Some seaweeds--the only English one of which I
have heard is the common olive-green weed called Chorda Filum; it looks
like a whip-thong, and sometimes grows to a length of thirty or forty
feet; when half-dried, the skin is taken off and twisted into
fishing-lines, etc. Hay-bands; horsehair ropes, or even a few twisted
hairs from the tail of a horse; the stems of numerous plants afford
fibres that are more or less effective substitutes for hemp, those that
are used by the natives of the country visited should be notices; "Indian
grass" is an animal substance attached to the ovaries of small sharks and
some other fish of the same class.
In lashing things together with twigs, hay-bands, and the like, the way
of securing the loose ends is not by means of a knot, which usually
causes them to break, but by twisting the ends together until they
"kink." All faggots and trusses are secured in this way.
Sewing.--Sewing Materials.--These are best carried in a linen bag; they
consist of sail needles, packed in a long box with cork wads at the ends,
to preserve their points; a sailor's palm; beeswax; twine; awls;
bristles; cobbler's wax; large bodkin; packing-needle; ordinary
sewing-needles; tailor's thimble; threads; cottons; silks; buttons;
scissors; and pins.
Stitches.--The enthusiastic traveller should be thoroughly grounded by a
tailor in the rudiments of sewing and the most useful stitches.
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