﻿162 Transactions. — Miscellaneous. 



ordinary pack-saddle. Besides tlie articles contained in this box, tliere are 

 of course, the tripod for the ca,mera, and boxes containing glass for the 

 pictures. The glass boxes are also made of stout deal, with grooves for the 

 glass, and are padded with several thicknesses of old, well-washed calico. 

 Cross legs, similar to those used for supporting a butler's tray, complete the 

 equipment. When I intend taking any large number of pictures, T always 

 carry the necessary raw chemicals (if I may use such a term) with me, as I 

 prefer having the solutions fresh and fresh. 



The above photographic outfit, with a tent, pi'o visions, clothes, etc., makes a 

 reasonable load for a pack-horse for an expedition into the mountains to last ten 

 days or a fortnight. I now proceed further to describe the dark box when in 

 use. Assuming it to be I'esting on the cross legs, it is kept firm by four strings 

 attached to the lower corners, and pegged to the ground in the manner of tent 

 ropes. The lid is then raised, and forms the back of the dark box. In the centre 

 of this lid is a small window, fitted with orange-coloured glass, which opens 

 inwards, and is protected on the outside by a shutter which slides over it. 

 Two arms, two inches broad by three-quarters thick, are fixed by hinges to the 

 inside of the box, on the side opposite to the fastening of the lid, and these, 

 when raised, are kept upright by a cross piece of the same dimensions, the whole 

 forming an open frame opposite to and of the same dimensions as the lid. The 

 latter is then attached to this framing by pieces of stout iron wire, which 

 slide into loops in the lid and open frame. The box, when open in this 

 manner, resembles a butler's tray, to which a back (the lid) has been fixed, 

 with a slight frame-work in front, which, if solid, would make it a box thirty 

 inches long, sixteen inches wide, and eighteen inches high. To the edges of 

 the lid and the bottom of the box a tent, which stretches over the framing 

 above referred to, and falls behind the operator, is fixed. This tent, in my 

 case, is formed of three thicknesses of stuff, the inside one of close black 

 holland, the outside of close black cotton twill, and between these a close 

 yellow twill. Over these I throw a light white calico covering, in order to 

 prevent too great heat when working in the sun. I usually select, if possible, 

 some spot near a tree for fixing the apparatus, in which case a string run 

 through the top of the tent-covering enables me to draw it well up, and thus 

 increase the inside height. When engaged in developing, I wrap the hanging 

 end of the tent-covering round me, thus excluding all light. I have found 

 this apparatus perfectly sufficient, even when the actinic condition of the light 

 is most active. For washing the pictures during development, I use a strong 

 tin kettle, ten inches high by six in diameter, which also serves the purpose 

 of a tea kettle for the camp. With an apparatus such as I have described, I 

 have taken neai'ly two hundred negatives, many of them in very rugged and 

 difficult localities. 



