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CAMP    CRAFT 


CAMP  CRAFT 

MODERN  PRACTICE  AND  EQUIPMENT 


BY 

WARREN   H.  MILLER 


EDITOR   OF    "field   AND   STREAM" 


WITH   INTRODUCTION 
BY 

"ERNEST  THOMPSON  SETON 


ILLUSTRATED 


NEW  YORK 

CHARLES  SCRIBNER'S  SONS 

1915 


N/1  G> 


Copyright,  1915,  bv 
CHARLES  SCRIBNER'S  SONS 


Published  May,   1915 


TO  THE   RED  MAN, 

WHOSE   WOODCRAFT    EXCEEDS    OUR   BEST 

AS  THE   MASTER  THE    'PRENTICE, 

THIS   WORK  IS   DEDICATED 


357408 


AN  INTRODUCTION 
BY  ERNEST  THOMPSON  SETON 

No  one  who  studies  man's  beginnings  in  the 
light  of  modern  research  can  doubt  that  Woodcraft 
was  the  earUest  of  our  sciences.  It  was  Woodcraft 
indeed  that  constructed  man  out  of  the  crude  and 
brutish  stuff  that  was  then  the  best  live  product  of 
the  earth.  We  can  see  a  little  of  the  process  to-day 
in  our  children,  just  as  we  see  the  baby  panther  wear 
first  the  spotted  coat  of  his  long-past  forebears, 
before  he  dons  the  brown  of  his  older  kin.  And 
weightier  yet  it  seems  to  me  that  Woodcraft,  in  its 
broad  entirety,  more  than  any  other  activity,  is 
calculated  to  save  our  species  from  decay. 

The  Camp  Life  is  the  climax  of  all  Woodcraft, 
and  the  man  who  leads  us  there — ^who  blazes  the 
trail,  who  teaches  us  the  fords  that  grow  less  fear- 
some as  we  follow — is  a  heal-worker  for  our  race. 

Many  a  man  and  woman,  I  have  heard  say  or 
imply,  that  they  "would  like  to  go  camping,  but 
they  are  afraid  J*  Of  what  ?  Vague  fears  of  animals  ? 
Unknown  terrors  ?  or  very  definite  fears  of  hard- 
ships that  they  believe  are  an  essential  part  of  it  \ 

They  are  not  well  informed.  The  blue  sky  life 
is  associated  with  some  mighty  benefits,  and  some 

vii 


viii  INTRODUCTION 

real  dangers.  The  wise  aim  at  getting  the  first  and 
avoiding  the  second.  The  benefits  are  beyond 
question — all  the  glorious  purification  of  sunlight, 
the  upbuild  of  exercise  with  the  zest  of  pleasure, 
the  balm  of  fresh  air  at  night,  the  blessedness  of 
sleep,  the  nerve  rest,  and  change  of  daily  life.  The 
dangers  are — rheumatism  from  improper  beds,  di- 
gestive trouble  from  improper  meals,  and  minor 
troubles  from  insects  or  improper  indulgence  in  the 
sun-bath,  or  exposure  to  weather  stress. 

These  are  the  real  dangers  (there  is  no  danger 
from  animals),  and  the  man  who  shows  us  the  simple, 
effectual,  inexpensive  ways  of  winning  all  the  joys, 
and  dodging  all  the  sorrows,  has  done  no  small 
thing  for  his  people. 

This  is  the  aim  of  "Camp  Craft,"  and  it  is  an  open 
secret  that  for  many  years  the  author  has  in  his  own 
proper  person,  as  well  as  among  his  many  friends, 
tried  out  all  the  things  he  writes  about — yes,  many 
times — before  offering  them  to  the  world  as  things 
of  proven  worth. 


April,  1915. 


CONTENTS 

CHAPTER  PAGE 

I.    Kinds  of  Camps i 

II.    Tents 26 

III.  Eliminating  the  Blanket 42 

IV.  Getting  Away  from  the  Browse  Bed    .  64 
V.    The  Camp-Fire 79 

VI.    Cook-Kits  and  Cook-Fires 95 

VII.    The  Chef  on  the  Trail 114 

VIII.    Trail  Accessories 135 

IX.    In  Emergency 157 

X.    Taking  the  Family  Along 180 

XL    Western  Camping 197 

XII.  The  Lone  Jack  Diamond  Hitch,  Tents, 

AND  Clothing 209 

XIII.    Getting  on  Your  Feet 221 

XIV.    Camp  Comforts 235 

XV.    Camp  Organization 251 

XVL  Build  Yourself  a  Permanent  Camp  .    ,  268 


ILLUSTRATIONS 

Forester  tent  designed  by  the  author      ,     .     .     .  Frontispiece 

The  Vreeland  two-man  light  hiking  tent .     .    Facing  page  6 

A  camp  for  the  northern  wilderness  .     .     .    Facing  page  8 

Windbreak  for  camp-fire  and  tents  on  the  sand-dunes 

Facing  page  10 

A  closed  canoe  tent  for  salt-water  cruising,  with  decked 

canvas  canoe Facing  page  I2 

Camp  in  the  Montana  Rockies     ....    Facing  page  i8 

Automobile  tents  designed  to  fasten  to  car  frame 

Facing  page  30 

The  red  man's  teepee Facing  page  30 

Baker  tent  in  southern  Montana.    Owned   by  Stewart 

Edward  White Facing  page  34 

Styles  of  tent Facing  page  38 

Pack  sack  sleeping-bag  laced  up  as  a  pack  sack  Facing  page  52 

The  army  model  pack  sack  sleeping-bag  .     .    Facing  page  52 

Pack  sack  sleeping-bag  designed  by  the  author  Facing  page  60 

Air-mattress  bed  used  by  big-game  hunters  in  Alberta 

Facing  page  66 

An  air-mattress  bed  camp Facing  page  70 

xi 


xii  ILLUSTRATIONS 

Rolling  up  the  stick  bed Facing  page  74 

Blizzard  tent  with  stick  bed  on  lodge  pole  pine  side  poles 

Facing  page  76 

The  back-log  fire Facing  page  82 

The  Indian  stick  fire Facing  page  82 

The  log  cooking-range Facing  page  86 

On  right,  reflector  Baker  fire;  left,  wire  grate  and  grid  fire 

of  split  billets ,      .     Facing  page  86 

One-hole  camp  stove.     Room  for  one  extra  pot  on  top 

Facing  page  92 

Two-hole  camp  stove  designed  by  author  for  Forester 

cook  kit Facing  page  92 

The  Phelps  cook  kit Facing  page  102 

Complete  aluminum  cooking  outfit  for  a  party  of  eight 

Facing  page  108 

Log  bowl,  wire  and  fork  broiler,  and  club  baker  Facing  page  112 

Kinds  of  cook  fire Facing  page  116 

Aluminum  table  set  on  log-and-gravel  table  .    Facing  page  122 

The  Forester  cook  kit Facing  page  130 

The  stopple  one-man  cook  kit Facing  page  132 

A  family  encampment  for  five Facing  page  182 

Family  kitchen,  eating-fly  and   table,   and   side-opening 

food  bags Facing  page  186 

Clothes  for  the  outdoor  girl Facing  page  190 

In  the  bow  of  your  canoe Facing  page  190 


ILLUSTRATIONS  xiii 

Typical  western  ponies,  saddle  accoutrements,  and  riding- 
clothes  for  man  and  girl Facing  page  198 

Throwing  the  diamond  hitch  on  a  packhorse    Facing  page  202 

Lone  Jack  hitch,  Fig.  I 210 

Lone  Jack  hitch,  Fig.  2 211 

Lone  Jack  hitch.  Fig.  3 212 

Lone  Jack  hitch.  Fig.  4 213 

Foot-wear Facing  page  228 

Side-opening  food  packs  opened  and  rolled  up    Facing  page  242 

Some  of  the   provision  sacks  and   friction-top   cans  for 

butter  and  pork Facing  page  242 

The  "Nessmuk"  night  fire 257 

Woodland  cooking  range 259 

A  "Forester"  encampment 263 

A  hunting-lodge  that  can  be  brought  in  by  canoe   .     .     .  272 

Detail  of  roof  and  panels 273 


xiJ  ILLUSTRATIONS 

Rolling  up  the  stick  bed Facing  page  74 

Blizzard  tent  with  stick  bed  on  lodge  pole  pine  side  poles 

Facing  page  76 

The  back-log  fire Facing  page  82 

The  Indian  stick  fire Facing  page  82 

The  log  cooking-range Facing  page  86 

On  right,  reflector  Baker  fire;  left,  wire  grate  and  grid  fire 

of  split  billets Facing  page  86 

One-hole  camp  stove.     Room  for  one  extra  pot  on  top 

Facing  page  92 

Two-hole  camp  stove  designed   by  author  for  Forester 

cook  kit Facing  page  92 

The  Phelps  cook  kit Facing  page  102 

Complete  aluminum  cooking  outfit  for  a  party  of  eight 

Facing  page  108 

Log  bowl,  wire  and  fork  broiler,  and  club  baker  Facing  page  112 

Kinds  of  cook  fire Facing  page  116 

Aluminum  table  set  on  log-and-gravel  table  .    Facing  page  122 

The  Forester  cook  kit Facing  page  130 

The  stopple  one-man  cook  kit Facing  page  132 

A  family  encampment  for  five Facing  page  182 

Family  kitchen,   eating-fly  and   table,   and   side-opening 

food  bags Facing  page  186 

Clothes  for  the  outdoor  girl Facing  page  190 

In  the  bow  of  your  canoe Facing  page  190 


ILLUSTRATIONS  xiii 

Typical  western  ponies,  saddle  accoutrements,  and  riding- 
clothes  for  man  and  girl Facing  page  198 

Throwing  the  diamond  hitch  on  a  packhorse    Facing  page  202 

Lone  Jack  hitch,  Fig.  i 210 

Lone  Jack  hitch,  Fig.  2 211 

Lone  Jack  hitch.  Fig.  3 212 

Lone  Jack  hitch,  Fig.  4 213 

Foot-wear Facing  page  228 

Side-opening  food  packs  opened  and  rolled  up    Facing  page  242 

Some  of  the  provision  sacks  and  friction-top  cans  for 

butter  and  pork Facing  page  242 

The  "Nessmuk"  night  fire 257 

Woodland  cooking  range 259 

A  "Forester"  encampment 263 

A  hunting-lodge  that  can  be  brought  in  by  canoe   .     .     .  272 

Detail  of  roof  and  panels 273 


CAMP  CRAFT 

CHAPTER  I 
KINDS  OF  CAMPS 

THIS  good  green  earth  on  which  we  live  is  an 
immense  place;  how  immense  is  not  reaHzed 
until  one  comes  to  walk  across  it  or  traverse  it  by 
any  other  primitive  means  of  travel.  The  globe- 
trotter who  races  across  it  on  express-trains  little 
knows  his  earth  underfoot.  He  sees  something  of 
the  diversity  of  the  peoples  which  inhabit  the  earth 
and  notices  some  of  their,  to  him,  "queer"  customs, 
but  he  neither  perceives  nor  would  understand  the 
underlying  causes  which  make  for  this  diversity  and 
compel  these  customs  which  seem  to  him  so  unusual. 
But  the  woods  cruiser,  the  pack-and-saddle  ex- 
plorer, the  canoe  voyageur,  the  dog-and-sledge  trav- 
eller— he  knows  the  earth !  To  him  are  plain  the 
great  natural  conditions,  differing  all  over  the  globe, 
which  mould  the  life  and  customs  of  its  inhabitants. 
To  him  even  five  miles  of  travel  may  mean  a  whole 
day's  toil  and  struggle  against  head  winds,  adverse 
currents,  and  choppy  seas,  with  a  stop  at  noon  to 


i  -  CAMP  CRAFT 

get  lunch;  whereas  the  same  distance  to  the  train 
traveller  would  be  a  mere  detail,  a  few  minutes,  per- 
haps, between  local  stations.  What  does  the  tour- 
ist know  of  natural  conditions  that  govern  in  the 
countries  he  passes  over  ?  What  does  he  know  of 
these  great,  primitive  essentials  of  food,  warmth,  and 
shelter  in  the  cactus  deserts  of  Arizona,  on  the  fir- 
clad  slopes  of  the  Rockies,  in  the  spruce  hills  of 
Maine,  in  the  piney  dunes  of  the  Atlantic  coast,  in 
the  Laurentian  wildernesses  of  Canada,  and  the 
snowy  wastes  of  the  far  North. 

But  the  explorer,  the  hunter,  the  fisherman  who 
has  matched  himself  against  the  wild  environment 
of  all  these  countries — he  knows !  He  respects  the 
bigness  of  the  earth,  even  of  such  an  infinitesimal 
inch  of  it  as  five  miles  of  its  contour.  He  appreciates 
why  the  people  do  thus  and  so  in  different  countries, 
for  he  has  felt  the  same  conditions  operating  upon 
himself  as  the  inhabitants  live  under.  To  the  train 
traveller  from  New  York  to  Seattle  all  the  cities  are 
much  alike,  it  is  only  the  countryside  that  is  differ- 
ent; but  to  the  outdoors  man,  oh,  what  a  difference 
in  the  length  and  breadth  of  that  3,000  miles  !  The 
same  equipment  that  is  the  acme  of  perfection  in  the 
Eastern  woods  will  require  adaptation  to  camping 
conditions  in  the  Rockies;  the  latter  equipment 
would  need  extensive  modification  in  Arizona,  while 
none  of  them  would  be  just  the  thing  for  a  coastal 


KINDS  OF  CAMPS  3 

cruise  along  the  great  bays  and  sounds  of  the  Atlantic 
seaboard.  Why  ?  Because  the  natural  conditions 
obtaining  are  different.  The  climate  is  different; 
fuel,  water,  transportation,  and  food  problems  are 
all  different,  and  these  factors  cause  modification 
of  the  equipment  to  suit. 

It  is  these  things  that  make  camping  out  in  differ- 
ent countries  so  fascinating,  and  it  is  these  condi- 
tions, also,  that  explain  the  amazing  diversity  of 
tents,  packing  and  sleeping  paraphernalia,  and  outer's 
tools  offered  by  the  various  outfitting  firms.  There 
is  no  one  best  tent,  nor  pack-sack,  nor  canoe,  nor 
blanket,  nor  axe,  nor  even  hunting-knife ! 

It  all  depends  upon  where  you  are  going  and  what 
you  propose  to  do.  But  for  each  country  and  cli- 
mate there  is  one  kind  of  camp  universally  conceded 
by  veterans  to  be  the  best  within  certain  limited 
modifications.  Every  detail  of  such  a  camp,  every 
article  for  the  procuring  of  food,  shelter,  warmth,  and 
transportation  exactly  fits  the  natural  conditions 
obtaining;  and  if  any  part  of  the  outfit  is  unsuitable 
or  is  omitted  entirely,  by  that  much  does  the  camp 
fail  to  meet  the  existing  requirements. 

Let  us,  as  it  were,  throw  upon  the  screen  some 
typical  American  wilderness  scenery  and  discuss  the 
types  of  camps  that  fit  best  into  their  environment. 

Scene  One.  Most  famiHar  of  all,  the  hardwood  and 
hemlock  forests  that  clothe  our  Appalachian  hills 


4  CAMP  CRAFT 

and  extend  westward  to  the  prairies  and  north  to 
the  Lake  States.  A  country  of  noble  stands  of  oak 
and  maple  timber,  with  great  areas  of  thick  brush- 
land  saplings,  the  haunts  of  grouse  and  woodcock; 
of  placid  and  hly-padded  lakes,  where  the  fighting 
bass  and  musky  lurk  and  wild  ducks  congregate  in 
the  fall;  of  brawling  brooks  and  alder  bottoms, 
where  trout  and  white-tailed  deer  tempt  the  adven- 
turous spirit  in  the  frosty  seasons.  The  spring  and 
fall  temperatures  are  comparatively  mild,  snowfall 
light,  if  any,  and  nearly  every  part  of  this  country 
is  accessible  to  team  and  buckboard  by  old,  aban- 
doned lumber-road  routes. 

These  are  the  conditions;  what  of  the  camp  ?  It 
IS  the  beginners'  country,  the  ideal  for  the  man  who 
cannot  cook  except  in  the  most  rudimentary  fashion; 
who  teams  in  a  ton  of  things  and  forgets  the  salt; 
who  totes  20  pounds  of  canned  goods  in  a  lo-pound 
wooden  soap-box  and  brings  in  a  50-pound  tent 
and  40  pounds  of  camp-cots  and  furniture  to  sleep 
two  men;  who  is  lost  if  a  quarter  of  a  mile  from  a 
lumber  road  and  is  frightened  into  lunacy  if  he  hap- 
pens to  get  left  out  overnight. 

For  him  the  heavy  lo-ounce  duck  9  x  15-foot  wall- 
tent,  with  a  fly  over  it  and  a  board  floor;  a  folding 
canvas  camp-cot  with  two  or  three  pairs  of  army 
blankets,  some  camp-stools,  a  cook-stove,  a  folding 
dining-table,  a  collapsible  cupboard;    all  the  rods, 


KINDS  OF  CAMPS  S 

rifles,  shotguns,  ammunition,  and  tackle  he  wants; 
fresh  bread  and  ham,  canned  vegetables  and  pre- 
serves; a  folding  canvas  bathtub — you  needn't  laugh; 
these  things  are  all  comforts,  and  as  the  team  brought 
them  in  to  the  camp  site  and  can  take  them  out 
again,  it  is  the  logical  style  of  camp  for  a  country 
with  such  easy  transportation  facilities.  By  estab- 
lishing a  camp  kitchen,  with  a  complete  aluminum 
cooking  and  table  outfit,  a  reflector  baker,  and  some 
practical  knowledge  of  camp  cookery,  a  party  of 
campers  should  subsist  for  months  in  such  a  camp 
with  virtually  all  the  comforts  of  home  and  the 
added  benefits  of  sleeping  and  living  out  in  the  open. 
This  country  is  also  the  ideal  for  the  go-light  man, 
with  his  gossamer  outfit,  care-free  and  happy,  with 
his  whole  hotel  on  his  back,  weighing  less  than  30 
pounds.  He  is  free  to  hunt  and  fish  where  he  wills, 
to  go  where  no  blazed  trails  lead;  he  is  never  "lost," 
for  his  home  is  right  with  him,  and  he  knows  well 
that  his  few  days'  provisions  are  ample  to  see  him 
safely  to  some  settlement  where  further  supplies 
can  be  purchased.  There  are  any  number  of  go- 
light  tents  and  equipments,  designed  by  those  who 
have  given  the  subject  much  study,  and  they  afford 
quite  as  much  real  comfort  as  the  caravan  camp  of 
the  veriest  tyro;  but  it  takes  an  experienced  man  to 
manage  them  properly  and  get  the  maximum  of 
comfort  and  independence  out  of  them.     The  basis 


6  CAMP  CRAFT 

for  such  equipments  is  a  light  one  or  two  man  tent 
of  fine  water-proof  fabric,  weighing  not  over  4  pounds ; 
a  light  all-wool  blanket  or  sleeping-bag;  the  lightest 
of  cook-kits,  and  a  variety  of  wholesome  and  nutri- 
tious provisions  which  are  Hght  and  compact  and 
form  the  basis  of  many  times  their  weight  of  cooked 
food  upon  the  addition  of  water  from  the  nearest 
brook  and  duly  cooking.  If  the  go-light  man  is 
hunting  he  has  but  one  weapon;  if  fishing,  one  rod 
and  a  limited  amount  of  tackle.  A  Hght  belt-axe 
of  the  finest  steel  furnishes  him  with  all  the  fuel, 
tent-poles,  and  stakes  he  requires,  and  his  mattress 
is  either  cut  balsam  and  hemlock  browse  or  dry 
leaves  and  pine-needles. 

