Timber.
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penter's bench, cannot be made without one. The sketch will recall to mind the orginal machine, now almost forgotten in England, but still in common use on the Continent. It is obvious that makeshift contrivances can be set up on this principle, two steady points being the main things wanted. A forked bough suffices for a treadle. A very common Indian lathe consists of two tent-pegs, two nails for the points ; a leather thong, and some makeshift hand-rest ; neither pole nor treadle is used, but an assistant takes one end of the thong in one hand, and the other end in the other hand, and hauls away in a see-saw fashion. For turning hollows, a long spike is used instead of a short point : then, a hole is bored into the wood to the depth of the intended hollow, and the spike is pushed forward until it abuts against the bottom of the hole. One form of lathe is simplicity itself : two thick stakes are driven in the ground, so far apart as to include the object to be turned ; a cross piece is lashed to them (by a creeper cut out of the jungle), for the double purpose of holding them together, and of serving as a rest for the gouge. The object is turned with a thong, as already described.
Charcoal, Tar, and Pitoh.-Charcoal.-Dig a hole in the earth, or choose some gigantic burrow, or old well, and fill it with piles of wood, arranging them so as to leave a kind of chimney down the centre : the top of the hole is now to be covered over with sods excepting the chimney, down which a brand is dropped to set fire to the wood. The burning should be governed by opening or shutting the chimney-top with a flat stone; it should proceed very gradually, for the wood ought to smoulder, and never attain to a bright red heat : the operation will require from two days to a week. The tarry products of the wood drain to the bottom of the well.
Tar is made by burning larch, fir, or pine, as though charcoal had to be made ; dead or withered trees, and especially their roots, yield tar most copiously. A vast deal is easily obtained. It collects at the bottom of the pit, and a hole with smooth sides should' be dug there, into which it may drain. For making tar on a smaller scale:-ram an iron pot full of pine wood ; reverse it and lay it upon a board pierced with a hole one inch in diameter ; then prop the hoard over
