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between the buttons having been made to correspond to the intervals
between the loops. This done, a few more of the loops were unfastened
from the rim, a farther portion of the cloth introduced, and the
disengaged loops then connected with their proper buttons. In this way
it was possible to insert the whole upper part of the bag between the
net-work and the hoop. It is evident that the hoop would now drop down
within the car, while the whole weight of the car itself, with all its
contents, would be held up merely by the strength of the buttons. This,
at first sight, would seem an inadequate dependence; but it was by no
means so, for the buttons were not only very strong in themselves, but
so close together that a very slight portion of the whole weight was
supported by any one of them. Indeed, had the car and contents been
three times heavier than they were, I should not have been at
all uneasy. I now raised up the hoop again within the covering of
gum-elastic, and propped it at nearly its former height by means of
three light poles prepared for the occasion. This was done, of course,
to keep the bag distended at the top, and to preserve the lower part
of the net-work in its proper situation. All that now remained was to
fasten up the mouth of the enclosure; and this was readily accomplished
by gathering the folds of the material together, and twisting them up
very tightly on the inside by means of a kind of stationary tourniquet.
"In the sides of the covering thus adjusted round the car, had been
inserted three circular panes of thick but clear glass, through which I
could see without difficulty around me in every horizontal direction.
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