His  outfit  overlaps  into  the  sterner  lands  to  the 
north;  so  we  throw  on  Scene  Two,  the  spruce 
and  white-birch  country  of  Maine,  New  Brunswick, 
Quebec,  Nova  Scotia,  Ontario — anywhere  in  the 
growing  range  of  those  two  trees.  They  do  not 
thrive  in  the  warmer  climate  of  the  hardwood  for- 
ests; theirs  is  the  country  of  long,  cold  winters,  with 
the  snow  yards  deep  from  November  to  April,  where 
the  principal  hardwood  is  the  yellow  and  the  white 
birch,  and  the  balsams,  spruces,  pines,  and  hem- 
locks cover  the  granite  mountains — the  land  of  the 
moose  and  caribou;  of  rivers  that  are  but  overgrown 
brawling  brooks,  with  white  water  all  the  way  down; 
of  trout  that  are  leviathan  in  size  and  omnivorous 


KINDS  OF  CAMPS  7 

in  their  tastes  as  to  fraudulent  flies;  a  country 
where  roads  are  few  and  far  between,  where  the 
blazed  trail  through  the  timber  is  the  sole  guide,  and 
even  a  footpath  is  a  boon.  The  temperatures  are 
severe;  the  cold  begins  early  in  September,  and  the 
first  light  snows  are  on  the  ground  before  October. 
The  summer  is  short  and  sweet,  with  the  nights 
cold  enough  to  demand  efficient  blanketing,  and  at 
certain  seasons  the  insect  life  is  such  as  to  demand 
special  preparation  to  withstand  it. 

To  meet  these  conditions,  to  begin  with,  all  trans- 
portation must  be  by  canoe  and  shoulder  pack, 
usually  both,  for  every  canoe  trail  has  its  portages. 
Wherefore  we  find  two  kinds  of  camps — the  perma- 
nent log  shack,  into  which  the  necessities  of  life  have 
been  laboriously  packed  by  industrious  guides,  and 
the  nomadic  camp,  much  like  the  go-light  equipment 
of  the  more  temperate  zones  but  designed  to  pro- 
vide comfort  under  much  sterner  conditions.  To 
save  total  weight  carried  by  the  party  in  such  an 
equipment,  the  tent  must  accommodate  at  least  four 
men,  yet  not  weigh  over  10  pounds.  To  meet  the 
extreme  cold  of  the  spring  and  fall  nights,  ordinary 
army  blankets  will  not  do,  as  they  make  too  bulky 
a  parcel  if  enough  of  them  are  taken  to  insure 
warmth;  wherefore  the  various  styles  of  sleeping- 
bags,  which  are  essentially  a  series  of  the  hghtest 
and  finest  all-wool  blankets,  with  every  superfluous 


8  CAMP  CRAFT 

inch  of  material  pared  away  and  the  whole  enclosed 
in  a  wind-and-water-proof  envelope  to  prevent  air 
currents  drifting  through  the  weave  of  the  blanket- 
ing and  stealing  away  the  precious  bodily  heat.  To 
meet  the  conditions  of  food  supply  with  no  available 
points  of  replenishment,  enough  must  be  carried  to 
subsist  the  whole  party,  and  this  must  be  selected  of 
the  Hghtest  and  most  nutritious  of  raw  materials, 
with  a  good  cook  in  camp  to  render  them  into  pal- 
atable, wholesome,  and  sustaining  food.  A  prac- 
tical knowledge  of  woodcraft  will  be  essential — not 
book  knowledge,  which  is  likely  to  have  some  essen- 
tial detail  hazy  or  forgotten,  but  the  knowledge  that 
comes  of  experience,  of  having  done  it  before,  again 
and  again,  so  that  there  will  be  no  failure  this  time; 
hunting  and  fishing  knowledge  that  gets  the  game, 
so  that  there  will  be  meat  in  camp,  with  none  of  the 
few  opportunities  to  get  it  overlooked  or  bungled; 
knowledge  of  how  to  butcher  and  prepare  the  raw 
product  of  rod  and  rifle,  of  how  to  make  the  forest 
itself  yield  the  major  part  of  the  comforts — for,  rest 
assured,  the  necessities  will  weigh  enough  to  tax  the 
whole  party's  combined  strength  without  adding 
anything  in  the  way  of  luxuries.  It  is  the  country 
for  the  veteran  woodsman,  for  the  man  who  has 
already  tried  himself  out  and  accumulated  his  ex- 
perience in  the  easier  schools  of  the  temperate-cli- 
mate forests. 


KINDS  OF  CAMPS  9 

As  regards  the  permanent  camps,  for  the  beginner 
they  are  the  only  solution  of  the  problem  in  this 
country.  Experienced  guides  have  already  looked 
after  the  essentials;  all  he  has  to  do  is  to  bring  not 
too  many  luxuries  along  and  be  careful  not  to  get 
lost. 

Turning  from  this  stern  picture,  the  postgraduate 
school  of  Eastern  woodsmanship,  let  us  throw  on  a 
milder  scene.  Scene  Three,  the  great  salt-water  bays 
of  the  Atlantic  seaboard,  where  shore-birds  and 
wild  fowl  are  countless  in  their  numbers,  and  tooth- 
some and  gamy  salt-water  fish  are  ready  for  your 
rod  and  line.  A  country  of  great  stretches  of  open 
water,  of  vast  green  marshes  backed  by  deep,  piney 
forests,  of  blazing  white  sand-dunes  and  roaring 
lines  of  foaming  surf.  Except  in  the  duck  season 
the  days  are  cool  and  the  nights  comparatively 
warm,  that  is,  a  single  blanket  suffices  and  most 
sleeping-bags  are  too  hot.  Transportation  will  be 
by  boat  or  decked  sailing  canoe.  The  ordinary  open 
canoe,  so  essential  in  the  wilderness  streams  and 
lakes,  is  out  of  place  here,  as  both  wind  and  wave 
are  too  severe  for  it  to  live,  and  one's  progress  is 
continually  interrupted  by  being  wind-bound.  It  is 
almost  impossible  to  paddle  against  such  a  wind  and 
sea  as  gets  up  daily  on  these  great  bays  and  sounds, 
and  the  water  is  too  deep  for  poling,  wherefore  the 
open  rowboat,  the  sailing  sneak-box,  or  the  decked 


10  CAMP  CRAFT 

sailing  canoe  which  will  live  and  thrive  in  a  sea  that 
calls  for  three  reefs  in  larger  craft. 

Ashore  the  two  big  natural  conditions  are  sand  and 
mosquitoes.  Sand  drifts,  blows,  and  gets  into  every- 
thing, and  at  night  the  mosquitoes  are  abroad  in 
untold  milHons.  Forearmed  against  these  two  evils, 
there  is  no  better  country  to  put  in  an  outing,  for 
the  wild  life  is  abundant,  there  are  a  thousand  di- 
verse occupations  for  an  outdoorsman,  and  the  cli- 
mate is  pleasant  and  agreeable.  To  get  rid  of  the 
sand  nuisance  the  tent  should  be  of  the  closed  type, 
with  ground-cloth  sewed  fast  to  the  bottom  of  the 
walls,  and  a  high  canvas  sill  provided  at  the  opening, 
or  door.  Sand  drops  from  your  shoes  whenever 
you  raise  a  foot,  but  will  run  off  in  the  act  of  step- 
ping over  such  a  sill,  so  that  when  you  set  foot  in 
the  tent  you  have  neither  kicked  a  spurt  of  sand 
before  you  into  the  tent  nor  drained  a  shower  of  it 
off  your  foot  into  it  on  entering.  At  that,  quite  a 
little  will  collect,  and  one's  sleeping-rig  should  be 
raised  a  few  inches  from  the  floor  by  either  a  cot, 
or  a  mat  of  dried  sea-grass,  which  latter  can  be  had 
in  great  bundles  along  the  bay  shore. 

The  mosquitoes  give  little  trouble  during  the  day- 
time, but  by  sunset  they  are  up  and  about,  remain- 
ing all  night  and  departing  shortly  after  sunrise. 
These  conditions  make  essential  a  fine  mosquito-bar 
absolutely  closing  the  tent  and  a  camp  regime  that 


KINDS  OF  CAMPS  ii 

will  be  through  with  supper  before  the  mosquitoes 
arrive.  Also  a  tent  big  enough  to  enjoy  oneself  in 
when  the  whole  party  is  gathered  inside,  either  be- 
cause of  inclement  weather  or  the  mosquitoes. 
With  such  simple  precautions,  camping  in  this  coun- 
try is  an  enjoyable  experience.  Very  little  meat 
need  be  taken,  as  the  supply  of  clams,  crabs,  fish  of 
all  sorts,  and  birds  seems  inexhaustible;  the  cook 
fire  must  be  surrounded  on  three  sides  by  a  board 
windbreak,  made  of  surf  driftwood,  to  keep  out 
blowing  sand,  and  every  cooking  utensil  in  service 
must  have  a  cover  on  it  for  the  same  reason.  Avoid 
a  tent  that  requires  many  poles  to  put  up,  for  these 
are  not  easy  to  find  along  the  beach;  if  camping  up 
the  estuaries  and  small  sandy  bays,  with  pines  and 
hardwoods  coming  right  down  to  the  water's  edge, 
this  difficulty  disappears. 

For  a  lone  cruiser  or  two  canoes  saiHng  in  consort, 
perhaps  the  best  tent  is  a  canoe-tent,  buttoned  over 
the  cockpit  coaming,  with  the  ridge-rope  strung  be- 
tween the  two  masts.  The  canoe  is  hauled  out  on 
the  beach  and  sand  banked  up  around  it;  a  mat- 
tress bag  is  filled  with  dry  sedge  or  sea-grass  and 
put  in  the  bottom  of  the  cockpit,  and  such  a  home 
is  dry,  warm,  mosquito-proof,  and  quickly  set  up  at 
the  end  of  the  day's  cruise.  The  weapon  to  take 
on  such  a  camp  is  a  i2-gauge  shotgun,  with  full  as- 
sortment of  shells;   its  weight  does  not  matter  in  a 


12  CAMP  CRAFT 

sailing  canoe  with  no  portages,  and  a  light,  small- 
gauge  gun  has  not  the  range  needed  for  efficient 
game-getting.  The  rod  should  be  a  stout  surf  rod 
with  a  first-class  reel  and  300  yards  of  i8-strand 
line,  a  standard  surf-casting  outfit,  so  that  when  you 
tie  into  a  30-pound  sea-bass  or  channel-bass  you  will 
not  lose  him.  The  weakfish  and  bluefish  of  both 
bay  and  ocean  will  be  too  light  to  give  much  sport 
with  such  a  rod,  but  it  is  well  to  be  prepared  for 
almost  anything  when  you  cast  your  bait  into  the 
old  ocean ! 

The  last  of  the  Eastern  pictures  now  comes  on 
the  screen. 

Scene  Four,  a  wild  river,  flowing,  oh,  anywhere ! 
— in  the  Laurentians  of  Quebec,  through  the  green 
hills  of  the  Alleghanies,  or  down  in  the  cypress 
bayous  of  the  Carolinas — it  does  not  matter,  so  that 
it  be  a  river  with  never  a  farm  along  its  banks;  and 
we  are  going  200  or  300  miles  down  it  without  ex- 
pecting to  see  more  than  a  bridge  or  two  to  remind 
us  that  civilization  exists.  In  a  word,  a  river  to  set 
the  canoe  voyageur's  pulse  beating  faster  and  recall 
to  him  memories  of  that  stout  ashen  paddle  that  in 
his  hands  drove  the  light  birch-bark  down  hurtling 
rapids,  past  hungry  bowlders,  around  down  trees, 
over  dams  and  chutes — all  the  thrills  and  excite- 
ments that  make  canoe  travel  a  blessed  memory. 

What    are    the    natural    conditions    to    be    met  ? 


KINDS  OF  CAMPS  13 

First  of  all,  while  the  equipment  does  not  have  to 
be  pared  down  to  the  fineness  of  a  back-pack  trip, 
it  must  be  reasonably  light  and  compact,  say  50 
pounds  per  man.  There  will  be  portages  and  down 
trees  to  get  over,  and  unless  you  want  to  double- 
trip  it,  the  duffel  must  be  limited,  as  the  canoe  itself 
is  no  mean  burden.  This  craft  should  not  exceed 
60  pounds  in  weight  for  the  16-foot  size,  and  lighter 
preferred,  provided  that  the  river  travel  does  not 
demand  a  stout,  strong  canoe  to  withstand  man- 
handling over  rocks.  For  absolute  wilderness  travel 
a  heavy,  all-wood  canoe  is  needed,  of  the  18-foot 
size,  and  for  any  and  all  of  them  an  efficient  repair- 
kit  and  the  materials  to  do  with  are  essential.  In 
the  nature  of  things  the  tent  should  be  light  and 
easily  and  quickly  put  up,  without  too  many  poles, 
which  may  take  a  lot  of  time  to  find  at  the  stopping 
place.  The  daily  regime  calls  for  breaking  camp 
and  getting  under  way  by  eight  o'clock,  an  all-day 
paddle  with  a  brief  stop  at  noon  for  a  lunch  and  a 
rest,  and  a  definite  stop  about  four  o'clock  to  pitch 
camp,  cook  supper,  and  make  all  snug  for  the  night. 
All  the  best  canoeing  is  to  be  had  when  the  nights 
are  cold,  for  then  the  insect  life,  which  is  always 
abundant  near  water,  has  not  yet  begun  to  hatch 
out  or  else  is  frozen  up  for  the  winter.  Wherefore 
the  sleeping-rig  must  be  comfortable  and  sufficient, 
some  form  of  sleeping-bag  preferred  to  blankets,  and 


14  CAMP  CRAFT 

the  same  enclosed  in  a  water-proof  envelope  or  tump- 
bag,  for  the  canoe  is  sure  to  ship  more  or  less  water 
during  the  day,  and  unprotected  bedding  will  be 
found  soaking  wet  when  you  want  to  use  it.  The 
foodstuffs  will  be  light  and  nutritious,  and  are  best 
carried  in  water-proof  side-opening  food-bags  that 
will  protect  them  against  water  in  the  bottom  of  the 
canoe,  float  them  safely  in  case  of  upset,  and  yet  de- 
liver them  handy  to  the  cook  when  wanted,  for  the 
meals  must  be  swiftly  and  efficiently  cooked,  often 
after  dark,  when  things  get  lost  easily  if  dumped  out 
of  an  ordinary  tump-bag  near  the  cook-fire.  One 
three-quarter  axe  should  find  a  place  somewhere  in 
the  canoe,  as  it  will  often  be  in  service  in  clearing  log 
jams  and  opening  impassable  holes  in  the  bayous. 

Of  all  wilderness  travel  the  canoe  camping  trip  is 
probably  the  easiest  on  the  bodily  muscles,  for  one 
sits  down  the  major  part  of  the  day,  and  the  exercise 
of  paddHng  is  never  tiring  enough  to  get  that  dog- 
tired  weariness  that  comes  from  a  hard  day  afoot 
or  on  horseback.  Also  for  beauty  and  diversity  of 
scenery,  for  continuous  excitement  with  the  natural 
hazards  of  the  river  it  is  hard  to  beat.  The  weapon 
to  take  is  preferably  a  double  shotgun,  with  ball 
cartridges  for  big  game  and  a  large  assortment  of 
sizes  of  shot,  for  it  is  almost  impossible  to  get  a  rifle 
sight  in  a  fast-moving,  constantly  turning  canoe, 
whereas  the  shots  that  offer  themselves  to  the  shot- 


KINDS  OF  CAMPS  15 

gun  are  innumerable  and  will  result  in  much  meat 
in  the  pot  in  the  day's  run.  For  a  rod,  either  the 
bait-casting  outfit  or  the  trout-rod  is  the  thing,  de- 
pending on  the  waters  canoed  over.  As  there  is 
little  time  at  night  to  gather  browse  or  cut  it,  some 
form  of  stick  bed  or  stretcher  bed  is  preferable, 
though,  with  a  good  acetylene  camp-lamp,  there  is  no 
reason  why  all  the  dead  leaves,  pine-needles,  or  ever- 
green browse  wanted  should  not  be  obtained  after 
supper  before  retiring.  It  is  something  of  a  nuisance 
to  do  this  daily,  however,  and  one  way  out  of  it  is 
to  fill  your  mattress  bag  once  for  all,  and  carry  it 
full  in  the  canoe  as  you  go  along.  There  is  always 
room,  and  unless  there  are  long  portages,  the  added 
weight  is  not  perceptible. 

Our  stereopticon  now  swings  3,000  miles  to  the 
west,  and  there  develops  upon  the  canvas  Scene 
Five,  in  the  heart  of  the  Rockies.  The  forests  are 
fir,  balsam,  lodge-pole  pine,  and  spruce,  with  cotton- 
wood  as  the  principal  hardwood,  and  the  trails  lead 
through  them  and  out  along  great  rocky  slopes, 
with  dizzy  precipices  awaiting  him  who  loses  the 
way.  Then,  up  over  snowy  summits  and  divides, 
with  perhaps  a  descent  to  brown  bunch-grass  prairie 
extending  for  miles.  It  is  always  windy  and  blowy, 
and  the  nights  are  cold  and  sharp,  and  with  the 
opening  of  the  big-game  season  comes  the  snow  in 
generous  layers,  one  or  two  feet  thick,  with  now  and 


i6  CAMP  CRAFT 

then  a  blizzard  thrown  in  for  good  measure.  The 
distances  are  always  immense,  and  there  is  but  little 
navigable  water  to  help  out. 

