44 WAGNER and TREVOR 



nature of the country where there are no roads. In trackless country 

 about 20 miles per diem is all that can be reckoned upon and 

 often it is much less. 



With regard to spares for the motor car these depend largely on 

 the mechanical skill of the driver, but speaking generally as many 

 spares as he is capable of using should be carried on the wagon 

 or lorry, it being unnecessary to lumber up the car with them. 



One or preferably two complete spare wheels, spare tubes, a so- 

 called "5-minute" vulcaniser, a spare axle, spare spring blades, a 

 few electric bulbs, a coil of strong iron wire, the usual spanners 

 etc. are essentials, however, that no motorist can afford to be without. 



The two main obstacles the motor car has to contend with are 

 deep mud and sand. The former can to some extent be overcome 

 by means of chains fixed to the back wheels or by putting on 

 extra wheels behind. A very useful device for overcoming deep 

 sand is to carry two long strips of stout wire-netting which can 

 be rolled up. If the car gets stuck in the sand these are pinned 

 down in front of the hind wheels with ordinary iron tent pegs, 

 enabling the wheels to get a grip and push the car forward. In 

 long sandy stretches the process has of course to be repeated indefinitely. 



Here it is recommended slightly to deflate the back tyres. 



Another useful device for getting stalled cars out of difficult places 

 is the so-called "Poll-u-out" outfit, which consitst of a pulley, 40 

 feet of steel cable, a small winding drum with gears inside engaging 

 a small gear at the end of a ratchet crank, two seven-foot lengths 

 of chain with hooks on each end and three stakes specially designed 

 for secure anchorage which are driven into the ground. The whole 

 outfit only weighs 26 pounds and can be carried in the tool box. 

 In travelling cross-country one picks up an astonishing number of 

 large thorns, and as these are bound sooner or later to lead to 

 punctures the tyres should be carefully gone over at every long 

 halt and thorns picked out. 



Motor Bicycles. Motor bicycles have also been greatly improved 

 of recent years and will get almost anywhere. Their great disadvantage, 

 even when fitted with side cars, is their limited carrying capacity, 

 which gives them a much smaller radius of operation than a Ford car. 

 For carrying messages and despatches they are, however, unrivalled. 



Cycles. An ordinary strong push bicycle is a very valuable ad- 

 junct to a wagon or motor lorry, particularly in the Portuguese 

 Colonies (Angola and Portuguese East Africa) where the natives 



