Damaras hut
The box made of stiff leather, in which they carry grease and red ochre, may also be here; but, with the exception of their cattle, the Damaras seldom possess much more property than can be carried on the person.
The huts of the Berg Damaras are still more primitive; and sometimes they seek no other shelter than one or two small bushes, the lower branches of which are cut away, while the upper ones are brought together and interwoven—others being added if needful—and grass thrown loosely over all.
Indeed, small trees, with the lower branches cleared away, and the upper ones drawn together and interlaced, form very convenienthuts or arbours. The Bechuana women, in making a kraal, beat the mimosa branches on the ground till they flatten them into a fan-like form, then they plant them side by side and interlace the branches.
Hottentot rush mats
The Namaqua Hottentots, the Makobas or canoemen of the Bō-tlét-lē River, and many of the Bechuana tribes in the Orange River Sovereignty and elsewhere, build hemispherical frames of flexible wands, and cover them with mats of rushes like cheese mats. These are very neatly made. The Hottentots use flat awls, 18in. or 20in. long, for this purpose, but the Makoba awl is not more than 5 in. or 6 in. Small thongs of dressed antelope skin, or cords twisted from the fibres of different plants, are used for sewing the mats. These might be easily made by a traveller needing them, and he could best do it by having two or three needles of any convenient length, from 4in. or 5in. to 20in.; they should be flattened at the point, and pierced with an eye to carry the cord on which the reeds are strung. The most convenient method would be to fix the needles upright at the proper distance from each other, and then press upon them as many rushes as their length would allow; these, with the strings drawn through, should then be removed, and a fresh set threaded on, care being taken to see that the strings are kept clear, so that they reeve consecutively through all the rushes, and make a smooth uniform mat. Generally, however, it will be found that, where the proper materials grow, the natives will make and sell them cheaply enough. Mats of this description are much used by the natives of North-West America in hut building; the needles used in that country are not unfrequently 5ft. long.
Crook and prong house, to build.
It often becomes necessary for the traveller, if he contemplates a stay of a few months, or even weeks, in any one place, to build hisown hut; and it is as well that this should be, if possible, somewhat superior in size and form to the dwellings of the natives around him. If the nature of the ground and the materials at hand will admit of it, this may as well be a house regularly walled and roofed, and at least the four corner posts, as well as the two which support the gables, should be firmly let into the ground. If care is taken to cut all these with a fork, so that the ridge pole of the roof may rest in the forks of the gable poles, and the wall plates in those of the four corner posts, the building will be much stronger, and the work greatly facilitated. The rafters may also have forks, which can rest upon the wall plate, but this would leave the thickest part of the branches upward; a little labour in thinning them off would remedy this, or they might, in favourable localities, be so chosen that it would be of very little consequence. Every alternate rafter should be reversed, so that its forks might help to support the battens. All the poles forming the side walls should have forks to help to support the wall plate, and those which form the sides of the doors or windows should be so selected that smaller forks, at the proper height, would serve to receive the sills of the door and windows. Such a frame as this would present the greatest amount of strength and firmness with the least possible necessity for lashing, pegging, or other fastening.
house construction
The sketch of the framework of a house indicates the manner inwhich the forks and branches may be used to the best advantage. If trees of proper size are abundant, the builder will be able to choose them so as to suit their places, with as much regularity as indicated in the drawing; if not, he must make the best of the materials.
The smaller framework beside it represents that of a hut we built at Depôt Creek. We set up three forked poles as a triangle at either end, laid a ridge pole between them, and lashed it firmly there. Rafters and battens were added, and we stripped off large sheets of tea-tree bark (Eucalyptus melaleuca?) to cover it. We also obtained some of the white-barked red-gum tree (Eucalyptus resinifera); but this is more brittle, and did not answer so well.
roof construction
The roof may be covered with the reed mats already spoken of, one or two thicknesses of which, if the roof has a pitch ofnot lessthan 45°, will suffice to keep out rain; or it may be thatched with grass, reeds, or the broad leaves of the fan palm-remembering that, whatever material is used, it will cast off water much better if the point of the leaf is downward. The lowest course will be laid and securely fastened first; then the next, overlapping it; and so on to the top. This may be done by simply lashing the stalks of each course to the proper batten; or a thatching needle may be made of wood, smooth and flat, an inch or more in breadth, and pierced near the point with an eye to carry the lashing. The inner bark of many trees, though unfit to make cord which is to remain permanently flexible, will answer very well for this purpose; for if stripped as required, and used while still wet, it will tie in any knot, and bear straining tightly. It will hold well enough when dry, though it would not again bear working up, on account of its brittleness. The leaves of thePhormiumtenax, of New Zealand, which grow much like those of the common flag, are very generally used in that country, just as they are gathered, for binding various matters. Excellent twine, thread, cloth, and rope are made from the fibre, as will be seen as our work proceeds.