These  are  the  natural  facts  and  conditions  to  be 
met.  How  is  man  to  provide  himself  with  food, 
shelter,  warmth,  and  transportation  in  such  a  coun- 
try .?  To  begin  with,  we  want  a  tent,  a  whole  lot  of 
tent,  not  a  shelter  or  an  open  lean-to,  but  the  near- 
est thing  to  a  canvas  house  for  the  whole  party  that 
can  be  provided.  Now,  a  man  can  go  afoot  with  a 
go-light  equipment  in  that  country — but  he  won't 
go  far.  There's  a  limit  to  what  he  can  carry  on  his 
back,  and  the  combined  adversities  of  altitude  and 
steep  mountain  trails  set  that  limit  at  20  to  30 
pounds.  Add  to  that  the  necessity  for  a  warm 
sleeping  rig,  good  down  to  20  and  30  below  zero, 
and  you  see  why  the  foot  traveller  is  limited  to  short 
trips  of  a  few  days'  distance  from  the  home  camp. 
And  as  this  latter  must  be  located  anywhere  from 
50  to  100  miles  in  from  the  nearest  railroad,  we  begin 
to  seek  out  a  pack-horse  to  carry  the  necessary  out- 
fit. Such  an  animal  will  carry  120  to  150  pounds  on 
his  back  all  day  long  and  subsist  off  the  mountain 
meadow  and  prairie  grass  feed,  with  a  little  oats 
taken  along  for  emergencies. 

Now,  here  are  the  daily  conditions:  You  are  out 
hunting  all  day  long,  generally  in  the  deep  snow 
after  October  i,  and  you  come  home  at  night  dog- 


KINDS  OF  CAMPS  17 

tired  and  wet  through  from  your  toes  to  your 
thighs.  Nothing  yet  devised  will  keep  deep  snow 
from  wetting  you  down  in  the  long  day's  hunt. 
You  then  want  a  warm,  closed  tent,  out  of  the  bitter 
wind,  where  you  can  change  your  wet  clothes,  hang 
them  up  to  dry  for  next  day,  and  get  supper.  That 
calls  for  a  wall-tent  with  a  tent-stove  in  it,  not  an 
open  shelter-tent  with  a  dead  fire  in  front  of  it 
buried  under  a  foot  of  snow.  You  can  use  the  latter, 
but  the  former  is  the  logical  outfit.  As  the  party  is 
usually  not  less  than  four — one  horse-wrangler,  one 
helper  and  cook,  and  two  hunters — -the  tent  should 
be  big  enough  to  shelter  all  of  them;  not  less  than 
9x1 5-foot  size,  and  of  stout,  water-proof  duck,  for 
any  lighter  fabric  is  apt  to  get  torn  when  the  pack- 
animal  carrying  the  tent  runs  amuck  in  the  tall 
timber  and  succeeds  in  ripping  a  hole  in  it  by 
trying  to  squeeze  between  two  spruces  that  will 
hardly  pass  one  horse,  let  alone  his  pack !  How- 
ever, he  manages  it  somehow,  in  spite  of  the  fran- 
tic objurgations  of  all  the  men  in  the  party, 
and  comes  through  triumphant,  with  your  silk 
tent  torn  to  ribbons  in  spite  of  the  protecting 
"tarps." 

The  tent-stove  wants  a  bake-oven  in  it,  and  at 
least  two  pot-holes.  Then,  we  must  have  rope  for 
making  temporary  corrals,  bells,  and  hobbles;  a 
shoeing  outfit;    rope  to  hang  wet  clothes  on  along 


i8  CAMP  CRAFT 

under  the  tent  ridge-pole;  and  in  general  there  is 
little  gained  in  trying  to  save  every  ounce  of  weight 
possible. 

On  the  other  hand,  all  unnecessary  luxuries  must 
be  left  behind,  for  the  essentials  themselves  weigh 
enough  as  it  is  without  multiplying  pack-horses.  A 
party  of  four,  each  leading  a  pack-horse,  can  get 
along  very  comfortably  taking  all  the  equipment 
and  provisions  needed  for  a  two  to  three  weeks'  trip 
into  the  mountains,  and  have  horse-flesh  enough 
to  bring  out  all  their  heads  and  trophies  at  the  end 
of  the  trip  without  having  to  walk.  If  the  meat  also 
is  to  be  brought  out,  all  hands  will  have  to  walk,  and 
the  saddle-horses  take  the  meat.  One  haunch  of 
elk  is  pretty  nearly  a  load  in  itself.  In  such  a  coun- 
try small  game  is  abundant,  and  a  pistol  of  some  sort 
is  needed  to  gather  it  in  as  one  rides  along.  It 
ought  not  to  be  very  long  after  arriving  in  the  hunt- 
ing territory  before  fresh  venison  and  the  meat  of 
larger  game  is  hanging  up  in  camp,  wherefore,  out- 
side of  pork  and  bacon,  the  principal  foodstuffs  to 
be  carried  are  nourishing  cereals,  dried  fruits,  sugar, 
evaporated  cream,  tea,  and  coffee.  Also  extra  salt 
for  preserving  skins. 

One's  personal  outfit  should  be  very  complete, 
not  in  luxuries  but  in  essentials,  such  as  a  fine  belt- 
axe,  a  keen  skinning-knife,  compass,  rifle-cleaning 
outfit,  medicine-kit,  and  above  all  a  good  emergency 


<     a 
O    13 

g  ! 


KINDS  OF  CAMPS  19 

ration  in  a  tin  container,  that  can  be  used  in  a  pinch 
as  a  cooking  utensil.  Your  chances  of  being  left 
out  all  night  are  very  good  in  that  country;  you  may 
follow  a  hot  trail  until  sundown  before  you  catch 
up  with  your  animal,  and  then  you  will  most  likely 
be  lost  as  far  as  camp  is  concerned  and  have  so 
much  to  do  that  it  will  be  best  to  den  up  for  the 
night  right  at  the  kill.  Here  is  where  the  belt-axe, 
the  skinning-knife,  the  emergency  ration,  and  the 
compass  all  become  essentials. 

Swinging  our  camera  southward  for  a  thousand 
miles,  Scene  Six  appears  upon  the  screen,  a  limitless 
arid  region,  teeming  with  animal  and  vegetable  life, 
even  though  no  visible  water  is  apparent.  The 
roughest  sort  of  bald,  rugged,  volcanic  rock  forms 
the  going  underfoot,  and  the  mountains  all  about 
are  made  of  it.  The  game  is  there,  in  those  moun- 
tains, cougar  and  white-tailed  deer,  and  the  coun- 
try itself  is  enough  to  tempt  any  red-blooded,  ad- 
venturous man  to  match  his  wits  against  it,  and  get 
that  game.  It  is  a  country  of  great  purple  distances, 
of  weird  and  thorny  vegetation,  of  endless  level 
plains,  always  with  a  horizon  of  bare,  craggy  moun- 
tains or  queer,  flat-topped  mesas.  The  days  are 
scorching  hot  and  the  nights  of  intense,  frosty  cold; 
sometimes  visited  by  heavy  thunder-showers,  occa- 
sionally by  a  rainy  drizzle,  but  usually  of  a  brazen 
blueness  shimmering  in  the  desert  heat.     An  iron 


20  CAMP  CRAFT 

country,  yet  one  fascinating  to  every  outdoorsman 
who  camps  in  it  (not  races  across  it  in  a  high-powered 
car),  who  leaves  the  desert  road  and  camps  up  in 
the  hills  and  arroyos.  If  any  tent  at  all  is  taken,  it 
will  be  a  closed  one,  for  your  cave-like,  open  tent  is 
likely  to  attract  all  the  reptilian  hfe  of  your  vicinity, 
who  appreciate  your  warmth  and  your  shelter  but 
do  not  understand  your  sudden,  startled  uprising  in 
the  morning,  and  therefore  bite.  More  often  the 
wind-proof,  rain-proof,  and  snake-proof  sleeping- 
bag  is  the  only  habitation  carried,  and  if  it  storms 
or  drizzles,  there  is  the  "tarp"  to  pull  over  your  faces 
as  you  sleep,  all  in  a  row  with  your  feet  to  the 
smouldering  fire,  while  the  coyotes  howl  at  you 
from  the  neighboring  hills.  As  water  is  from  30 
to  50  miles  apart,  it  is  obviously  not  the  country 
for  the  foot  hiker,  unless  he  leads  a  burro  with  his 
camping  paraphernaHa,  horse  feed,  and  water  packed 
on  his  back.  The  best  way  to  live,  move,  and  have 
your  being  in  that  country  is  riding  a  saddle-horse 
and  leading  a  pack-horse,  or  a  string  of  them  tied 
tail  to  halter,  depending  upon  how  far  you  are 
going.  Wood  is  reasonably  plentiful,  and  sage  for 
browse,  so  your  pack-horse  will  carry  your  sleeping- 
bag,  your  extra  clothes  (sure  to  be  wanted  soon  after 
sundown),  your  provisions,  water-bottles,  and  horse 
feed  (oats  and  bran  to  supplement  the  scant  desert 
fare),  and  if  you  have  a  tent  at  all  let  it  be  a  light 


KINDS  OF  CAMPS  21 

one  with  either  a  canvas  sill  or  a  closed  front  and 
a  ground-cloth  sewn  to  the  tent  bottom,  all  around. 
Unless  you  are  crossing  a  country  where  brooks  trav- 
erse your  trail,  so  that  one  cannot  miss  the  water, 
it  is  essential  to  have  a  guide  who  knows  the  water- 
holes  and  "tanks." 

Last  scene  of  all,  the  camera  swings  3,ocx)  miles  to 
the  north,  and  there  appears  Scene  Seven,  a  picture  of 
vast,  snowy  wastes,  over  rolling  country,  with  all  trails 
hidden  far  below,  and  the  going  is  by  snow-shoes  and 
toboggan,  or  sledge  with  a  team  of  dogs  for  the  mo- 
tive power.  In  fact,  in  all  countries  where  the  trip 
is  entirely  over  snow,  no  matter  what  its  depth,  a 
toboggan  or  a  team  and  sledge  with  upstanders  to 
steer  and  push  on  is  an  essential  part  of  the  equip- 
ment, for  the  cold  is  so  intense  that  the  sleeping-rig 
and  outfit  for  any  distance  of  travel  makes  a  back 
pack  out  of  the  question.  Of  course,  a  short  trip 
on  snow-shoes  with  a  knapsack  and  a  light  llama 
wool  arctic  sleeping-bag,  light  tent,  etc.,  can  be 
made,  and  the  lone  hike  hauling  a  toboggan  also  an- 
swers for  the  transportation  problem  without  any 
aid  from  dogs;  but  in  the  long  run  they  are  the 
logical  answer,  and  have  proven  so  all  over  Alaska, 
in  arctic  exploration  trips,  and  wherever  introduced 
in  eastern  Canada.  The  breed  does  not  matter,  pro- 
vided they  have  thick,  hairy  coats  and  are  naturally 
hardy — Airedales  haul  many  a  mail  sledge  in  Alaska 


22  CAMP  CRAFT 

to-day,  working  right  in  with  the  native  Malamutes; 
such  a  dog  as  the  hound  or  pointer,  with  short, 
smooth  hair  would  hardly  answer.  The  harness  de- 
veloped by  the  Eskimos  after  centuries  of  usage  is 
not  at  all  what  a  white  man  would  naturally  cobble 
up  if  left  to  his  own  devices.  It  is  simply  two  large 
loops  of  soft  sealskin  passing  under  the  dog's  fore 
legs  and  meeting  over  his  tail  in  the  trace  knot. 
Joining  these  loops  are  two  short  straps,  one  passing 
over  the  back  of  the  neck  and  the  other  tying  across 
his  chest  when  the  harness  is  put  on.  So  equipped, 
the  dog  can  exert  his  maximum  pulling  strength, 
the  pull  to  him  being  much  the  same  as  the  shoulder- 
straps  of  a  knapsack  upon  the  chest  and  shoulder 
muscles  of  a  man;  he  is  free  to  pull  in  any  direction, 
so  as  to  turn  the  sledge  without  the  harness  chafing; 
he  can  fight,  romp,  wag  his  tail,  eat,  do  anything  he 
wants  to  without  interfering  with  the  business  part 
of  his  harness,  and  it  has  but  the  one  tie  across  his 
chest  to  put  it  on  and  take  it  ofF. 

Except  in  extreme  colds,  where  the  snow  igloo  is 
the  only  thing,  a  dark-dyed  spike-tent  of  light  fabric 
is  the  standard  equipment,  so  chosen  because  with 
a  little  ventilating  flap  at  the  peak  it  will  sleep  four 
men  in  a  bunch,  requires  only  one  pole  in  a  country 
where  a  jointed  pole  must  be  carried  (there  being 
no  such  thing  as  a  tree  of  sufficient  height  to  make 
one);  further  because  this  tent's  steep  sides  make 


KINDS  OF  CAMPS  23 

it  shed  snow  easily  with  but  a  tap  from  inside,  and 
still  further  because  it  gives  the  greatest  enclosed 
cubic  room  for  the  least  canvas  carried. 

For  warmth,  sometimes  natural  fuel  can  be  had, 
but  as  a  rule  the  spirit  lamp  and  wood  alcohol  is 
relied  upon  as  being  quicker  and  surer,  more  es- 
pecially as  it  can  be  used  inside  the  tent,  where  any 
wood  fire  cannot  because  of  the  ground-cloth,  which 
is  essential  in  this  kind  of  camping  and  is  perma- 
nently sewed  to  the  tent.  With  proper  fur  or  wool 
clothing  and  wool  sleeping-bag  one  is  adequately 
protected  against  the  extreme  cold,  and  the  prin- 
cipal thing  to  guard  against  for  outside  work  on 
the  trail  is  exposed  metal  touching  the  bare  skin. 
Even  the  rifle  barrel  should  be  cord  wound  from 
muzzle  to  wood  fore  end,  with  its  protective  wood 
covering  on  the  upper  side  of  the  barrel — this  to 
prevent  one's  bare  hand  freezing  to  the  barrel  if 
inadvertently  grasped  when  the  temperatures  are 
well  below  zero. 

The  foodstuflTs  to  be  carried  on  such  a  trip  are 
such  concentrated  meats  as  pemmican  and  jerky, 
dried  vegetables  and  soup-greens,  which  make  fifteen 
times  their  weight  of  cooked  food  when  boiled  in 
snow  water;  erbswurst,  the  iron  ration  of  the  Ger- 
man army;  tea  and  sugar — lots  of  the  latter,  for 
all  outdoorsmen  crave  it  when  working  hard  in  cold 
temperatures.     Dried  soup-powders,  corn-meal,  etc., 


24  CAMP  CRAFT 

form  the  cereals,  the  object  being  to  take  along  only 
that  which  cooks  quickly,  for  fuel  is  precious,  and 
anything  that  takes  over  half  an  hour  to  cook  is  too 
extravagant  of  the  spirit-lamp  supplies.  For  the 
dogs,  dried  fish  and  meat,  one-ounce  ration  per 
pound  of  dog  per  day,  must  be  carried. 

Somewhat  farther  south,  where  the  timber  still 
exists,  these  conditions  modify  somewhat:  beans 
and  rice  can  be  cooked  from  the  natural  raw  article 
without  precooking,  as  is  done  with  the  prepared 
powders;  balsam  and  spruce  are  available  for  bed- 
ding, and  one  camps  in  a  howling  blizzard,  cutting 
layers  of  their  browse,  which  are  first  spread  upon 
the  snow  and  the  tent  set  up  on  them,  a  camp-fire 
built  on  logs  laid  on  the  snow,  and  the  teakettle 
(which  is  always  carried  alone  and  handy  at  the 
front  of  the  toboggan)  is  put  over  to  boil.  A  small 
folding  tent-stove  is  set  up  inside  the  tent  on  logs 
or  stones,  and  corn  bread  can  be  baked  and  meat 
fried,  much  as  in  camp  life  in  the  ordinary  hunting 
zones. 

To  the  camper  who  can  travel  and  subsist  under 
these  conditions  should  be  awarded  the  crown,  for 
the  least  mistake  in  not  making  one's  return  cache 
wolverene-proof,  for  instance,  or  in  letting  valuable 
game  chances  slip  by,  may  result  in  starvation,  and 
loss  of  any  essential  part  of  the  equipment  may  end 
in  freezing  to  death.     Only  veterans  should  attempt 


KINDS  OF  CAMPS  25 

it,  for  once  well  in  600  or  700  miles  from  a  railroad 
and  a  goodly  dist^ance  from  the  nearest  Hudson  Bay 
post,  there  is  no  turning  back,  and  mistakes  count 
for  life  or  death. 

Aside  from  the  joy  of  visiting  or  exploring  new 
country  and  seeing  wild  life  in  abundance,  prac- 
tically all  that  makes  the  winter  camp  and  trail 
fascinating  can  be  experienced  in  any  of  our  northern 
forests,  within  easy  reach  of  rail  or  trapper's  cabin 
in  case  of  misfortune.  There  is  a  zest  and  an  in- 
vigoration  about  midwinter  camping  that  puts  it 
far  ahead  of  the  summer  equivalent  to  many  hardy 
souls  well  provided  with  the  proper  equipment,  for 
all  insect  troubles  vanish,  no  rainy  spells  intervene 
to  stop  all  outdoor  enjoyment,  the  going  is  pleasant 
and  easy,  particularly  over  the  frozen  and  snow- 
clad  surface  of  some  waterway,  and  there  is  a  sparkle 
in  the  winter  air  and  a  coseyness  about  a  well-man- 
aged snow  camp  that  no  other  season  can  give. 

We  hear  much  of  the  long-closed  season,  when  the 
outdoorsman  is  cooped  up  in  his  office,  but  even  if 
it  be  but  for  a  few  days,  every  outdoorsman  should 
make  it  a  point  to  spend  some  of  his  time  under 
canvas  during  every  month  of  the  year — spring, 
summer,  fall,  and  winter. 


