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.
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