Food to preserve.
In many of the Australian islands and New Zealand vast quantities of sea-fowl (the sooty petrel or mutton bird, especially) are captured for food by the sailors and natives. These birds visit the islands annuallyin vast flocks, arriving generally about the latter end of November, for the purpose of depositing their eggs, of which each hen bird lays one or two, about size of ordinary goose eggs, and somewhat similar in flavour. The cock bird takes charge of the nest during the day and the hen by night, taking in turn the duty of going to sea for food. Perfect warrens, like those of rabbits, are formed by these birds, who burrow in the soft ground for a distance of 2ft. or 3ft., and there form their nests. Some of the islands are so thickly and completely honeycombed by these feathered miners as to render walking a very unsafe proceeding.
The collection of the eggs and young birds from the depths of the holes is a task usually assigned to the native women, who not uncommonly find a snake coiled up where the young petrel should be. When a large catch is determined on for preservation and the obtainment of feathers, a number of bird hunters assemble and construct a sort of hedge or fence a short distance from the beach, and just before daybreak, when the birds, about to proceed to sea to feed, are out of their retreats, a sudden rush is made by the whole assembled party of birdcatchers who, with the most hideous yells and cries, drive the throngs of waddling, flapping victims, who cannot rise from the ground to fly, towards the centre of the fatal barrier, where a deep pit has been prepared for their reception. Into this they are forced, layer on layer, until they literally suffocate each other in their vain endeavours to escape from the treacherous pitfall. The feathers, when plucked from the birds, are worth about 3d. per pound, and it requires the joint plumage of about twenty to produce that quantity. Thirty bags of feathers, constituting the cargoes of two trading boats, were obtained by the sacrifice of 18,000 birds. A portion of the birds are preserved by dry smoking, and are extensively made use of. Some of the New Zealand tribes, by whom this bird is called the “Titi,” have recourse to a most ingenious and effective method of preservation for it and some other articles of food. The petrels, after having been carefully plucked, have all their bones removed. They are then cooked over the fire in large shallow dishes or platters, made from the bark of the “Totara” tree, and when sufficiently done are placed in the natural bottles or flasks formedof a species of seaweed, like a huge variety of the bladder-wrack (Fucus vesiculosus) of our own coasts. The heated fat from the birds is then poured in, and the sea-bottle securely tied up. Provisions treated in this manner remain perfectly good for a very long time, being completely excluded from both air and moisture. The Indians of Vancouver Island make use of seaweed bottles, made like those just described, to store up fish oil in.
Hints on large game.
In Africa, the flesh of the ox and of all the game animals—from the antelope and buffalo to the giraffe, and the rhinoceros, the hippopotamus, and elephant—is used under the general name of “biltong.” The scene, when one of the larger animals has been shot, and is found perhaps next morning by the hunter’s native followers, is exciting enough. In the case of an elephant which has lain till ten or eleven o’clock, when the heat of the sun will have begun to form gases in the stomach, and to distend the carcase till a man may tread upon it as he would on an unyielding rock, the man, whose duty it is to make the first incision, approaches cautiously, taking care, if possible, not to to come leeward, and especially to see that his retreat is clear; then reaching forward at the full length of his arm, he drives his spear into the abdomen, leaping backward at the same time to avoid the gaseous and liquid discharge which ensues. The rest wait until the carcase has collapsed, and the stench is somewhat dissipated, and then rush in and commence the cutting up. The thick skin is torn in broad planks from the sides, groups of men mount upon the ribs, and, squatting there upon their hams, use their assegais in cutting down through the flesh; others, having effected a breach in the thinnest part of the abdomen, enter and tear out the internal dainties, and then, assegais in hand, begin to cut the flesh from the inside of the ribs—an operation, it will be readily believed, involving no small risk to these who happen to be sitting just above them, and who not unfrequently receive a hint that the human skin is by no means invulnerable. The surrounding bushes now begin to be covered with blanket-like flaps of skin and meat, by membranes and sheets of the internal fat, and from every fire arises the savoury odour of some tit bit, being hastily grilled to appease the appetite while the pot which has been filled with the first cuttings of the flesh is being boiled. Long, straightpoles are next cut, and laid across like rails from fork to fork of other trees, and on these the flesh, cut into strips from 3ft. to 16ft. long, and about two fingers thick, is hung to dry, care being taken not to hang it so closely as to prevent the air passing freely between the pieces. Two or three days will generally be enough to dry the meat, which is then taken down, and either tied up in bundles if to be carried by men, or stowed as loosely as possible in the waggon, being opened and spread out at every halt for the first few days to guard against the possibility of putrefaction; further cooking is not absolutely necessary. The biltong may be bruised up with a yoke skei, or the head of an axe, and eaten raw, or it may be broiled and bruised as before, or if boiled it may be put into a native mortar and pounded with a pestle or a yoke skei until the fibres are thoroughly separated, and much trouble is saved in the way of mastication. With the addition of a little cinnamon or other spice, dried peaches, shreds of dried onion, or any little thing to vary the taste, this is by no means a bad dish for hungry men.