CHAPTER  II 

TENTS 

THE  principal  function  of  a  tent  is  to  make  a 
real  "woodser"  of  you.  A  shack  or  a  log 
cabin,  located  in  the  heart  of  the  woods,  will  shelter 
you  from  the  elements  and  put  you  in  reasonable 
touch  with  the  sights  and  sounds  and  smells  of  the 
wilderness,  but  you  are  not  of  it,  not  in  the  real 
heart  of  the  wild  life,  nor  will  a  year  in  a  cabin  be 
as  beneficial  to  your  health  as  thirty  days  in  a  tent. 
The  reason  is  that,  day  and  night,  there  is  a  constant 
seepage  of  the  fresh  ozone  of  the  forest  through  the 
texture  of  the  tent  wall,  neither  draft  nor  stagna- 
tion, but  a  constant  change  of  air.  The  fresh,  fine 
woods  aroma  is  not  barred  out  by  log  or  clapboard, 
nor  yet  does  it  blow  over  you  in  chilling  drafts  as 
in  an  open-air  bivouac  or  under  a  single  sheet  of 
shelter  cloth.  I  never  regarded  the  latter  as  any- 
thing but  an  unnecessary  outdoor  hardship,  and  the 
cabin  I  have  always  considered  as  anything  but  a 
luxury  when  there  was  a  possible  choice  of  a  tent 
to  sleep  in. 

Styles,  sizes,  and  materials  of  tents  vary  greatly 

according  to  the  climate,  number  in  the  party,  and 

26 


TENTS  27 

transportation  possibilities.  Every  different  style 
of  going  has  its  own  best  kind  of  tent,  and  this  in  its 
turn  is  modified  by  temperatures,  wood  supply,  and 
available  time  for  camp-making.  There  is  a  ten- 
dency among  modern  writers,  following  doubtless 
the  lead  of  Nessmuk,  to  pooh-pooh  the  wall-tent  as 
unsuited  for  anything  but  army  conditions.  But  it 
is  a  significant  fact  that  practically  all  the  trappers, 
lumbermen,  and  herb  men  who  live  in  the  woods 
use  the  benighted  wall-tent,  and  the  Indian  abandons 
his  teepee  for  it  just  as  soon  as  he  can  afford  to  buy 
one.  Why  ?  Because  for  a  permanent  camp  it  is 
the  most  practical  form  of  shelter  yet  devised,  and 
with  a  tent-stove  and  brush  or  snow  protection  it 
will  defy  cold  better  than  any  teepee  or  Sibley  ever 
built.  It  is  quickly  and  easily  put  up  with  a  ridge- 
pole and  a  pair  of  shears  outside — those  who  carry 
tent-pioles  do  not  know  the  game — it  does  not  need 
any  "fly"  overhead  with  modern  tent  textiles,  and 
for  its  weight  it  gives  the  maximum  available  cubic 
space  inside.  The  commercial  sizes  of  wall-tents 
run  from  the  little  4^  x  6>^-foot  affair  for  two  men 
up  to  the  15  X  17^-foot  size,  taking  five  camp-cots 
along  both  walls.  There  are,  of  course,  larger  sizes 
for  lumber  crews,  etc.,  but  in  camping-party  sizes 
the  9x11,  12x14,  ^"^  14x16  about  fill  the  bill. 
In  water-proof  flax  their  weights  run  from  19  pounds 
to  81,  light  green  cloths  weigh  from  10  pounds  for 


28  CAMP  CRAFT 

the  8x8  tent  to  56  pounds  for  the  12  x  14  in  water- 
proof duck.  The  above  weight  should  convince  you 
that  the  wall-tent  is  not  the  thing  for  back-pack  trips, 
nor  for  one-night-stand  canoe  trips,  nor  for  a  no- 
madic pack  trip  for  a  hunting-party  of  six  or  eight 
men.  A  tent  is  an  indivisible  load,  and  in  large 
sizes  a  very  bulky  one.  With  a  boat,  buckboard, 
or  pack-horse  to  transport  the  tent,  a  large  one  for 
a  party  has  the  advantage  that  its  stove  will  keep 
the  chill  ofF  all  night,  and  it  is  the  thing  to  have  for 
a  permanent  base  camp  of  several  weeks'  duration. 

The  stove  for  it  is  of  light  sheet  iron,  in  sizes 
10  X  11x18,  10x11x25,  ^^^  10x12x32  inches. 
Weights  run  from  15  to  20  pounds.  These  stoves 
are  regularly  made  without  a  bottom,  being  intended 
to  be  set  on  a  stone  hearth  and  to  fold  for  trans- 
portation into  a  flat  parcel.  With  them  is  furnished 
a  telescopic  pipe  of  five  2-foot  lengths  of  sheet-iron 
pipe,  the  weight  of  which  is  included  in  the  totals 
given  above.  It  is  essential  to  have  a  spark-arrester 
with  it,  for  the  sparks  from  a  camp-stove  are  tiny 
hot  embers,  and  will  surely  burn  holes  in  the  tent 
when  they  descend. 

However,  with  a  stove  and  a  large  wall-tent,  a 
party  of  hunters  or  a  man  and  his  family  are  well 
fixed  for  comfortable  living  outdoors — better  than  the 
Indian  is  with  his  teepee,  and  far  more  healthily  than 
the  man  in  a  mouldy  log  cabin  or  a  drafty  shack. 


TENTS  29 

The  beauty  of  the  camp-stove  is  that  it  runs  all 
night.  In  principle  it  is  a  charcoal-making  machine, 
with  very  Httle  draft,  and  slow,  steady  combustion. 
You  will  have  lots  of  difficulty  with  it  on  starting 
up  for  lack  of  sufficient  draft,  and  the  surest  way 
to  invite  trouble  is  to  fill  it  full  of  small  kindlings 
and  then  touch  it  off,  for  it  will  at  once  smother  it- 
self because  there  is  not  enough  air  to  support  the 
flames.  But  go  at  it  gradually,  until  you  have  a 
bed  of  live  coals,  and  then  you  have  an  excellent 
fire  for  slow  cooking,  roasting,  and  baking,  and  you 
can  feed  it  short  logs  ad  lib.,  with  no  necessity  to  be 
forever  rustling  small  fuel  as  with  the  open  camp- 
fire.  At  night  fill  the  stove  up  with  logs.  The 
lower  ones  resting  on  the  bed  of  live  coals  burn  as 
fast  as  the  limited  draft  of  air  will  permit,  while  all 
the  rest  turn  to  charcoal  and  burn  slowly  in  their 
turn.  As  this  is  a  process  of  hours,  the  stove  gives 
a  steady  heat  all  night,  and  is  in  fine  shape  for  bacon 
and  coffee  and  flapjacks  in  the  morning. 

Contrast  this  with  fife  in  the  teepee  in  cold  weather. 
I  have  often  slept  in  them,  the  following  experience 
being  typical  of  a  night  spent  in  one:  A  sturdy  fire, 
three  times  the  size  of  a  camp-stove,  ate  up  a  goodly 
pile  of  timber  and  maintained  an  acrid  eye-watering 
atmosphere  in  the  teepee,  even  though  all  its  visible 
smoke  was  carried  out  by  the  draft  cloth,  which 
is  arranged  opposite  the  smoke  flaps  in  every  well- 


30  CAMP  CRAFT 

ordered  teepee.  About  eleven  o'clock  the  party 
turned  in.  By  twelve  the  fire  was  down  to  embers, 
and  cold  blasts  whistled  up  the  draft  cloth  and  out 
the  smoke  flaps.  It  was  Hke  sleeping  in  a  chimney. 
My  blanket  bag  was  next  the  draft  cloth  and  I 
got  all  the  trimmings — maybe  it  wasn't  cold !  Vd 
far  rather  have  buried  the  bag  in  a  leaf  pile  in  the 
woods  outside.  I  got  off  to  sleep  about  i  A.  M., 
and  was  wakened  by  the  honking  of  wild  geese 
pitching  down  into  the  lake  in  the  dark  before  dawn. 
Orion  had  swung  around,  and  I  could  see  the  whole 
of  him  through  the  top  of  the  teepee.  The  cold  of 
space  radiated  straight  down  onto  us.  You  might 
as  well  have  slept  outdoors !  The  temperature  was 
about  plus  20,  and  there  was  ice  inches  deep  in 
every  pail  in  the  teepee,  and  the  fire  had  turned 
into  a  dead-white  heap  of  ashes. 

It  was  very  poetic,  of  course.  The  Red  Gods 
loomed  large  overhead,  and  their  voices  echoed  down 
the  lake  in  the  stentorian  honking  of  the  Canada 
geese.  We  were  living  in  the  red  man's  home  since 
time  immemorial,  on  ground  where  trod  Uncas  and 
Chingachgook  and  Quonab.  They  probably  slept 
under  piles  of  caribou  skins.  I  was  using  a  blanket 
bag  that  I  know  is  comfortable  at  plus  2,  provided 
that  you  keep  drafts  off  it,  but  in  that  teepee  the 
bag  was  cold  at  plus  20.  Two  weeks  later  the  same 
party  were  out  in  a  white  man's  wall-tent  14  x  16 


AUTOMOBILE  TENTS  DESIGNED  TO  FASTEN  TO  CAR  FRAME. 


THE  RED  MAN'S  TEEPEE. 


TENTS  31 

feet,  with  a  10  x  11  x  25-inch  stove — and  life  was 
worth  Hving  again ! 

For  a  nomadic  moving  camp,  or  one  reached  by 
canoe  or  pack  tramp,  the  style  of  tent  changes. 
You  want  something  Hght — not  over  5  pounds  for  a 
capacity  of  two  or  three  men,  and  if  there  are  six 
in  the  party,  take  two  tents.  These  can  be  had  in 
closed  and  open  types,  "J  ^'J  feet  and  9x7  feet 
being  the  popular  sizes.  Weights  run  from  3  to  il 
pounds  in  modern  tent  textiles.  For  a  hunting- 
party  of  four  men,  I  should  consider  a  7  x  9  Baker 
shelter-tent,  weighing  12  pounds  in  balloon  silk,  to 
be  a  good  investment.  It  has  become  standard  for 
north  woods  and  Canada  hunting  and  fishing  parties. 

Even  though  drafty,  cold,  hard  to  put  up,  hard 
to  keep  insects  out  of  without  a  bulky  roll  of  bob- 
binet  big  enough  to  cover  the  entire  front,  it  has 
much  to  be  said  for  it.  Its  front  veranda  makes 
a  night  fire  in  front  a  long-distance  proposition,  and 
to  trench  it  properly  is  not  an  easy  matter  on  the 
average  wilderness  camp  site;  yet,  with  these  known 
ailments,  it  has  the  undeniable  advantages  of  quickly 
and  easily  sheltering  four  men  and  their  duffel,  with 
headroom  enough  to  stand  up  in  or  sit  down  in  on 
camp-chairs  (if  you  insist  on  that  kind  of  comfort); 
it  does  reflect  the  camp-fire  heat-rays,  and  if  it  rains 
you  can  rig  out  the  front  fly  and  have  a  comfortable 
sort  of  porch  to  lounge  under.     In  a  snow-storm 


32  CAMP  CRAFT 

unless  some  one  keeps  the  snow  from  accumulating, 
it  will  soon  get  you  into  a  variety  of  troubles,  due 
to  the  weight  of  the  snow  on  the  roof. 

For  pack  tramp,  canoe  portage,  and  all  types  of 
travel  trips,  two  or  more  open  pyramidal  tents  of 
the  Forester,  canoe,  or  automobile  type  are  prefera- 
ble, for  the  same  party  can  then  separate  to  hunt  or 
explore  different  territory  in  the  same  region,  each 
pair,  hunter  and  guide,  taking  a  tent  with  them,  and 
these  small  tents  are  infinitely  cosier,  warmer,  less 
drafty  and  less  trouble  to  put  up  than  the  larger 
lean-to  or  wall-tent.  The  weights  run  from  3  to 
16  pounds,  and  floor  areas  about  8x8  feet.  The 
automobile  type  requires  a  single  8-foot  pole  in 
front,  and  its  rear  corners  are  guyed  out  to  the 
body  of  the  automobile.  The  angles  of  side  and 
back  reflect  the  heat-rays  fairly  accurately,  but  with 
its  front  open  it  would  be  too  roomy  and  drafty 
for  winter  camping.  The  floor  space  of  the  smallest 
size  is  8  feet  9  inches  by  7  feet  4  inches,  with  a  rear 
wall  4>^  feet  high — a  tent  big  enough  to  sleep  four 
men  and  weighing  ijyi  pounds. 

The  canoe-tent  is  of  much  the  same  shape  and 
uses  a  front  pole  with  its  rear  corners  guyed  to  high 
stakes.  Its  front  pegs  out  round,  but  enough  of  the 
entrance  flap  can  be  thrown  back  to  admit  the  fire 
heat-rays.  Smallest  size,  6  feet  6  inches  by  4  feet 
9  inches,  floor  area,  with  2-foot  back  wall,  weight, 


TENTS  33 

6}4  pounds.  It  requires  no  front  guy,  as  does  the 
automobile  type,  because  the  pegs  taking  the  front 
slope  of  the  tent  produce  the  necessary  forward 
strain  to  counteract  the  rear  guys.     It  takes  i6  pegs. 

Among  the  special  forms  of  light  camping-tents 
may  be  mentioned  the  canoe-tent  with  ridge-pole, 
the  Vreeland  tent,  and  the  Camp  Fire  tent.  The 
ridge  type  of  canoe-tent  is,  in  effect,  an  extension  of 
the  old  style,  the  addition  consisting  of  about  a 
yard  of  material  running  up  to  a  ridge  instead  of  a 
peak.  This  ridge  is  held  up  by  a  short  club  by  means 
of  tapes,  and  a  pair  of  shears  is  put  up  over  the  tent, 
with  a  short  rope  to  hold  up  the  ridge.  The  for- 
ward strain  of  the  front  face  of  the  canoe-tent  and 
the  rear  strain  of  its  rear  guy-ropes  react  on  the 
club  and  shears  to  form  a  triangular  strain  which 
holds  the  tent  up.  It  has  somewhat  more  available 
space  than  the  older  form  and  considerably  more 
headroom.  It  is  made  in  sizes  from  6%  feet  by 
4J^  feet  up  to  8  feet  hy  Gyi  feet,  with  weights  from 
6%  to  lo  pounds.     Sizes  do  not  include  circular  ends. 

Vreeland's  tent  is  developed  evidently  from  the 
Nessmuk  shanty-tent.  It  is  made  in  one  size,  8 
feet  deep  by  6  feet  wide;  height  in  front  6  feet, 
back  2  feet.  It  will  sleep  three  men  easily.  It 
uses  a  ridge-pole  and  pair  of  shears,  and  the  sides 
are  guyed  out  by  ropes,  making  the  side  walls  very 
steep. 


34  CAMP  CRAFT 

The  "Camp  Fire"  or  "Dan  Beard"  tent  is 
practically  a  wall-tent  with  one  side  sheared  ofF 
about  2  feet  beyond  the  ridge.  The  place  of  this 
side  is  then  taken  by  a  veranda  flap,  which  can  be 
closed  down  or  else  guyed  out  horizontally,  permit- 
ting an  open  camp-fire  in  front.  It  has  the  advan- 
tage of  plenty  of  headroom,  besides  being  rain-proof. 
It  is  put  up  with  two  pairs  of  shears,  ridge-pole,  and 
high  stakes  for  the  wall  guys.  The  smallest  size 
made  is  Gyi  feet  by  4^^  feet,  weight  5>^  pounds. 
A  larger  size  is  8  feet  by  6}4  feet,  weight  10  pounds. 

The  Forester  is  the  lightest  and  warmest  of  them 
all.  I  designed  it  ten  years  ago  as  a  protest  against 
the  draftiness  and  lack  of  coseyness  of  the  sheet 
lean-to.  I  wanted  something  in  which  all  the  walls 
of  the  tent  would  reflect  the  fire  heat-rays  down  on 
the  occupant.  It  is  a  well-known  scientific  fact  that 
heat-rays  travel  through  the  air  without  losing  ap- 
preciably of  their  warmth  until  they  strike  some 
absorbent  or  reflecting  body.  A  flat,  smooth  sur- 
face like  a  tent  wall  will  reflect  a  heat-ray  without 
absorbing  much  of  it,  and  the  angles  of  the  Forester 
were  calculated  with  these  principles  in  mind. 
The  sincerest  compliment  ever  paid  me  as  to  its 
warmth  was  on  a  hunting  trip  where  three  small 
open  tents  surrounded  the  camp-fire.  The  hound 
pack  always  collected  in  my  tent — every  dog  of 
them,   although   a  special  bed   had   been   arranged 


TENTS  35 

for  them  in  one  of  the  other  tents,  and  they  were 
perfectly  free  to  occupy  any  one  they  chose.  Re- 
turning home  I  would  boot  them  all  out  and  turn  in, 
but  in  an  hour  they  would  all  be  back  one  by  one, 
creeping  in  and  curling  up  alongside  my  sleeping- 
bag.  Those  hounds  had  neither  flattery  nor  criti- 
cism to  oflFer,  they  were  simply  looking  for  the  warm- 
est tent  1 

To  put  up  the  Forester  requires  8  pegs  and  3 
poles — a  ridge-pole  and  a  pair  of  shears.  The  ridge 
should  be  about  12  feet  long  and  reasonably  straight, 
the  shears  10  feet  and  as  crooked  as  you  please.  I 
never  saw  yet,  in  the  U.  S.  A.,  a  country  where  these 
3  poles  could  not  be  had  in  any  thicket  in  five  min- 
utes, and  I  have  been  camping  steadily  in  the 
original  Forester  for  over  nine  years.  The  ridge- 
pole passes  down  inside  the  tent  and  out  through  a 
small  hole  in  the  rear  peak.  You  thrust  this  end 
into  the  ground  and  rest  the  other  in  the  shears, 
peg  out  the  sides,  and  the  tent  is  up.  Time,  ten 
minutes.  Some  of  the  outfitters  furnish  it  with 
tapes  so  that  the  ridge-pole  can  go  outside.  I  do 
not  fancy  this  as  it  destroys  the  stanchness  and 
rigidity  of  the  tent;  there  is  nothing  to  tie  your 
mosquito-veil  to  inside  and  no  way  to  spread  the 
tent  inside  in  case  two  men  are  using  it.  In  case  I 
have  a  guest,  I  cut  a  hickory  switch  a  yard  long  and 
slip  it  under  the  ridge-pole,  and  then  turn  it  at  right 


36  CAMP  CRAFT 

angles  so  that  it  will  make  a  spreader,  up  about 
where  your  head  will  come.  So  arranged,  there  will 
be  plenty  of  room  for  two  sleeping-bags.  The  mos- 
quito-bar is  a  3^-foot  triangular  piece  of  bobbinet 
with  a  canvas  edge  along  each  side.  It  weighs  4 
ounces  and  takes  up  about  as  much  room  as  a  sock. 
I  fasten  the  peak  of  this  on  each  side  of  the  ridge- 
pole, about  4  feet  from  the  rear  peak,  and  peg  down 
the  canvas  edges  so  that  they  fit  snugly  along  the 
tent  walls.  The  bobbinet  has  a  gore  let  in  the 
centre  so  that  there  is  plenty  of  freedom  to  lift  it 
up  and  then  tuck  it  around  the  sleeping-bags  after 
you  are  inside.  Many's  the  night  I  have  dozed  off  to 
sleep  with  a  howling  chorus  of  insects  buzzing  around 
just  out  of  reach  of  vulnerable  points  of  attack,  with 
that  little  bobbinet  triangle  all  that  intervened  be- 
tween peace  and  misery !  With  the  ridge-pole  out- 
side it  would  puzzle  you  some  to  work  this  scheme. 
Attached  to  the  front  edges  of  the  Forester  is  a 
hood  which  can  be  laced  up  at  night.  It  does  not 
entirely  close  in  the  front  of  the  tent,  as  there  is 
still  a  low  opening  for  the  fire  heat  to  strike  in,  but 
it  does  prevent  rain  driving  in  and  saves  you  turning 
the  tent  around  or  cutting  leafy  branches  to  pre- 
vent a  driving  storm  reaching  you,  as  I  often  did 
before  the  hood  was  thought  out.  It  also  holds  the 
heat  in  the  tent  where  formerly  a  steady  flow  of 
heat  went  out  along  the  ridge.     Some  of  the  manu- 


TENTS  37 

facturers  have  added  a  sod-cloth.  Why  have  this 
extra  weight,  bulk,  and  fussiness  ?  Surely  it's  no 
trouble  to  bank  up  a  few  leaves  or  pine-needles  along 
the  sides  after  pegging  down,  not  forgetting  to  throw 
on  a  branch  or  two  to  keep  them  from  blowing  away. 
Never  carry  anything  into  the  woods  that  you  can 
easily  make  with  the  materials  ready  to  hand. 

