The Fort.

Image unavailable: SKIN OF SINGLETHORN. SCALE-MAIL.SKIN OF SINGLETHORN. SCALE-MAIL.

Again, the scales of most fishes afford excellent examples of scale armour. I have selected one, the Japanese Singlethorn, on account of the strength of the scales, each of which is deeply ridged and furrowed. The reader will probably have noticed that the skin of the animal, into which are inserted the bases of the scales, is analogous to the linen or leathern foundation upon which the artificial scales are sewn.

Even feathers give a better protection than might be imagined from their individually fragile structure. This is well shown in the case of aquatic birds, whose feathers are very closely pressed together, each overlapping the next, and set inregular order. Not only is the plumage rendered water-tight, but it is able to resist a severe blow. This is well known by sportsmen, who do not fire at ducks or geese while they are approaching, knowing that their shot would only glide harmlessly from the feather-mail of the bird.

They wait until the birds have passed, and then find no difficulty in killing them, the shot penetrating under the feathers just as did the dagger under the scales of the manis. Even the diminutive puffin, or sea-parrot, as it is sometimes called, cares little for shot while it is sitting on the rocks with closed wings and feathers pressed together. When, however, it takes to flight, it can be killed without difficulty.

Perhaps some of my readers may be aware that the ancient Mexican warriors wore armour made of feathers, which I presume must have been arranged much after the fashion of those of a duck’s breast.

This remarkable Feather-mail is mentioned by Southey in his poem, “Madoc in Aztlan.” In canto xviii, is recounted the single combat between Madoc and Coanocotsin, the King of Aztlan. The contrasting armour and weapons of each are graphically described, and especial mention is made of the cuirass:—

“Over the breast,And o’er the golden breastplate of the King,A feathery cuirass, beautiful to eye,Light as the robe of peace, yet strong to save;For the sharp faulchion’s baffled edge would glideFrom its smooth softness.”

Then, in the course of the combat, when the King has been grappled in Madoc’s arms and forced to drop his buckler and club, the narrative proceeds:—

“Which when the Prince beheld,He thrust him off, and drawing back, resumedThe sword that from his wrist suspended hung,And twice he smote the King. Twice from the quiltOf plumes the iron glides.”

If such armour could in truth resist the weapons which have been discovered, it must have been a wonderfully strong garment, for the Mexican swords, though made of wood, are edged with flakes of obsidian, which cuts like a razor. I have a number of these flakes, which have evidently been intended for the edges of a sword, but have not been used.

Thereis another kind of armour which is still used in some parts of the world, and at one time was employed in this country. This is the Quilt Armour, which is made by enclosing a thick layer of some fibre, such as silk or cotton, between two pieces of fabric, and then sewing them across and across, so as to keep the lining or stuffing in its place.

The eider-down quilts are familiar examples of such fabrics, and so are the quilted petticoats, which are so comfortable in winter. Horsehair and flock mattresses are made in a similar manner.

Insufficient as it may appear to be, the quilt armour, when well made, is really proof against most weapons, even against firearms, as we shall presently see. Being very much lighter than steel, it was easier for the wearer, its chief drawback being that its extreme thickness gave it a very clumsy and awkward look. Those who wore it, however, cared more for their safety than their appearance, as was exemplified by James I., who lived in perpetual fear of assassination, but who had a nervous dislike to arms, whether offensive or defensive. He therefore wore a cuirass quilted with silk, which answered every purpose of defence, while it did not offend his nerves.

Perhaps the reader may remember that in “Peveril of the Peak” Sir Walter Scott gives a ludicrous picture of the timid justice, his fears of the Popish plot, his suit of quilted armour, and his “Protestant Flail” with which he hits himself on the head instead of striking his supposed enemy:—

“Some ingenious artist, belonging, we may presume, to the worshipful Mercers’ Company, had contrived a species of armour of which neither the horse armoury in the Tower, nor Gwynnap’s Gothic Hall, no, nor Dr. Meyrick’s invaluable collection of ancient arms, has preserved any specimen.

