as wet entirely spoils them.

There are usually three separate agents in making a fire, each of which may be varied in many ways and requires separate description. 1. The Spark or other light to start with. 2. The Tinder; that is, some easily ignited and smouldering substance. 3. Fuel, judiciously applied to the burning tinder, or other feeble light, so as to develop it into a serviceable fire.

To obtain Fire from the Sun.--Burning-glasses.--The object-glass, and every other convex glass of a telescope is a burning-glass, and has only to be unscrewed to be fit for use. The object lenses of an opera-glass are very efficient. The larger the glass and the shorter its focus, the greater is its heating power. Convex spectacle glasses and eye glasses are too small and of too long a focus to be used with effect, except when the sun is very hot. An old-fashioned watch-glass, filled with water, and having the rays of a powerful sun glittered down upon it vertically by help of a mirror, will give a light. Dr. Kane and other arctic travellers have made burning-glasses of ice.

Reflectors.--The inside of the polished metal cover of a hunting-watch will sometimes converge a sufficiency of rays, to burn. The vestal fire of Rome and the sacred fire of the Mexicans were obtained by means of reflectors. If I understand aright, they consisted of a stone with a conical hollow, carefully polished, the apex of the hollow cone was a right angle: the tinder was held in the axis of the cone. See Tylor's 'Early History of Mankind.'

Black Tinder.--Tinder that is black by previous charring, or from any other cause, ignites in the sun far sooner than light-coloured tinder.

Fire by conversion of motion into heat.--General Remarks.--When a moving body is arrested, heat is given out; the quantity of heat being in exact proportion to the mass, multiplied into the square of its velocity. Thus if a cannon ball be fired at an iron target, both it and the ball become exceedingly hot. There is even a flash of light when the velocity of the ball is very high. When bullets are fired with heavy charges at a target, the lead is just melted by the heat of impact, and it "splashes," to use a common phrase. It is obvious from these two examples, that no velocity which the hand of man is able to give to a steel, when striking a flint, or to one stick rubbing against another stick, will be competent to afford a red-hot temperature unless the surface against which impact or friction is made be very small, or unless great care be taken to avoid the wasteful dissipation of heat. The spark made by a flint and steel, consists of a thin shaving of steel, scraped off by the flint and heated by the arrested motion. When well struck, the spark is white-hot and at that temperature it burns with bright scintillations in the air, just as iron that is merely red-hot burns in pure oxygen. This is the theory: now for the practice.

Flints.--If we may rely on a well-known passage in Virgil, concerning Æneas and his comrades, fire was sometimes made in ancient days by striking together two flints, but I confess myself wholly unable to light tinder with flints alone, and I am equally at a loss to understand what were the "dry leaves" that they are said in the same passage to have used for tinder. Neither can I obtain fire except with a flint and steel, or, at least, hardened iron; a flint and ordinary iron will not give an available spark. Flints may be replaced by any siliceous stone, as agate, rock-crystal, or quartz. Agate is preferred to flint, for it gives a hotter spark: it is sold by tobacconists. A partly siliceous stone, such as granite, will answer in default of one that is wholly siliceous. I have been surprised at finding that crockery and porcelain of all kinds will make a spark, and sometimes a very good one. There are cases where a broken teacup might be the salvation of many lives in a shipwrecked party. On coral-reefs, and other coasts destitute of flinty stones, search should be made for drift-wood and drifted sea-weed. In the roots of these, the pebbles of other shores are not unfrequently entangled, and flint may be found among them. The joints of bamboos occasionally contain enough silex to give a spark.

Steels.--The possession of a really good steel is a matter of great comfort in rough travel, for, as I have just said, common iron is incompetent to afford a useful spark, and hardened iron or soft steel is barely sufficient to do so. Any blacksmith will make a good steel out of an old file, if he has nothing more appropriate at hand. A substitute for a steel can be made, even by an ordinary traveller, out of common iron, by means of "casehardening" (which see). The link of a chain, or the heel of a boot, or a broken horse-shoe, is of a convenient shape for the purpose.