The walls may be filled up, according to taste or necessity, with mats or reeds; or, if permanent shelter from bad weather is required, nothing is better than wattle and daub, and if the wattling is carefully done, and good clay or broken ant-hills and “kraal mist” used for the daub, a very neat job may be made of it. We have shared the hut of a sergeant of Sappers in the forest of the Pierie Hills in Kafirland, where he had a clay hearth, and wattle and daub chimney, and, though a roaring fire was kept up, he did not anticipate any danger. He had charge of a party who were cutting timber, and one noble “yellow wood” they had just felled was no less than 7ft. diameter at its base. The bush vines hung in long straight lines, like ropes from the upper branches of this tree; and on one of these, 60ft. or 80ft. long, and not more than an inch thick, the sergeant, who was a heavy man, raised himself, and swung to and fro without fear of breaking it. In fact, these vines may be used while green for many of the purposes of rope or cord. We have disentangled nearly 30ft., as fine and almost as tough as a small fishing line, from the forest in front of the Victoria Falls, and rolled it into a small coil; but once dry, it becomes brittle, and cannot be straightened. Some of these vines bear fruit, which, though not equal to the cultivated grape, is by no means to be despised.
When looking for a spot along the banks of the Zambesi on which to establish a camp and rebuild our boat, in September, 1862, Ave were warned by the natives who came to meet us against the pretty little sequestered spots beside the tributary rivulets, as they were certain to be infested by mosquitoes. We, therefore, having in view also the probability of being obliged to stay far into the unhealthy season, tried back about a mile, and selected a limestone spur which had a small valley between it and the higher range in its rear.
raising a roof
Roof, to raise.
This we named Logier Hill, after our old and steadfast friend in Cape Town; and, setting to work with a keen American felling axe, cut down the thorns and brushwood on the top, while the peopleassisted us in cutting or dragging the fallen bushes to the verge. Three mimosas, which were in a good position, we left standing, and added one for the fourth corner post. Then selecting flexible branches, we framed upon the ground an oval of corresponding size; on this with lighter poles (most of them the young straight branches of the “kookom boyou,” a gigantic sterculia in general appearance, somewhat resembling the baobab), we framed a roof similar in form to that of a marquee, using for lashings the inner bark, stripped from the branches just mentioned. To lift this, as its weight was considerable in proportion to its strength, and all the people were away collecting poles or grass for the completion of our huts, was rather difficult, but we had fortunately a small coil of manilla line and a few blocks. With two of these we made a tackle, and lifting one side of the roof 2ft., supported it by a forked branch while we raised the rest, shoring it in the same manner all round, and then lifting it again and supporting it on longer forks till it was high enough to be fastened securely in its place. We placed forked uprights under it at proper intervals, but as the eaves projected considerably we did not find it necessary to close in the walls, but when the rain came on laid fresh poles upon the roof and thatched it with grass and reeds to the ground. For central supports we took two forked poles, and instead of setting them upright at thetwo ends of the ridge pole gained additional rigidity by crossing them like an X, and lashing them together in the centre. At one end, raised upon forks above 18in. high, we made a platform of small poles as straight as we could get them to serve for a bed, and when a buffalo was shot spread over it the dried hide to level it a little more. This platform was continued all round between the uprights and the eaves, and various stores were laid on it.
One advantage here was the immunity from the ravages of the white ant, which is seldom found in a limestone country. But as the rainy season came on hosts of the destructive little white-shouldered beetle that feeds on skins, preserved hides, and specimens of all kinds—seeming rather to enjoy arsenic soap and other preservatives—ravaged everything made of untanned leather; while other kinds, larger and still more unpleasant to the eye and touch, would actually commence eating the velschoens off our feet during the short meal time.
We should have preferred reeds for thatching, as when laid at a sufficient angle, say anything above 45°, they cast off water perfectly, although if laid at a lower angle they might be by no means water-proof. Of course the cut ends of the stems must be upward, and the leaves pointing down, or the water will be retained, and allowed to leak through instead of being thrown off; and this rule holds good when grass or such like material is used. If the roof of the hut be conical, the ends may simply be brought up and tied tightly together, or they may be worked into an ornamental form like those of the Bechuana (see p. 281). If it has a ridge as ours had, it must be covered with a horizontal layer, sufficiently thick to keep the water from insinuating itself between the meeting of the two sides.
