“Although from its bulk several men might be puzzled to lift a cow-fish from the water when dead, yet one single Indian will stow the largest in his montaria without assistance.  The boat is sunk under the body, and rising, the difficult feat is accomplished.” (Edwards’ ‘Amazon.’)

The huge blocks of marble quarried at Carrara are shipped in the small vessels of the country, as follows:—­at low water the vessel is buried bodily in the sand, and a temporary railway laid down from the quarry to withinside of it.  Along this the blocks are conveyed, and, when deposited in the vessel, the sand is dug away from under them, and they settle down in its hold, and the ship floats away at the returning tide.

KNOTS.

Elementary Knots.—­The three elementary knots which every one should know are here represented—­viz., the Timber-hitch, the Bowline, and the Clove-hitch. (See also “Knots,” p. 49; “Malay hitch,” p. 147.)

Timber-hitch.—­The virtues of the timber-hitch (fig. 1, p. 326) are, that, so long as the strain upon it is kept up, it will hold fast; when the strain is taken off, it can be cast loose immediately.  A timber-hitch had better have the loose end twisted more than once, if the rope be stiff.

Bowline.—­The bowline (fig. 2) makes a knot difficult to undo; with it the ends of two strings are tied together, or a loop made at the end of a single piece of string, as in the drawing.  For slip nooses, use the bowline to make the draw-loop.  When tying a bowline, or any other knot for temporary purposes, insert a stick into the knot before pulling tight.  The stick will enable you, at will, to untie the knot—­to break its back, as the sailors say—­with little difficulty.  A bowline is firmer, if doubled; that is, if the free end of the cord be made to wrap round a second time.

[3 fig of knots tied as described].

Clove-hitch.—­The clove-hitch (fig. 3) binds with excessive force, and by it, and it alone, can a weight be hung to a perfectly smooth pole, as to a tent-pole.  A kind of double clove-hitch is generally used, but the simple one suffices, and is more easily recollected.  A double clove-hitch is firmer than a single one; that is, the rope should make two turns, instead of one turn, round the pole beneath the lowest end of the cord in the figure. (See"Tent-poles, to tie things to.”)

Knots at End of Rope.—­To make a large knot at the end of a piece of string, to prevent it from pulling through a hole, turn the end of the string back upon itself, so as to make it double, and then tie a common knot.  The string may be quadrupled instead of doubled, if required.

Toggle and Strop.—­This is a tourniquet.  A single or a double band is made to enclose the two pieces of wood it is desired to lash together; then a stick is pushed into the band and forcibly twisted round.  The band should be of soft material, such as the strands of a rope that has been picked to pieces for that purpose:  the strands must each of them, be untwisted and well rubbed with a stick to take the kink out of them, and finally twisted in a direction opposite to their original one.