I  have  devoted  this  much  space  to  the  Forester 
because  any  one  can  make  it  of  ordinary  department- 
store  8-ounce  duck,  sewed  up  on  a  domestic  sewing- 
machine,  and  get  a  serviceable,  strong,  weather- 
proof tent,  weighing  6  pounds  with  the  hood  and 
covering  a  triangular  floor  space  7  feet  8  inches  on 
a  side.  It  takes  13  yards  of  canvas,  and  the  angles 
are  tan.  15  and  tan.  8  for  peak  and  foot.  The  height 
at  the  ridge  and  shears  should  not  exceed  5  feet  6 
inches  when  set  up.  I  gave  this  tent  to  the  outdoor 
fraternity  over  nine  years  ago.  It  is  free  to  all,  and 
I  have  no  financial  interest  whatever  in  any  of  the 
various  makers  who  are  now  selling  it — in  fact,  only 
one  of  them  has  been  man  enough  to  even  credit 
me  with  being  its  designer. 

The  closed  types  of  tents  offer  a  fascinating  field 
for  study  and  experiment.  An  open  tent  requires 
an  all-night  fire  in  severe  weather,  and  such  a  fire 
one  can  get  with  an  hour's  work  with  a  camp-axe, 
cutting  twenty  5-inch  logs  3  feet  long,  and  building 
a  Nessmuk  fire  with  backlogs  and  andirons.     But 


38  CAMP  CRAFT 

on  hunting  trips,  where  every  hour  of  daylight  is 
used  in  the  pursuit  of  game  and  you  come  home  too 
tired  to  do  more  than  cook  supper,  to  chop  a  supply 
of  night  wood  is  out  of  the  question.  You  have, 
then,  the  other  alternative — conserving  your  own 
bodily  heat.  A  good  sleeping-bag,  not  too  heavy 
to  pack  on  your  back  along  with  tent  and  provisions, 
will  keep  you  warm,  in  a  tight  tent  free  from  drafts. 
Don't  worry  about  ventilation — ^there  will  be  ample 
seepage  of  fresh  air.  A  tent-stove  using  camp-made 
charcoal,  12  inches  high  and  12  inches  in  diameter, 
weighs  II  pounds  and  can  be  taken  along  and  used  as 
case  for  your  cooking  outfit;  or  a  4J^-pound  heater, 
burning  specially  prepared  briquets  lasting  10  to  15 
hours,  will  serve  to  take  ofF  the  extreme  chill.  A 
dozen  of  these  briquets,  weighing  yj^  pounds  to  the 
dozen,  cost  seventj^-five  cents  and  will  last  for  two 
weeks,  and  there  is  no  smoke,  flame,  or  gas  to  con- 
tend with.  To  my  mind  the  best  tents  of  this 
type  are  the  Hudson  Bay,  Snow,  and  Miner's. 
The  weights  in  modern  tent  fabrics  run:  Hudson 
Bay,  4x7  feet,  4  pounds;  Snow,  6x7  feet,  5 
pounds;  Miner's,  7  feet  4  inches  by  7  feet  4  inches, 
7J^  pounds;  Frazer,  8  feet  9  inches  b)^  8  feet  9  inches, 
10^  pounds.  These  tents  have  the  further  advan- 
tage that  one  can  stand  upright  in  them,  or  sit  down 
in  camp-chairs  or  on  cots  during  "enforced  indoor 
weather"  (whatever  that  may  be),  and  are  all  the 


h  . 

o  a 

CO  S 

M  « 


TENTS  39 

better  for  a  bobbinet  tent  window  in  the  back  wall 
to  afford  a  view. 

However,  there's  no  denying  the  convenience  of  a 
canvas  veranda,  and  if  you  want  a  stretcher  or  stick 
bed  in  place  of  the  well-filled  browse-bag,  you  can  have 
two  cots  very  quickly  by  putting  logs  across  the  front 
and  back  of  the  tent,  spiking  to  them  straight  poles, 
which  are  slipped  through  the  pockets  of  the  stretcher 
beds.  But  don't  neglect  even  then  a  browse-bag, 
filled  with  an  inch  or  so  of  dry  leaves  or  evergreen 
needles.  No  canvas  bed  or  hammock  is  warm  or 
even  comfortable  without  some  sort  of  a  mattress, 
and  if  you  make  it  of  nature's  materials  you  have 
that  much  more  blanket  available  to  pile  above 
you — ^which  is  always  the  coolest  side.  The  so- 
called  Snow  tent  resembles  a  Miner's,  except  that 
it  has  a  short  ridge  which  is  held  by  a  club  and  bridle 
outside.  It  thus  has  steep  snow-shedding  slopes, 
and  considerable  headroom,  a  desirable  feature  when 
one  wishes  to  work  indoors  skinning  and  mounting 
specimens,  making  and  labelling  scientific  collections, 
etc.  It  is  best  put  up  with  two  pairs  of  shears,  sup- 
porting the  club  to  which  the  ridge  is  taped.  In 
Japanese  silk,  a  7  x  8  x  8-foot  headroom  tent  will 
weigh  about  6  pounds. 

The  Miner's  tent  seems  to  be  standard  for  cold, 
snowy  countries,  where  timber  is  scarce  or  wanting. 
Peary's  parties  used  them  throughout  their  expedi- 


40  CAMP  CRAFT 

tions,  only  abandoning  them  for  the  warmer  Eskimo 
igloo  during  the  long  winter  night.  They  used 
alcohol-lamps  for  warmth,  and  found  the  tent  good 
down  to  about  30  below  zero.  Below  that  the  igloo  ! 
It  uses  a  single  7-foot  jointed  pole  in  the  centre, 
and  some  manufacturers  call  for  24  stakes,  which 
seems  considerable  of  a  hardship.  The  Miner's 
come  in  four  sizes,  from  6  feet  6  inches  by  6  feet  6 
inches  up  to  10  feet  3  inches  by  10  feet  3  inches; 
heights  7  to  9  feet,  and  weights  j}^  to  12%  pounds. 
The  floor  space  is  not  particularly  available,  the 
headroom  is  restricted,  and  I  should  regard  them 
more  as  a  special  cold-weather  tent  for  special  ter- 
ritories 

And  I  have  not  much  respect  for  the  various  out- 
door sleeping-bags,  hoods,  and  cubbj^-holes  designed 
to  take  the  place  of  the  tent.  A  cold  wind  blowing 
over  you  all  night  will  chill  through  the  interstices 
of  any  of  these,  and  their  outside  canvas  always 
weighs  more  than  a  light  tent.  The  weights  run 
from  10  pounds  up  to  21  pounds,  cover  about  4^ 
pounds — most  of  them  heavier  than  this.  They, 
however,  have  an  excellent  place  in  the  outdoor 
world — on  a  travelling  saddle  trip,  where  the  horse 
carries  your  bag  in  a  roll  done  up  behind.  At  night- 
fall you  can  bed  up  almost  anywhere  in  a  sheltered 
nook  or  ravine,  and  if  it  rains  or  snows  the  bag  will 
protect  you.     It  is  in  no  sense  a  forest  home,  never- 


TENTS  41 

theless,  and  the  user  misses  many  a  pleasant  mem- 
ory of  tenting  by  night  with  a  cheerful  camp-fire  in 
front  and  the  reflected  heat  warming  him  as  he 
attends  to  the  many  little  camp  duties,  comfortable 
and  unhampered  by  heavy  outer  clothing,  free  to 
loll  back  in  his  warm,  light  den  and  smoke  the  pipe 
of  peace  while  the  flames  mount  higher  and  higher. 
For  such  is  the  open-camp  tent.  Not  a  bivouac, 
but  a  forest  home.  Not  a  cold,  chill  canvas  box 
into  which  you  retire,  to  creep  into  an  icy  mountain 
of  blankets,  which  you  will  be  hours  warming  up, 
but  rather — far  rather — a  bright,  cosey  retreat,  with 
the  warmth  of  the  camp-fire  penetrating  to  its  far- 
thest recesses;  a  place  of  jollity  and  good  fellow- 
ship; a  place  where  you  can  dream  over  the  fire 
flames  in  comfort.  To  me  the  open  tent  with  the 
backlog  fire  is  the  acme  of  forest  life.  I  have 
camped  in  teepee,  wall-tent,  A-tent,  shack,  shelter- 
tent,  lean-to,  leaf  pile,  canoe-tent,  and  Forester,  but 
my  pleasantest  memories  cluster  around  the  open- 
tent  camps  with  a  bright  camp-fire  in  front.  May 
there  be  many  more  of  them  for  us  all  before  we 
begin  tenting  beyond  the  Great  Divide ! 


CHAPTER  III 
ELIMINATING  THE  BLANKET 

THE  principal  difficulty  with  the  blanket  is  not 
its  weight,  but  its  bulk.  It  is  not  hard  to 
devise  a  light,  warm,  water-proof  envelope  to  sleep 
in,  but  when  you  come  to  pack  it ! — well,  by  the  time 
it  and  your  tent  and  your  cook-kit  are  assembled 
and  a  mountain  of  assorted  clothes,  provisions,  and 
dingbats  are  piled  around  these  and  rolled  up  in 
one  huge  pack-cloth  you  begin  to  look  like  the  rear 
end  of  a  moving  van ! 

During  twenty-seven  years  of  camping,  getting 
out  on  the  average  four  times  a  year,  I  have  studied 
the  blanket  problem  from  a  number  of  different 
angles,  and  tried  out  nearly  every  form  of  blanket 
and  quilt  that  has  come  into  extensive  use.  One 
and  all  they  seemed  to  run  excessively  to  bulk. 
Take  the  army  blanket,  single  thickness,  84  inches 
by  ^  inches,  weight  5  pounds.  You  may  roll  it 
into  a  sort  of  sausage,  7  feet  long  and  9  inches  in 
diameter.  To  keep  it  dry  you  add  a  rubber  protector 
also  7  feet  long  and  30  inches  wide,  weight  3  pounds, 
having  straps  and  buckles  at  intervals  to  hold  the 

roll  in  shape.     What  to  do  with  this  ungainly  parcel 

42 


ELIMINATING  THE  BLANKET        43 

IS  a  problem.  If  you  loop  it  over  your  shoulder,  as 
was  the  fashion  in  the  late,  lamented  C.  S.  A.,  there 
is  no  way  to  put  a  pack  on  your  back  to  hold  the 
tent,  clothing,  food,  and  duffel  which  you  must  also 
carry.  If  you  bend  it  around  your  knapsack,  as  in 
the  French  army,  the  knapsack  will  have  to  be  a 
mighty  bulky  affair  to  afford  7  feet  of  periphery; 
in  fact,  a  European  soldier  in  full  campaign  regalia 
is  fit  for  little  else  than  marching  along  a  state  road, 
certainly  not  for  sustained  wilderness  travel. 

The  real  wilderness  travellers  have  solved  the 
problem,  after  a  fashion,  by  stowing  the  blanket  in 
a  tump-bag.  There  is  just  room  left  for  a  light  tent, 
and  in  the  other  bag  can  go  provisions  and  duffel. 
The  two  bags  go  side  by  side  in  a  tump-harness, 
making  a  not  overcumbersome  back  pack.  But 
this  is  only  one  side  of  the  story:  arrange  the 
blanket  as  you  will,  there  is  but  one  thickness  around 
you,  and  this  is  not  enough — not  nearly  enough — 
for  comfortable  sleeping  with  the  night  temperature 
even  as  high  as  40  degrees.  Below  that  you  posi- 
tively must  have  two  thicknesses  of  blanket.  So 
we  get  the  red  Hudson  Bay  blanket  (with  the  four 
black  bars !),  72  inches  by  84  inches,  weight  10 
pounds,  which  can  be  doubled  around  one  in  a  pinch; 
also  the  double  mackinaw,  72  inches  by  twice  90 
inches,  weight  10  pounds,  and  the  various  gray 
doubles,  usually  twice  82  inches  long  by  72  inches 


44  CAMP  CRAFT 

wide.  These  all  require  a  whole  tump-bag  to  pack 
in,  with  precious  little  space  to  spare,  and  every- 
thing else  you  take  must  go  in  the  other  bag. 

Now,  in  the  summer,  early  fall,  and  late  spring 
one  can  go  as  Nessmuk  did,  with  a  light  knapsack 
and  a  single  blanket,  total  weight,  including  canoe, 
not  over  30  pounds;  but  I  notice  he  usually  denned 
up  about  the  time  the  first  snows  fell.  If  he  had 
stayed  out  later  he  would  either  have  had  to  change 
his  rig  or  increase  his  weight,  and  as  soon  as  he  got 
blankets  enough  his  bulk  would  run  out  of  hand  for 
lone-wilderness  tramping.  As  I  try  to  get  out  at 
least  once  a  month  every  month  in  the  year,  some 
sort  of  a  winter  pack  that  would  be  warm  yet  total 
under  35  pounds,  including  provisions,  tent,  duffel, 
and  ammunition,  had  to  be  devised. 

My  earliest  experiments  were  in  the  line  of  in- 
creasing the  heat  capacity  of  the  single  blanket.  I 
bought  the  finest  English  all-wool  steamer  rugs  and 
faced  one  with  green  galatea  so  as  to  add  a  thickness 
of  sheeting  to  it,  thereby  materially  increasing  its 
warmth  without  adding  appreciably  to  its  bulk. 
Then  I  added  buttons  and  buttonholes  so  as  to  make 
a  sleeping-bag  of  it.  Finally  I  added  a  light  8-ounce 
duck  bag  envelope,  and  it  was  reasonably  comfort- 
able down  to  about  36  degrees.  Done  up  as  an 
English  shawl-strap,  it  made  an  impressive  piece  of 
baggage  when   travelling,    and   in   the   woods   you 


ELIMINATING  THE   BLANKET         45 

folded  it  with  the  water-proof  envelope  outside  and 
strapped  it  to  the  back  of  your  tump-bag,  a  la  Gar- 
diner pack. 

This  rig  even  answered  for  hunting  trips  in  No- 
vember, provided  that  you  built  a  night  fire  and 
got  up  at  I  A.  M.  and  4  a.  m.  to  replenish  it. 

From  time  to  time,  since  then  I  have,  camped  with 
friends  who  owned  everything  from  a  30-pound 
pneumatic  sleeping-bag,  cold  at  40  degrees,  to  a 
3>^-pound  Arctic  bag  of  llama  wool,  good  down  to 
34  below  zero.  They  were  all  fine  in  their  way, 
provided  that  you  did  not  mind  bulk  and  your 
purse  did  not  shy  at  twenty-five  dollars'  to  thirty- 
five  dollars'  expense  for  sleeping  equipment.  About 
as  good  as  any  of  them  was  a  plain  wool  quilt,  cost- 
ing three  dollars  at  any  department  store  and  much 
used  by  miners  and  hunters  in  the  Rockies.  Lieu- 
tenant Whelen  used  one  of  these  on  many  of  his 
trips,  he  tells  me. 

Then  Peary's  experiments  with  fur,  in  his  efforts 
to  eliminate  the  sleeping-bag  and  reduce  weight  and 
condensation  troubles,  were  published.  Any  fabric 
that  will  soak  up  and  hold  moisture  will  at  once 
loose  its  heat-resisting  capacity.  Absolutely  kiln- 
dry  cotton  is  nearly  as  impervious  to  heat  as  wool. 
The  figures  are,  in  B.  T.  U.  per  square  foot 
per  degree  temperature  for  non-conductors  i  inch 
thick: 


46  CAMP  CRAFT 

B.  T.  U.  Transmitted  per  Square  Foot  per  Hour 
PER  Degree  F. 

Wool 36 

Dry  absorbent  cotton 38 

Raw  cotton 46 

Live-goose  feathers 41 

Hair  felt 56 

Still  air 43 

Scoured  hair  not  felted 52 

Water 335 

(Siebel's  "Compend  of  Mechanical  Refrigeration.*') 

You  will  note  from  the  above  that  wool  fabric 
and  dry  absorbent  cotton  are  the  best  non-con- 
ductors, with  the  exception  of  certain  furs  such  as 
Arctic  hare  and  baby  caribou,  neither  of  which  have 
been  scientifically  measured.  But  cotton  in  any 
form  will  take  up  water  in  its  cellular  fibres,  thereby 
increasing  its  conductivity  nearly  ten  times  (water, 
335  B.  T.  U.);  and  it  will  do  this  without  being 
actually  wetted,  as  it  takes  up  dampness  from  the 
woods  air.  Any  man  who  takes  shoddy  blankets 
or  cotton  quilts  into  the  woods  with  him  will  pay 
dearly  for  it  with  cold,  chilly  sleeping,  and  rheuma- 
tism the  following  winter. 

