510 
MINUTES OE PROCEEDINGS, ETC. 
When a maximum amount of work is required in a minimum space of time 
—as is often the case with military topographers—the quickest method of 
grouping the contours is by shading with the brush (Indian ink, or Payn's 
grey are good neutral tints). The scale of shade will be of great service for 
sketching in the contours in the field; these contours can then be inked in, 
and the sketch shaded on the principle that the steeper the slope, the darker 
the shade ought to be to represent it. When shading with the brush, it is 
advisable to work up the drawing as a whole, instead of finishing one portion 
at a time. If the draughtsman is at all good with his brush, “ working while 
the paper is wet,” or “ floating in colour,” he will be able to produce an 
indistinct impression of the ground in a very short space of time; his 
picture can then be worked up, according to the time allowed and the 
purpose for which it is required. 
In the accompanying sketch of Greenwich Park, the hachure shading 
alone took 1 hour 7 minutes; with the brush, the same ground was depicted 
in 18 minutes. 
As only officers who have joined the service very lately have been taught 
the use of the scale of shade, I send this description of it for the information 
of the regiment. The notes on hill sketching have been added, as there are 
many officers quartered at out-stations who have plenty of spare time on 
their hands, and who, no doubt, would find both a pleasant and useful way 
of employing it would be by making a military sketch of two or three square 
miles of country around the fort or station they are quartered at. 
An outlay of about ££ 10s. would provide instruments sufficient for the 
purpose, viz.— 
A prismatic compass, 
Scale of shade protractor, and 
A sketching block (ruled for surveying). 