“It was called Silk-armour, being composed of a doublet and breeches of quilted silk, so closely stitched, and of such thickness, as to be proof against either bullet or steel, while a thick bonnet of the same materials, with ear-flaps attached to it, and on the whole much resembling a nightcap, completed the equipment, and ascertained the security of the wearer from the head to the knee. Master Maulstatute, among other worthy citizens, had adopted this singular panoply, which had the advantage of being soft, and warm and flexible, as well as safe.And he was sat in his judicial elbow-chair—a short, rotund figure, hung round, as it were, with cushions, for such was the appearance of the quilted garments—and with a nose protruded from under the silken casque, the size of which, together with the unwieldiness of the whole figure, gave his worship no indifferent resemblance to the sign of the Hog in Armour, which was considerably improved by the defensive garment being of a dusky orange colour, not altogether unlike the hue of those half-wild swine which are to be found in the forests of Hampshire.”

Roger Nutt gives as a reason for the security of quilted armour, that it made the wearer look so ridiculous that no one could hit him for laughing. The reader will probably remember that the sign of the Hog in Armour was really a representation of the rhinoceros.

That such a cuirass is really impervious to ordinary weapons is shown by the following anecdote:—During one of the late Indian wars a trooper discharged his pistol close to the back of a fleeing horseman. The shot produced no apparent effect, and the man rode off. Presently, however, a thin cloud of smoke was seen to rise from his shoulders. The smoke thickened, then burst into flame, and after riding at desperate speed in hopes of overtaking his comrades, the unfortunate man fell from his horse, and was miserably burned to death.

Image unavailable: INDIAN RHINOCEROS. QUILTED ARMOUR.INDIAN RHINOCEROS. QUILTED ARMOUR.

The fact was that cotton being cheaper than silk, he had wadded his cuirass with cotton fibre. Had he chosen silk, he would have got off in safety. Among the Chinese this cotton mail is largely used. In consequence, many Chinese soldiers were found who had been burned to death in exactly the same way as the Indian warrior.

Towards the south-western parts of Africa there is a nation called the Begharmis. Their soldiers are mounted, and are allfurnished with suits of quilted mail, which fall below the knee as the rider is seated on his horse. Not only is the rider thus defended, but the horse also, which is covered with quilted armour like that of its rider, the appearance of both being exceedingly grotesque.

Thereare several examples of such armour in the animal world, the principal of which is the Indian Rhinoceros. Any one who has seen this animal, or even a good portrait of it, will at once recognise the parallel between the heavy folds of its thick skin and the padded flaps of the quilted mail. The blubber with which the whale is so thickly coated affords another example of the parallel between Nature and Art.

Inthe days of ancient Rome there was a curious military manœuvre, by which the defensive armour of individual soldiers might be made collectively useful. This manœuvre was called Forming a Tortoise (testudinem facere), and is thus described in Smith’s “Dictionary of Greek and Roman Antiquities:”—

“The name of Testudo was also applied to the covering made by a close body of soldiers, who placed their shields over their heads to screen themselves against the darts of the enemy. The shields fitted so closely together as to present one unbroken surface without any interstices between them, and were so firm that men could walk upon them, and even horses and chariots be driven over them.

Image unavailable: TORTOISE. ROMAN TESTUDO.TORTOISE. ROMAN TESTUDO.

“A Testudo was formed either in battle, to ward off the arrows and other missiles of the enemy, or, which was more frequently the case, to form a protection to the soldiers when they advanced to the walls or gates of a town for the purpose of attacking them.

“Sometimes the shields were disposed in such a way as to make the Testudo slope. The soldiers in the first line stood upright, those in the centre stooped a little, and each line successively was a little lower than the preceding, down to the last, where the soldiers rested on one knee. Such a disposition of the shields was calledFastigata Testudo, on account of their sloping like the roof of a building.

“The advantages of this plan were obvious. The stones and missiles thrown upon the shields rolled off them like water from a roof; besides which, other soldiers frequently advanced upon them to attack the enemy upon the walls. The Romans were accustomed to form this kind of Testudo as an exercise in the games of the Circus.”

On the right hand of the illustration is shown a portion of a Testudo of three ranks, taken from the Antonine column. On the left is an ordinary Tortoise. Sometimes the Testudo was a covered machine on wheels, and guarded above with a supplementary roof of wet hides arranged in scale fashion, so as to prevent it from being set on fire by the besieged, and to throw off the heavy missiles which were dropped upon it. Under cover of this Testudo, the soldiers could either undermine the walls, or bring a battering-ram to bear upon them, while the men who worked it were safely under cover. As to the battering-ram itself, we shall presently treat of it.