Getting  back  to  Peary:  Eight  years  of  living  under 
Arctic  conditions  convinced  him  that  wool  must  be 
discarded  for  fur,  principally  because  any  woven 
fabric  will  hold  condensation,  while  fur  will  not. 
Even  fur  sleeping-bags  were  discarded  because  they 


ELIMINATING  THE  BLANKET        47 

would  accumulate  moisture  from  the  body,  and  be- 
come heavy  and  conductive  to  heat.  Bodily  exer- 
cise during  the  day  automatically  dries  its  own  per- 
spiration if  no  violent  exercise  is  undertaken  just 
before  retiring.  Now,  as  any  camper  will  tell  you, 
the  most  vulnerable  part  of  your  body  as  regards 
cold  is  from  your  knees  to  your  hips,  a  distance 
on  the  average  man  of  about  two  feet.  The  feet 
and  shanks  are  easily  taken  care  of  with  wool  socks 
and  night  sHppers;  and  the  upper  part  of  your  body 
lies  close  around  the  centre  of  combustion — your 
lungs;  so  no  especial  covering  is  needed  there.  Fol- 
lowing these  considerations,  the  night  rig  of  the  Peary 
party  boiled  down  to  a  simple  piece  of  fur,  2  feet 
wide  by  4  feet  long,  which  was  wrapped  around  the 
hips,  reaching  down  to  the  knees.  From  there  on 
night  socks  of  the  fur  of  the  Arctic  hare  presided 
over  their  pedal  extremities,  and  for  the  upper  part 
of  the  body  the  kooletah,  or  hooded  fur  shirt,  was 
made  so  that  one  could  withdraw  his  arms  from  its 
sleeves  and  fold  them  across  one's  main  decks  when 
sleeping,  drawing  also  the  pucker  string  at  the  bot- 
tom of  the  shirt  and  at  the  hood  to  make  the  rig 
air-tight.  Thus  equipped,  Peary's  people  got  rid  of 
40  pounds  of  damp  fur  sleeping-bags  per  man,  and 
were  able  to  turn  in  on  a  snow-bank  at  54  below 
zero  and  sleep  comfortably. 

Now,  while  an  Arctic  party  dressed  in  furs  and 


48  CAMP  CRAFT 

nothing  else  except  light  wool  undergarments  can 
sleep  in  their  day  clothes,  with  ordinary  outing-rig — 
corduroy,  forestry  cloth,  or  loden — one  cannot  so  sleep 
with  any  warmth  or  comfort.  There  is  sure  to  be 
condensed  perspiration,  to  say  nothing  of  external 
wetting  from  showers,  wet  underbrush,  paddle  drip- 
pings, and  the  like;  and  the  surest  way  to  be  cold 
is  to  try  to  sleep  with  a  coat  on.  However,  I  saw  no 
reason  why  some  of  the  day  clothing  could  not  be 
made  to  do  duty  at  night,  and  that  piece  of  2  x  4 
appealed  to  me  as  being  exactly  right  to  make  a 
knapsack  of.  In  fact,  if  made  2  feet  wide  by  5  feet 
long,  it  is  still  better,  as  you  want  at  least  a  foot 
of  flap  left  over  after  lacing  up  into  a  bag  2  feet 
square.  The  scheme  promised  emancipation  from 
the  blanket,  greater  warmth,  and  a  more  compact 
pack,  besides  reduction  of  weight,  for  I  had  not  only 
eliminated  the  blanket  but  the  tump-bag  also. 

To  make  such  a  bag  I  got  5  feet  of  heavy  i6-ounce 
ship  cotton  duck,  22  inches  wide,  and  put  in  a  line 
of  ^-inch  grommets,  spaced  3  inches  apart,  around 
the  four  sides.  To  line  it  I  used,  as  a  substitute  for 
fur,  wool  quilting  26  inches  wide  by  5  feet  long.  I 
could  not  find  any  such  quilting  with  narrow  rib 
seams  running  across  it  so  that  it  would  fold  easily 
without  bunching,  so  it  had  to  be  made  of  batting, 
ribbed  up  on  the  house  sewing-machine  and  finished 
oflT  with  tape  edging.     I  first  bought  and  tried  the 


ELIMINATING  THE  BLANKET        49 

cotton  quilting  that  is  made  up  like  this  and  sold 
for  table  covering,  but  after  a  week  in  the  woods  it 
grew  damp  and  cold,  and  there  was  no  living  with  it. 

The  first  trial  of  this  rig  was  entirely  a  la  Peary. 
I  used  an  extra  pair  of  wool  socks,  which  I  put  on 
at  night,  and  over  them  bed  slippers,  also  of  fine 
wool.  I  laced  the  26-inch  by  60-inch  pack  about 
my  hips,  reaching  from  them  down  to  meet  the  socks 
below  my  knees,  and  topped  off  with  my  hunting- 
jacket  tucked  around  my  shoulders  and  extending 
below  my  waist. 

The  rig  was  a  great  improvement  over  the  single 
blanket,  being  entirely  comfortable  at  such  night 
temperatures  as  one  encounters  in  May  and  October 
in  the  mountains  of  New  Jersey,  Pennsylvania,  and 
southern  New  York. 

The  Camp  Fire  Club  boys  had  a  lot  of  fun  over 
it,  as  they  always  do  when  any  one  ventures  his 
person  in  the  development  of  something  new  in  the 
outdoor  game.  They  dubbed  it  the  "Belly-band 
pack,"  and  predicted  a  prompt  return-ticket  to  the 
madhouse  if  I  ever  took  it  to  Canada. 

I  stood  pat  and  returned  the  horse-laughs  with 
sticks  and  stones.  The  pack-blanket  weighed  2 
pounds  and  held  my  tent,  browse-bag,  extra  cloth- 
ing, bulk  provisions,  camera,  and  miscellaneous  small 
duffel-bag.  The  cook-kit  went  on  top  of  it,  a  parcel 
7-inch  diameter  by  14  inches  long,  in  a  brown  galatea 


so  CAMP  CRAFT 

bag,  which  was  the  pillow  bag  by  night.  The  cook- 
kit  held  all  condensed  provisions,  dishes,  pails,  etc., 
and  the  entire  pack  with  two  weeks'  provisions 
weighed  31^  pounds.  I  carried  it  7  miles  over  hill 
and  forest  the  first  time  I  used  it,  and  accommodated 
myself  and  a  guest  for  a  four-day  tramping  and 
fishing  trip  with  it. 

I  do  not  beUeve  this  rig  would  be  comfortable,  as 
I  first  used  it,  much  below  38  degrees,  though  Fve 
never  given  it  a  trial  at  low  temperatures.  It 
seemed  too  vulnerable;  the  mitt  principle  was  lack- 
ing. Your  fingers  in  a  mitt  bag  will  be  warm  at 
unheard-of  temperatures;  separate  them,  each  finger 
in  the  same  thickness  of  wool,  and  they  will  freeze. 
In  the  same  way  a  man's  body  in  a  sleeping-bag  will 
be  warm;  while,  dressed  in  clothing,  no  matter  how 
thick,  he  will  freeze.  All  of  which  the  Camp  Fire 
boys  were  not  bashful  about  pointing  out  to  the 
lunatic  who  was  experimenting  with  *' belly  bands." 
All  of  which  I  granted,  admitted,  acquiesced  in, 
allowed  might  be  so,  conformed  to — and  then  I 
sprang  a  surprise  on  them  overnight.  If  you  turn 
the  pack  lengthwise  and  lace  it  to  your  browse-bag, 
you  will  immediately  make  of  the  combination  a  very 
respectable  sleeping-bag.  Well,  why  not  ?  You 
had  to  have  the  browse-bag  anyway.  Why  not  use 
the  pack-blanket  in  combination  with  it,  instead  of 
around  you  as  a  "belly  band"  ?     So  I  said  nothing, 


ELIMINATING  THE  BLANKET         51 

but  put  the  idea  into  practice.  Profound  approba- 
tion. I  did  not  tell  the  erstwhile  sceptics  that  the 
experiment  was  a  partial  failure,  because  the  26-inch 
quilting  was  not  wide  enough  to  lace  up  and  yet 
leave  sufficient  overlap  on  each  side  to  make  the 
bag  air-tight.  I  had  to  have  more  width  to  get 
enough  overlap.  So  I  added  a  piece  of  single  army 
blanketing,  30  inches  by  60  inches,  weight  2  pounds. 
This  was  sewed  to  the  pack  just  inside  the  lines  of 
grommets,  i  inch  from  the  edge.  The  quilting  was 
left  in  as  before.  The  6-inch  overlap  on  each  side 
made  the  bag  air-tight,  and  it  was  warm  and  com- 
fortable during  a  two  weeks'  trip  in  December,  with 
the  temperatures  ranging  from  plus  2  to  plus  24, 
never  as  high  as  plus  32,  or  freezing.  To  make  up 
into  a  pack,  fold  the  overlap  inward,  flat  and  smooth, 
next  lace  up  with  the  pack  thong,  making  a  bag  2 
feet  square  with  a  foot  length  of  flap  left  over.  Fold 
up  the  tent  into  a  parcel  20  inches  long  by  5  inches 
by  6  inches  cross-section.  This  goes  in  the  bottom 
of  the  pack,  giving  it  its  shape.  The  browse-bag  is 
emptied  of  its  leaves  or  needles  and  rolled  up.  It 
is  30  inches  by  72  inches,  with  8-ounce  duck,  bottom 
face,  and  unbleached  muslin  upper  face.  It  has  a 
row  of  grommets  3  inches  apart  along  each  side  and 
the  foot,  and  a  short  thong  of  No.  36  tarpon  line  for 
lacing.  It  rolls  up  into  a  package  20  inches  long 
by  3  inches  diameter  and  weighs  2  pounds,  with  a 


52  CAMP  CRAFT 

30-by-6o-inch  facing  of  army  blanket  sewed  inside 
the  bag.  It  goes  into  the  pack  on  top  of  the  tent, 
and  there  is  room  alongside  it  for  a  rubber  floor-cloth, 
2  feet  by  4  feet  6  inches,  a  pair  of  socks,  and  camp 
mocs.  The  next  things  to  go  in  are  the  ammunition 
bag  and  the  "dry  poke."  These  are  canvas  bags 
about  4  inches  diameter  by  10  inches  high  when 
filled  and  tied,  and  one  of  them  holds  assorted  shot- 
gun and  rifle  shells,  and  the  other  the  night  socks, 
bed  slippers,  extra  *baccy,  extra  plain  socks,  film 
packs,  and  reserve  matches.  The  top  space  of  the 
pack  takes  a  bag  of  bulk  provisions,  camera,  and 
miscellaneous  duff'el-bag.  This  fills  the  pack,  the 
flap  of  which  is  forthwith  laced  down  with  the  end 
of  the  pack  thong. 

On  top  of  the  pack  is  strapped  the  cook-kit  by 
means  of  a  pair  of  i-inch  straps,  starting  from  the 
upper  D  rings  of  the  main  pack-harness,  passing 
over  the  kit  and  securing  in  buckles  on  the  front  of 
the  pack.  The  kit  consists  of  two  aluminum  pails, 
7  inches  by  6  inches,  with  covers  which  are  held  on 
by  snap  bales.  The  two  pots  go  back  to  back  in  a 
tight-fitting  brown  galatea  bag,  with  a  pucker  string, 
and  at  night  this  bag  is  filled  with  browse  for  a  pillow. 
Inside  one  pot  are  four  shallow  tin  eating  dishes, 
fork  and  spoon,  rice,  corn-meal,  sugar,  baking-powder 
and  dried  vegetable  bags,  bouillon  capsules,  salt  and 
match  tins.     In  the  second  pot  are  a  tea-pail  and  the 


-  - :- :  - --  -:-  w'-f'*''  :'-"": 

WK^^^^i 

,M^  , 

1 

Oh 

Q 
w 
u 

O 


ELIMINATING  THE  BLANKET         53 

egg,  coffee,  and  butter  cans,  with  such  soup-stock 
as  macaroni,  dried  onions,  erbswurst,  dried  meats, 
soup-powders,  and  the  like  filling  the  interstices. 
The  main  pack  takes  bulk  provisions,  usually  pan- 
cake flour,  plain  flour,  evaporated  cream,  pork, 
bacon,  and  codfish. 

When  you  see  the  sun  showing  symptoms  of  set- 
ting, it  is  customary  to  put  out  a  wary  eye  for  a 
spring  or  a  rivulet  and  a  grove  to  camp  in.  Having 
found  the  spot,  the  first  move  is  to  lean  the  rifle 
against  a  tree  and  take  oflT  the  ditty-bag  and  hang 
it  over  the  rifle  muzzle  or  from  a  neighboring  twig. 
The  next  thing  is  to  unbuckle  the  camp-axe  from 
one's  belt  and  cut  three  long,  slender  saplings  from 
the  nearest  thicket.  The  cook-kit  is  then  unstrapped 
and  set  aside,  the  pack  opened,  the  tent  pulled  out, 
and  in  a  few  moments  it  is  up.  Next,  an  energetic 
clearing  out  of  stubs,  roots,  rocks,  and  other  offend- 
ers is  in  order,  and  then  we  go  skirmishing  for  browse 
with  the  browse-bag. 

Shades  of  Nessmuk  and  his  beloved  balsam ! 
Balsam,  pine,  or  any  fresh  green  browse  is  too  cold 
and  too  slow  for  me,  a  few  inches  of  plebeian  dead 
leaves  or  dry  pine-needles  are  warmer  and  better. 

"How  about  when  the  woods  are  soggy  and  wet  V* 
asks  the  man  from  Missouri.  In  that  case  we  do 
not  fill  the  browse-bag  at  all.  Just  hunt  up  a  hem- 
lock or  pitch-pine,  give  it  a  rap  or  two  with  the  axe 


54  CAMP  CRAFT 

to  clear  off  the  rain-drops,  and  then  pick  a  bed  of 
browse,  over  which  is  spread  the  rubber  ground-cloth, 
and  on  that  the  browse-bag. 

To  resume  the  operation  of  making  camp  for  the 
night:  returning  from  the  browse  foray,  the  2x5 
rubber  ground-cloth  is  spread  out  along  the  north 
wall  of  the  tent  and  on  it  is  laid  the  browse-bag, 
open  and  toward  the  back  of  the  tent.  Next  you 
lie  on  it  for  a  few  minutes,  reaching  in  and  straight- 
ening out  any  undue  lumps  of  browse  and  arranging 
suitable  hollows  where  your  hips  and  shoulders  come. 
Then  the  pack  is  unlaced  and  spread  lengthwise  on 
the  browse-bag.  The  latter,  being  30  inches  wide, 
will  curl  in  toward  the  edges  of  the  pack  as  you  lace 
up  both  edges  and  the  bottom,  and  the  total  envelope 
around  you  will  be  52  inches,  not  including  4  inches 
of  blanket  which  overlap  inside  along  both  sides, 
making  the  bag  effectually  air-tight  against  drafts. 
To  seal  up  the  bottom,  I  usually  drive  in  two  stakes 
and  lay  my  shotgun  in  its  case  across  the  foot  of 
the  bed,  but  a  short  billet  of  wood  or  an  ammunition 
bag  will  do  as  well.  It  is,  of  course,  laced  across  the 
bottom  besides  a  flap  of  blanket  for  a  seal,  but  some 
solid  affair  to  brace  one's  feet  against  is  apt  to  be 
well  patronized  after  once  trying  it. 

Having  attended  to  these  matters,  the  next  task 
is  supper.  The  pillow  bag  is  stripped  off  the  two 
pots    and    filled    with    browse;    black-jack    oak    or 


ELIMINATING  THE  BLANKET         55 

yellow  birch  cut  for  the  cook  fire,  and  the  dingle 
stick  cut  and  set  up.  Presently  the  tea-pail  is  siz- 
zling, and  pot  No.  i,  with  a  couple  of  quarts  of  soup, 
is  bubbling  away  merrily.  Pot  No.  2  will  be  doing 
rice,  and  one  large  biscuit  is  rising  in  two  of  the  tins 
disguised  as  an  oven,  one  being  inverted  over  the 
other.  The  pots,  by  the  way,  hang  from  the  stick 
by  chain  hooks  which  hook  through  the  flat  handles 
on  the  pot  covers.  These  latter  are  held  securely  to 
the  pot  by  their  snap  bales,  but  not  so  tight  as  to 
prevent  the  steam  escaping. 

Supper  over  and  the  utensils  cleaned  and  scoured, 
comes  the  hour  of  bright  camp-fire  and  chat  with 
your  bunky,  and  soon  you  get  sleepy.  You  stay 
awake  long  enough  to  drive  in  a  couple  of  stakes  in 
front  of  the  tent  and  stick  the  cruiser  mocs  on  them, 
and  then  you  set  about  turning  in  in  earnest.  OfF 
come  the  day  lumberman's  socks,  and  the  best  place 
for  them  is  flat  in  the  pillow  bag,  where  they  will 
form  a  soft  shield  for  your  face  against  browse 
needles.  Off"  come  the  black  wool  inner  socks,  and 
out  of  the  "dry  poke"  you  put  on  a  pair  of  dry  ones, 
a  pair  of  dry  lumberman's  socks,  and  a  pair  of 
woollen  night  slippers.  Thus  rigged,  your  feet  will 
never  bother  you  even  when  ice  is  forming  in  the 
fresh-water  pails,  but  do  not  skirmish  around  out- 
side with  your  night  socks  on,  or  they  will  get  damp, 
and  every  heat  unit  in  your  body  will  go  down  to 


56  CAMP  CRAFT 

your  feet  trying  to  evaporate  them  dry  again,  and 
you  will  soon  be  cold  even  with  a  mountain  of 
blankets  over  you  !  If  you  expect  the  thermometer 
to  go  down  below  zero,  a  night  rig  of  flannel  pajamas 
is  a  good  thing,  if  you  have  room  for  it  in  the  pack. 
Otherwise  leave  your  trousers  on,  if  they  are  dry. 
Personally  I  found  them  warmer  so  than  if  spread 
out  on  top  of  the  sleeping-bag,  and  they  will  not  be 
damp  and  cold  the  next  morning,  as  they  surely  will 
be  if  left  outside  of  the  bag.  Finally,  before  pulHng 
the  blanketing  over  your  shoulders,  throw  your 
mackinaw  or  coat  clear  over  head  and  shoulders.  It 
will  settle  down  on  you  comfortably  enough  after 
you  have  made  yourself  snug  under  the  blanket  flap 
and  helps  keep  your  head  warm.  A  Pontiac  or 
camel's-hair  hood  or  skull-cap  makes  a  good,  warm 
head  protector  for  cold-night  camping.  Sleeping  in 
one's  felt  hat  is  all  well  enough  if  you  have  accom- 
modating ears,  but  the  confounded  thing  will  come 
off  during  the  night  if  you  turn  over  much. 

