We had two girths, which crossed each
other under the horse. (In unloading, the neck-strap is unbuckled on the
near side, also the breasting and girths; and the whole is drawn off
behind.)
[Fig 1 and 2 and an un-labelled figure on this page further illustrate
packing].
"The pack-bags were made of one width of canvas, turned up so as to have
no seam in the bottom. Pear-shaped pieces were sewn in to form the ends,
and rope was stitched along the seams, having eyes above, by which the
bag was hung upon the hooks (fig. 2). The flour-bags were made of canvas,
of the usual width, with a round bottom stitched into them. The mouth was
sewn up when full, and an oiled bag of the same size drawn over it.
"When all our horses were saddled up, the word 'on packs' was given. Dr.
Mueller and I used to work together, and had our packs laid out in pairs;
so that when each horse was led between his bags, we hooked them on at
the same moment. When we halted, we laid our bags on a couple of poles,
to keep them from the ground, as in the drawing.
"The bags sometimes came off when we were travelling; but it was
generally easy to catch the horse and reload him. When a horse rolled
over, or fell in a river, it was rather an advantage than otherwise to
get clear of them. Our waterproof bags were of leather, lined with
waterproof cloth, just large enough to fill one of the canvas pack-bags.
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