In our own house we stretched the sails of our boat and calico tent within the roof to keep off any leakage during heavy showers, and added fresh poles and grass to the outside. Sir Richard Glyn, who visited the hill after we had been compelled to abandon it, and who returned to England before us, reported that our house was the strongest building of the kind he had ever seen.
Bamboos, for building.
In countries like the Indian islands, where bamboo can be obtained in any quantity and of any size, from a reed fit for a lady’s arrow to one big enough for the mast of a small sloop, it is easy enoughto build a house; the extreme strength and lightness of the material, with its glossy surface and neat and uniform appearance, rendering it in every sense most valuable for such purposes. Poles of uniform size may be planted closely so as to form a wall, or pillars may be placed more or less apart, and mats or blinds of smaller reeds, or larger ones split up, may occupy the intervals. Balconies, strong and sufficiently ornamental, may be formed; and the eaves of the roof may be made to project to any distance, so as to form an effectual verandah; while palisades or fences of any form or height may be constructedad libitum.
Bamboo, from its polished siliceous covering, is, externally at least, proof against the ravages of the white ant, which destroys without mercy all the softer kinds of wood and vegetable or animal fibre, whether in the form of boxes, furniture, books, clothing, specimens of natural history or botany, drawings, or articles of necessity or luxury of any kind.
If thunderstorms are frequent or dangerous, a glass bottle on the highest point of the roof will act as a non-conductor, and may not unfrequently avert the flash that might otherwise destroy the building. It is not always, however, effectual.
Doors and gates, to make and hang.
Doors or gates may be made as closely worked or as open as may be desired; and, while upon this subject, it may be as well to mention a very convenient way of hanging them in the absence of regular hinges. The hinge side of the door or gate should be a standard of some strength, to which all the rest is framed and securely fastened with pegs or lashings; round this and the corresponding doorpost a strap or thong of leather or cord should be passed in figure of 8 fashion to form each hinge, or it may simply be passed round both and “seized” between them with smaller cords. This, however, will not hold the door with sufficient stiffness to let it swing true and easily; therefore, take a common ale or porter bottle, bury it neck downwards in the ground, leave the lower end of the standard somewhat longer than the door, point it a little, and insert it in the hollow at the bottom of the bottle—the gate will swing fairly on such a pivot, as it never gets out of order, and it may almost be said will never wear out.
making a gate
The gate itself (Fig. 1) may be built of rough branches—one tolerably stout limb, for the hinge or swinging side, should have a good branch projecting from its lower part diagonally upwards to the upper part of the latch side; another fork, with its branches as nearly at right angles as possible, will form the latch side and top rail; and a third will make the lower one. Never be in a hurry to trim off small branches; generally they will weave in and add to the strength; and, if not, they are easily cut off afterwards. When the posts are set up on the ground, it is as well to char the ends as a protection against damp or wood-destroying insects; cut notches near the ends, and in them wedge good heavy stones—they will keep the posts firm, and in countries where there is frost nothing else can prevent their rising out of the ground. We found this arrangement very valuable in the Crimea. It is not necessary that the bottle should be whole; if the “cup” under the bottom is perfect, the broken edges of the sides will give it additional firmness.
In Fig. 2 the gate post has a fork, and another on the branch serving as the top rail makes the upper hinge. One of the other branches has a fork projecting from the lower angle and working on the gate post as a cutter’s gaff does on the mast. This is easy to make, can be unshipped at a moment’s notice, and hung up again as readily. Fig. 3 is a more regularly made gate on the same principle. The top rail has a holeworking on the thinned upper part of the gate post, which is pierced with holes, and has a peg so that the gates may be raised or lowered as required; the lower part works on the gaff principle.
It is generally desirable to hang a gate so that it may shut of itself after it has been opened; and to ensure this, if iron hook and staple hinges can be had, let the hook of the upper hinge project a little farther from the gate post than the lower one, as in Fig. 5. If it is requisite that the gate should remain open—which is sometimes, though not often, the case—the upper hook should project less than the lower, as in Fig. 4. Generally, if the hinges be equal, the gate will hang in whatever position it may be left; but if the post inclines from the perpendicular to right or left, the gate will swing to the same side.
Very good standards for fences may be made by cutting half mortices in the opposite sides of a squared log, 4ft. or 5ft. long, as in Fig. 6, then cutting it into planks, and, before these are quite detached, sawing it down in the direction of the diagonal line; a pair of these are matched together, as in Fig. 7, and the lower end morticed into a flat plank so far as to let one hole come below it to receive a key to fix it there. The horizontal plank should rest upon a short log at each end, and it may be held in place by a couple of notched pegs driven into the ground.
Walls, to build.
