Therefore, when searching for letters, a short trench, running to
the north, will frequently have to be dug, and not a mere hole. I should
propose that the short notice be punched or pricked on a thin sheet of
lead, made by pouring two or three melted bullets on a flat stone, and
that the plate so made and inscribed should be rolled up and pushed into
a hole bored or burnt through the head of a large tent peg. The peg could
be driven deeply in the ground, quite out of sight, without disturbing
the surrounding earth. It might even suffice to pick up a common stone
and to scratch or paint upon it what you had to say, and to leave it on
the ground, with its written face downwards, at the place in question.
To secure Buried Letters from Damp.--They may be wrapped in waxed cloth
or paper, if there be no fear of the ravages of insects. Lead plate is
far more safe: it can be made easily enough by a traveller out of his
bullets. (See "Lead.") A glass bottle (with something that insects cannot
eat, such as lead-plate, sealing-wax or clay, put carefully over the
cork) or an earthen jar may be used. The quill of a large feather will
hold a long letter, if it is written in very small handwriting and on
thin paper, and it will preserve it from the wet. After the letter has
been rolled up and inserted in the quill, the open end of the latter may
be squeezed flat between two stones, heated sufficiently to soften the
quill (see "Horn") but not so hot as to burn it, and then, for greater
security against wet, the end of the quill should be twisted tight.
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