A chain is 66 feet long. Oftentimes in mountainous or brush-covered countries a half chain of 33 feet, made of light wire links, is preferred. Two men do the chaining, which could of course be done by means of an ordinary tape measure in an emergency, the leader carrying ten pins of iron or wood, and the rear man taking one up as each chain is measured off. When all are used, ten chains (1/8 mile) have been covered. The men exchange pins and the tally man, usually the hind chainman, calls out "Tally one," and cuts a notch in a stick. Careful chaining is the essence of good surveying. The chain must always be kept horizontal, or else an allowance made for the inclination at which it was held when the measurement was taken, otherwise the results will be misleading, for all surveyors' measurements of areas are theoretically on a flat surface. To ascertain the height of a tree, tower, etc., fold a square of paper across, and glancing along the hypothenuse (longest side) of the right angle so found, ascertain at what point your line of sight just catches the top of the object. Then its height is the same distance as the distance from where you stand to its foot, or the length of a plumb line falling from its summit, together with the height of your eye above the ground, added. [Illustration] Another method is to measure the shadow of the object on a level surface, next measure your own. Then As your shadow is to your height so is the shadow of the object to its height. The area of a square is equal to the square of one of its sides. The area of a triangle is equal to the base multiplied by half the height. The areas of figures containing more than three sides may always be found by resolving such figures into a series of right angled triangles. Very frequently the surveyor is called upon to measure an inaccessible line. There are many ways of solving such a problem, but one of the simplest is as follows: [Illustration] Supposing the required distance is that from bank to bank of a river (Y-X). Then lay off the base line Y-M, driving stakes at each end; make M-P at right angles to Y-M. Sight from P to X, and drive in a stake at Z. Then: Z M : M P :: Z Y : Y X. While these simple surveying problems are easily solved, the prospector should never forget that mine surveying requires skill, experience and accuracy. He will do well always to call in the service of a mining engineer should his "prospect" ever become a full-fledged mine, as little errors of direction are particularly costly mistakes when they occur underground. Should you wish to lay off a certain acreage as a square, proceed as follows: As there are ten square chains to one acre, multiply the content in acres by 10 to reduce to square chains. Then find the square root of this number of square chains, and that will be the length of a side of the square required. For instance: To lay off 25 acres as a square: 25 times 10 equals 250 square chains.