Many of the natives of South Africa are very handy at building rough stone walls; but they require an overseer to insure the proper binding of the stones as they are laid. Some of their own countrymen may be found with skill enough for this. It is no use to build up two fair faces, as in Fig. 8, and then fill up the middle with loose stones—their weight would be sure to force out the sides and bring down the whole structure; but large flat stones should be chosen, as in Fig. 9, to reach either quite through the wall, or at least so far that the stones on the other side may meet and have a bond with them. Such walls, miles in length, are built without cement of any kind. If galvanised iron wire is to be used for fencing, to support upright rails, it is a good plan to have two rail-heads fixed at the proper distance, and to make the turns of the wire on these to insure each loop being equidistant, as in Fig. 10.
Chalk lines and measuring lines of all kinds suffer from being coiled or rolled up by hand—turns and kinks are put on or taken out of them; and it is much better to have reels, either like the log-reel of a ship, or like Fig. 11 (seep. 290), where a peg in the circumference of the disc serves as the crank by which to wind it up.
raising a screen
Plank screens to make.
Effective screens can be readily extemporised with planks of any kind and ropes; the simplest plan is to double the rope, making one part somewhat longer than the breadth of all the planks to be used, and leaving whatever spare end may be upon the other to hoist the screen by when finished. The first plank is laid in the bight of the rope, the two parts of which are then crossed and the next plank laid between them; they are crossed again for the third plank, and so on till all are inclosed. If there is not an eye on the shorter end of the rope, make a bow-line knot or two half hitches on it (see “Knots and Hitches”), and pass the longer end through; then lead the spare line at each end of your screen over the forks of trees, or sheer legs, or whatever support you mean to use, and hoist away simultaneously and carefully; for this arrangement, though perfectly strong and secure while every part remains in its proper place, is most easily disarranged; and in fact the great advantage of it is that, when no longer required, it can be shaken to pieces like a house of cards, leaving neither holes or imperfections in the planks nor kinks or knots in the rope. We have shown the boards rather far apart in our illustration for the sake of distinctness, they will lie closer, but they must always be separate by more than the thickness of the rope. They may be made to lie closer by omitting to cross the ropes and “stopping” them together with small cord, as in Fig. 2; or a perfectly weather-proof wall with overlapping edges may be obtained by looping the rope into a chain, as in Fig. 3, taking care to make thelower link well fast, for on this the security of the whole depends. To take this to pieces nothing more is necessary than to slip each loop off the end of the plank; let go the fastening of the lower end, and all the links of the rope chain will shake out.
Plank screens
Great firmness may be imparted to any of these arrangements by placing a small pole inside, and securing every plank to it by successive hitches of a smaller line, as in Fig. 4; or, if stouter poles be used, the walls may be built up in this manner, commencing from the bottom plank and fastening the upper ones as you go on. Each plan will have its advantages under peculiar circumstances. In the Indian islands, large hollow bamboos are either split into three or four parts, making somewhat rounded narrow planks, or an incision is made in the side of the cane, when it is opened out, laid flat, pressed, and converted into a single plank. Movable screens of considerable size are made in the same manner as in Figs. 1 and 2 already referred to.
Makeshift shelves.
A shelf is easily made by piercing holes in the four corners of a plank, passing lines through, and suspending it to a beam. A very neat set of bookshelves may be obtained by doubling two cords of sufficient length, working an eye in the bight of each, passing the ends down through the holes in the first plank, and turning double knots on them, so that it hangs fairly; then passing them through the next and knotting them, and successively through as many more planks as you require shelves.
Reed houses, screens, and sheds.
We have seen houses built by traders or missionaries almost entirely of reeds, some of which grow from 10ft. to 20ft. long and more than 1in. thick. Bundles of these, with the thin ends and butts reversed, and overlapping each other so as to equalise their strength as much as possible, are laid on the ground to serve for top, bottom, and centre battens; thenacross these the reeds are distributed in two or three layers, according to the required thickness of the wall; other battens are laid on the upper side to correspond with those below, and the cords—slips of bark, palm leaf, twisted grass rope, or thin and flexible forest creepers—are passed through to bind the whole tightly together. If a number of these are made say 12ft. or 15ft. square, they may easily be arranged on the framework of a house, or set up as a continuous fence. A trench is dug about 1ft. deep, the screen inserted in it, the earth well pressed down, and support is given either by shores, if needful, or by the next screen forming an angle with the first. If the wood of the country is more available for making hurdles, they can be used in the same manner.
