Camping and woodcraft - Scoutmastercg.com

a straight line,USE OF THE COMPASS 65at right angles, of course, to the mainone, the latter being continued in the original directionas soon as the obstacle has been passed. Forthis, and other reasons that presently will appear,a surveyor's line can never be mistaken for any other.Surveyors are careful to space their marks moreuniformly than hunters and trappers and loggers.They cut rather square into the tree, at right angles,so that the weather may not wear away the marksnor the tree become diseased and so obliterate them.Old Surveys.—The old states of the East andSouth were surveyed before there were any Governmentregulations for such work, and had methodsof their own for marking lines and corners, varyingfrom place co place. In the rougher regions suchwork was likely to be slipshod. Old-time surveyorsin the mountains often ran lines that w^ere winding,because they had no flagmen to keep the line straight.It was difficult to keep sight marks. Measurementsoften were inaccurate. The chain was likely to gotoo low up a ridge and too high in crossing hollows.Mere surface surveying was practised over logs,rocks, etc. Chains were intentionally made overlengthto allow for this.The practice of measuring by half-chains in roughcountry led to many errors of counting, by droppinga link, and so on. Few of the old surveyors werecareful about variations of the compass. In fact,I have known backwoods surveyors who were ignorantof the change in magnetic meridian.Modern Surveys.—Throughout most parts ofthe West, the method of numbering, subdividing,and marking township sections is that adopted bythe public land surveys, a brief description of whichis given belovv^ If one understands the merest rudimentsof public surveying, and has a township mapof the locality,then, whenever he runs across a sectionline, he can soon tell exactly where he is, andwhat is the most direct route to any other point inihe neighborhood.