This section is from the book "The Scientific American Boy", by A. Russell Bond. Also available from Amazon: The Scientific American Boy.
Hanging between a couple of projecting rocks was a hammock made of barrel staves. The hammock was a very simple affair, made by drilling a 1-inch hole in each end of each barrel stave. The staves were then connected by two ropes on each side, woven alternately in and out through these holes, that is, one rope would be passed down through one stave, up through the next, down through the third, etc., and through the same holes another rope would be threaded in and out but in the opposite direction. The end staves of the hammock were provided with double holes, as shown in Fig. 228, so as to make them lie flat, then the ropes were threaded through them.

Fig. 227. The Barrel Stave Hammock.

Fig. 228. Tying the Staves Together.
 
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