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taste of water by the use of the \ upon 1 .
“ I see several bushes of it growing
amidst these cedars,” said he, “and, al
though the water "we have found is too
brackish to be pleasant, it will be made
pleasant enough if boiled or steeped with
a few leaves of the Yupon.”
The other suggestion was from Wheel
er, and, by way of authority, was pre
faced with a short narrative. He said
that while aiding once as escort to a
company of learned Frenchmen, under
the lead of someone by the name of
Nickoly, or Nicolay, they were all saved
from suffering, and perhaps from death,
by the happy device of one of the corps.
“We were passing through those hor
rible salt-prairies out West,” said he,
“ where there is oftentimes water enough
in pools and lakes, but which is all as
briny as the ocean. For several days
our horses’ feet had been crunching
through the salty crust of the prairie,
which looked all the while as if covered
with frost, when by an accident we lost
our supply of drinking water.
“ The faces of most of the party turned
pale at the sight of the empty kegs, for
no one could tell how many days it would
bo before fresh water was to be had ; but
one of them spoke up cheerily, and said,
‘We shall do very little credit to our
education, if, with our camp-kettles and
with the Avood around us, we suffer long
from thirst because the water happens to
be salt.’ #
“I saw Mr. Nicolay’s eyes brighten as
if there was life from the dead in this re
mark, and so did the faces of the others,
too ; but how it was possible to turn salt
water into fresh by means of a kettle
and wood, was more than I could imagine,
for I knew that the longer salt water is
boiled the more briny it becomes; nor did
I know how, until I saw it done. But I
have practiced it several times since, and
if the Doctor and the Sargcant say so, I
will do as I saw the Frenchmen do, and
make some of this sea-water fit for use.”
Tomkins had a high regard for Wheel
er’s good sense, as well he might, but at
this suggestion he looked rather doubt
ful, until Dr. Gordon remarked:
“ Wheeler is right. The great Author
of nature lias endowed water with such
laws that it can be compelled to part
with its salts, and most other impurities,
by either of two methods, the very op
posites of each other, and fitting, too, the
two extremes of heat and cold. One is
The Yu-pon, or Cassona (spelt also Cassina, or Cas
sine,) is a beautiful evergreen shrub, growing to the
eig.it or ten f ee t an <l adorned in winter with
jerries o a brilliant red. It abounds along the coast,
and is known by many as “North Carolina tea,” being
ofton used as a substitute for the better article of com
in croc*
B U ll K E’S WEEKLY.
by freezing, and the other is by evapora
tion. Those who visit the Polar regions
tell us that the icebergs are all fresh,
though composed of sea-water. The act
of freezing forces out the salt. And the
same is true of water that is evaporated,
though in a different way; the heat forces
out the water in the shape of steam or
vapor, leaving the salt behind. How, if
we can catch and condense that steam,
we shall have fresh water; and all that
we need do to condense it, is to bring it
in contact with something colder than
itself. This is the philosophy of the case,
expressed in a simple way; but lam cu
rious to learn Wheeler’s process for this,
which must be simple, indeed, since it
can be practiced on a salt-prairie or a
sandy sea-beach.”
It was then agreed that a trial should
be given to both plans, and as both plans
required fire, and as it was expedient, for
the sake of concealment, to avoid, as far
as possible, all flame and smoke, the fire
was committed to the Indian skill of Wild
Cat, who selected a place amid the dense
growth of the thicket, which he made
still more private by a screen of bushes,
and then made his fire of small dry twigs,
which soon produced a strong heat, with
very little flame or smoke. The result of
the two experiments was, that the party
enjoyed a comfortable supper, and had
some water left, over and above their
evening’s necessity, for breakfast next
morning. Jones’ Yupon did not alto
gether destroy the brackishness of the
water; it only modified and disguised it
to such degree that the water, which was
wholly unfit for tea and other purposes
before, was endurable now. But Wheel
er’s plan, although liable to the serious
objection of being very slow, was per
fectly successful.
His whole apparatus consisted of a
camp-kettle for his boiler, a tin bucket
for his condenser, and a tin cup for his
receiver. The kettle was filled only about
half-full, leaving a perfectly free passage
for the steam through the spout even
when most vigorously boiling. As soon
as the steam began to issue freely, the
tin bucket of cold water was held, or
rather suspended, in a tilted posture, near
the spout and to the windward of the
fire, so that the steam, unmixed with
smoke, should pour upon its cool side,
where it instantly condensed into the
form of dew, and then trickled, drop by
drop, down the side, and then down the
loaning bottom of the bucket into a cup
set for its reception. The process was so
slov, that one kettle would scarcely distil
a quart in an hour, and the water, be
sides, was flat to the taste, as water al
ways is after being boiled; still, it was
‘perfectly fresh —it could quench thirst—
it could save life in time of need.
Dr. Gordon expressed himself highly
delighted with the simple contrivance.
When the water thus produced was
cooled and handed to Tomkins, he tasted
it, then looked very sad, and finally sur
prised every one by brushing away a
tear.
“Excuse me, sir,” be said to Dr. Gor
don, “but this water carried me to a
time when I saw people die for the want
of it, or rather I may say when I saw an
angel of a child starve to death for the
want of water, when, if we had only
known this simple plan, avc might have
saved her life. She was not my child,
sir, nor any kin of mine, but the daughter
of a passenger, who was so unfortunate
as to lose his wife at the same time. It
was years ago, but all is as fresh to my
mind as if it happened yesterday. We
were on a wreck at sea, off the coast of
North Carolina, where Ave floated for
four mortal days Avithout a mouthful to
eat or a drop of Avater to drink. You
knoAV people suffer more from thirst, and
die of it sooner, than they do from hlin
ger. Well, this child died in her father’s
o
lap the third day of our misfortune. She
had cried for water and for something to
eat seA r eral times during the first day and
a half, but Avhen her father said to her,
‘My darling, there is none to be had; you
must try and not ask for it,’ she never
cried again. She suffered and suffered,
and died, but the word ‘ water ’ novel*
came from her lips. Oh, sir, she avus an
angel! and when I think of her, the
tears come up in spite of me. Now, we
had Avood enough on the Avreck for fire,
and matches, too, and vessels sufficient
to distil what that poor child needed, and
perhaps others, too, that died, but nobody
knew of this .way of producing it. Oh,
if avc had known !”
“Did you adopt no plan for quenching
your thirst?” Dr. Gordon asked.
“Oh, yes,” he replied; “we tried many
plans, but the only one that proved of
any avail Avas keeping our clothes wet
with sea-water. It seems that the skin
has some of the power that you ascribe
to both freezing and evaporation ; it can
separate the water from the salt, and, as
it were, suck the Avater into the system.
We who kept our clothes wet, and Avho
kept Avet cloths around our necks, lived
in tolerable comfort, while those Avho
drank the sea-water sickened, and raved,
and died. We lost five out of eighteen.
These last remarks led into quite a
long and interesting conversation on the