Ironbark

“ There is little doubt that the bark came from the logs of the palisades of Fort Necessity, though nothing is to be gained by exaggerating the possibility. Bark, here in the low ground, would last indefinitely, and water was reached under this mound sooner than at any other point. No wood was found. It [Pg 186] is probable that the French threw down the palisades, but bark would naturally have been left in the ground. If wood had been left, it would not withstand decay so long as bark. Competent judges declare the bark to be that of oak. ”

“ If a strip of this bark, which is remarkable for the fineness of its texture, after being soaked in water, be laid on a smooth stone, and then carefully beaten with a bat or mallet, the surface of which is cut into fine ribs, the fibres will become separated more or less from one another, and if the beating be carefully conducted, the bark will ultimately assume the appearance of a web of fine linen, two pieces of bark being made to incorporate with one another simply by laying them so as to overlap a little, and then beating again. ”

“ It was the yell of a great youth, who felt a sudden and poignant hurt, and who was not maintaining any dignity. Had Bark been as sure of hand and certain of aim as any archer who lived in later centuries he could not have sent an arrow more fairly to its mark than he sent that admirable sliver into the chest of his big brother. For a second the culprit stood with staring eyes, then dropped his toy and flew into the forest with a howl which betokened his fear of something little less than sudden death. ”

“ When they prepare to take it, the outer bark is first torn or cut away; the inner is then marked out with a proper tool to the requisite size, usually three cubits by one; it is afterwards beaten for some time with a heavy stick to loosen it from the stem, and being peeled off, laid in the sun to dry, care being taken to prevent its warping. The bark used in building has nearly the texture and hardness of wood; but the pliable and delicate bark of which clothing is made is procured from a bastard species of the bread-fruit. ”

“ They had read together the thrilling story of the flight from the English barks, of the wreck in the lonely creek, and the description of the treasure up to the point where the missing pages spoiled the worthwhileness of the manuscript.
“That galleon must have been pretty big,” Jim had said. “How big is an English bark?”
73
“A bark is a three-masted, square-rigged vessel. The mizzenmast is fore-and-aft rigged, if I remember my history correctly,” the professor replied. ”

“ The bark, which is two to three feet long and one to three inches broad, is then laid on a beam of wood six inches long and nine inches broad and thick, which is separated from the ground about an inch by bits of wood, so it may vibrate. Placing the bark before her, the woman beats with her right hand, and moves the bark to and fro with her left, so as to beat it evenly, using the grooved side of the mallet first and then the smooth one. Women generally beat alternately and early in the morning. ”

“ An iron barb is firmly fastened to one end of a small wand of wood, ten inches or a foot long, the other end of which, fined down to a long point, is nicely fitted, though not otherwise secured, in the hollow of the reed, which forms the arrow shaft. The wood immediately below the iron head is smeared with the poison. When the arrow is shot into an animal, the reed either falls to the ground at once, or is very soon brushed off by the bushes ”

“ We had been so long getting to the bark that the men belonging to her, unknown to us, had got out of her, gone up country, and brought these people to their assistance. Our blunderbusses being discharged, the men from behind the rocks kept up a constant fire at us; and, at the very first fire, our master received a ball just above his right eye, and another went almost through my right shoulder. We rowed directly to the bark. The lieutenant, myself, and four more leapt into her, and those that were in the boat handed in our arms. ”

“ The emptie barke is out of hand set a fire for honours sake by their friends that folow them in another boat of their owne, thinking it blasphemie that any mortall creature should afterward once touch the barke that had bene so religiously halowed. ”

“ In America, a cheap cast-iron coupling is frequently used, weak enough to give way before serious damage is done. Safety "friction" clutches are generally ineffective. American bark-mills are run faster than English, up to about 80 rev. per minute, and where the bark is to be used immediately it is frequently damped by a small « 160 » jet of steam below the mill, which lays dust, and prevents danger of fire. Bark which is damp before grinding can scarcely be ground in these toothed mills, but must be dried, or a disintegrator used.
Fig. ”

“ Usually it stands out separate and independent, clinging by slight joints to the rocks, living chiefly on snow and thin air and maintaining sound health on this diet for 2000 years or more. Every feature or every gesture it makes expresses steadfast, dogged endurance. The bark is of a bright cinnamon color and is handsomely braided and reticulated on thrifty trees, flaking off in thin, shining ribbons that are sometimes used by the Indians for tent matting. ”

“ So he took a large flat piece of hemlock bark, which he found upon the ground, and began tearing off strips of birch bark from the old tree, and piling them upon it.
“What are you going to do?” said Lucy.
“O, I am going to play steam-boat on fire,” said he; and he took up the piece of bark with the little pile of combustibles upon it, and carried it down to the edge of the brook. Then he went back and got his torch stick, and put a fresh piece of birch bark in the split end, and lighted it, and then came back to the brook, walking slowly lest his torch should go out. ”

“ The wearing of bark has sometimes been kept up as a sign of primitive simplicity. Thus in India it is written in the laws of Manu that when the grey-haired Brahman retires into the forest to end his days in religious meditation, he shall wear a skin or a garment of bark. A ruder people, the Kayans of Borneo, while in common life they like the smart foreign stuffs of the trader, when they go into mourning throw them off and return to the rude native garment of bark-cloth. ”

“ Tested by these conceded facts, it is almost past belief that the bark maintained her course of north half west from the time the lights of the steam-tug were first seen to the time of the collision; but we prefer to rest the decision upon the ground that it was the duty of the bark, in view of the special circumstances, to have put up her helm and have gone to the right, or to have put it down and suffered the steam-tug to have drifted past in safety. ”