In all cases, however, it is well to make a proportion of the meat carry itself; and here the traveller will be called upon to exercise great caution. It will never do to purchase at random a number of animals of various species, because, in the first place, the different kinds will not herd together, and, therefore, each will require separate attendants; and, secondly, because the country to be explored may be unfavourable to the existence of some of them. In North Australia we took no cattle, because we had reason to think that plants poisonous to them abounded there. Of our flock of sheep we took none beyond the standing camp, and even of them we lost more than three-fourths by the disasters of the sea and river voyage before they were landed. If men would make up their minds to eat horseflesh, we believe it would be more economical, and would give less trouble to the exploring party, who might purchase at the outset a considerable additional number of horses, young of course, but at least sufficiently docile to carry a pack and travel with the others; and when the burden of one of these had been eaten off, to shoot him, and convert as much of his flesh as could not be eaten in the first two days into biltong.
In many of the later expeditions camels have been used more or less successfully, and their flesh has also served as food to the explorers on emergencies.
In South Africa oxen are so generally used that no one thinks of undertaking a journey of any extent without them, and, not less as a matter of course, his vehicle is the ox waggon; horses, as many as the traveller can afford, also accompany him; but, if he is really a hunter, these are seldom or never ridden until their energies are required for active service, but leisurely driven on by a Hottentot lad, and carefully tended, so as to husband their strength and keep them in good condition till they are really wanted. Sheep and goats are taken because most of the native tribes are so essentially pastoral that these animals may be cheaply purchased from them; and young lads, willing to drive them, may be hired for a trifling reward in addition to their food.
Nevertheless, all these animals are liable to casualties on the road: the goats or sheep may die from feeding on the beans that fall from the kameel doorn and various acacias; the stud may be thinned off by the annual horse sickness, even though the traveller may have taken the precaution to buy, at a higher price, what are called salted horses—i.e., such as have once had the sickness—for it is well known that if a horse takes the sickness in a district where it prevails in a mild form, which is generally the case in such as have been for a considerable time colonised, it will not protect him in the remote wilderness where the disease still maintains its unmitigated strength. It is, therefore, always advisable to ask not only whether the horse has had the sickness, but where he passed through the ordeal. We have known as much as 100l. given by a hunter for a horse up to his weight and warranted to be salted, with the proviso, however, that if the horse died of sickness during the first season his price was to be reduced by 60l.
Hints on food gathering.
In all cases of extreme scarcity of food, we strongly advise the traveller to leave no stone unturned which may yield aliment of some kind to help him on his way before he sacrifices his riding horse or mule. Where a number of animals accompany an expedition, a few may perhaps be parted with from time to time; but we earnestly advise the solitary hunteror explorer to exercise every faculty he possesses for food finding before he makes up his mind to destroy his four-footed friend. Different regions not only furnish different food-yielding products, but possess climates which necessitate the use of appropriate kinds of aliment. Food may be viewed in the light of fuel, and man as a lamp. The more intense the cold and severe the exertion the greater will be the expenditure of elements rich in carbon, such as oil, fat, blubber, flesh, &c. Arctic travellers and those who dwell in the regions of ice and snow find themselves compelled to follow very closely the customs of the Esquimaux in their diet scale. Dr. Kane, the Arctic traveller, says: “Our journeys have taught us the wisdom of the Esquimaux appetite, and there are few among us who do not relish a slice of raw blubber or a chunk of frozen walrus beef. The liver of a walrus (Awuktanuk) eaten with little slices of his fat, of a verity is a delicious morsel. Fire would ruin the curt pithy expression of vitality which belong to its uncooked pieces. Charles Lamb’s roast pig was nothing to Awuktanuk. I wonder that raw beef is not eaten at home. Deprived of extraneous fibre, it is neither indigestible nor difficult to masticate. With acids and condiments it makes a salad which an educated palate cannot help relishing; and as a powerful and condensed heat-making and antiscorbutic food it has no rival. I