Aswe have treated of one of the modes by which Forts were assaulted, we will now come to the Fort itself.

The transitions in Fort-making are too curious to be omitted from the present book. As soon as war became organized, a Fort of some kind was necessary. The simplest mode of making a Fort was evidently to dig a deep trench, and throw up the earth on the inside, so as to form a wall. Let such a trench be square or circular, and there is a simple but powerful Fort, by means of which a comparatively small garrison could defend themselves against a superior force.

The Romans were great masters of this art, fighting as much with the spade as the sword. So strong and thorough was the old Roman work that many of their camps still remain, and willremain for centuries if man does not deface them. Such, for example, are Cæsar’s camp, near Aldershot, and the fine camp at Lyddington, in Wiltshire, almost every detail of which is preserved. Roman camps are all constructed on the same model, the general’s place, or Prætorium, being in the centre, whence he issued his orders, and the commanders under him occupying the corners. Thus, no matter how he might be shifted from one corps to another, every Roman soldier knew his way about the camp without needing to see it, and could tell at any moment where to find any officer.

Image unavailable: ELK FORT. MOUND FORT.ELK FORT. MOUND FORT.

Other nations made their Forts circular, an example of which I lately saw a few miles from Bideford, while others consisted of nearly parallel lines, enclosures, and demi-lunes, like those wonderful dykes near Clovelly, which occupy more than thirty acres of land. One of the circular Forts is shown on the right hand of the illustration.

As time went on, stone took the place of earth, and the principal object of the builder was to give considerable thickness below, so as to resist the battering-ram, and great height both to walls and towers, so as to be comparatively out of the reach of the arrows and other missiles of the besiegers.

For awhile, such castles were impregnable, and the owners thereof were the irresponsible despots of the neighbourhood, recognising no law but their own will, robbing, torturing, and murdering at pleasure, and setting the king at open defiance. When, however, the tremendous powers of artillery became developed, the age of stone castles passed away. Height was found to be equivalent to weakness, as the strongest tower in existence could be knocked to pieces in an hour or two, and do infinite harm within the fortress by its falling fragments.

Fortification then returned to its original principles. Earth took the place of stone or brick; and at the present day,instead of erecting lofty walls and stately towers, the military engineer sinks his buildings as far as he can into the ground, and protects them with banks of simple earth, which is found to be the best defence against heavy shot. There is no masonry in existence that will endure the artillery fire of the present day, and even the solid rock can be knocked to pieces by it. But an earth-mound is a different business, and will absorb as many shot and shell as can be poured into it, without being much the worse for it. See, for example, the Proof-mound at Woolwich, which receives the shot of guns as they are being proved. Now, this mound has undergone perpetual battering for many years, and is as strong as ever. The same thing may be said of the celebrated Mamelon before Sebastopol.

Somuch for the Fort made by the hand of man. We now come to that which is formed by the feet of animals.

The Elk, or Moose, an inhabitant of Northern Europe, finds itself in great danger during the winter, the wolves being its chief enemies. At certain times of the year there comes a partial thaw during the day, followed by a frost at night. The result is, that a slight cake of ice forms on the surface of the snow, too slight to bear the weight of so heavy an animal, and strong enough to cut the legs of the elk as it ploughs its way along. Now, the wolves are sufficiently light to pass over the frozen surface without breaking it, and accordingly, they can easily run down and secure the elk.

In order, therefore, to counteract the wolves, a number of elks select a convenient spot where they can find food, and unite in trampling the snow down so as to sink themselves nearly to their own height below its surface. The wolves never dare attack an Elk-yard, as this enclosure is termed. In the first place, they are always haunted with suspicions of traps, and do not like the look of the yard; and in the next place, if some of the wolves did venture within the fort, the elks would soon demolish them with hoofs and horns. One of these Elk-yards is seen on the left hand of the illustration.

Scaling-forks.—The Climbing-spur and its Use.—Larva of the Tiger-beetle.—Hooks of Serpula.—Mr. Gosse’s Description.—Falling Stones.—A Stone rolling down a Precipice.—The Polar Bear and the Walrus.—Imitation.—The Polar Bear and the Seal.—The Esquimaux Hunter “Seal-talking.”—Enticing Mother by means of Young.—The Fall-trap and its Variations.—The Schoolboy’s “Booby-trap.”—Curious Mode of killing Elephants.—The Elephant-spear.—The Hippopotamus-trap of Southern Africa.—The Mangrove and its Seeds.—The Spring-gun and Spring-bow.

