t of his feet; the middle one will cross his
stomach, and keep him from falling out; and there will remain two short
handles for the carriers to lay hold of. The American Indians carry their
wounded companions by this contrivance after a fight, and during a
hurried retreat, for wonderful distances. A king of waggon-roof top can
easily be made to it, with bent boughs and one spare blanket. (See
Palanquin.)

[Black and white sketch of two 'Indians' carrying litter].

SURVEYING INSTRUMENTS.

In previous editions I reprinted here, with a few trifling alterations,
part of a paper that I originally communicated to the Royal Geographical
Society, and which will be found at the end of their volume for 1854. In
addition to it, communications are published there from Lieutenant Raper,
Admiral FitzRoy, Admiral Smyth, Admiral Beechey, and Colonel Sykes; the
whole of which was collected under the title of 'Hints to Travellers;'
they were printed in a separate form and widely circulated. When the
edition was exhausted, a fresh Committee was appointed by the Council of
the Royal Geographical society, consisting of Admiral sir George Back,
Admiral R. Collinson, and myself, to revise the pamphlet thoroughly. This
process was again gone through in 1871, and now the pamphlet is so much
amended and enlarged that I should do no good by making extracts. It is
much better that intending travellers should apply for this third edition
of the 'Hints to Travellers' at the society's rooms, 1, Savile Row: for
it gives a great deal of information upon instruments that they would
find of real value. Its price is 1s.

Porters for delicate Instruments.--Entrust surveying instruments and
fragile articles to come respectable old savage, whose infirmities compel
him to walk steadily. He will be delighted at the prospect of picking up
a living by such easy service.

Measuring low angles by reflexion.--an ordinary artificial horizon is
useless for very low angles. They can be measured to within two or three
minutes, by means of a vertical point of reference obtained in the
following manner:--Tie two pieces of thread, crossing each other at two
feet above the ground, put the vessel of mercury underneath it, and look
down upon the mercury. When the eye is so placed, that the crossed
threads exactly cover their reflexion, the line of sight is truly
vertical; and, if the distant object be brought down to them by the
sextant, the angle read off will be 90