GAMBIA RIVER II (;• 



into the mud beneath the mark to support the surveyor and his 

 theodoHte. 



Much thought by the Captain and hard work by the shipwrights 

 and the survey recorders resolved these difficulties. A standard 

 survey mark of giant proportions was designed and a number were 

 pre-fabricated onboard. Three long, heavy spars formed the basis 

 of each mark, erected in a tripod; the heads of the spars were 

 held together by passing them through an iron triangle having 

 holes designed for this purpose, while their heels were weighed 

 down into the mud by heavy concrete sinkers. A tall mast was 

 passed up through a fourth hole in the iron triangle and a large 

 flag hoisted upon it, while the sides of the tripod were boarded 

 up and painted white. This formed strong resistance to the wind, 

 and as fierce squalls were frequent, wire guys were run from the 

 mast and the head of the giant tripod to further concrete sinkers 

 which were laid out as holdfasts. 



The many components of these marks were taken to the 

 selected site in a pulling boat known as a 'whaler' by a crew of 

 eight men or so ; but once in position it was necessary for the 

 team to wade, sinking into the ooze well above the knee at every 

 step. To lay out the concrete sinkers in their correct position 

 for securing the guys was a herculean task; once dropped, they 

 sank beyond recovery into the soft mud. Staggering with these 

 concrete blocks, wrestling with the heavy tripod, feeling beneath 

 the muddy water to reeve the guys through the eyes in the sinkers 

 and to sink the observing platform, the workers floundered and 

 fell on all fours or got stuck while rescuing one another. They 

 returned to the ship at nightfall covered in mud from head to 

 foot, every one of them, as their Captain had been on that fateful 

 day when he had taken the mud pattens away. 



When the officers returned to take the theodolite observations 

 at these stations a man with a rifle was posted high on the tripod 

 mark itself to ward off the crocodiles which lay not far away, 

 watching the observer hour after hour as he made his six rounds 

 of theodolite angles, with all the care that this task requires. 

 Steady nerves were needed and a blind faith in the marksmanship 

 of the protector above. 



Lieutenant Jack Paisley and his surveying recorder have good 

 cause to remember these survey marks in the Gambia River. 



