The finished canoe. Note how the spreader ends are secured in position, and how the spreader sits in the nicked cuts.

HEALTH

CARE OF FEET

It is vitally important to take proper care of your feet on a walking trip. A small blister can rub away and become a raw spot, and you will be immobilised and your progress both painful and slow.

If the feet show signs of being tender, the skin can be toughened up by urinating on the feet. When blisters threaten or develop, sticking plaster will prevent their further development, and offer immediate relief. The best treatment for a blister when it has already formed is to thread a piece of clean cotton through the blistered skin, cutting off the thread a quarter inch on either side of its point of entry. This will drain the fluid from the blister but prevent the air from entering. Cover the blister with sticking plaster or a bandage.

Ingrowing toenails are another cause of foot trouble. Immediate relief can be obtained by scraping the top of the toenail either with a file, rasp, the sharp edge of a knife, or even a piece of broken glass. The top of the nail should be scraped until it is sufficiently thin to be easily depressed with the tip of your finger.

Corns, of course, can be pared down, but a reputable make of corn plaster, and avoiding tight-fitting shoes, is the best way to keep free from these troubles.

Twisted ankles are a common ailment in rocky country.

If the twist is not too severe the best thing is to keep on the move, gradually getting the ankle into working order through exercise. If the twist is severe, sufficient to make the walker completely immobile, alternate bathings with very hot water and cold water will stimulate the blood flow, and give the patient some relief. After this treatment apply a tight bandage and the patient should be able to limp along.

When walking along river courses it is not advisable to remove your boots. Most riverbeds are stony, and frequently the stones are slippery with algae and other slimy growths, so that when walking barefooted one is likely to take a sudden fall. Also the water-rounded stones on the sole of the foot can become extremely tiring after a short distance.

Water will not damage your boots, but drying them out by a fire later will, so never, never put your boots by a fire to dry. Far better to leave them wet. They will be wet again after five minutes walking through damp bush in any case. When you try to dry boots out before a fire you also dry out the natural oils in the leather, and your boots become stiff and hard. If they are put too close to the fire they will burn.

If your boots become too severely damaged to use, you can walk barefooted on grass and sandy earth, but if you try barefooted walking on stony roads your feet will soon go to pieces and you may be badly crippled. Improvised mocassins can be made from the soft inner bark of several species of trees.

BUSH REMEDY FOR STOMACH AND BOWEL UPSETS

A very simple remedy for many abdominal troubles is to chew and swallow a piece of charcoal every two or three hours. A lump about the size of a threepenny piece should give some relief if the trouble is similar to a gastric or bilious upset. A frequent cause of stomach ache is the drinking of very cold water while hot through walking. It is a good precaution under such conditions to drink very slowly, and warm each mouthful of water in the mouth before swallowing it.

CLEANLINESS AND FOOD

Cleanliness of eating utensils is very important. These should be washed immediately after a meal, and left exposed if possible to the sunlight after washing. If there is any doubt about your meat being safe to eat, then assume it is bad, rather than take the chance. The safest way to carry meat is to partly cook it while you know it is still fresh and safe. Cooking will destroy the harmful bacteria of decay, for a period. Such items of mixed meat as sausages are best cooked before you leave home, and then carried in the fat in which they were cooked. This will preserve them for four days to a week, depending upon the weather.

Butter can be carried in the hottest weather if packed in a container which in turn is put in the middle of your flour. The flour will act as an insulator, and keep the butter at whatever temperature you packed it.

CARE OF THE EYES

Nature has provided your eyes with a most effective germ killer, your tears. A tear will kill most bacteria and is a defence for your eyes.

Despite this natural protection, your eyes may suffer from glare or from entry of a particle of dust or sand. To protect your eyes from glare, tie a bootlace, or a thin strip of bark or some dark-coloured material, across your face just below your eyes. This will break the glare from the ground and give you almost immediate eye relief.

If a particle of dust or sand enters the eye do not rub the particular eye affected. Rub the opposite eye. Rubbing will stimulate the flow of tears and these will help to wash out the irritating matter. If this is not effective, try cupping water in your hands and immerse your sore eye in the cupped water. This will generally prove effective.

CHAPTER 10

TIME AND DIRECTION

The measurement of time, and the obtaining of accurate direction (from North) are not primitive skills. Of the two, direction is the more recent development, although to the Polynesians it is older than their awarness of time.

Obtaining time and direction without equipment is practical, and in general can be more accurate than the average person’s watch or compass.

Both words, “time” and “direction”, are inter-related because if one has accurate time, accurate direction is obtained in a matter of seconds, or if one has accurate direction (from north) then accurate time is immediately practical without a watch.

The methods given in this book have been proved in jungle and desert and are applicable anywhere on the earth’s surface.

The subject of navigation has been surrounded by many technical words, necessary to the science, but in this work the author has attempted to simplify the whole subject, and endeavoured to avoid words which would have no meaning to the average reader.

Note to reader.–For Northern Hemisphere readers read North for South, South for North and reverse cardinal points.

INTRODUCTION

Although a compass is the accepted method of obtaining direction, it is not always reliable, nor is it of very great value in dense bush, or areas where deposits of iron affect its needle. A watch is the accepted means of measuring time, but the watch may be out of action, and therefore it is necessary to have other methods to obtain both time and direction.

DEFINITIONS

‘Time’ is our method of measuring the intervals between events. The most regular event in our daily lives is the movement of the sun, and therefore for everyday purposes time is measured by the sun’s movement. The stars provide a more accurate method of measurement and are used by navigators and astronomers. ‘Direction’ is the line or course to be taken, and in this case can be considered as from North or one of the cardinal points of the compass.

SUN MOVEMENT

As you know, the sun crosses the imaginary North-South line (Meridian) every day when it reaches its highest point (Zenith) above the horizon.

Therefore when the sun is at its highest point in the sky it is North or South of you, depending upon your position on the earth’s surface, and the sun’s position relative to the earth’s equator.

For all practical purposes there are twenty-four hours between each sun crossing of your North-South line, or Meridian. During the twenty-four hours the earth will have revolved apparently 360 degrees; therefore it will move 15 degrees for each hour, or one degree in four minutes. This is very convenient to know, because if you know the North or South accurately, you can easily measure off the number of degrees the sun is from the North-South line, and this will give you the number of hours and minutes before, or after noon. These measurements must be made along the curved path of the sun, and not on a horizontal or flat plane.