between the two with grass, moss, &c. Now sinking the whole in the midst of the mud, the water will filter through the augur-holes and moss, and rise up clear in the inner cask, whence it can be ladled. With a single cask, the lower parts of the sides may be bored, and alternate layers of sand and grass thrown in, till they reach up above the holes; through these layers the water will strain. Or a canvass-bag that is kept open with hoops, made on the spot, may be moored in the muddy pool, by having a heavy stone put inside it, and will act on the same principle, but less efficiently than the casks. Turbid water is also, in some way as yet unexplained, made clear by putting a piece of alum into it. Three thimblesfull of finely-pounded alum will clarify a bucketful of turbid water. It is generally used in India. I cannot say if alum will clear every kind of turbid water, but it is certainly met with in very general

use.

Putrid water should always be, at least, boiled before drinking it, as low fevers and dysenteries too often are the consequences of its being used; bitter herbs, if steeped in it, or even rubbed well about the cup, are said to render it less unwholesome.

Distilling requires a good supply of fuel, which is too often deficient where there is no fresh water. The simplest still is to light a fire among stones near a hollow in a rock that is filled, or can be filled, with the salt water, then taking a hot stone, to drop it in; the water will hiss and give out clouds of vapour, much of which may be collected in a cloth and wrung from it, or sucked out of it. In the same way a pot on the fire may have a cloth stretched over it to catch the steam. From a large iron pot, with a clumsily-made wooden top, and with the barrel of a musket, as a pipe, passed through a

hollow stump filled with water, and used as a condenser, I read of the remainder of a large crew, who were wrecked on a rock about six years back, obtaining an adequate supply of fresh water for very many days. But some thought or cleverness would be required to build a good furnace, or fireplace, on which to place the pot. It is necessary that the fire should act to the best advantage, and burn fiercely, or the pot will never boil fast enough to distil a sufficiency.

§ 5. To dig wells.—In default of spades, water is to be dug for with a sharp-pointed stick; take this in both hands, and holding it upright like a dagger, stick and dig it about in the ground, then clear out the loose earth with the left hand. Continue thus working with the stick and hand alternately, and a hole as deep as the arm is easily burrowed out. In making a larger well, the earth must be loosened in precisely the same way, and carried off by means of a bucket or bag, in default of a shovel and wheelbarrow.

After digging deeply, the sand will often be found just moist, no water actually lying in the well; but do not, therefore, be disheartened; wait awhile, and the water will collect. After it has once began to ooze through the sides of the well, it will continue to do so much more freely. Therefore, on arriving at night, with thirsty cattle, at a well of doubtful character, it should be deepened at once by torch-light, and then enough water will have time to collect for the cattle, who can be watered in the early morning, and be sent to feed before the sun is hot.

In sandy soils, the sides of the well are so often falling in that it is advisable often to sink a cask in the soil. The following extract from Bishop Heber is so suggestive, that, though hardly within the scope of my subject, I cannot reject it.

Wells (Bhurtpoor, India).—“ The wells of this country, some of which are very deep, are made in a singular manner. They build a tower of masonry of the diameter required, and 20 or 30 feet high from the surface of the ground. This they allow to stand a year or more, till its masonry is rendered firm and compact by time; then they gradually undermine it, and promote its sinking into the sandy soil, which it does without difficulty, and altogether. When level with the surface, they raise its walls higher; and so go on, throwing out the sand and raising the wall, till they have reached the water. If they adopted our method, the soil is so light, that it would fall on them before they could possibly raise the wall from the bottom; nor, without the wall, could they sink to any considerable depth."

§ 6. To water cattle from wells.-Let one man stand in the water, or just above it; another 5 feet higher; and again another, if the depth of the well requires it. Then let the lowermost man dip a bucket in the water, and pass it from hand to hand upwards. In this way, watering cattle proceeds very quickly. The top man pours the water into a trough, out of which the cattle drink. This trough may be simply a ditch scratched in the ground, and with a piece of canvass thrown over it, should the soil be sand, to keep the water from being lost before the cattle have time to drink it. Thus Colonel Eyre speaks of watering his horse out of his black servant's duck frock.

The drove of cattle should be brought up to 60 yards from the watering-place; then three or four should be driven out— they will run at once to the water. After they have drunk, drive them to one side, and let another three or four take their place, and so on; keeping the two droves quite distinct-those that have drunk, and those that are waiting to drink. They will drink at the rate of one per minute; sheep and goats

drink very much faster. Never let the cattle go in a rush to the well, else they will stamp it in, get no water, and do much damage.

A pole and bucket is a very convenient way of raising water from 4 to 12 feet. The bucket may be made of anything-canvass, basket-work, leather, or wood; leakage is of little consequence, even though it is very considerable. This

contrivance is used over almost the whole globe-less in England than elsewhere; it is very common where long poles can easily be obtained, as in fir forests.

The Tartars sometimes draw water from their wells, of 150 feet deep and upwards, by a rider harnessing the bucketrope to his horse, and galloping him off to a mark that tells the proper distance, and so draws up the bucket. Their ropes are of twisted hair, and run over a smoothed stone or log of wood.

§7. To carry a supply of water on pack-saddles.—Small barrels, flattened equally on both sides, so that their tops and bottoms are of an oval and not a circular shape, are most convenient for carrying water in pack-saddles across a broken country.

They are very strong indeed, and require no particular attention, while bags suffer from thorns, and natives secretly prick them during the march, that they may suck a draught of water. These kegs should not exceed 22 inches in length, 10 in extreme breadth, and 7 in extreme width; a cask of which measurements would hold about 40 lbs. weight of water, and its own weight might be 15 lbs. As the water is expended, it will be easy to replace the diminished weight by putting on a bag from one of the other packs. Before starting away into the bush, these kegs should be satisfactorily fitted and adjusted to the pack-saddle that is intended to carry them, in such a way, that they may be packed on to it with the least possible trouble. A couple of leather or iron loops fixed to each keg, and made to catch on to hooks which are let flush into the sides of the pack-saddles, will effect this.

The sketch represents a section of the pack-saddle at the place where one of the hooks is situated on either side, but the front of the kegs themselves, and not their section, is given. Above and between the kegs lies a bag, and a strap passing from the near side of the saddle goes over the whole burden, and is buckled to a similar short strap on the other side. It is of importance that the bung-hole should be placed even nearer to the rim than where it is drawn, for it is necessary that it should be convenient to pour out of and to