make this last broad assertion after carefully testing its truth. The natives of South Greenland prepare themselves for a long journey in the cold by a course of frozen seal. At Upernavik they do the same with the narwhal, which is thought more heat making than the seal, while the bear, to use their own expression, is ‘stronger travel’ than all. In the far north, where the explorer has to carefully husband such food as good fortune may cast in his way, no portion of an animal is wasted.” The Doctor, when speaking of the value of every part of a beast, says: “The skin makes the basis of soup, and the claws can be boiled to a jelly; lungs, larynx, stomach, and entrails are all available.” Starvation is far less to be feared by an experienced traveller in tropical climates than among the ice of the polar regions, as, in the first place, the large quantities of animal food consumed to sustain vital heat are not needed; and, in the next, the vegetable and insect world far more abundantly contribute their aid in furnishing his larder. Here again the explorer will dowell to follow, in cases of necessity, the example set by the natives, who not unfrequently manage to sustain life in regions which to the unpractised eye would present nothing but hopeless barrenness. The inhabitants of very extensive tracts of country, extending through the Presidio del Norte, in Mexico, subsist for months together on the large bulbous roots of the Maguay (Agave Mexicana), which grows in the dry arid soil of these regions. These roots vary in size from the diameter of a 4lb. loaf to that of a two-gallon jar, and are not unlike a huge onion in external appearance. When intended for food they are simply dug up and roasted in hot ashes, when they become palatable and wholesome. It is from these roots that the Mexicans prepare their celebrated “Mescal,” or aguardiente, a spirit stronger than the best whisky. To prepare this, a pit is dug in the ground to about the depth of 3ft. and about 10ft. in diameter; a complete layer of stones is then made on the bottom and round the sides of the pit, which is then filled with billets of wood and branches of bushes; these are then ignited, and the fire is suffered to burn until the stone lining and borders of the pit are strongly heated; a quantity of freshly-gathered grass is then thrown in and formed into a sort of lining for the stones, and on this the bulbs of the maguay are cast until the pit is nearly full, when a quantity of grass is thrown over the top layer, and the baking or roasting process is suffered to go on until the roots are thoroughly cooked. Large leather sacks are then brought to receive the roots. Water is thrown in until a sort of gruel is formed, which ferments for about a week, and is then distilled in a rough makeshift still, when the liquor is fit for consumption. This is the plant which produces the pulque, which we have before described. The fibres of the leaves make excellent ropes and twine; the young and immature leaves, when doubled up in the hand, make an excellent substitute for soap and the fresh crisp sprouts are good for cattle food. The region of the Gila and the Sonora district also produce the “Petahaya,” the great candelabra cereus. This curious plant grows in the form of either a fluted column or gigantic candelabrum; the stem is not unfrequently from 2ft. to 3ft. in diameter, and grows to a height of from 40ft. to 50ft. Mr. T. R. Bartlett, in his exploration of the Gila, made extensive use of the fruit of this plant. He thus describes it: “The plant probablyblooms late in May or early in June, and the fruit is matured in July and August. The flowers, borne on the summits of the branches, are 3in. in diameter, and about the same in length. The petals are stiff and curling, and of a cream-white colour; the stamens are yellow and very numerous. The fruit is about the size and shape of an egg, sometimes rather longer than the true egg shape, having a few small scales without spines. The colour of the fruit is green, tinged with red when fully ripe. It consists of an outer coat or skin filled with red pulp, inclosing numerous small black seeds. The fruit when mature bursts at the top, and exposes the pulp, which at this time is rather mawkish to the taste; but a few days’ exposure to the sun dries it to about one-third its original bulk, and the whole mass drops out of the skin. In this state it has the consistency of the pulp of a dried fig, and the saccharine matter being concentrated by drying, it somewhat resembles that fruit in taste. The Pimo and other Indians collect the pulp and roll it into balls, in which state it probably keeps the whole year, as it was offered to our party which passed through in January. They also boil the pulp in water and evaporate it to the consistence of molasses, after which it is preserved in earthen jars.”
Insects, as well as fruit and fruit products, contribute largely in some parts of the world to the subsistence of the natives.