BEFORE dismissing the subject of the Fortress, we will glance at the Attack and Defence, as seen in Nature and Art.

Wehave already seen how the Battering-ram could be worked against the walls of a fort, or how the assailants could scale them by means of the Testudo. There must, however, be occasions when it would be impossible to bring together a sufficiently large body of men to form the Testudo, or even to place ladders, and in such instances it would be necessary that each soldier should be furnished with an instrument by which he could haul himself up the wall.

There are many examples still extant of such weapons, which were called “Scaling-forks,” and their general appearance may be known by the two right-hand figures of the cut. The handles of these weapons were very long, and by them thesoldier hauled himself to the top of the wall. In some of these instruments the shafts were armed with projecting pegs, set at regular intervals, so that they acted as the steps of a ladder, and rendered the ascent comparatively easy.

Many of the long-handled partisans, such as the well-known Jedwood axe, were furnished with a hook upon the back of the blade, so that the weapon served the purpose of a scaling-fork as well as a battle-axe.

The Scaling-fork (GermanSturmgabel), which is shown on the right hand of the illustration, was in use somewhere aboutA.D.1500. That which is shown next to it is about a hundred years later.

Image unavailable: WALRUS TUSKS. LARVA OF TIGER-BEETLE. CLIMBING-SPUR. SCALING-FORKS. HOOKS OF SERPULA.WALRUS TUSKS. LARVA OF TIGER-BEETLE. CLIMBING-SPUR. SCALING-FORKS. HOOKS OF SERPULA.

Demmin, from whose work these figures are taken, mentions that at the siege of Mons, in 1691, the grenadiers of the elder Dauphin’s regiment stormed the walls under the command of Vauban, and, by means of the Scaling-fork, carried the breastwork, which they assaulted. As a mark of honour to these gallant men, Louis XIV. ordered that the sergeants of the regiment should carry scaling-forks instead of halberds, which had been the peculiar weapon of the sergeant until comparatively late days, just as the spontoon, or half-pike, was the weapon of the infantry officer fromA.D.1700 toA.D.1800, or thereabouts.

The English student will remember that in the writings of Sterne, Fielding, and Smollett the half-pike is frequentlymentioned as the weapon of a subaltern officer. Demmin states that the last spontoons used in France were carried by the French Guards in 1789.

Perhapsthe Climbing-spur may be familiar to some of my readers, and bring back a reminiscence of boyhood. There is nothing more tantalising to a boy than to see a hawk, or magpie nest at the top of a tree which is too large to be climbed in the ordinary way, and which has no branches within many feet of the ground. However, boyish ingenuity has brought almost any tree within the power of a bird’s-nester by the invention of the Climbing-irons.

These are made so as to pass under the foot like a stirrup, and can be secured to the leg by leathern straps, the hooks being, of course, on the inside of the leg. The cut represents the Climbing-iron of the right leg. By means of these instruments, a very large tree can be mounted, the irons being struck firmly into the bark, and the legs moved alternately, and not in the usual manner of climbing. Sometimes the hook of the Climbing-iron is terminated by a single instead of a double point, but the principle is the same in all.

Wewill now look for similar examples in Nature.

On the right of the left-hand group is shown the larva or grub of the common Tiger-beetle, which is itself a curious creature.

It lives in perpendicular burrows, feeding upon those insects which come within its reach. Its usual position is at the upper part of the burrow, with its jaws widely extended, so as to snap up any insect that may venture too near.

When it has secured its prey, it seeks the bottom of its burrow, makes its meal in quiet, and reascends. How it does so we shall soon see. Towards the end of the body, one of the segments is much enlarged, and has a bold prominence upon the back. On the summit of this prominence there are two horn-like hooks, shaped as seen in the illustration. These hooks are used exactly like the boy’s climbing-spurs, the alternate elongation and contraction of the body answering the same purpose as the movements of the boy’s legs. When the larva has seized its prey and wishes to retreat, all that it has todo is to withdraw the hooks, straighten the body, and down it falls by its own weight.

