SECTION VI.

bridges on rafts of timber, casks, air-tight

CASES AND INFLATED SKINS.

Rafts of Timber.

In mountainous countries the difficulty of trans-porting pontoons, or other means, for construct-ing bridges, frequently reduces armies to thenecessity of employing, for that purpose, suchmaterials as are found in the vicinity of therivers.

When timber, proper for rafts, is abundantnear the banks of a river, this is one of the mostuseful expedients that can be employed.

Rafts are prepared with little difficulty be-yond that of cutting and collecting timber—theyare applicable to large as well as to small rivers—and may either be formed of a size capable oftransporting a considerable number of troops at°nce, upon the principle of a flying bridge, orftiay be used as floats, upon which to form aconnected bridge.*

* Large detached rafts were very much used by Charles XII .

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