Rigged  out  as  above  described,  I  have  camped  out 
comfortably,  night  after  night,  in  temperatures  rang- 
ing from  zero  to  plus  20.  With  a  good  browse-bag 
your  under-side  is  always  warm;  it  is  the  upper-side 
that  has  to  fight  the  cold.  Now,  a  man  with  one 
thickness  of  blanket  has  no  chance  at  all  against 
zero  temperatures  or  even  freezing  (32  degrees). 
If  he  doubles  the  blanket  it  is  not  wide  enough  to 


ELIMINATING  THE  BLANKET         57 

stay  on  him,  as  he  has  no  lacing  holding  it  to  the 
browse-bag.  If  he  takes  two  blankets  there  is  10 
pounds  of  weight,  and  2  cubic  feet  of  baggage  to  load 
on  a  man's  back,  against  3  pounds  (and  a  container 
instead  of  a  package)  for  the  pack-sack  blanket. 
And  at  that,  the  blanket  toter  will  not  be  really- 
warm.  There  are  yards  of  useless  extra  material 
around  his  feet,  which  he  would  give  much  to  have 
transferred  up  to  his  hips  and  shoulders,  where  the 
cold  is  biting  in !  And  his  load !  Well,  it  might 
answer  on  a  canoe  trip,  where  a  portage  of  a  few 
miles  is  the  longest  back-pack  trip,  or  on  a  toboggan 
jaunt,  where  the  snow  carries  the  load — but  not  for 
a  free  and  independent  tramp  over  mountains  and 
down  brooks,  such  as  the  trout  angler  takes  in  spring 
or  the  hunter  in  the  fall. 

Now,  I  am  not  trying  to  proselyte  in  all  this.  I 
have  no  jobs  for  any  disciples — no  desire  to  found 
a  Futurist  school  for  outdoorsmen.  There  have 
been  plenty  of  other  minds  working  toward  the 
elimination  of  the  blanket.  There  is  the  "Arctic'* 
sleeping-bag,  made  of  pure  llama  wool  and  fine  water- 
proof gabardine,  good  for  34  below  zero,  weighing 
only  3  pounds.  It  will  go  in  a  22-inch-by-9-inch 
tump-bag,  with  room  for  a  tent  besides,  and  all  your 
duffel  and  provisions  go  in  the  other  bag,  with  the 
two  side  by  side  in  a  pack-harness.  Aside  from  the 
expense  of  the  Arctic  bag — over  twenty-five  dollars 


58  CAMP  CRAFT 

— it  is  an  excellent  answer  to  "Eliminating  the 
Blanket."  Then,  as  another  example,  Doctor  Lough- 
ren,  of  the  Camp  Fire  Club,  showed  me  an  ex- 
cellent scheme,  a  sort  of  quilt  bag,  made  of  fine, 
green,  paraffined  muslin,  and  lined  with  live-goose 
feathers.  It  is  water-proof  and  light — 4  pounds,  if 
I  remember  correctly — and  he  rolls  his  tent  and 
duffel  up  inside  of  it,  and  carries  the  whole  thing 
with  a  tump-Hne;  and  there  have  been  others — 
many  of  them. 

Then  there  are  the  various  sleeping-bags,  consisting 
generally  of  a  water-proof  envelope,  with  from  2  to 
16  thicknesses  of  blanketing,  weights  running  from 
9  to  16  pounds,  or  with  a  single  eider-down  quilt 
weighing  7  pounds.  These  are  7  feet  long  by  3  feet 
wide,  with  double  72-inch-by-84-inch  gray  blan- 
kets, and  the  manufacturers  recommend  4  thick- 
nesses of  blanket  for  summer,  8  for  spring  and  fall, 
and  12  to  16  for  winter.  Another  type  has  one 
single  bag  of  fine,  soft  wool  worn  next  to  the  sleeper 
and  a  blanket  of  heavy  felt-cloth,  weight  about  17 
pounds.  A  variation  of  these  consists  in  the  various 
camp  rolls  and  carryall  beds,  which  are  a  combina- 
tion of  mattresses,  blanketing,  and  12-ounce  duck 
envelope,  arranged  to  fold  over  the  sleeper. 

The  way  to  manage  all  of  these  is  to  save  enough 
on  the  weight  of  the  tent  to  make  your  total  weight 
of  shelter  and  sleeping  accommodations  come  out 


ELIMINATING  THE  BLANKET         59 

as  low  as  possible.  A  simple  sheet  of  light  water- 
proof material,  set  up  either  as  a  wedge-tent,  a  lean- 
to,  or  a  Baker  without  sides,  makes  shelter  enough, 
even  though  somewhat  drafty,  so  that  the  total 
weight  for  freezing  temperatures  need  not  exceed 
16  pounds.  They  are  all  rather  bulky,  in  fact  too 
bulky  for  a  back-pack  trip,  and  the  weight  is  nearly 
twice  as  much  as  the  writer  would  care  to  devote 
to  that  part  of  his  outdoor  equipment.  The  limit 
for  a  comfortable  back-pack  trip  should  be  35  pounds 
for  a  light-weight  man,  and  say  42  to  45  pounds  for 
a  six-footer.  And,  of  course,  the  prices  of  these 
manufactured  goods  are  a  very  noteworthy  item  for 
any  one  but  the  sportsman  who  can  readily  afford 
guides  enough  to  make  a  caravan  out  of  his  hunting 
trip. 

This  article  merely  aims  to  show  what  a  poor  man 
can  do  along  the  same  lines,  with  every  stitch  of 
the  equipment  home-made. 

The  rig  I  have  described  has  been  out  with  me 
two  years  so  far.  I  added  to  it  a  lining  of  brown 
galatea  some  time  ago.  It  weighs  only  a  few  ounces 
and  adds  considerably  to  the  warmth  of  the  bag, 
because  the  sheeting  serves  the  purpose  of  retaining 
the  envelope  of  warm  air  that  your  body  produces 
inside  the  bag.  This  continuously  escapes  through 
the  interstices  of  a  loose-woven  material  like  blank- 
eting and  has  to  be  replaced  at  the  expense  of  your 


6o  CAMP  CRAFT 

bodily  energy.  Several  foreign-made  gabardines 
also  make  excellent  sheeting  material.  I  took  the 
pack-blanket  bag  out  with  me  this  February  with 
the  galatea  lining  and  found  that  it  added  quite 
appreciably  to  its  warmth.  I  should  say  that,  as 
that  bag  now  stands,  it  can  be  rehed  upon  to  be 
comfortable  at  all  temperatures  and  humidities 
down  to  zero. 

As  might  be  expected,  the  original  bag  has  been 
subjected  to  rigid  scrutiny  to  save  weight  and  gain 
simpHcity.  The  photographs  show  two  bags  em- 
bodying improvements  on  the  original  model.  One 
has  a  single  piece  of  mackinaw  blanketing,  54  inches 
by  30  inches,  substituted  for  the  wool  quilt,  army 
blanket,  and  sheeting.  Experienced  outfitters  have 
claimed  that  the  mackinaw  is  lighter  and  as  warm 
as  the  entire  other  combination.  I  personally  found 
it  chilly  at  36  degrees,  and  so  added  a  facing  of  fine 
red  flannel  to  make  it  warm  enough  down  to  32 
degrees.  In  place  of  the  heavy  22-inch  sail  duck 
I  substituted  in  this  bag  lo-ounce  water-proof  brown 
duck,  which  comes  28  inches  wide.  This  lo-ounce 
brown  water-proof  canvas  comes  at  forty  cents  a 
yard  and  has  the  great  advantage  that  it  can  be 
hemmed,  sewed,  and  blanketing  sewed  to  it,  all  on 
the  domestic  sewing-machine,  saving  much  tedious 
hand-sewing  necessary  with  the  heavy  sail  duck. 
With  a  i^-inch  hem  on  each  side,  it  makes  a  pack 


ELIMINATING  THE  BLANKET        6i 

25  inches  wide  instead  of  22  inches,  and  it  is  not 
only  better  and  more  adaptable  for  larger  men  than 
I  am  but  I  find  the  extra  three  inches  very  ac- 
ceptable in  increasing  the  available  capacity  of 
your  pack.  The  weight  is  3^  pounds  total,  includ- 
ing canvas  and  mackinaw,  or  4^  with  the  flannel 
facing. 

For  below-zero  temperatures  I  also  made  bag  No. 
3,  55  inches  by  25  inches,  of  lo-ounce  brown  water- 
proof canvas,  Hned  with  caribou  skin.  This  skin  is 
exceedingly  soft  and  fine,  an  inch  thick,  and  very 
warm.  The  skins  come  about  6  feet  long  by  32 
inches  wide  in  the  body  part,  and  you  piece  out  the 
neck  with  the  excess  fur  around  the  head  and  ears 
to  make  it  20  inches  wide  where  your  feet  come. 
It  is  sewed  to  the  canvas  backing  inside  the  hem 
with  strong  black  Hnen  thread,  and  there  is  an  overlap 
of  some  5  inches  of  fur  along  each  side  for  3  feet 
distance,  or  from  your  shoulders  nearly  to  your 
knees.  The  bag  weighs  4^  pounds,  is  roomy  and 
easy  to  pack  inside,  is  very  warm  at  30  degrees,  and 
and  roasted  me  out  at  ±2  degrees  if  I  slept  in  my 
clothes. 

The  operation  of  lacing  or  unlacing  the  sleeping- 
bags  takes  six  minutes.  As  far  as  the  pack-bag  is 
concerned  it  has  been  ehminated  by  putting  United 
States  army  snap-hooks  along  the  edges  of  the  front 
face  instead  of  the  grommet  holes.     Either  a  rawhide 


62  CAMP  CRAFT 

thong  or  a  braided  rope  is  far  preferable  to  ordinary 
twisted  rope  because  of  the  latter's  tendency  to 
kink.  The  length  of  the  thong  should  be  6  feet, 
one  on  each  side  secured  to  the  middle  grommet.  I 
got  rid  of  the  necessity  of  thus  lacing  the  pack-blanket 
to  the  browse-bag  at  night  by  riveting  half  of  my 
army  bronze  snap-hooks  to  the  latter  in  place  of  the 
grommets.  Making  up  the  sleeping-bag  at  night 
with  this  "hunch"  is  only  a  matter  of  a  minute. 
It  takes  five  if  you  lace  it,  and  half  an  hour  from  the 
time  you  start  unlacing  the  sleeping-bag  until  the 
whole  pack  is  made  up  ready  for  the  trail,  with  tent 
and  duffel  inside  and  cook-kit  strapped  in  place. 
This  includes  striking  and  folding  the  tent. 

For  ladies*  use  and  in  permanent  camps  there  have 
been  two  propositions  advanced  with  the  object  of 
getting  the  pack  sleeping-bag  off  the  ground  entirely. 
One  of  them  is  to  put  a  row  of  five  stout  canvas 
loops  along  each  side  of  the  browse-bag,  so  that  in 
wet  weather  it  can  be  lifted  clear  of  the  ground  by 
sHpping  two  side  poles  through  the  loops  like  a 
stretcher  bed.  The  second  is  to  take  along  an  In- 
dian stick  bed,  which  will  easily  fit  in  the  space 
between  the  cook-kit  and  the  top  of  the  pack  under 
the  holding  straps  of  the  cook-kit. 

I  have  tried  out  the  former,  but  the  rubber  cloth 
on  the  ground  and  the  sleeping-bag  on  it  is  good 
enough   except  for  trips  where   browse  is   hard   to 


ELIMINATING  THE  BLANKET 


63 


get.  For  the  ladies'  equipment  I  have  tried  the 
stretcher-bed  modification  with  signal  success,  as 
scratching  browse  night  after  night  is  a  nuisance 
and  can  be  avoided  by  making  a  thin  quilt  of  the 
browse-bag  lined  with  wool  batting. 


CHAPTER  IV 
GETTING  AWAY  FROM  THE  BROWSE  BED 

THERE  is  an  ancient  partner  of  mine,  an  old 
side-kick  who  often  goes  to  the  wars  with 
me,  and  he  seldom  overlooks  an  opportunity  to  re- 
mind me  that  I  am  constitutionally  lazy,  not  to 
say  averse  to  the  vigorous  use  of  the  axe.  (So  I 
am,  except  for  good  and  specific  reasons.)  He  tells 
me  that  I  would  rather  scratch  browse  around  the 
woods  like  a  chicken  than  cut  me  a  good  stretcher- 
bed  pole  frame  with  the  axe  like  a  man,  and  that 
that  is  the  real  reason  why  he  so  seldom  finds  me 
inhabiting  a  stretcher  bed.  I  plead  guilty.  I  have 
slept  in  almost  every  contrivance  on  the  market, 
and  in  not  a  few  home-made  inventions,  in  a  lauda- 
ble effort  to  avoid  scratching  browse  or,  worse  yet, 
knocking  off  the  powdery  snow  from  a  few  innocent 
balsams  and  denuding  them  forthwith  of  all  their 
soft,  feathery  plumage  in  order  to  provide  comfort 
for  the  family  when  the  snow  is  knee-deep  and  the 
blizzard  is  roaring  outside  the  tent.  Except  for  the 
standard  camp-cot,  which  is  very  flat  and  comfort- 
able, most  stretcher-bed  devices  are  apt  to  become 
like  canvas  bathtubs  in  shape,  and  are  altogether 

64 


THE  BROWSE  BED  65 

too  prone  to  fold  the  sleeper  up  in  himself  until  he 
resembles  a  human  sardine  to  entice  me  into  using 
them  overmuch,  and  this  is  the  real  reason  why  I 
avoid  them,  not  because  of  the  labor  of  cutting  a 
few  paltry  poles. 

But  the  convenience  of  having  a  light,  flat,  springy 
bed,  carried  along  with  the  rest  of  your  equipment 
and  always  dry  and  ready  for  service  when  the  day's 
toil  is  done,  is  a  sufficient  object  to  warrant  spend- 
ing a  great  deal  of  thought  and  experiment  upon  the 
obtaining  of  such  a  rig.  For  go-light  trips  and  for 
extended  wilderness  trips,  where  so  much  food  must 
be  carried  as  to  require  paring  down  the  tent  and 
sleeping  equipment  weights  to  the  minimum,  the  In- 
dian stick  bed  and  the  air  bed  offer  two  practical  solu- 
tions. I  show  in  this  chapter  photographs  illustrat- 
ing what  various  experienced  big-game  hunters  of  the 
Camp  Fire  Club  have  done  along  these  lines  in  these 
two  types  of  beds.  These  men  know  how  precious  is 
that  same  bodily  vigor  which  the  inexperienced  man 
so  cheerfully  wastes  by  sleeping  on  hard  and  un- 
comfortable beds.  To  have  the  reserve  to  call  upon 
when  your  chance  comes  at  maybe  the  only  kill  of 
the  trip,  and  there  is  a  flock  of  goats  or  mountain- 
sheep  in  sight  but  3  miles  away  across  a  deep  valley 
on  another  mountain  than  the  one  you  have  climbed, 
requires  that  you  must  be  fit  physically,  not  tired 
out  and  half  alive  from  the  exhaustion  of  night  after 


66  CAMP  CRAFT 

night  of  unrefreshing  sleep,  where  you  turn  and  toss 
for  hours  before  sleep  overtakes  you  no  matter  how 
weary  you  may  be.  Wherefore  note  that  many  of 
these  big-game  hunters  go  provided  with  full-sized 
air  mattresses,  weighing  about  lo  pounds  each  and 
inflating  to  make  a  mattress  some  5  inches  thick, 
6  feet  3  inches  long,  and  2  feet  i  inch  wide.  These 
mattresses  add  nothing  to  one's  warmth;  in  fact, 
are  colder  than  any  form  of  browse  mattress,  but 
they  are  comfortable,  very,  and  you  can  put  them 
right  down  on  the  snow  or  on  a  muskeg  bog,  if  need 
be,  and  they  are  always  ready  for  use  after  ten 
minutes'  blowing  up;  they  stow  easily,  and,  if  you 
see  to  it  that  your  sleeping-bag  provides  the  neces- 
sary warmth,  they  make  an  excellent  rig  for  wilder- 
ness canoe  trips  and  pack-and-saddle  mountain  trips 
after  big  game.  The  one  shown  was  used  on  a 
month's  hunting  trip  in  Alberta,  with  snow  on  the 
ground  most  of  the  time  and  temperatures  ranging 
around  20  degrees  at  night. 

While  this  air  mattress  and  a  sleeping-bag  to  go 
with  it  make  too  heavy  a  combination  for  go-light 
work  and  back-pack  trips,  a  modification  of  it, 
originating,  I  think,  with  my  good  friend  Otto  Van 
Norden  and  since  tried  out  by  the  writer,  answers 
very  well.  This  modification  depends  upon  the 
fact  that  the  lower  part  of  your  body  requires  no 
such  support  underneath  as  your  hips  and  shoulders 


THE  BROWSE  BED  e^ 

need.  The  part  that  must  be  air-carried  reaches 
from  just  above  one's  shoulders  to  some  6  inches 
below  the  hip-bones  and  is  34  inches  in  length  for  a 
man  5  feet  8  inches  in  height  and  about  38  inches 
for  a  six-footer.  Your  neck  needs  no  support  at  all 
and  your  head  can  be  taken  care  of  by  almost  any 
assortment  of  duffel  and  loose  clothing,  provided 
that  you  have  a  small  feather  pillow  to  top  it  off 
with.  So  this  leaves  as  absolutely  necessary  only 
an  air  cushion  some  18  inches  wide  by  36  inches 
long,  as  the  pneumatic  part  of  your  rig,  the  lower 
end  being  thick  quilting  of  a  little  browse  put  in  to 
take  care  of  your  knees  and  feet.  This  at  once  re- 
duces the  weight  and  size  of  the  mattress  very  ma- 
terially, my  own  version  of  the  scheme  being  two 
15x15  pneumatic  boat  cushions  sewed  inside  the 
browse  bag,  which  laces  to  the  Forester  pack-sack 
sleeping-bag.  These  two  cushions  weigh  3^  pounds 
and  take  hips  and  shoulders  respectively,  leaving 
some  30  inches  of  the  lower  part  of  the  bag  to  be 
filled  with  loose  browse.  It  is  a  warm  combination 
because  the  upper  face  of  the  browse-bag  is  of  brown 
flannel  with  about  %  inch  of  Australian  wool  batting 
behind  it.  By  cutting  down  the  weight  of  the  tent  I 
have  been  able  to  accommodate  the  weight  of  these 
air  cushions  within  the  same  total  equipment  weight 
for  back-pack  trips  as  before,  viz.,  20  pounds  exclu- 
sive of  grub. 