Inthe nautical branch of this subject I have already treated of the curious pushing-poles by means of which the Serpula protrudes itself from its tube. As all must have noticed who have seen these creatures alive, the Serpula protrudes itself very slowly, but flies back into its tube with such velocity that the eye can scarcely follow its movements. Its difference of motion shows that there must be a difference in the means by which these movements are produced.

Referring to the illustration on page45, the reader will see that the instruments with which the Serpula propels itself are used just after the fashion of punt-poles, and cannot act with any great swiftness. When, however, the creature wishes to withdraw itself, it employs a curious apparatus, consisting of many rows of little hooks. The points of these hooks readily catch against the lining of the tube, and by their aid the worm jerks itself back with wonderful celerity.

Three rows of these hooks are shown next to the Tiger-beetle larva.

The structure of these remarkable organs is elaborately described by Mr. Gosse in his “Evenings with the Microscope:”—

“If you look again at this Serpula recently extracted, you will find with a lens a pale yellow line running along the upper surface of each foot, transversely to the length of the body. This is the border of an exceedingly delicate membrane, and, on placing it under a high power (say six hundred diameters), you will be astonished at the elaborate provision here made for prehension.”

“This yellow line, which cannot be appreciated by the unassisted eye, is a muscular ribbon, over which stand edgewise a multitude of what I will call combs, or rather subtriangular plates. These have a wide base, and the apex of the triangle is curved over into an abrupt hook, and then this cut into a number (from four to six) of sharp and long teeth.”

“The plates stand side by side, parallel to each other, along the whole length of the ribbon, and there are muscular fibres seen affixed to the basal side of each plate, which doubtless give it independent motion.

“I have counted one hundred and thirty-six plates on one ribbon. There are two ribbons on each thoracic segment, and there are seven such segments. Hence, we may compute the total number of prehensile comb-like plates on this portion of the body to be about one thousand nine hundred, each of which is wielded by muscles at the will of the animal; while, as each plate carries on an average five teeth, there are nearlyten thousand teethhooked into the lining membrane of the cell, when the animal chooses to descend.”

“Even this, however, is far short of the total number, because long ribbons of hooks of a similar structure, but of smaller dimensions, run across the abdominal segments, which are more numerous than the thoracic. No wonder, with so many muscles wielding so many grappling-hooks, that the descent is so rapidly effected.”

Lastly, we come to the Walrus, whose strangely elongated upper canine teeth can be used for just the same purposes as the scaling-fork or climbing-spur. As, however, reference has already been made to these tusks, in connection with another department of this work, there is no necessity for occupying space with a second description.

Somuch for attack; now for defence.

The simplest mode of defending a fort, or even a mountain pass, is by throwing or rolling rocks and heavy stones against the enemy.

Simple as it may appear, it is a very effective one, as can be well understood by those who have rolled a huge stone down a long and steep slope. The stone goes gently enough at first, but rapidly gains speed, until at last it makes great bounds from the earth, tearing and crashing through everything as if it had been shot from a cannon.

I have seen a stone which was too heavy to be lifted, and had to be prised over the edge with levers, spring completely through the topmost branches of a high tree, scattering the boughs in all directions, and then, alighting on another stone, split into many fragments, just like the pieces of a burst shell. That one stone would have swept off a whole party of soldiers had they encountered it while trying to ascend the slope.

This invention has also been anticipated in Nature.

Putting aside the obvious reflection that the most primitive warriors must have noticed the effects of stones falling over a precipice, we have, in Captain Hall’s “Life with the Esquimaux,” a curious account of the Polar Bear and its mode of killing the Walrus. Gigantic as is this animal, and terrible as are its tusks, the Polar Bear will sometimes attack it in a very singular manner. The Bear springs on a sleeping Walrus, and clings to its shoulders with one paw, and with repeated blows from the other, fractures its skull.

Still, the combat is sure to be a severe one, and so the Polar Bear will, if he can, secure his prey by some other method.

“The natives tell many most interesting anecdotes of the Bear, showing that they are accustomed to watch his movements closely. He has a very ingenious method of killing the Walrus.

Image unavailable: BEAR KILLING WALRUS. WARRIORS DEPENDING A PASS.BEAR KILLING WALRUS. WARRIORS DEPENDING A PASS.

“In August, every fine day, the Walrus makes its way to the shore, draws its huge body upon the rocks, and basks in the sun. If this happen near the base of a cliff, the ever-watchful Bear takes advantage of the circumstance to attack his formidable game in this way. The Bear mounts the cliff, and throws down upon the animal’s head a large rock, calculating the distance and the curve with astonishing accuracy, and thus crushing the thick, bullet-proof skull.

