A piece of rag rolled tightly, will suffice to plug
a hole.
Siphons.--A flexible tube of some kind, whether of india-rubber,
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 water--fitting into square compartments, in large
panniers, like those in a bottle-basket.
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