CHAPTER XXII.

ROPES AND TWINE.

Ropes and twine of different sizes and lengths should always form part of the equipment of the traveller or explorer. These may be either home-made or manufactured from such suitable materials as may be obtainable in the regions travelled through. A great number of productions, vegetable and animal, are available for cord-making purposes; and not unfrequently it will be found in tropical regions that nature has herself formed the rope ready to the hand of him who will take the trouble to gather it. The rattan, which is a species of palm, although commonly and incorrectly called a cane, is a noteworthy example; it possesses extraordinary flexibility and toughness, is light, porous, covered with a waterproof glaze, and grows to a considerable length, often to the extent of 300ft. Rattans, when simply laid together, can be at once converted into ropes of almost any length and strength. Numbers of native suspension-bridges are supported by cables formed entirely from rattan. Warping ropes, used by the raftsmen of the Malay coast, are formed from this material; these curious ropes are not unfrequently the eighth of a mile in length, and possess immense strength. The "lianas," "monkey ropes," or parasitical creepers, too, which grow in such profusion in the tropical jungles, need little preparation to suit them for use as cordage. Willows and other tough flexible sticks or twigs are readily converted into rope by simply twisting them together; they should, however, be well soaked in water before twisting. An almost endless number of trees, shrubs, and plants yield fibre well calculated for cord or rope-making purposes. The bark of some of the mimosas is as tough as the finest hemp, and can be stripped from the trees in any quantity. Bast, or matting fibre, as it is called, is yielded by a number of trees, amongst which may be mentioned the linden or lime of our own country. For some purposes bast strips may be used without twisting by merely soaking them in water, and then dividing them into ribbons of the required strength. The inner bark of the elm, when well soaked, becomes extremely tough, and twists well. The long flag-like leaves of the _Phormium tenax_, or New Zealand hemp, can be used as ties or lashings without any treatment or preparation; separated from the juices and leaf-pulp by maceration and scraping with a muscle-shell, the fibre is found to be beautifully fine, and adapted for either spinning or weaving.

When gathering bark for rope or twine making purposes it is always well to bear in mind that the outer or true bark, yielding little useful fibre, is, however, applicable to a variety of useful purposes, as the above illustration, representing a number of articles formed from outside bark, will show. The method by which large sheets of bark are stripped from forest trees is shown in the annexed illustration.

The so-called Manilla hemp is not the product of the hemp plant, but is produced by a vegetable so closely resembling a Banana tree that it is difficult to distinguish one from the other.