“If the Walrus is not instantly killed, or simply stunned,the Bear rushes down to it, seizes the rock, and hammers away at the head until the skull is broken. A fat feast follows. Unless the Bear is very hungry, it eats only the blubber of the walrus, seal, and whale.”

Asis the case with the Norwegians, the Esquimaux have the greatest respect for the intellectual as well as the bodily powers of the Bear, and avowedly imitate it in its modes of hunting. One of these methods will now be mentioned.

It must first be premised that the Seal is a most wary animal, and when it lies down on the shore to sleep, it takes its repose by snatches, lifting up its head at very short intervals, looking all round in search of foes, and then composing itself to rest again. To approach so cautious an animal is evidently a difficult task, but the Bear is equal to it. The following is Captain Hall’s account:—

“From the Polar Bear the Innuits (i.e.Esquimaux) learn much.

Image unavailable: POLAR BEAR HUNTING SEAL. ESQUIMAUX HUNTING SEAL.POLAR BEAR HUNTING SEAL. ESQUIMAUX HUNTING SEAL.

“The manner of approaching the Seal, which is on the ice by its hole, basking in the sunshine, is from him. The Bear lies down and crawls by hitches towards the Seal, ‘talking’ to it, as the Innuits say, until he is within striking distance, when he pounces upon it with a single jump. The natives say that if they could ‘talk’ as well as the Bear, they could catch many more Seals.

“The procedure of the Bear is as follows.

“He proceeds very cautiously towards the black speck, far off on the ice, which he knows to be a Seal. When still a longway from it, he throws himself down and hitches himself along towards his game. The Seal, meanwhile, is taking its naps of about ten seconds each, invariably raising its head and surveying the entire horizon before composing itself again to brief slumber.

“As soon as it raises its head, the Bear ‘talks,’ keeping perfectly still. The Seal, if it sees anything, sees but the head, which it takes for that of another Seal. It sleeps again. Again the Bear hitches himself along, and once more the Seal looks around, only to be ‘talked’ to and again deceived. Thus the pursuit goes on until the Seal is caught, or till it makes its escape, which it seldom does.”

It is remarkable that while this “talk” is going on, the Seal appears to be charmed, raises and shakes its flippers about, rolls over on its side and back, as if delighted, and then lies down to sleep.

Now, the Esquimaux hunters imitate, as nearly as they can, the proceedings of the Bear, but are not so successful. Captain Hall mentions several instances where the native hunter failed even to come within gunshot without alarming the Seal, which instantly plunged into its hole and was lost.

Thesame author mentions another instance where the Esquimaux hunter has copied the Bear.

Image unavailable: POLAR BEAR CATCHING SEAL, ETC.POLAR BEAR CATCHING SEAL, ETC.

When an Esquimaux hunter catches a young Seal, he takes care not to kill it at once, as he wishes to use it as a decoy. He ties a long line round one of the hind flippers, and then drops the little Seal into the hole through the ice by which it enters and leaves the water. The struggles of the young are nearly sureto attract the mother, and when she has discovered its condition the young Seal is cautiously drawn up on the ice. The mother follows, too intent on rescuing her young to think about herself, and, as soon as she is within reach, she is struck with the harpoon.

The Polar Bear, however, preceded the Esquimaux in this mode of hunting. The young Seal lives in a hemispherical dwelling scooped out of the snow, and communicating with the water by means of a hole through the ice. This dwelling will be described and figured when we come to the subject of Architecture.

Finding out, by scent or some other means, the habitation of the young Seal, the Polar Bear leaps upon the snow, bringing his feet together, and with his enormous weight breaking through the roof of the dwelling. He instantly captures the young Seal before it can make its escape. Then, driving the talons of one paw into its hind flipper, he lets it into the hole, and allows it to flounder about in the water. When the mother is attracted to her young, he draws his prey slowly up on the ice. The anxious mother follows, and is at once secured by the talons of the other foot, as is represented in the illustration.

Thisis a stratagem which is often employed in War and Hunting, though its use is mostly confined to the latter. Schoolboys often avail themselves of this principle when they wish to play a practical joke, and to amuse themselves by setting a “Booby-trap.” This trap is easily manufactured, and consists of a partially opened door, with a basin or jug of water balanced upon it. The natural result is, that any one who opens the door without proper precautions receives the jug and its contents upon his head, and is thoroughly drenched.