“ It is hard and brittle; the fracture coarse-grained, slightly foliaceous, and only fibrous in the inner layer. The grey suberous coat is always thin, often forming small warts, and leaving when removed longitudinal depressions analogous to the digital furrows of Flat Calisaya Bark (p. 353) , but mostly longer. Greenheart bark has a strong bitter taste, but is not aromatic. Its watery infusion is of a very pale cinnamon brown.
Microscopic Structure—The general features of this bark are very uniform, almost the whole tissue having been changed into thick-walled cells. ”

“ The quills of bark are not rolled up as simple tubes, but each side curls inwards so as to form a channel with in-curving sides, a circumstance that gives to the entire stick a somewhat flattened cylindrical form. The bark composing the stick is extremely thin, measuring often no more than 1/1111 of an inch in thickness. It has a light brown, dull surface, faintly marked with shining wavy lines, and bearing here and there scars or holes at the points of insertion of leaves or twigs. The inner surface of the bark is of a darker hue. ”

“ Everything or anything can apparently be made of birch bark in Finland—shoes, baskets, huge or small, salt bottles, flower vases—even an entire suit of clothing is hanging up in Helsingfors Museum, manufactured from the bark of the silver birch.
The bark thus used, however, is often cut from the growing tree, but this requires to be carefully done so as not to destroy the sap. As one drives through the forests, one notices that many of the trees have dark-brown rings a foot or more wide round their trunks, showing where the bark has been stripped away. ”

“ In order to detach the valuable inner bark, longitudinal and transverse incisions are made as high as can be reached on the stem. The tree is then felled, and the peeling completed. In most cases, but especially if previously beaten, the bark separates easily from the wood. In many localities it has to be dried by a fire made on the floor of a hut, the bark being placed on hurdles above,—a most imperfect arrangement. In Southern Peru and Bolivia however, according to Weddell, even the thickest Calisaya bark is dried in the sun without requiring the aid of the fire. ”

“ Spruce or birch bark are excellent for this purpose, and the pieces may be secured with nails, and kept flat by the weight of another series of poles rested against them. The sides of the shelter should be treated similarly, the front being usually left open to face the fire, which the trapper generally builds a few feet distant. In constructing a bark shanty, it is well to select some spot protected from the wind, close to the foot of a mountain or in the midst of trees, always letting the open side face the direction most sheltered. ”

“ They procure a quantity of the dry bark of the pīpal,4 mahua,5 tamarind or gular6 trees and set it on fire; when it has become red-hot it is raked into a small hole and a piece of well-polished brass is deposited among the glowing embers. It is constantly moved and turned about and in ten or fifteen minutes has taken a deep orange colour resembling gold. It is then placed in a small heap of wood-ashes and after a few minutes taken out again and carefully wrapped in cotton-wool. The peculiar orange colour results from the sulphur and resin in the bark being rendered volatile. ”

“ It has a sweetish taste, but a disagreeable smell, and is generally given in the form of a decoction, which is made by boiling an ounce of the dried bark in a quart of water until it assumes the color of Madeira wine. Three or four grains of the powdered bark acts as a powerful purgative. The bark is known as bastard cabbage bark, or worm bark. It is almost obsolete in medicine.
29. Andropogon muricatus.—The Khus-Khus, or Vetiver grass of India. The fibrous roots yield a most peculiar but pleasing perfume. In India the leaves are manufactured into awnings, blinds, and sunshades ”

“ The pieces of bark, which had been sewed together, were fitted neatly over this frame, and wattap was wrapped over and over the gunwale and passed through bark and ribs. Next to the bark, and held in place by the ribs, strips of cedar, shaved as thin as the blade of a knife, were placed to form sheathing. The last process was the gumming of the seams to make them water-tight. The gum, softened by heat, was applied, and the seams carefully gone over with a live coal held in a split stick, while, with the thumb of the other hand, the canoe maker pressed in the sticky substance. ”

“ The forecastle was deserted to a man, and the hillock of freight was again darkly seen peopled with crouching human forms. Just then the bark which had so long lain in a state of complete rest slowly and heavily raised its bows, as if laboring under its great and unusual burthen, while a sluggish swell passed beneath its entire length, lifting the whole mass, foot by foot, and passing away by the stern, to cast itself on the shores of Vaud. ”

“ If, however, he wants a canoe in which he goes fishing, and which, in consequence, must be of a stronger make, he still adheres to the stringy bark as his material, though he takes more care in the manufacture. The bark is bent, like the birch bark of the North American Indians, by moisture and heat ”

“ A large bark cornucopia with bark strap-handle can be made and carried on the arm in place of a basket when off berrying.
Variations of circular, oblong, and rectangular bark dishes may be worked out from strips and rectangular pieces of birch bark, and all dishes can be turned into baskets by adding handles. When necessary to sew the edges of bark together, always have the bark wet and soft; then lap the edges and use a very coarse darning-needle with twine of inner-bark fibre or rootlets ”

“ He sat in front of his cave and whenever he saw or heard a shell, he ducked into the cave as the boys expressed it.
“No, my friend,” he said to Barker. “If you said I should fight Chippewas on Sky Parlor Hill, I would come, but of the big roaring shells I am afraid.”
It was in vain that Barker and the boys explained to him that the mortars were not shooting at Sky Parlor Hill, and that the big guns could not aim at any one person. He wouldn’t leave the entrance of the cave. ”

“ The bark, too, wears often a pleasant hue. It is naturally of a dingy olive; but it is always overspread, in patches, with a variety of mosses and lichens, which are commonly of a lighter tint in the upper parts, and of a deep velvet green towards the root. Its smoothness, also, contrasts agreeably with these rougher appendages. No bark tempts the lover so much to make it the depository of his mistress's name. ”