reed walls
We have had very excellent temporary stables and sheds erected in Central India, composed entirely of poles, cords, and grass, forming what is called “chupper” screens. These are formed by laying together double poles; in the space left between these poles long tufts of jungle grass are arranged, until the whole frame is filled up, when the sticks or poles, being tightly drawn together with cord, the grass is nipped between them, as shown in the above illustration. When in the Tartar country, we saw a number of very comfortable huts made by cutting out a kind of notch in the hill side. The space thus formed was first framed over with strong poles, and then covered with brushwood; a layer of turf covered all, and soon took root, forming feeding grounds for whole families of goats, which walked about on the houses quite at home. The fronts of these hill dwellings were composed of wicker work, plastered with clay. Logs were hollowed out by the Tartars almost as thin as paper, when their ends were stopped with clay. In those the bees laid up their stores of honey, which was taken as required, without disturbing the industrious swarm in the next log.The annexed illustration represents one of these huts and a pile of bee logs.
Defensible farm-houses.
During the Kafir war we visited the homestead of a Scottish farmer, who, although upon the very border, had gallantly determined to stand his ground, and to that end he had built a small defensible tower; the flat roof covered with raw hides, and surrounded by a loopholed parapet, and the only door fronted by a solid shield of brickwork, with a small aperture on one side, so that an enemy attempting to enter must do it in a stooping position, and before he could turn and straighten himself in the doorway, must present his head in the most convenient possible position to have it split by the defenders.A large water cask was kept filled in the fort, and even should the enemy gain possession of the lower room the women and children could still be tolerably safe in the upper, except from random shots fired upwards through the floor, and which of course could be returned in the same manner from above. Against fire their only defence lay in the supply of water we have already mentioned, but care was taken to have nothing inflammable in the lower room. There was no staircase; the ladder would be drawn up through the trap. The beams and flooring would require a considerable blaze to ignite them, and against any quantity ofmaterial being brought in for that purpose the defenders relied upon their rifles, or no less deadly smooth bores, loaded with loopers or buck shot.
Blockhouse.
Blockhouse, among military edifices, is, as its name implies, a building constructed chiefly of timber. If alone, it constitutes an independent fort; if formed in the interior of a field-work, it becomes a retrenchment or redoubt, and serves to protect the defenders from the inclemency of the weather when the work is occupied during a considerable time, or to prolong the defence when the work is attacked, and after it is taken to enable the garrison to obtain a capitulation. When the blockhouse is to be employed only as a retrenchment, its plan is generally a simple rectangle, and its walls consist of a single row of piles placed upright in the ground. These are pierced with loopholes at the distance of 3ft. from each other, in order that the building may be defended by a fire of rifles from within. The roof is formed by laying timbers horizontally across the inclosed area and covering them with fascines and earth. The interior breadth of the building may be from 18ft. to 20ft., in order to allow a passage between the two rows of bedsteads. These are placed with their heads to the side walls, and serve as stages on which the men may stand to fire through the loopholes when the latter are much elevated above the floor. In a mountainous country the blockhouse possesses great advantages over an ordinary field fort, inasmuch as the interior of the latter would be incessantly ploughed up by the fire of artillery directed into it by the enemy from the surrounding heights. Here, then, the blockhouse may with propriety be constructed as an independent work; its plan may have re-entering angles, or be in the form of a cross, in order to allow the faces to be defended by flanking fires from the rifles and revolvers from within; and the walls may be thick enough to resist even the shot from 9-pounder guns. For this purpose they must be made by planting parallel to each other, at a distance of 3 ft. or 4ft., two rows of strong piles, those in each row being close together, and the interval between the rows being filled with earth up to the height of the loopholes, which should never be immediately under the roof of the building. The roof must be made shell proof, as before; but it hasbeen recommended, when the work is not overlooked by the enemy, and when its breadth will permit, to have the piles forming the side walls long enough to arise above the roof, and, either alone or with a mass of earth behind them, to serve as a parapet.
Where blockhouses have to be constructed among hostile or doubtful Indian tribes, who are not the possessors of artillery, the fascine and earth roof and double rows of piles may be easily and safely dispensed with.
Logs, squared with the axe and laid on each other, may be substituted for piles with advantage, as the labour of planting firmly in the earth so many ponderous beams of wood is considerable. It is well, in building a blockhouse, to construct a raised breastwork of small logs round the margin of the roof; these may be roughly squared and doweled together with short wooden pins. The roof itself should, after shingling, have a goodly layer of sand, earth, or raw hides laid over it in order to guard against the fire-tipped arrows of hostile savages. A few auger holes here and there serve to carry off rain water or melted snow, and the log breastwork can be both loopholed and fired over with ease.