It is to be regretted that the names given by early travellers and others to productions of this kind, should be only calculated to mislead, instead of being guides to their origin; the so-called China grass is not a grass, but is obtained from a plant closely resembling a nettle (_Urtica tenacissima_). The common stinging nettle of this country contains a fibre out of which very good twine can be made; straw, hay, rushes, and swamp grass, make good tough bands, which are useful for many purposes. The Esparto grass, as it is called, is a dry ground rush, and was used in very early ages for the manufacture of ropes, but is now extensively applied to paper-making purposes. Cocoa-nut husks, and the leaves of all the agave tribe, the yuccas, and most of the aloe-shaped plants, yield an abundance of fibre, as does the pine apple plant by soaking or maceration in water. Cotton, wild or cultivated, makes excellent cord. Smoked sea weed is used for lines by the British Columbian Indians. No one possessed of even ordinary powers of observation will fail in discovering a host of other fibre sources in travelling through tropical, or even temperate regions. A number of animal substances will also be found, which by the aid of ingenuity may be converted into thread and cordage. Fine strips of tendon scraped round and pointed make excellent sewing thread. Strips of raw hide, soaked, twisted or plaited, and greased, form ropes or cords of immense strength and considerable durability: to form long strands for these, see the directions given at page 784. The hair or wool of animals, and the web spun by the wild silkworms are also available for twisting or working up into cord. Many methods more or less simple are had recourse to in different parts of the world, for so combining and intertwining fibres and other materials that, united, they may resist breaking, strains, and deteriorating influences. The untutored savage, as he is called, proceeds to gather his fibre, prepare it, and by the aid of his open palm and naked thigh only (as shown at page 599), twists it into an even, compact, and beautifully wrought line of any length, free from knots or irregularities, a task which the highly educated white man, unless tutored by savages, would vainly attempt to perform. "Laying up" as it is called, is another simple method by which a two or three strand cord or rope can be made. Each separate strand, when equally divided and secured at one end, is taken by the finger and thumb, or the hand, according to the size of the work, twisted on itself and passed over to the off side of the operator; the near side strand is now treated in the same way, and so on, fibre being carefully joined in with the fag end of each strand as it becomes too short for twisting: (_vide_ pages 598, 599.) No two strands should be suffered to remain the same length, in order that no two unions of fresh fibres should take place at the same spot. A common three-plait is an expeditious mode by which three strips of sheeting, or other fabric, may be converted into a rope. Four strand round plait is formed by making each pair of strands cross each other from right to left alternately, until the whole length required is completed; this form of plait is useful for whip thongs, and will run through the sheeve hole of a block. A single strand cord or twine may be twisted from loose fibre, by bending a winch handle in one end of a thick iron wire, and a hook in the other. Set up a stiff stake, waist high, in the earth, bore or burn a hole through it large enough to allow your wire to revolve freely in it, now split your post down to the hole, enter your wire and allow the cleft stake to retain the wire in the hole by its own spring; station some person to turn your winch handle, whilst you, with a goodly supply of fibre round your body, first hook on enough to form twine of the required size to the book of the wire, and then walk backwards as the thread increases in length; a forked stick set up here and there serves to support the sag or belly of the twine as it is formed. A little thin glue or size rubbed on with a rag prevents the strands from opening too freely. Threads thus made may be either laid up by hand or spun into cordage by the regular ropemaker's wheel, a makeshift form of which may be easily extemporised by fitting a light flat hoop with a hub, a set of spokes, a wire handle, and a set of hook-axled cotton reels. With such a contrivance as this ropes and cords of small size may be twisted; but, for the manufacture of ropes of large dimensions, such an arrangement as that represented in the illustration (p. 791)[Illustration] must be made use of. An examination of it will show that an implement, called a _top_, is made use of in order to keep the strands in their proper relative positions. This top is merely a conical block of wood, with a set of deep grooves, according to the number of strands to be twisted, cut in it longitudinally. Tops may be made of almost any size, to suit the character of cord in the course of production. {Straw-ropes, to spin.} Grass or straw ropes may be conveniently and expeditiously spun to almost any length by the aid of an apparatus made as follows: Take four narrow flat pieces of board, say four inches wide, an inch thick, and three feet long, make two equal-sided crosses of them by nailing them together; take care, however, that no nails are used in the true centres of the crosses, as a two-inch augur hole will have to be bored in each. At one foot from the end of each arm of the crosses bore an inch hole, and into these fit a rounded stick, four feet long, in such a way, that when pinned fast in the holes the whole arrangement may resemble a large-sized fishing reel without a handle. Now fashion a straight, smooth, one inch and a half stick in such a way as to leave a head like that of a large nail at one end and a point at the other. The pointed end must project about a foot beyond the hole in the inner cross when the stick is thrust through the centre hole in the crosses, and the head is brought in contact with the surface of the outer. To use this apparatus, bore a hole in a tree, insert the pointed end of the reel axle, or stick; the reel formed by the crosses and bars will now, if properly made, revolve freely if struck with the hand. Gather up a long lock of grass, hay, or straw, and attach it to one of the cross-arms. Throw the arrangement round by giving a circular swing to your straw, keep up the revolving motion, and keep adding fresh material to the end of your rope until it becomes too long to be easily managed; wind the surplus length round the bars of the reel, or drum, and twist on until you have made as much rope as you require. Short hay or straw bands are made by catching a loop of the material over the turned-up thumb in such a way that it may form a loop; keep turning the hand, and gathering fresh material from below until the band is completed. "Thumb bands" is the name usually given to short grass ropes thus made.

{Hard rove ropes, to treat.}

Large ropes are very liable when new to give considerable trouble by their disposition to kink. It is therefore often necessary to take the extra twist out of them by fastening one end high up in a conveniently grown tree, and suspending a spare waggon wheel from the other, as shown in the illustration (p. 791). The use of tar in the manufacture of rope tends to impair its strength, but adds to its power to resist deteriorating influences.

{Weight of rope, to estimate.}

It often becomes requisite, when loading waggons, packing animals, or loading boats, sledges, canoes or rafts, to be enabled to form some estimate of the weight about to be placed in them, and there are few aids to travel more difficult to weigh than rope, on account of its bulk and peculiar form of construction. It is well therefore to have recourse to a rough and ready system of calculation to arrive at the required information. The strength of ropes should also be approximately known before applying them.

Robinson gives the following simple rules for calculating the strength of ropes of the ordinary form of construction, and also their weights. Multiply the circumference of the rope in inches by itself, and the fifth part of the product will express the number of tons the rope will carry. For example, if the rope be six inches in circumference, 6 × 6 = 36, the fifth of which is 7-1/5, the number of tons which such a rope will sustain. To find the weight of shroud or hawser laid rope, multiply the circumference in inches by itself; then multiply the product by the length of the rope in fathoms, and divide by 420, the product will be the weight in cwts. Example--to find the weight of a six-inch hawser laid rope 120 fathoms long; 6 × 6 = 36 × 120 = 4320, which, divided by 420, gives the weight of the rope 10cwt. 1 qr. 4lb. To find the weight of cable-laid cordage, multiply its circumference in inches by itself, and divide by 4; the product will be the weight in cwts. of a cable 120 fathoms long, from which the weight of any other length may be readily reduced. Example--required the weight of a twelve-inch cable 120 fathoms long; 12 × 12 = 144, divide by 4, and the product, 36, is the weight in cwts.