Pyrites are, and have been, widely used for striking sparks. Two pieces struck together, or one piece struck with a steel, gives a good spark; but it is a very friable mineral, and therefore not nearly so convenient as flint.

Guns.--If you wish to get a light by means of a flint-and-steel gun, the touch-hole may be stuffed up, and a piece of tinder put among the priming powder: a light can be obtained in that way without firing the gun. With a percussion-cap gun, a light may be obtained by putting powder and tinder outside the nipple and round the cap; it will, though not with certainty catch fire on exploding the cap. But the common way with a gun is to pour in a quarter of a charge of powder, and above it, quite loosely, a quantity of rag or tinder. On firing the gun straight up in the air, the rag will be shot out lighted; you must then run after it as it falls, and pick it quickly up. With percussion-caps, gunpowder, and tinder, and without a gun, a light may sometimes be had on an emergency, by scratching and boring with a knife, awl, or nail, at the fulminating composition in the cap, till it explodes; but a cap is a somewhat dangerous thing to meddle with, as it often flies with violence, and wounds. Crushing gunpowder with hard stones may possibly make it explode.

Lucifers.--An inexperienced hand will waste an entire boxful of them, and yet will fail in lighting a fire in the open air, on a windy day. The convenience of lucifers in obtaining a light is very great, but they have two disadvantages: they require that the air should be perfectly still, while the burning sulphur is struggling to ignite the stick; and, again, when the match is thrust among the wood, the sticks upon which is has to act, have not been previously warmed and consequently, though one or two of them may become lighted, the further progress of the fire is liable to cease. On the other hand, in methods where the traveller begins with tinder, and blows its spark into a flame, the adjacent wood becomes thoroughly heated by the process, and the flame, once started, is almost certain to maintain itself. Consequently, in lighting a fire with lucifers, be careful to shield the match from the wind, by throwing a cloak or saddle-cloth, or something else over the head, whilst you operate; and secondly, to have abundance of twigs of the smaller sizes, that there may be no uncertainty of the lucifer-match being able to light them, and set the fire a-going. In a steady downfall of rain, you may light a match for a pipe under your horse's belly. If you have paper to spare, it is a good plan to twist it into a hollow cone; to turn the cone with its apex to the wind; and immediately after rubbing the match, to hold it inside the cone. The paper will become quickly heated by the struggling flame and will burst into a miniature conflagration, too strong to be puffed out by a single blast of air. Wax lucifers are undoubtedly better than wooden ones, for in damp weather, wooden ones will hardly burn; but wax is waterproof, and independent of wet or dry. When there is nothing dry, at hand, to rub the lucifer-match against, scratch the composition on its head with the edge of a knife or with the finger-nail. It is a sure way of lighting it; and with care, there is no need of burning the fingers.

Fire-sticks.--In every country without exception, where inquiry has been made, the method of obtaining fire by rubbing one stick against another, has been employed. In savage countries the method still remains in present use; in nearly all the more civilised ones, it has been superseded within historic periods by flints and steels and the like, and within this present generation by lucifer-matches. The only instance I know in which flints are said to have preceded fire-sticks, is in the quotation below from Pliny. A light has also been obtained in pre-historic times, as I have already mentioned, by reflecting the sun from a hollow surface; but this method required costly apparatus, and could never have been in common use. Hence, although so far as I am aware, the Bible, and Homer, and other records of great antiquity, are absolutely silent on the contemporary methods of procuring fire; and although Pliny says the reverse--I think we are justified in believing that the plan of rubbing sticks together was absolutely universal in the barbaric infancy of the human race. In later Greek History, Prometheus is accredited with the invention of fire-sticks. Among the Romans both Seneca and Pliny write about them. Pliny says (Nat. Hist. xvi. 76, 77), "There is heat in the mulberry, in the bay-laurel, in ivy, and in all plants whence fire-sticks are made. The experience of soldiers reconnoitring for encamping-grounds, and that of shepherds, made this discovery; for a stone is not always at hand whence a spark might be struck. One piece of wood therefore, is rubbed by another, and it catches fire through the friction, while a dry tindery substance--fungus and leaves are the most easilyattainable--is used to perpetuate the fire. Nothing is better than ivy used as the stick to be rubbed, and bay-laurel as the stick to rub with. Wild vine--not the 'labrusca'--is also found good."