Wild honey not unfrequently proves an acceptable addition to the explorer’s larder. To obtain this the movements of wild bees should be carefully watched. Sometimes they may be seen high overhead flying in a direct and steady double stream; one throng bending its way heavily laden to the hive or colony, and the other departing on a fresh expedition. In some parts of the world—India, for example—the wild bees usually construct their combs either beneath the shelter afforded by the bifurcation of the large branches of a timber tree or the stems of the palm fronds as they shoot from the main trunk. In America, Africa, and some other countries they generally seek the protection afforded by a hollow and partially decayed tree trunk. To find the stores of a swarm of wild bees, cast your eye sharply overhead and note the general line of flight. Catch a bee and tie a thin filament of down, wild cotton, or white floss silk to his leg and let him fly; he will generally wing his flight homewards, and can be followed. If there isany uncertainty about the line of direction in which the bees fly, which may proceed from other swarms being in the neighbourhood, catch two bees at different points, plume them, and carefully note the point at which their line of flight joins. When you have to track a long bee flight, it is a good plan to dress a piece of bark with honey, in order that it may act as a lure to the bees. As they take in a store and fly away with it, note their flight, taking the line followed by the greatest number; advance your bark a couple of hundred yards in the line; take a fresh departure, and so on until the bee tree is discovered. The honey guide of Africa (Cuculos indicator) will, by his restlessness and efforts to attract attention, not unfrequently conduct the traveller to the bees’ nest; but when following this feathered conductor be on the alert and keep both barrels of your rifle at full cock, as he sometimes brings you face to face with a creature far more formidable than a honey bee. To take possession of the honey few Europeans like to venture on the bold course followed by many natives, as from some cause or another, which we are utterly at a loss to explain, a naked black fellow will invade the stronghold of the bees and carry off the honeycomb in their very midst, with little or no preparation. When bees are in a hollow tree the best plan is to fell it with the axe, light a long line of damp brushwood to leeward, make as much smoke as you can, and during the panic caused by the general crash, split up the log, chop the bee hole large enough to be practicable, and get the honeycomb out as fast as you can into some convenient vessel.
In New Caledonia we find the large spider there found (Aranea edulis) greedily partaken of. It is simply roasted over the fire when required for use. There is another curious description of food made use of by the natives of the lake borders in the neighbourhood of Chalco and Texococo; this is made from the eggs of a species of boat fly (Notonecta) and two or three insects of similar habits. The insects deposit their eggs by myriads on the stalks of the reeds growing in and about the margins of the lakes. The natives, when going on an egg-hunting expedition, provide themselves with cloths and sticks. The reeds, when bent to the edge of the spread cloth, are beaten and shaken, when the eggs drop off into the sheet placed for their reception. After being spread on other sheets, and thoroughlydried in the sun, they are treated just as if they were grains of corn. Flour is made from them by grinding; this is regularly packed in suitable bags, marked as to weight, &c., and sold in the native markets.
In laying in the stores of an expedition about to start from any large city it is well to obtain, if possible, a good supply of Challet’s preserved vegetables, as they can be made available when nature furnishes no green food. The space occupied by this useful preparation is so small that a very large quantity can be stowed away in a very small compass. It has been computed that 3ft. of cubic space will contain 16,000 full allowances. In pastoral countries there is usually little difficulty in obtaining milk; and in regions destitute of domesticated cattle the explorer can generally manage to get on without it. Goats yield a great deal of excellent milk, and trot along freely with animals on a march. When it is desirable to carry milk for any distance for the use of children or sick people, it may be preserved as follows: Take a tin canister, a bottle, or a large ox horn, with a bottom and mouth made in it; fill the vessel with milk; put it in the camp kettle, and let it boil steadily for three quarters of an hour. Now, if your vessel is a canister, solder down the cover; if a bottle or horn drive in the stopper and wax it down with melted beeswax. The milk will then keep well. In some countries preserved toad-stools are extensively made use of as an article of food; but here we must give the traveller a caution regarding the mushroom orAgaricusfamily when viewed in the light of aliment, as, strange to say, varieties which are found perfectly wholesome in one country are not so in another. Thus, for instance, we find some of the most poisonous toad-stools found in England (A. virosusandA. muscarius) amongst the number eaten with impunity in some parts of Tartary and Russia. There may be said to be only three kinds of true edible Agarici found in Great Britain.A. campestris, the common meadow and garden mushroom, remarkable for its pleasant odour and the colour of its gills;A. pratensis, or the fairy-ring mushroom (which is found growing in the green rings or circles in our grass lands, attributed by the superstitious to supernatural agency); andA. Georgii, which in some respects resemblesA. campestris, but has lighter coloured gills and less flavour. When driven by necessity to seekmushroom food, either in this country or out of it, bear the following rules in mind: Avoid every one you see with its cap or head thin in substance as compared to the thickness of the plates or gills—with the upright or stalk attached to one side of the crown—with the plates or gills all of the same length—yielding a juice like thin milk; and, if you find any with a sort of band composed of a substance like the webs of spiders surrounding the upright, have nothing to do with them. We have seen whole strings of driedA. muscariussuspended to dry from the rafters of Tartar huts. These you may eat safely in Tartary, but not out of it. Fish roe, like mushrooms, when intended for food, requires care in selection. The large barbel, found in many of the large rivers and lakes abroad, yield at times a very considerable quantity of roe or spawn. This we have known on several occasions to prove very unwholesome, if not absolutely poisonous. Herring spawn is collected on some coasts in vast quantities by the natives, who place long lines of bushes at low-water mark