Log.—­For a log use a conical canvas bag thus—­

[Sketch of bag in two positions].

When the peg is drawn out by the usual jerk, the bag no longer presents its mouth to the water, but is easily drawn in by the line attached to its point.

Boat Building.—­Caulking.—­Almost anything that is fibrous does for caulking the seams of a boat.  The inner bark of trees is one of the readiest materials.

Securing Planks.—­In default of nails, it is possible to drill or to burn holes in the planks and to sew them together with strips of hide, woodbine, or string made from the inner bark of fibrous trees.  Holes may be drilled on precisely the same principle as that which I have described in making fire by friction.

Lengthening Boats.—­If you have an ordinary boat, and wish to make it of greater burden, saw it in half and lengthen it.  Comparatively coarse carpentering is good enough for this purpose.

Boat Management.—­Hauling boats on Shore.—­To haul up a boat on a barren shore, with but a few hands, lay out the anchor ahead of her to make fast your purchase to; or back the body of a wagon underneath the boat as she floats, and so draw her out upon wheels.  A make-shift framework, on small solid wheels, has been used and recommended.

Towing.—­A good way of fastening a tow-rope to a boat that has no mast is shown in the diagram, which, however, is very coarsely drawn.  A curved pole is lashed alongside one of the knees of the boat, and the tow-rope, passing with a turn or two round its end, is carried on to the stern of the boat.  By taking a few turns, more or less, with the rope round the stick, the line of action of the tow-rope on the boat’s axis may be properly adjusted.  When all is right the boat ought to steer herself.

[Sketch of boat being towed].

When Caught by a Gale recollect that a boat will lie-to and live through almost any weather, if you can make a bundle of a few spare spars, oars, etc., and secure them to the boat’s head, so as to float in front of and across the bow.  They will act very sensibly as a breakwater, and will always keep the boat’s head towards the wind.  Kroomen rig out three oars in a triangle, lash the boat’s sail to it, throw overboard, after making fast, and pay out as much line as they can muster.  By making a canvas half-deck to an open boat, you much increase its safety in broken water; and if it be made to lace down the centre, it can be rolled up on the gunwale, and be out of the way in fine weather.

In Floating down a Stream when the wind blows right against you (and on rivers the wind nearly always blows right up or right down), a plan generally employed is to cut large branches, to make them fast to the front of the boat, weight them that they may sink low in the water, and throw them overboard.  The force of the stream acting on these branches will more than counterbalance that of the wind upon the boat.  For want of branches, a kind of water-sail is sometimes made of canvas.