I have made a great many experiments with different kinds of wood, having procured an assortment of those used by the fancy toy-makers of Tunbridge Wells, and the chippings from botanical gardens. I find what I have heard from savages to be quite true; viz., that it is much more difficult to procure good wood for the "fire-block" than for the drill-stick; any though hard, and dry stick will do for the latter, but the fire-block must be of wood with little grain; of a middle degree of softness; readily inflammable; and, I presume, a good on-conductor of heat; but I do not know if there be much difference, in this latter respect, between woods of the same quality. If it be too hard, the action of the drill-stick will merely dent and polish it; if very soft, it will be worn away before the friction has time to heat it sufficiently: ivy is excellent. I find it not at all difficult to produce smoke (it is much more difficult to produce fire) with a broken fishing-rod, or ramrod, as a drill-stick, and a common wooden pill-box, or tooth-powder box, as a fire-block. Walnut, also, does as a fire-block, and the stock of a gun is of walnut. Deal and mahogany are both worthless for fire-sticks.

It is well so to notch the fire-block, that the wood-dust, as it is formed by the rubbing, should all run into one place: it will then glow with a smouldering heat, ready to burst out into an available flame with a very little fanning, as soon as a degree of heat sufficient to ignite tinder has been attained. Tinder is a great convenience, in ensuring that the fire, once obtained, shall not be lost again; but it is not essential to have it.

There are many ways of rubbing the sticks together, in use among different nations. Those curious in the matter should consult Tylor's 'Early History of Mankind.' But the traveller will not obtain much assistance from these descriptions, as it will be out of his power to obtain fire by any but the simplest of them, on a first trial. He is only likely to succeed at first by working at leisure, with perfectly dry wood. Even savages, who practise the art all their lives, fail to procure fire in very wet weather, when the shelter is bad. Of the plans employed by savages, the simplest is that in use both in South Africa and in Australia.

[Fig 1 as described].

The Australian blacks use the flower-stem of the grass-tree, which is of a tough pithy nature, and about one inch in diameter. The operation of making the fire is assisted by the use of a little charcoal-powder, which, in Australia, is found on the bark of almost every tree, from the constant passage of grass-fires over the ground. The process is as follows:--One piece of the stick is notched in the middle, fig. 1, and the notch slightly hollowed out; another is roundly pointed at one end. The black fellow, being seated on the ground, holds down one end of the notched stick with each foot, fig. 2, and placing the point of the other stick into the notch, twirls it rapidly and forcibly between the palms of his hands. In doing this his hands gradually slip down the stick, and he has to shift them rapidly up again, which loses time: but two people, seated opposite, can alternately take up the rubbing, and more easily produce fire. A little of the above-mentioned powdered charcoal is dropped into the notch during the operation. In a very few minutes red-hot powdery ashes commence to work up out of the notch, which falling on a small heap of tow, or of dry tow-like bark, or lint, or cotton stuff, is quickly blown into a flame. The Africans carry the drill-stick, which in shape and size is like an arrow, in a quiver with their arrows, and the fire-block--a stick three inches long and one in diameter, of a different wood--as a pendant to their necklace.

A plan more practicable to an unpractised hand is that in use among some of the North American Indians. I copy the illustration of it from Schoolcraft's work upon those people.