for the ova to collect on. Salmon roe is also eaten to a great extent by many Indian tribes. We have seen great quantities of sturgeon spawn collected for conversion into “caviare.” To prepare the spawn large bags, with their ends sewn up, are made; a slit is then made in the side, just large enough to put the hand through; into this the roe and a good quantity of strong “bay salt” brine are introduced and the hole is then secured with a wooden skewer. When the brine has nearly all soaked out through the bag, a pair of hand sticks are fastened to its ends; these are seized by two men and twisted round until the bag resembles a thick rope. Roe pickled and pressed in this way will keep a long time, and is very nutritious. The eggs of poultry or seafowl can in some countries be collected in considerable quantities and laid in as a store. Eggs boiled hard in a strong solution of salt keep well. They may also be preserved by first breaking them into boiling water, with a little salt dissolved in it, just as you would prepare poached eggs; boil for three or four minutes, and then take them out of the water; place them to drain, and when dry heat them on a thin iron sheet over the fire until deprived of moisture; they are then fit to pack away. To preserve native butter, first melt, then strain it through a cloth, boil it steadily in a camp kettle, skim off all the froth with a large shell, set in astick, until no more rises; then pour it whilst hot into leather bags or earthen jars to settle. Do not omit the straining process, or you will find more hairs in your butter than are agreeable. A search among the rocks, pools, and over the ledges on the seacoast will generally repay the food hunter. Shell fish, small crustaceas, and in some localities edible seaweeds, may be found; both lavar weed and caragreen moss will help to furnish out a meal. When shooting seafowl to help to fill the larder do not pick them; open the skin across the vent, taking care not to cut through into the abdominal cavity; turn back the skin with your knife, cut off the projection or oil gland, known as the parson’s nose, and then strip the skin forward, cutting off the legs at the knee-joints, wings at the pinions, and the head half way up the neck; now remove the entrails from your bird, wash it well in the sea, and if you have an onion or two for stuffing cut them up and put them in the bird, which may be sewn or skewered up, and then roasted. A sea bird makes a good grill if split down the back, pegged open with a stick, well peppered and salted, and then broiled over the embers. Captain Bligh found that by keeping seafowl in a hencoop and feeding them with grain that they became fat and of good flavour.
Snails form nutritious and wholesome food, as do the Unios and Adontas (popularly known as fresh-water mussels). These shells are to be found in most lakes and rivers. Fish of one kind or another will generally repay those who search for them.
Makeshift hooks.
makeshift hooks
The sea, estuaries, rivers, lakes, brooks, and ponds often yield an acceptable supply of food to the explorer, who usually adopts the most effective means of securing his prey, without troubling his head much as to whether the mode of capture is strictly sportsmanlike or not. The inhabitants of little known waters are not, as a rule, particularly shy in taking a bait; but some investigation will at times be needed to discover what description of fish are procurable before a successful plan for capturing them can be put in force. Sea fish are generally to be taken with small fish, pieces of fish, fish entrails; shellfish, such as mussels, clams, limpets, cockles, &c.; small strips of salt pork rind, the lug worms from the sand, and the rag worms from beneath stones and drift wood. Artificial baits, too, are often used with much advantage. The bowl of a common pewter spoon, mounted with a pair or three strong hooks, tied back to back, is an extremely killing lure for most predatory fish in both fresh and salt water. To mount and prepare one of these, it will be requisite to cut off the handle of the spoon close to the bowl. Drill a small hole just inside the point from which the stem has been taken off, and another at the small end. Loop through the hole at the large end a piece of strong fine line, about 4ft. long, and to this attach a swivel; then loop on 3ft. more line of the same description to the first swivel, and to the end of this attach a second swivel. A loop fastened to the end ring of this serves to attach the trace and spoon to the main line by. Gut or gimp may be used, instead of ordinary line, when it is desirable to fish “fine.” The hooks, either in the form of a “triangle” or simple pair, must be of size proportioned to the description of fish they are intended to catch; and, when securely attached to a 3-in. piece of very strong double gut, should be fastened to the hole in the small end of the spoon.When used with a rod the spoon is spun with, after the manner of any other spinning bait; but when used from a boat or canoe a lead of sufficient weight must be attached to the trace, in order to keep it some considerable distance below the surface, when, as the boat is urged onwards, its rapid revolutions and glittering, flickering play prove most fatally attractive. Many of the pearl-shell baits used by the South Sea Islanders are much the same in principle, only that the hooks they use are usually of shell, wood, or bone.South Sea islander hooksBoneta and albecore are at times taken in considerable numbers by making use of a rude imitation of the flying fish; and the form of this contrivance (represented at Fig. 4 in the accompanying illustration) will show that one need not despair of catching fish because he has no fish hook.Makeshift hooks.A piece of oak or other hard wood, about 7in. long, is procured. This is cut slightly tapering towards the tail, like the body of a fish. About 1in. from the tail a hole is bored, and through this a strong sharp nail, such as carpenters use, is driven obliquely. A few turns of twine round the wood and nail serve to prevent shifting or splitting. The “head” end of the stick has a notch cut round it to fasten the line to, and secure a couple of strips of white rag in, so that the free ends may represent the wings or fins of the fish. This affair, when finished and attached to a strong line, is cast into the sea, and kept leaping from wave to wave, when it is greedily seized by the pursuing boneta or albecore, who discovers when too late that, instead of securing a rich and palatable flying fish, he has swallowed a nail instead. The Esquimaux make an excellent substitute for a fish hook by scraping a strip of whalebone round and fine, and then binding on a piece of hard, finely-pointed bone at an acute angle, with a strip of sinew or split ground willow, as shown at Fig. 3. A sail needle may be made to do duty for a hook by attaching it to the line, as shown at Fig. 2.