{Knots and Hitches.}

To render ropes and cords available for the variety of purposes to which they are applied by the traveller, knots, hitches, splices, &c., must be had recourse to. These are so numerous in form and mode of construction, that to describe half that are known to practical riggers and sailors would require a goodly volume. We shall, therefore, content ourselves by describing some of the most useful and generally available. It is impossible to teach the art of knot-tying by written directions; we therefore give a sketch of each mentioned. It will be well for the student who wishes to acquire a knowledge of the manner in which they are formed to provide himself with a moderately stout piece of cord, and, by following out the lines of turn, twist, and direction, given in the diagrams, and repeating the operation, he will soon acquire proficiency. A, in the accompanying full-page illustration, represents a pair of hitches, which can be caused to run firmly and freely home by hauling on the standing end, or converted into a useful loop by passing a few turns of stopping round both ends. B is a fisherman's bend, useful for an almost endless number of purposes. When the two knots in the short ends are pulled home, they run together by pulling the two main or free ends. C is a reef knot, used for knotting the reef points of sails or uniting the ends of ropes or cordage. D shows a mode by which the end of a rope may be quickly fastened to a ring. E and F are lark knots, used for fastening the painters of boats or canoes; it is only necessary, in case of sudden attack or alarm, to pull out the stop stick to instantly free the painter without untying. G is a bowline knot, which is applicable to any purpose where it is requisite to have a loop which will not run home. H is a hawser bend, which can be expeditiously made use of for joining the ends of large ropes. I is a knot commonly made use of for securing a hawser to a mooring post. J is an arrangement known as a toggle and loops, useful for a great number of purposes; the toggle, acting as a button, can be secured or released with great facility. K is a Carrick bend, useful for uniting tow ropes or large hawsers to each other. The "seizing " or stopping, represented as securing the short ends in some of these knots, may be composed of rope, yarn, or stout twine. A. sheathing, or "parcelling," composed of old canvas, or some other stout material, should always be placed round ropes which are subjected to friction against quay walls or rocks, in order to protect them from chafe. The annexed illustration also represents a number of useful knots, and modes of applying ropes and cords. [Illustration: 1-11] Fig. 1 represents a timber hitch, which will be found most useful for taking a firm hold by cord on a round spar or pole. Fig. 2 is another method by which a rope can be secured round an upright post. Fig. 3 shows a sling, useful for raising or lowering packs, bales, or boxes. Fig. 4 is known as a harness loop; several of these can be tied in a drag rope, in order that men may make use of them as shoulder collars to draw by. Fig. 5 is a twisted or tail timber hitch, adapted for securing a log or piece of round timber for lowering or raising. Fig. 6 shows how to make a loop in the end of a pack or box lashing; the knot, running home, secures the loop, and prevents its drawing close. Fig. 7 is a sheepshank, used for shortening a long rope, and thus rendering cutting unnecessary. Fig. 8 is a loop-slip, used for uniting two looped ends securely. Fig. 9 is a weaver's or netter's knot, much used by those who repair or make nets for fishing. Fig. 10 is a Tom Fool's knot, very useful for forming handles to jars and pots; the mouth of the vessel is placed in the centre of the knot, the two free ends tied fast, and the two loops left for the hand to grasp. Fig. 11 is a brooch knot, used for forming the loop in rope for casting horses. (_Vide_ "Veterinary Surgery.")

{Netting.}

The art of netting with the needle and mesh is so generally understood that it is not our intention to deal with the subject here further than to advise all those who may chance to be ignorant of the manner in which net making operations are conducted, to take a few lessons before quitting home to explore wild regions. The aborigines of every part of the known world can make nets, but it is well that the European traveller should be capable of manufacturing his own. Almost any piece of dry, tough wood, can, by the exercise of a little ingenuity, be fashioned into a needle and mesh, and twine, tendons, strips of hide, and a variety of other material, can be wrought into network, for hunting, fowling, fishing, &c.

{Splicing.}

Splicing is effected by opening the strands of the two ropes to be united, for some little distance down the cord. The two sets of diverging strands are then thrust between each other, so that they may be evenly reversed. A sharp bone, metal, or hard wood stilet or pricker is now used to raise the strands one by one for the passage of the corresponding strand, until both sets have been worked far enough down the rope to render the union complete. A loop is spliced by opening the strands of the end, forming a loop in the rope of sufficient capacity, and then raising the strands, in the manner before described, one by one at the required point of union.