Water for Drinking. 233
firmly screwed in, and of retaining the water, if it had a bit of rag wrapped round it. A piece of rag rolled tightly, will suffice to plug a hole.
Siphons,-A flexible tube of some kind, whether of indiarubber, gutta-percha, or, still better, of macintosh, strained over rings, would be very valuable as a siphon : both for filling large kegs out of buckets and for emptying them again. Vulcanised india-rubber becomes rotten after short use, and gutta-percha will stand no extremes of temperature.
Tanks for Wagons.-There still remain many large districts in Asia, Africa, and Australia which may be explored in wagons, but, so far as I am aware, no particular pattern of a water-tank, suitable for carriage on wheels, has yet been adopted by travellers. I believe kegs are generally used, but they are far too heavy for the requirements of a wagon. Probably the tins used for sending milk by cart and railway to towns, would be very serviceable for carrying water on expeditions. They are invariably made of the same shape, and only of few different sizes. Therefore experience must have shown that their pattern is better than any other yet devised. Their mouths can be padlocked, which is an important matter.
Macintosh Bags.-I would also recommend a trial of square bags of strong macintosh-say 18 inches deep and 10 inches square, in which case they would hold 60 lbs. of waterfitting into square compartments, in large panniers, like those in a bottle-basket. I have made some experiments upon this arrangement. The basket-work gives protection against blows and the jolting together of, packages, and it yields without harm to a strain, and the bags yield also. Moreover, water is less churned in half-empty bags than in half-empty barrels. No unusual strength of materials would be required in making these bags : their mouths should be funnel-shaped, and corked at the neck of the funnel. The funnels should be wide at their mouths, for convenience in filling them ; and a string to secure the cork should be tied round the neck of the funnel. The bags should have loops on their sides, through which a strap, passing underneath, might run, in order to