On the right hand of the illustration is seen a curious spear, the butt of which, instead of being lighter than the head, is very much heavier. The weight, however, is exactly where it is wanted, and indeed, in actual use, is trebled by a mass of tenacious clay, kneaded upon it. This figure is taken from a very perfect specimen in my own collection.

It is an African weapon, not used for war, but for hunting,and, as far as I know, exclusively employed against the elephants. These animals have a way of forming roads or tracks for themselves through the woods, very much like those almost invisible paths which are made by the half-wild sheep of the great Wiltshire Downs, except that they traverse thick forests instead of broad downs.

The native hunters know all the elephant paths, and if a herd of elephants be seen approaching, the path which they will take is tolerably certain.

Image unavailable: MANGROVE SEEDS. HIPPOPOTAMUS TRAP AND ELEPHANT SPEAR.MANGROVE SEEDS. HIPPOPOTAMUS TRAP AND ELEPHANT SPEAR.

Armed with this knowledge, the native hunters climb the trees, and seat themselves on the branches which overhang the path, each hunter being supplied with one of these spears. As the elephants pass beneath him, the experienced hunter selects a bull elephant with good tusks, and, taking a careful aim, drops the spear on its back.

On receiving the stroke, the elephant rushes off in mixed terror and rage. As the animal uses the legs of each side alternately, it sways its huge body from side to side at every step. With each movement, the spear also sways about, its weighted end giving it such a leverage, that the sharp edges of the head cut the poor animal to pieces.

Anotherkind of Fall-trap, which is common in many parts of Southern Africa, is not dependent upon the skill of the hunter, but, like the “booby-trap” above mentioned, is set in motion by the victim.

A figure of this trap is given in the illustration.

If the native hunter can find a spot where the Hippopotamus path passes under an overhanging branch, he makes a simple but most effective trap. He takes a heavy log of wood, and into one end of it he drives a spear-point. The log is then hung with its point downwards to the branch, the rope which is connected with its trigger or catch being stretched across the path at a few inches from the surface of the ground, and carried at right angles across the path.

The Hippopotamus takes no notice of the cord, which is usually made of one of the creepers or “bush-ropes” that are so common in hot countries. No sooner, however, does its foot strike the cord, than the trigger is released, and down falls the heavy log, driving its iron point deeply into the back of the victim. Even if the weapon were simple iron, such a wound must be mortal, but, as it is almost invariably poisoned, the wounded animal can scarcely travel forty or fifty yards before it lies down and dies.

One of these traps is shown in the illustration. In the foreground is shown the Fall-trap, pointed with iron, and weighted with large stones at the lower end, so as to bring it down with more force, and to prevent it from falling transversely.

The Spring-gun, once so formidable a protector of our coverts, was managed in a similar manner, except that the missile was discharged horizontally, and not vertically. The gun, loaded with shot, was fixed some eighteen inches from the ground, and a long and slight wire fastened to the trigger. The opposite end of the wire was made fast to a tree or other fixed object, and, as the gun was directed on the line of the wire, it is evident that any one who stumbled against it would discharge the gun, and receive the contents in his legs.

In France the gun was generally loaded with little pieces of bay salt, and I very much pity the unfortunate poacher who came across one of these guns. The pain would prevent him from escaping, and I think that the hardest-hearted of game preservers could not bring himself to prosecute a man who had already suffered so much.

Of a similar character are the Spring-bows which were once common in this country, and are still used in various parts of Asia. A bow and arrow are substituted for firearms, and thebow, after being drawn by the united efforts of several men, is held in its position by a stick, one end of which presses against the centre of the bow, and the other against the string.

A large arrow is then placed on the bow, and a cord is tied to the middle of the stick, led forwards in a line with the direction of the arrow, and fastened, as in the case of the spring-gun. As soon as the line is struck, the stick is jerked from its place, and the arrow is discharged, piercing the body of the trespasser. Tigers, bears, and leopards are the usual victims of this trap.