Frontier blockhouses are usually built of squared logs of timber dowelled together; loopholes are made for firing rifles through, and portholes for one or two iron guns. Some frontier posts are merely squares of heavy log palisades, with all the requisite offices and buildings erected within them. A banquet runs from end to end of each side of the square in order that the defenders may command the attacking force. All trees and bushes within long shooting range are carefully removed so that there shall be no cover.
Waggon burgs, to make.
Bands of travellers in Africa not unfrequently so arrange their waggons as to form substantial defences against the attacks of hostile natives. We have often assisted in forming these so-called “waggon burgs.” They are made as follows: One waggon, with all the women, children, and ammunition, is placed in the centre. Others are drawn up, each with its inner fore wheel nearly touching the outer hind wheel of the one before it, and forming just such an angle with it that the dozen or thereabouts of vehicles form an almost perfect circle, their poles andtrek gear extending on the outside, so that the oxen can again be yoked to each without disorder or confusion. There is room inside for the horses and cattle beside the defenders; and, should danger be imminent, the waggons can be locked together by the drag chains, and all the interstices choked with thorn bushes, the stems of which thrust inward would be securely fastened by pegs driven into the ground, or by lashing branches, cut short for the purpose, to the inner wheels, or by “reims” or thongs reeved through the bifurcations; while the tangled branches would oppose a barrier that no enemy could force in the face of the bullets or the small shot that would be poured through. The gear of the oxen would also be brought in and used in strengthening the defences.
waggon burg
Farm and village, to fortify.
In rendering a farmhouse defensible regard must be had to the character of the expected enemy. In countries like South Africa, where the main object of the Kafir is the acquisition of cattle, the house ought to command and protect the kraal, the fence of which will often of itself form a shelter for the crafty foe. It is usually circular, as this form is most easily made, and will inclose the greatest number of cattle, with a given amount of material; but, if it were made triangular, with bastions on the two angles nearest, the guns of the defenders would sweep the other two sides, their fire crossing at the farthestangle, and leaving no place for an enemy to conceal himself. The house itself, with its outbuildings, should if possible be in the form of a square, inclosing as large a courtyard as is convenient for the accommodation of the defenders and their allies, and on emergencies for their horses, with a few sheep or oxen. If there be a spring or well in it so much the better; a ledge or bank, 18in. or 2ft. high, should run along the inside of the wall, so that the loopholes may be too high for the enemy to look in at or fire through; and there should be small chambers projecting from the angles, or at least from two diagonally opposite loopholed, so that each can enfilade two sides of the wall.
ENTRENCHED VILLAGE OF OBJIMBENGUE.
ENTRENCHED VILLAGE OF OBJIMBENGUE.
But perhaps it will be better, instead of describing an ideal defensible homestead, to give an example of a real one, which, though not quite perfect in a military view, was as nearly so as the accommodation required for the traffic and the work carried on there would allow. Our illustration is a plan, drawn from memory, of the village of Objimbengue, to the south of which (Fig. 1) is the flat sandy bed, 400yds. wide, of the Swakop River, filled only during the flooded season, but in the dry retaining a vast amount of water beneath the sand, while a little rivulet represented by the faint line appears here and there upon the surface. Fig. 2 is a low bank or foreshore, overgrown with wild tamarisks or dabbie bushes, and partly cleared for a garden (Fig. 3) in which is a well, and used in other places for corn land, care being taken to reap the crop before there is any possibility of its being swept away by the floods of the next season.On the east of the village is a small tributary, generally dry, called the Artip (Fig. 4), and beyond this, and the limits of the picture, would be the Mission House of Regterveldt and the Damara village, with its curious entrenchments scattered without order, but not without great judgment, over the face of the hill wherever a few men could find a place to shoot from. The trench (Fig. 5), fronted by the mound of earth thrown out of it, and by a breastwork of dabbie logs, made by the Damaras, formed the outer line of defence of his homestead, and he could in emergency have depended on a thousand men to man it. Fig. 6 is the opening for the southern road leading across the river from the country of the hostile Namaquas. Fig. 7, the road leading from Walvisch Bay; and Fig. 8, the continuation of it toward Lake Ngami, and Fig. 9 is the steep edge, 15ft. or 20ft. high, of the plain, on which the village is built. Fig. 10 is a small breastwork for a brass 1-pounder gun commanding the southern road, and Fig. 11 for another sweeping the open space to the south-east, where, in fact, an attack actually took place. The guns were, however, usually kept beside the house, where one served as a time gun, and they could easily be moved whenever they were wanted. Fig. 12 was a dwelling-house; the central space is open and would serve as a shelter for native fugitives, for horses, sheep, and a few of the most valuable working oxen; the front is composed of a voor-house or entrance-hall, usually occupied for general family purposes and reception of visitors, and before it is a verandah.
