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various expedients for allaying thirst
and for obtaining water.
Wheeler gave it as his experience, that,
in long and thirsty marches, such as he
had made in Mexico and the Kocky
Mountains, it is better to drink well at
the start, and to drink no more until the
halt, and at the same time to keep the
mouth shut during the march, breathing
only through the.nostrils.
Thompson said that his experience was
like Wheeler’s, and that whenever his
thirst became great, lie found it better to
quench it by drinking a tea-spoonful at a
time, very often, than by swallowing
large draughts at long intervals.
Jones remarked, that on a march, his
own habit had been to keep a bullet or a
pebble in his mouth, or to chew' a leaf or
straw; and that, according to his experi
ence, a small piece of clove kept in the
mouth will create moisture, there for a
long time.
Dr. Gordon said that a little vinegar
mixed with the water will greatly allay
the sensation of thirst, and so will any
sub-acid fruit, and that the mucilaginous
leaves of the sassafras and of the prickly
pear are often used for the same purpose.
Tomkins added, that he had once car
ried with him to the battle field a canteen
of cold tea, and found it to have the
effect of both food and water, and that
he had no doubt a canteen of cold coffee
would do equally as well.
“When I was crossing the ocean,” said
Magruder, “ our water became very stale,
and the ship’s company began to suffer,
when our captain gave us a treat in the
way of drink that none of us will be apt
tojorget if we live to the age of Methu
selah—it was a drink of ice water fresh
from the clouds. There came up a hail
storm in the midst of our distress, and
the captain stretched several large sails
to catch it. The water soon began to
collect into the middle of the sail, and to
pour through it in a perfect stream. We
caught more than two bar’ls of it, though
the captain did not allow any of it to
enter the bar’ls until the salt had been
all washed out of the sails.”
“ I was present once,” said Wheeler,
‘‘when some thirsty men, for the lack of
sails, spread their own clothes in the rain,
and then wrung out the water into cups
to drink. I confess I preferred to starve
a little longer for water than to drink
what was wrung from dirty clothing.”
“A clever mode,” added Dr. Gordon,
“would have been to collect the rain
drops from the trees by means of a
sponge or a clean cloth. Even dew-drops
ma y be collected in this way of a damp
BURKE’S WEEKLY.
morning, and it is surprising to know
how much water they will afford.”
Wheeler said he had once tasted water
from the paunch of a newly-killed deer,
and it was fresh, but unpleasantly sweet
ish. lie had also heard fisherman say
that the water to be found in a little sac
around the heart of the sea-turtle is fresh
enough to quench thirst, but he had
never tried it.
Wild Cat, who had been silent through
all this colloquy, now whispered modestly
to Jones that he had often quenched his
thirst, during the spring and early sum
mer, from the vine of the wild grape,
which, on being cut or even bruised, will
emit for days a quantity of very pala
table water.
“ While we are talking about fresh
water,” said Tomkins, “there comes to
our cars the sign of it not half a mile
away. Do you hear the cawing and
chattering of those sea-birds going to
roost ? There are cranes, and herons,
and gannets, and water-turkeys, that
wade in the salt water and feed upon
salt food all day, but I observe that they
always try to sleep over a fresh water
pool at night.”
Wheeler stated that hunters among
the wild mountains and boundless prairies
of the West would often die for want of
water, were it not for knowing that the
paths worn by wild beasts almost invari
ably lead to water, of which they are
next to certain when they can find two
of them converging to the same point,
lie said there was one fresh water sign
which had never yet deceived him, and
this was the growth of grasses with a
three-cornered stalk; wherever these were
to be found, on hill-side or valley, there
was sure to be water near the root.
Another sign, he said, was nearly as good,
though by no means so precise, and this
consisted in dancing companies of mos
quitoes and other gnats, for these trouble
some insects being born and bred in
water, and laying their eggs in water,
cannot afford to travel very fill* from it.
He also described the process of trying
for water in moist-looking places. An
iron ramrod is first shoved into the ground
as deep as it will go, and if it comes up
moist there is water there, It is usual
to commence digging by first sinking a
hole not larger than a mans arm, and
afterwards to enlarge it. After the hole
has been sunk beyond the reach of the
hand, it is easy to loosen the dirt by
means of a sharpened stick, the point of
which is hardened in the fire, and that
the*loosened dirt can be taken out by
means of a very large cane, split into
three or four pieces at the larger end —
the dirt is caught and held between the
split portions, till it can be drawn up and
shaken out.
In cases where a reed is not to be had
sufficiently large, then a substitute for it
can be contrived out of long tough splin
ters tied around the end of a rod, so as
to leave a hollow in the midst. With a
sharpened stick and a dirt-lifter, it is
easy to bore into soft earth to the depth
of ten or fifteen or perhaps even of
twenty feet.
With this lively chat about water,
which interested all by its promise of
usefulness, they passed the evening from
sun-set to bed-time, when, just as they
were preparing to turn in for the night,
they weie all aroused by an incident
which will be recorded in the next chap
ter.
A Timely Word.
Lost for want of a word,
A word that I might have spoken;
Who knows what eyes are dimmed,
What hearts are aching and broken ?
Go scatter beside all waters,
Nor sicken at hope deferred,
Let never a soul by thy dumbness
Be lost for want of a word.
Knocking Away Props.
“See, father,” said a lad who was walk
ing with his father, “they are knocking
away props from under the bridge; what
are they doing that for ; won’t the bridge
fall?” *
“They are knocking them away,” said
the father, “that the timbers may rest
more firmly upon the stone piers which
are now finished.”
God often takes away our earthly props,
that we may rest more firmly on Him.—
God sometimes takes away a man’s health,
that he may rest upon Him for his daily
bread. Before his health failed, though
he, perhaps, repeated daily the words
“give us this day our daily bread,” he
looked to his own industry for that which
he asked of God. That prop being taken
away, he rests wholly upon God’s bounty.
When he receives his bread, he receives it
as the gift of God.
God takes away our friends that avo
may look to Him for sympathy. W hen
our affections Avcre exercised upon objects
around us, Avhen avc rejoiced in their
abundant sympathy, aa’O did not leel the
need of Divine sympathy. But Avhen they
Avere taken aAvay, Ave felt our need of God’s
sympathy and support. "W e AA r ere brought
to realize that He alone could give sup
port, and form an adequate protection for
the soul. Thus are our earthly props re
moved, that avo may rest firmly and Avhol
]y upon God,
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