Itis remarkable that in the same country there is a production of Nature which may in all probability have given to the native hunter the idea of the Fall-trap. This is the Mangrove-tree, which is remarkable for the wonderful extent of ground which it will cover, and the nearly impenetrable thickets which it forms. In the present part of the work we have nothing to do with the aërial roots, several of which are shown in the illustration, and only restrict ourselves to the Seeds, and the curious manner in which they are planted by Nature.

In the illustration, on the left hand, the growth of the Mangrove is seen. The drawing is taken from a sketch by the late Mr. Baines, and generously placed at my disposal, as were all his drawings and journals.

The Mangrove is a wet-loving tree, never flourishing unless rooted in mud; and whether the moisture of the mud be attributable to fresh or salt water seems to make little difference to the Mangrove, which, of the two, appears to prefer the latter. Now, the seeds of the Mangrove look very much like elongated skittles, except that one end comes to a sharp point. As they hang on the tree, the point is downwards. When they are ripe, they fall from the branch, and by their own weight are driven deeply into the mud, where they develop roots and leaves, and become the progenitors of the future Mangrove race.

I cannot but think that the native hunter, having seen the tremendous force with which the Mangrove seed buries itself in the mud, has applied the same principle to a weapon which shall bury itself in the body of an elephant.

Concealment needed in Modern Warfare.—Concealment by Covering.—Masking Guns.—Birnam Wood.—The Reduvius.—The Cuckoo-spit and the Spider-crab.—Concealment by Disguise.—Stratagem of the Barea.—Complete Deception.—Larva of Geometra.—The Leaf-insect.—The Luppet-moth.—The Ptarmigan and the Ermine.—Principle of the Trench.—The Hunter’s “Skärm.”—The Wax-moth or Galleria-moth, and its Tunnel.—Fate of a Collection.—The Termites and the Travelling Ants of South America.—The Power of Gravity.—The Battering-ram and its Force.—Miscellanea.—War by Suffocation.—The Stink-pot.—The Chili-plant.—The Sulphur-room.—The Bombardier-beetle.—The Bullet-making Machine and the Silkworm.

WE will first take Concealment by means of Covering.

If History repeats herself, so does Warfare. I have already shown the repetition of History in the Fortress—I shall now show it in the Field.

In former days, when arms of precision were not invented, concealment was not needed. No soldier ever was visited with a dream so wild as that of taking definite aim at the enemy, and reserving the fire until the aim was certain. I have in my collection several of the French and English muskets used about the time of Waterloo, and, though a fair rifle-shot, would not engage to hit a haystack with either of them at a distance of a hundred yards. With the Snider or Martini-Henry in the hands of a skilful adversary, he would be a bold man who would offer himself for a target at a thousand yards. Indeed, if the first shot happened to miss, the marksmanwould be tolerably sure to notice the failure, and to correct his aim with fatal certainty.

In those days, therefore, concealment was rather ridiculed than praised, the power of the new arm not being as yet appreciated. I well recollect, in the earliest days of the Volunteer movement, hearing a Volunteer captain declare, amid the cheers of his company, that “he had never sneaked behind a tree in all his life, and was not going to begin now.”

In the present day, the power of the missile has been developed with such astounding rapidity, that to be exposed to the fire of rifles or cannon is almost certain death. Indeed, the only safety of the defence lay in the fact that the smoke soon rendered very accurate shooting impossible at long ranges, and that at short ranges, if a man got a bullet through his body, it mattered little to him whether the missile were a spherical musket-ball or a conical rifle-bullet.

Image unavailable: REDUVIUS (MAGNIFIED). CUCKOO-SPIT. SPIDER-CRAB. MASKING GUNS. BIRNAM WOOD.REDUVIUS (MAGNIFIED). CUCKOO-SPIT. SPIDER-CRAB. MASKING GUNS. BIRNAM WOOD.

Just, then, as forts have latterly sunk into the earth for the purpose of strength, so have our modern soldiers found that the true principle of modern warfare is never to lose sight of the enemy, and never to allow the enemy to see yourself or the disposal of your troops.

Everything must be revealed to the commander-in-chief, everything must be concealed from the enemy.

In the late Franco-German war the principle of concealment was largely used, and when cannon were brought into the field by the Germans for the purpose of attacking fortresses, they were always hidden under branches of trees, so that the enemy should not distinguish them from the ordinary features of the country, and that the sparkle of the sunbeams upon them might not be seen.

It would be almost superfluous to remind the reader of Malcolm’s stratagem when besieging Dunsinane Castle:—

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