One person works the "drill-stick" with a rude bow, and with his other hand holds a piece of stone or of wood above it, both to steady it and to give the requisite pressure--gentle at first, and increasing judiciously up to the critical moment when the fire is on the point of bursting out. Another man puts his hands on the lower piece of wood, the "fire-block," to steady it, and holds a piece of tinder ready to light it as soon as fire is produced. If a serious emergency should occur, it is by no means hopeless to obtain fire after this method. A large party have considerable advantages over only one or two men, because as the work is fatiguing, the men can undertake it in turns; and, again, as considerable knack is required for success, it is much more probable that one man out of many should succeed, than that only one man, taken at hazard, should do so. But the best plan of all for a party of three or more men is for one of them to hold the upper block, another to hold the lower block and the tinder, should there be any, and the third man to cause the drill-stick to rotate. He will effect this best by dispensing with the "bow," and by simply using a string or thong of a yard or four feet long. He makes one or two turns with the string round the drill-stick, and then holding one end of the string in either hand, he saws away with all his force. I believe that a party of three men, furnished with dry wood of an appropriate quality and plenty of string, would surely produce smoke on the first few trials, but that they would fail in producing fire. If, however, they had a couple of hours' leisure to master the knack of working these sticks, I think they would succeed in producing fire before the end of that time. The period of time necessary for a successful operation is from one to three minutes. It is of little use fatiguing yourself with sustaining the exertion for a longer period at a time, unless the wood becomes continuously hotter. As soon as the temperature remains uniform it shows that you have let the opportunity slip; it is then the best economy of effort to desist at once, to rest, to take breath, and recommence with fresh vigour.

[Sketch unlabelled].

Fire by Chemical Means.--It is not in the province of this book to describe the various matches that take fire by dipping them into compositions; and I have already spoken of lucifer-matches in the last section. Only one source of fire remains to be noticed, it is--

Spontaneous Combustion.--It is conceivable that the property which masses of greasy rags, and such-like matter, possess of igniting when left to themselves, might under some circumstances, be the only means available to procure fire. It is at all events well that this property should be borne in mind when warehousing stores, in order to avoid the risk of their taking fire. Any oil mixed with a hatful of shavings, tow, cotton, wool, or rags, heaped together, will become very hot in one, two, or more days, and will ultimately burst into flame. The rapidity of the process is increased by warmth.

Tinder.--General Remarks.--There are two divisions of tinder: those that are of a sufficiently strong texture to admit of being grasped in the hand, and those that are so friable as to require a box to hold them. In the first division (a) are the following:--amadon, a roll of rag, a cotton lamp-wick, a roll of touch-paper, a mass of hair of certain plants, and a long string of pith sewed up in a sheath. To ignite these, we must hold them as in fig. 1, and use the steel to strike downwards upon the flint. In the second division (b) are:--tinder of burnt rags, tinder of any kind with grains of gunpowder strewed over it, and touch-wood. All these require tinder-boxes, as explained below. There are also many other substances belonging to both divisions of tinder, in use. A traveller should inform himself about those peculiar to the country that he visits.

a Amacou, punk, or German tinder, is made from a kind of fungus or mushroom that grows on the trunks of old oaks, ashes, beeches, etc.; many other kinds of fungus, and, I believe, all kinds of puff-balls, will also make tinder. "It should be gathered in August or September, and is prepared by removing the outer bark with a knife, and separating carefully the spongy yellowish mass that lies within it. This is cut into thin slices, and beaten with a mallet to soften it, till it can easily be pulled asunder between the fingers. It is then boiled in a strong solution of saltpetre."

A Roll of Rag.--Cotton rag will easily take fire from the spark from a flint, in a very dry climate, if well struck. It must be rolled up moderately tight, so as to have the end of the roll fluffy; the rag having been torn, not cut. A rag rolled in this way is not bad tinder, if the sparks are strong, and one commences to blow it the instant one of the fibres is seen to be alight. If its fluffy end be rubbed into a little dry gunpowder, its property as tinder is greatly improved.

Cotton Lamp-wick.--A piece of it drawn through a tin tube, to shield the previously charred part from being rubbed off, is excellent in dry climates. (See fig. 1, p. 180.)

Touch-paper is merely paper dipped in a solution of saltpetre, or what comes to nearly the same thing and is somewhat better, paper smeared with damp gunpowder until it is blackened. Some grains of uncrushed gunpowder should be left adhering to the paper, and a few more should be allowed to lie loosely upon it. Unsized paper, like that out of a blotting-book, is the best suited for making into touch-paper; paper is rendered unsized by being well soaked and washed in water. (See next paragraph.)