The albatross can be conveniently taken when following a ship at sea by the use of a baited sailmaker’s hook. The point holds in the curved portion of the bird’s beak, whilst the swivel at its looped end prevents the line from twisting and becoming entangled. Fig. 1, p. 586, represents the manner in which this hook is formed.
catching albatross
The shanks of horse-nails make very good fish hooks. These, when filed down to the proper thickness, must be laid, one by one, in a narrow groove made in a piece of hard wood, and the barb struck up with a chisel or the sloped edge of a knife. One smart, well-directed blow on the instrument usually effects this. The point is now to be filed up sharp, the wire gently heated in the fire, and twisted with pliers—or, in the absence of these, a split stick—into proper hook form, when it is to be subjected to the case-hardening process. (See “Case-hardening.”) Hooks of any size may be made in this way, merely taking care to use good tough iron for the purpose.
Stout, large-sized needles may be used straight for the capture of eels and some other kinds of fish. When so used, the line is firmly secured by waxed thread or silk to the centre of the needle, which is baited by drawing a large worm or other bait over both needle and line, which, when so prepared, lie in a line with each other. On the fish swallowing the bait and the line being drawn tight, the needle at once becomes fixed across the throat, and thus holds the captive until dragged to the shore. The needle is then easily withdrawn by pressing back one end with a bit of stick.
Tackle, to select.
hand reel
We strongly advise the traveller to include in his list of stores a liberal supply of fish hooks of various sizes, for both sea and river fish, together with some strong brass swivels, a few hanks of stout gut, and fishing lines for river and sea fishing. The former should be of the kind known as prepared salmon line, and the latter hemp or cotton sea line. The sea lines should be all “barked” before use; any tanner will subject them to that process for a mere trifle. Lines so treated are infinitely more durable than those used in a raw state. It will sometimes happen that when separated from your stores, short of food, and with very few appliances with you, a catch of fish proves highly acceptable, and tackle of some kind has to be extemporised. We have had on many occasions to do this. Rods can be made very easily from tough sticks or bamboo canes. Fishing lines should never be put away wet, as they will soon decay, and become weak and unreliable.hand reelThe most portable and convenient form of hand reel we have ever used is made as follows: Two pieces of well-seasoned wood are cut flat, like stout round-ended paper knives. Two holes are burned or bored in each, as at 1 in the annexed illustration; then two round bars are cut with points and shoulders, as at 2. A cork bung is then fashioned and bored in the centre, as at 3; the hole in this admits one of the round bars, and serves to stick the points of the hooks in. No. 4 represents the frame or reel put together, and shows the position of the bung and the loop of the line. The ends or shoulder pieces of the round bars are secured by small pins driven through them. Reels of this description afford free ventilation to the lines coiled on them. They can be taken asunder in an instant, and will pack in a very small space.
Hints on tackle making.
We made an excellent outfit for fly-fishing in the Crimea as follows: We selected a set of straight tough dog-wood sticks from the fascines for the joints of our rod; these were feruled with tubes made from preserved-meat tins cut and soldered.The rings were made from wire buttons with the thread covering cut off; the line from hair pulled from the horses’ tails, twisted or laid up by the aid of a set of quill sticks, the use of which will be described as our work proceeds. The winch was made from a large-sized cotton reel mounted on a frame of forage hoop iron, and the handle from a piece of a broken Russian ramrod. We were often asked by envious fellow campaigners where we had picked up such an excellent fly-rod and fittings. Our having made it from the limited means at our disposal was never even suspected by them.
A dinner extemporised.