At each angle are rooms used as sitting or bed chambers; on the western side are spare chambers for the reception of guests; in the rear are kitchen, bath-room, and other offices; and on the east are store-rooms and the entrance gate. Fig. 13 is the wheelwright and waggon maker’s shop; Fig. 14, the smithy; Fig. 15, the sawpit; Fig. 16, the tiring plate; Fig. 17, small trenches with angular mounds before them, commanding the eastern gate of the village; Fig. 18, the graveyard; Fig. 19, the workmen’s cottages; Fig. 20, the slaughter-house and waggon-shed; the walls of all these buildings being musket-proof, and the windows more or less convenient for firing from. Figs. 21 and 22 are stoutly stockaded cattle kraals; they were both square, but the triangular outline of Fig. 21shows what would be gained in defensibility and lost in accommodation by adopting that form; Fig. 22 has small “scherms” at the angles protected by the fire from the house, and commanding the other two sides; Fig. 23 is a storehouse, adding but little to the strength of the position, but indispensable for its use. The dotted lines indicate the directions of effective fire from the dwelling-house.
In most frontier villages the church, as the most substantial building, is used as a place of refuge, and as a last stronghold against savage assailants; and on the east coast, the natives, when they throw up a rough tower of defence, always call it by the Portuguese name, “Egregia,” or church.
Churches, to fortify.
We have seen the church at Shiloh converted into a very pretty little fortification by one of our own engineer officers. Bastions were raised at the angles of the outer wall, the building itself was unthatched, and a breastwork, with loopholes, raised upon the walls.
We have known friends who have had to entrench their waggons for months among tribes whose friendship was dubious; and they seemed to prefer that, especially for a night attack, or for a sentry’s accommodation, the embankment should be behind the trench, and not before it, so that they might look from the very edge of the pit and see the dark figure of an approaching enemy against the sky, whilst they would be invisible against the mound behind them; whereas, if the mound were in front, they would have to raise their heads to look over it, and an enemy creeping close to the ground, would be absolutely invisible, and would, moreover, be able to see clearly the elevated figure of the sentry.
Mission churches, plans for building.
We have on several occasions been asked to draw plans for churches on remote stations, and for defensible farmhouses; in the former case, regard must be had to the nature of the materials at the disposal of the missionary, to the number of the congregation he wishes to accommodate, and also to the number and skill of the assistants, whether European or native, he can employ or persuade to join in the work. Generally, it is better so to draw the plan that a portion of the church may be commenced, and sufficiently furnished for almost immediate use; while the remainder is left to be finished as the congregationincreases, and as the tribe become more and more alive to the benefit conferred on them by religion and civilisation. Some regard must also be had to the doctrinal views of the missionary requiring the plan.
If, as is frequently required, the men and women of the congregation are to be separately seated, the best form is that of the Greek cross, and the seats of the men must be placed in one arm and those of the women in the other; while the position of the pulpit, with its back against the angle of the other two, gives every individual a fair opportunity of seeing and hearing the minister.
Where this regulation does not prevail, the Latin cross is the best form; the longest limb lying east and west affords space for the congregation and the preacher. The wings or shorter limbs on the north and south give very great support to the walls, and serve for vestries or other offices; the tower and porch at the eastern end form the continuation of the longer limb, and it should also be capable of increase if necessary, by the addition of a smaller continuation at the western end.
In this case, too, it is the part intended for the congregation that should be first built. It is most probable that the materials would be rough unhewn surface stones, for powder to blast out more solid material would be expensive. Tools for quarrying would be unattainable, and men with skill or industry to work them even still more so, while ant-hill clay would be the only available cement, unless the erection should be in a limestone district, or near a beach, where shells in abundance could be procured and burnt into lime.
Bricks are often made, but they are frequently of inferior clay, and often merely sun-dried, or inefficiently burned, and are in no case equal to the well-squared and hardened article known by the same name in England.
It would, therefore, be prudent not to make the walls more than 10ft. or 15ft. in height, and to allow at least 2ft. of thickness at the base for every 10ft. of height, and even then they ought to be supported by buttresses not more than 20ft. apart; the top should not be less than 12in. or 15in. in width, and if good planks for wall plates cannot be procured, they ought to be rather more to allow for the proper bedding in of rough substitutes. The roof must have a pitch of 45° to enable it to throw off water in the rainy season, andeach rafter must be two-thirds the width of the building to the outside of the walls, and so much more as is required for the projection of the eaves.