The following adventure will serve to illustrate the manner in which a little ingenuity will often procure a dinner. Our little party encamped one morning, after a very long fatiguing night march in Bengal, under the shelter of an immense banyan tree which grew on the banks of a deep reed-fringed lake. A small native village, situated at no great distance, had been pillaged and deserted some time before, and a miserable pariah dog or two wandering disconsolately about between the huts, and a few inquisitive-looking crows perched on the roofs, were the only living creatures to be discovered. No land of Canaan was this; commons of the very shortest kind stared us unpleasantly in the face. Still we had some bags of grain of the country, and a little “ghee” or native butter. An old corn mill, of the “quern” pattern before described, was foraged out from some forgotten nook or corner, and set to work preparing flour. A needle from the doctor’s instrument case, when heated in the fire and bent to a proper form, made a very tolerable hook; a skein of his suture silk, a line; a bamboo cane, pulled from the roof of a hut, a rod; a bit of bark with a stick through it made a float; a few shot, split with a knife, sinkers; and some beetle larvæ, which were routed out of a decayed log, formed a very toothsome bait. The lake was clearly our larder, and to it we betook ourselves with as little delay as possible, the long cane over one shoulder, a double-barrelled gun over the other, and a leather bucket swung over the arm in lieu of a fishing creel. No Waltonian enticements in the shape of ground bait were needed here; the bait was hardly out of sight before the float vanished, and then, on the “haul devil, pull baker” principle, out our floundering victims came amongstthe sedges and reeds. A shrill blast on our railway whistle not only brought one of the sable camp followers to carry the welcome capture to the cook, but roused six or eight large grey wild ducks, which had lain like so many water rails amongst the tall reeds, and sent them with outstretched necks and whistling wing wheeling round the lake, when by dropping under a hollow bank and keeping well down we lulled suspicion, and the flock come cutting the air right overhead. Now is our time, and, pitching the heavy double well before them, we let drive in rapid succession the two charges of big shot. Three thumping ducks come like clods to the earth; a few feathers drift off on the wind far in the rear of the survivors, who do not linger on the wing; and little did we care where their flight might lead them—our hunter’s dinner had been earned, and in less than two hours from its obtainment was duly cooked, eaten, and its merits discussed.
Alligators, to catch.
hook for catching alligator
A very effective contrivance for taking caymans or alligators was made use of by Waterton’s followers in British Guiana. The annexed illustration represents a modification of it. Two or more tough fire-hardened sticks are notched at the large end like the head of a tent peg, and barbed at the point like a straightened fish hook. The notched ends are bound fast with raw hide lashings to a stout rope, which has been served for about 6ft. or 7ft. with stout wire. When this contrivance is to be used, the barbed tines and rope are thickly wound round with the entrails of some animal, and then suspended just above the water by supporting the rope on an upright crutch, which is so adjusted as to give way on the bait being taken. When the whole mass has been pouched by the alligator, and the rope is hauled on, the tines open, catch across the gullet, and act as a hook. We have heard of alligators being destroyed by inclosing a canister of powder, with the wires of a galvanic battery attached to it, in the offal of any animal; this, when fitted with a line and float, was cast into the water, and, on a bite being perceived, the connection of the circuit was made, when the alligator was shattered by the force of the explosion which followed.
FISH SPRING.
FISH SPRING.
Alligators, to baffle.
Alligators are incorrigible pests to the fisherman, waiting until the fish is securely hooked, and then carrying it off, line and all. The following plan is the best we know to baffle the greedy marauders. Strong flexible sticks, like small fishing rods, are to be cut, taking care to select such as have lateral branches some distance down. One of these is to be cut to about 2in. from the main stem, and a notch made in its end for a button on the line to catch in, as shown in the above illustration. This, when freed by the biting of the fish, allows the rod to spring smartly up, and swing the fish high enough to be beyond the reach of the prowling pirate.
Liggers and trimmers.
A variety of fish may be taken in ponds and lakes by the use of inflated bladders, of which several can be used at once. They are thus prepared. The bladder, after being well filled with air by blowing into it through a quill or bit of cane, must have its neck securely tied up with twine, and to this fastening a piece of stick the size of the little finger must be attached, so that it forms a sort of stem-like appendage to the bladder. The line, with the baited hook attached, is now to be knotted fast to the centre of the stem, and then wound on it just as thread is wound on a reel. The lower end of the stick or stem must now have a slit made in it. The line, when pulled into this, should have just a sufficient length to hang freely in the water. The bladder is now to be taken to the windward side of the pond or lake, and cast adrift. On the bait being seized by the fish, the line is jerked from the slit.The bladder, revolving on its own axis, allows the coil to unwind from the stem, and from its extreme buoyancy soon tires out the largest captive, whose position it serves to indicate to the fisherman, who gathers up his prizes at his leisure from his canoe or reed boat. Bundles of rushes, large corks, empty bottles, and a number of other things, can be used as substitutes for the bladders. Contrivances of this kind are commonly called “trimmers” or “liggers.” Large turnips are often used by poachers to mount lines on for the capture of pike in preserves, as, unless rather experienced hands, the keepers do not suspect the dangerously destructive character of these floating roots.
BARBEL LINE.
BARBEL LINE.
On the Vaal River, in South Africa, we caught barbel up to 27lb. weight by thus using an empty powder canister; but it was anchored in mid stream by a stone not heavy enough to prevent a large fish from dragging it. This was left all night, and if in the morning it was missing from its place, a black boy was sent up or down to discover it. Our canoe was then launched, and the prize secured. If barbel were fished for, the hook was allowed nearly to reach the bottom; if otherwise, it was kept but a little below the surface. Frogs were generally used as bait. If the fisherman is not occupied as we were by other work, and can spare the time, or does not possess a canoe, he may make fast a sufficiently strong hauling line, and so bring his capture to theshore whenever he wishes. The method of arranging this contrivance is shown in the preceding illustration.
Otters, to make.
“The otter” is another contrivance with which great numbers of fish are often taken, and thus it is made: Procure a piece of very light strong wood, and from it fashion a board 22in. long, 9in. wide, and 2in. thick. Trim the ends to a sharp edge, and round them off in boat form. Then, on that portion which would correspond with the keel of a boat, fasten a long strip of lead of the same thickness as the board, and so adjust its weight that, when your board with its lead keel on is placed in water, about 1in. only of the upper edge appears above the surface. Two holes are then to be bored at each end, and through these two separate strings are to be passed, and the ends so knotted as to prevent them from pulling through the holes. The loops thus formed must be just long enough to come in contact in the centre of the board. Four knots will thus be on one side of the board, and the loops the other. A 4-in. piece of very strong, stiff brass wire must now be used to connect the two loops, and on this a stout ring must be placed so that it may travel forward and back on the wire. To this ring the main line on which the hooks are fastened is to be attached by a loop and swivel. To work the otter, it will be necessary to launch it in the water, and walk away along the bank until it runs out with the line, which is coiled on a wooden frame or reel and carried in the hand. The otter travels backward or forward according to the direction in which the string or line is pulled, and is in principle much like a paper kite, the loops performing the part of the “belly-band.”
Ground lines, to manage.
night line
Ground lines often well repay the trouble bestowed on setting them. They are best made of strong, fine hempen line. A heavy rifle ball or other suitable weight must be fastened to one end, and a pointed peg to the other. A number of hooks on twisted horsehair traces are to be looped on, at equal distances apart, at the end nearest the sinker. The line when duly baited and pegged fast to the bank is to be taken on a long fork-ended stick, so that the end has a swing of about 8ft. or 9ft. With this the baits and sinker can be cast a very long distance out; and when it is requisite to take up the line to re-bait or take offfish, the fork is again made use of to draw it over, and thus keep the hooks clear of the bank. When using a night line, it is a good plan to fasten the shore end to a tough branch twisted in the form shown in the annexed illustration, as by the play it affords when the fish makes a sudden rush the line is saved from being broken.
Traveller, to make.
Wide pools in rivers and the stretches of sea beach frequented by fish at the rising of the tide are conveniently fished by the use of a “traveller.” This is simply a double line with one half only mounted with hooks. It is thus used: At dead low water a heavy stone is procured, and round it is placed a piece of strong cord, to the end of which is fastened a link of chain, the bow of an old key, a slice from the end of a marrow bone, or a common curtain ring; and through this one end of the doubled line is passed, and brought back to the standing place of the fishermen. As the tide flows and approaches the shore, that half of the line without hooks is drawn in, which, of course, causes the drawing out of that half provided with them. A small cross stick knotted to the centre of the line prevents the first hook from passing through the ring and causing entanglements. As fish are caught, or the bait requires renewing, the line is hauled out and pulled back again to its old position without the trouble of casting. By this method a much larger space can be covered by the tackle than could be commanded by the ordinary method.
Harpoon arrow.
The harpoon arrow is at times a very effective means of securing fish, especially when they are basking on the surface of the water or among the weeds. The arrow-head is made from a large-sized sea-fish hook, heated in the fire and straightened. This when cut to the right length is secured to the shaft of the arrow with waxed thread. A small loop is also fastened on, to attach the harpoon line by. This should be composed of very fine strong line; and when about to be used it is coiled carefullyaway in a small wooden bowl or calabash. The bow should be rather short, and of considerable power. A little practice at floating corks or other light substances will soon serve to teach the method of discharging the harpoon and adjusting the line.