If, therefore, rafters can be procured 20ft. in length, of which 2ft. are required for projection, this will leave 18ft., and the possible width of the church may be found by adding half the length of the rafter thus—18+9=27—27ft. to the outside of the walls, or about 24ft. in the clear; this, with 4ft. of passage down the centre will give two benches of 10ft. capable of accommodating six persons each. Each sitter ought to have 3ft. of space from front to rear, although it is possible to sit in 2ft.; thus, a space of 60ft. would accommodate a congregation of 240 or 360 persons, according to the room allowed.
In many cases the fitting-up of benches may be deferred, as the natives will sit naturally on the ground, or will bring their own seats with them. At least 15ft. or 20ft. ought to be reserved for the pulpit and the communion table, and this would give an aisle of 80ft. long by 24ft. wide.
A high gable and Gothic window is doubtless a great ornament to a church, but it would be dangerous to build the wall 15ft. higher for that purpose; and it is much better, therefore, to make the end no higher than the sides, and let the roof incline at an angle of 45° instead of having a gable end.
gable end
The windows must be small, and it is better to make them lancet-shaped and narrow; if the buttresses are 20ft. apart there may be two windows, 2ft. wide between each. The rafters ought not to come over the windows, even if the wall plates be good, but ought to rest on the solid space between them.
The rafters are half checked at each end to the cross-beam and let into checks on the king-post; thus (Fig. 1) struts to the beam will considerably strengthen them, and if these are fitted into checks nailed on instead of being mortised or half checked in, the strength will not be impaired.Fig. 2 shows more clearly the manner in which the square ends of the rafters abut on the king-post. If it should be desirable to avoid having cross-beams the rafters may be framed as in Fig. 3; but unless this is very substantially done the weight of the roof is apt to expand them and force the walls outward. We, therefore, advise the common form, at least until the assistance of skilled workmen can be procured. The upper part of the king-posts may be a forked branch, and the ridge pole will lie very nicely in this.
Makeshift houses, foundations, and fences.
In extemporising rough frame-houses in dry countries, the foundation is a matter of small importance; generally, when the ground is cleared, a place sufficiently hard and smooth, and a little elevated so that rain may not flood the house, is easily found. But sometimes a foundation must be formed, not only to afford a support to the fabric, but to raise the floor above the influence of damp or of low-lying noxious vapours. We have heard of barges or vessels being grounded and houses built upon them, and have in fact seen instances of this as well as of the deck houses being removed from wrecks and set up, sometimes raised on low walls, forming very comfortable habitations ashore, and of tents being set up as roofs over walls of rough stone. We have heard of the foundations of a house in San Francisco being laid with the 21lb.-sized oblong boxes of tobacco with which the market had been glutted. In Cape Town, when meat was a few halfpence a pound, we have seen bullocks’ heads used as stop-gaps in the fences near Green Point. The cores of bullocks’ horns are not unfrequently used for the same purpose in this country. In Walvisch Bay we saw bags of coarse salt used as part of the foundation of the original wooden shed in which, notwithstanding its lowly appearance, many a traveller has found so hospitable a reception.
We wondered a little at first at the use of such a material on a beach overflowing for miles at every spring tide, but found it was protected from actual contact with the sea by an embankment of sand, supported by posts and planking. Rain would not occur perhaps once in two years, and the fresh water from the Kuisip overspread the flats so rarely that such a contingency was hardly taken into account. Thebags and their contents seemed to be in a normal state of dampness, but did not appear to waste in consequence of it.
When more commodious houses were required, the samphire, that formed the only vegetation on the flats, was collected by the Hottentot women, spread in layers alternated with sand well trodden down into it until mounds were formed about 4ft. high. On one of these a store was erected of corrugated iron, and on another the Rhenish missionaries built a wooden house they had brought out in frame, so solid and substantial, as to prove that timber in the land it came from was of far less value than metal or any other material. Perhaps for parties who can afford the carriage, corrugated galvanised iron houses offer as convenient a method as any of obtaining accommodation sufficiently permanent, and yet easily removable. The rigidity imparted by the corrugation could not be attained by any thickening of plain sheets, while scarcely more room is required in packing; for although one sheet of plain iron occupies much less room than one of corrugated, the sheets of the latter fit so closely one upon the other that a dozen or twenty require not much more space than one. Dr. Livingstone took a house of this kind to the Zambesi in 1858; it formed a very efficient shelter for our stores on Expedition Island, but, as we never made any permanent camp beyond the Portuguese town of Tette, it was not again required. The sheets, however, used separately or together in any number according to the weight they were to support, formed excellent bases for tables, beds, settees, as well as benches, raised a few inches from the floor, on which to store such things as we wished to preserve from the white ants.