68  CAMP  CRAFT 

A  third  arrangement  of  the  air  bed  is  that  used 
by  Elt  Warner,  the  human  dynamo  behind  Field 
and  Stream.  It  is  shown  in  our  illustrations  and 
consists  of  a  rubberized-cloth  sleeping-bag,  which  is 
also  a  tent  and  has  a  half-length  pneumatic  mattress, 
about  24  X  36  inches,  which  makes  comfortable 
the  hips  and  shoulders.  At  first  Warner  was  a  lit- 
tle shy  of  this  bag,  because  it  was  undoubtedly  cold 
in  spring  and  fall  night  temperatures  without  blan- 
kets. But  by  setting  it  up  as  shown,  he  found  he 
could  leave  out  a  tent  entirely  from  his  equipment 
and  add  a  Hght  3J^-pound  Hudson  Bay  blanket, 
and  could  then  defy  the  world  for  combined  comfort 
and  warmth.  The  top  face  of  this  bag  can  be  at- 
tached by  snap-buttons  up  under  the  roof  of  the  shel- 
ter cloth,  giving  it  considerable  slope,  so  that  it  sheds 
rain  in  almost  any  tempest.  It  lacked,  however, 
an  efficient  mosquito-bar,  and  this  was  later  added 
in  the  form  of  a  bobbinet-bar  draping  down  on  three 
sides  from  the  edges  of  the  shelter  cloth.  With 
this  rig  should  betaken  along  a  light,  small  "tarp" 
to  form  not  only  a  shelter  for  one's  dufFel  but  also 
a  windbreak  on  one  side  of  the  shelter  cloth.  This 
equipment  weighs  11  pounds  and  rolls  into  a  package 
about  9  inches  in  diameter  by  28  inches  long.  Packed 
in  a  brown  canvas  duffel-bag,  with  another  along- 
side of  it  for  dufFel  and  grub,  the  two  being  carried 
in  a  light  shoulder-strap  harness,  it  makes  an  ex- 


THE  BROWSE  BED  69 

cellent,  comfortable  go-light  rig,  always  ready  for 
service. 

Another  form  of  these  shelter  sleeping-bags  on 
the  market  has  a  small  pyramidal  tent  over  the  head 
end,  this  tent  being  an  integral  part  of  the  bag  and 
adding  but  a  pound  or  so  to  its  weight.  It  can  be 
provided  with  a  mosquito-blind  inside,  and,  like  all 
small  tents,  must  have  a  ventilator  in  the  peak 
somewhere  or  the  tent  will  get  breathy  during  a 
night's  sleep. 

The  second  proposal  in  getting  away  from  browse 
is  to  adopt  or  modify  the  Indian  stick  bed.  If  you 
consider  our  woven-wire  spring-bed  you  will  have  the 
principle  of  the  stick  bed,  something  flat  and  springy, 
upon  which  a  mattress  is  to  be  laid,  and  on  this  your 
sleeping-bag  or  blankets.  Out  in  Montana  you  can 
buy  an  Indian  stick  bed  for  eight  dollars,  with  all 
its  poles  and  trappings,  highly  decorated,  made  by 
the  Blackfeet  Indians.  As  they  travel  by  pony 
and  pack  their  goods  on  traverse  poles,  they  have 
studied  neither  lightness  nor  compactness,  for  their 
beds  are  overwide  and  are  truncate  in  shape,  not 
rectangular.  They  are  universally  made  of  sticks 
of  kinnikinnic,  the  sand-bar  willow  of  the  west,  the 
sticks  being  some  }^  inch  in  diameter  and  strung 
on  cords  just  as  close  as  they  will  go,  I  should  say 
about  150  sticks  for  a  6-foot  bed.  To  set  up,  just 
cut  two  short  6-foot  poles  of  lodge-pole  pine  or  white 


70 


CAMP  CRAFT 


cedar  and  roll  out  the  bed  on  them.  Many  a 
bivouac  has  been  made  on  the  prairie  by  scooping 
two  hollows  in  the  bunch-grass  for  hips  and  shoulders 
and  rolling  out  the  bed  over  these  hollows.  A  deer- 
skin or  two  forms  the  usual  mattress.  Mr.  Ernest 
Thompson  Seton,  of  the  Camp  Fire  Club,  has  modi- 
fied this  bed  for  white  man's  use  by  making  all  the 
sticks  uniformly  24  inches  long,  spacing  them  an 
inch  apart,  increasing  the  diameter  to  about  yi  inch, 
and  threading  them  through  the  strands  of  twisted 
hemp  rope,  tying  fast  with  fine  cord.  He  has  re- 
tained the  cloth  binding  of  the  edges  of  the  bed  uni- 
versally used  by  the  Indians,  and,  so  fashioned,  his 
bed  rolls  up  into  a  package  8  inches  in  diameter  by 
24  inches  long,  and  rolls  out  to  make  a  6-foot  bed, 
weighing  about  6  pounds.  This  bed,  as  stated 
above,  requires  a  light  mattress  to  make  it  com- 
fortable and  to  take  off  the  harshness  of  the  sticks. 
A  wool  quilt  or  a  thick  deerskin  or  other  fur  will 
answer  very  well,  and  the  combination  makes  a 
flat  comfortable  bed,  fitting  the  contours  of  the  body 
at  all  points  and  very  pleasant  to  sleep  on. 

Realizing  the  necessity  of  this  quilt  or  mattress, 
David  T.  Abercrombie,  the  outfitter,  has  devised  a 
combination  stick  bed  and  mattress  which  has  proved 
light  and  practical.  The  quilt  is  made  of  brown 
khaki,  stuffed  with  wool  batting,  and  has  pockets  on 
the   under-side   spaced    3    inches  apart,  in  each  of 


s 

>                •* 

'l 

L_ ^ _jk 

THE  BROWSE  BED  71 

which  is  put  a  ^-inch  natural  willow  rod.  When 
rolled  out  this  makes  a  warm,  comfortable,  springy 
bed,  and  if  any  of  the  sticks  break  it  is  an  easy 
matter  to  replace  them.  The  bed  rolls  into  a  parcel 
27  inches  long  by  8  inches  in  diameter,  and  weighs 
4^  pounds. 

For  my  own  use  I  wanted  something  more  com- 
pact and  light,  also  something  that  could  go  outside 
my  pack  and  that  rain  could  not  hurt.  In  between 
the  cook-kit  and  the  top  curve  of  my  pack  was  a 
small  triangle,  behind  those  straps  which  go  from 
the  pack  over  the  cook-kit,  and  this  triangle  of  space 
I  always  felt  was  intended  by  Nature  to  form  the 
abiding  space  for  a  stick  bed.  I  wanted  something 
that  would  roll  up  into  a  parcel  not  over  4  inches  in 
diame.ter  and  weigh  not  over  3  pounds.  There  is 
just  one  point  of  your  anatomy  which  must  rest  on 
something  solid  unless  the  whole  rig  is  to  be  made 
unduly  heavy  and  strong,  and  that  point  is  your 
hip-bone.  Given  a  support  for  that,  all  the  rest  could 
be  made  Hght.  So  I  decided  to  make  my  stick  bed 
springy  enough  to  carry  all  my  body  except  that 
bone,  and  let  that  touch  "bottom,"  piling  up  a 
few  leaves  or  some  browse  under  the  stick  bed  to 
take  care  of  that  hip-bone.  With  this  ofF  my  chest, 
I  felt  safe  in  trying  out  light  sticks  for  the  bed  ma- 
terial, and  so  chose  the  smallest  obtainable,  ^-inch 
maple  dowels.     Another  principle  that  I  determined 


72  CAMP  CRAFT 

to  make  use  of  was  the  hammock  effect  of  the  longi- 
tudinal cords  threading  through  the  stick  bed. 
With  these  made  strong  and  non-stretchable,  they 
would  aid  materially  in  supporting  the  total  weight, 
just  as  in  a  hammock.  So  I  bought  a  hank  of  strong 
*' Banks"  line,  a  green  braided  line  of  some  lOO 
pounds'  breaking  strain,  used  for  cod-fishing  ofF 
the  Newfoundland  banks.  This  I  cut  into  14-foot 
lengths  and  used  six  of  them  for  the  longitudinal 
strings  of  the  bed,  as  I  figured  that  the  knots  would 
use  up  half  my  cord,  and  they  did.  I  bought  two 
stout  >2-inch  rods  for  the  head  and  foot  sticks  of 
the  bed,  and  fifty-four  ^-inch  maple  dowels,  to  be 
spaced  i  inch  apart.  It  would  not  seem  enough 
sticks  for  a  man  5  feet  8  inches  tall,  but  wait,  there 
is  a  reason !  This  bed  was  made  by  drilling  holes 
with  a  /^-inch  machine  twist-drill  through  six  points 
in  all  the  sticks,  and  the  cod-line  was  then  threaded 
through  with  a  knot  on  each  side  of  each  stick. 
An  interminable  job,  ten  to  twelve  minutes'  work 
for  each  stick !  The  Indians,  who  have  nothing 
hut  time,  find  it  easy  to  make  a  stick  bed,  but  I 
finally  managed  to  squeeze  out  enough  evenings  of 
time  to  finish  it.  My  wife,  who  likes  to  place  a  bet 
whenever  she  is  convinced  that  her  better  half  has 
jumped  the  trolley-wire,  bet  me  a  box  of  Huyler's 
that  the  bed  would  go  all  to  smash  the  first  time  I 
used  it,  besides  being  too  short.     I  took  that  bet. 


I 


THE   BROWSE   BED  73 

We  then  carried  the  bed  out  to  a  favorite  camp  site 
in  the  forest,  and  I  cut  two  side  poles,  drove  in  four 
pegs  at  the  ends  six  feet  apart,  and  put  on  two  cross- 
sticks  for  head  and  foot.  Then  I  laced  a  thong 
around  these  end  sticks  and  the  foot  and  head  sticks 
of  the  bed  and  drew  the  bed  as  taut  as  it  could  be 
drawn,  making  me  a  flat  bed  2  feet  wide  by  6  feet 
long,  including  the  lacing  sticks. 

On  this  a  deerskin,  and  it  was  ready  for  trial.  I 
sat  down  gingerly  on  one  edge  and  rolled  over  on 
my  hip.  BHss  !  Also  crack  !  crack  ! — under  the  hip, 
two  sticks !  The  wife  let  out  a  squeal  of  triumph 
and  held  out  her  hand  for  the  box  of  candy.  She 
won;  but  I  didn't  lose,  for  those  two  sticks  were 
all  that  broke,  and  the  rest  of  the  bed  was  a  marvel 
of  comfort  and  lightness.  It  weighed  2>^  pounds, 
and  rolled  up  a  little  over  3  inches  in  diameter.  I 
slept  on  it  for  a  week,  and  gradually  one  stick  after 
another  gave  way,  until  twelve  were  broken,  mostly 
those  in  which  the  grain  crossed  the  axis  of  the  stick. 
It  in  no  way  aff^ected  the  general  comfort  of  the 
bed,  and  I  saw  that  I  was  on  the  right  track  and 
that  the  scheme  was  possible — ^with  better  material. 
For  hard  maple  is  too  brittle;  what  is  wanted  is  a 
tough  yet  springy  wood  like  sour-gum  or  pin-oak; 
willow  would  be  too  flexible  for  such  a  small  diameter 
of  stick.  The  holes  through  the  centre  were  also 
a  mistake;    nearly  all  the  breaks  occurred  at  these 


74  CAMP  CRAFT 

holes;  the  twisted  hemp  rope,  with  the  sticks  rove 
through  a  strand  of  the  rope  and  secured  with  a 
bit  of  winding-twine,  is  the  right  fastening.  Some 
form  of  wool  quilt  is,  in  my  opinion,  better  than  fur 
for  the  mattress  also.  My  deerskin  weighs  2  pounds 
15  ounces,  with  fur  on  it  an  inch  thick,  the  general 
dimensions  being  4  feet  long  by  2  feet  6  inches  wide. 
It  rolls  into  a  parcel  5  inches  in  diameter  by  20  inches 
long,  and  the  skin  absorbs  considerable  moisture 
from  the  ground  underneath,  getting  heavy  thereby. 
I  am  at  present  making  the  upper  face  of  my  browse- 
bag  a  wool  quilt  an  inch  thick,  for  use  with  either 
the  pneumatic  cushions  or  the  stick  bed.  This  in- 
creases the  weight  of  the  bag  from  3  pounds  to  over 
4,  and  its  bulk  to  about  a  7-inch  roll,  but  it  lets  out 
both  the  deerskin  and  the  ground-cloth,  the  bottom 
of  the  bag  being  made  of  light,  water-proof  fabric  in 
this  form,  and,  as  it  gets  away  from  picking  browse, 
I  am  well  satisfied. 

To  make  up  for  this  increase  in  weight,  it  was 
necessary  to  reduce  the  weight  of  tent  carried.  I 
still  prefer  the  Forester  for  spring,  summer,  and  fall 
camping  as  being  the  roomiest,  warmest,  and  most 
cosey  of  the  open  forms  of  tent,  but  for  snow  work, 
when  there  is  a  blizzard  blowing  smoke  and  snow- 
flakes  into  the  tent  while  one  is  trying  to  cook  break- 
fast on  an  open  fire  in  front  of  the  tent,  some  one  of 
the  closed  types  is  far  preferable.     I  am  not  in  the 


M^ 


f^S^ 


THE  BROWSE  BED  75 

least  averse  to  experimenting  in  new  fields  with 
tents,  and  never  yet  was  wedded  to  any  of  my  own 
inventions;  so  in  this  case  I  set  to  work  to  devise  a 
new  "blizzard"  tent,  for  one  or  two  men,  that  would 
weigh  3  pounds.  The  illustration  shows  the  result. 
It  is,  in  effect,  a  modification  of  the  well-known 
Hudson  Bay  tent,  in  that  the  ends  are  pyramidal 
instead  of  circular,  so  that  only  two  more  pegs  are 
needed  than  with  the  ordinary  wedge-tent,  and  no 
poles  at  all  are  required.  This  tent  sets  up  5  feet 
wide  by  6  feet  long  on  the  straight  faces,  with  the 
addition  of  the  pyramidal  triangles  at  each  end, 
which  make  it  9  feet  long  from  peg  to  peg.  In  the 
rear  pyramid  is  room  for  duffel  and  a  side-opening 
food-bag,  hung  up  on  two  short  stakes.  The  door 
is  in  the  front  pyramid,  which  is  also  the  space  sacred 
to  a  small  tent-stove.  This  is  something  that  I 
have  always  wanted  for  snow  work,  for  if  run  right 
it  will  keep  you  warm  and  comfortable  and  cook 
breakfast  or  supper  for  you  while  the  gale  is  roaring 
outside.  This  particular  stove  is  simply  a  sheet- 
iron  oblong  with  cylindrical  ends  which  slips  over 
the  two  aluminum  pots  of  the  Forester  cook-kit,  its 
size  being  14  inches  long  by  7>^  inches  diameter  by 
7  inches  high.  The  lids  of  the  pots  form  the  two 
covers  of  the  stove,  unless  the  pots  are  on  duty  in 
the  stove-holes  or  there  is  a  frying-pan  holding  down 
a  hole  on  the  top  of  the  stove.     Small  draft-door  in 


76  CAMP  CRAFT 

one  side,  and  outtake  for  the  stovepipe  low  down 
on  the  opposite  side.  Stovepipe  is  of  two  20-inch 
lengths  by  2j^  inches  diameter.  Slope  of  tent  pyr- 
amid carries  tent  well  away  from  draft.  Bottom 
of  stove  is  open  and  is  to  be  set  on  a  flat  rock  and 
chinked  with  chips  of  stone  to  keep  down  bottom 
draft.  I  learned  this  trick  from  an  open-bottom 
sheet-iron  stove  that  we  used  in  the  West. 

This  "blizzard''  tent  weighs  just  3  pounds,  and 
packs  into  a  parcel  3  inches  diameter  by  20  inches 
long.  It  is  made  of  a  light,  oiled-silk  fabric,  given 
me  by  Abercrombie  on  one  of  our  trips.  Along  one 
side  goes  the  stick  bed,  with  room  for  a  bunky  be- 
side me,  at  the  rear  end  the  duffel  and  grub,  and  in 
the  front  end  the  stove.  I  have  since  added  a  bob- 
binet  ventilator  up  in  the  rear  peak,  as  I  found  the 
tent  breathy  after  a  night  in  it  closed  up,  whereas 
the  Forester  is  always  sweet  and  full  of  forest 
ozone. 

The  blizzard  tent  is  in  no  way  to  be  compared 
to  the  Forester  for  general  roominess  and  healthful- 
ness,  but  in  thick  weather,  either  rain  or  snow,  it 
does  possess  the  advantage  that  one  can  cook  in  it, 
and  with  the  addition  of  one  of  those  small  briquet 
burners,  or  the  briquet  itself  burned  in  the  tent- 
stove,  same  giving  out  quite  a  noticeable  heat  for 
ten  hours  after  igniting,  it  would  be  comfortable  at 
very  low  temperatures.     These  briquets  weigh  7^ 


THE   BROWSE   BED  ^j 

pounds  to  the  dozen,  or  enough  to  last  a  week  of  cold 
nights,  at  a  weight  of  4  pounds. 

In  conclusion,  mention  should  be  made  of  the 
stretcher  bed  and  its  direct  modification,  the  net 
bed.  The  former  is  sold  in  tan  canvas,  6  feet  by  3 
feet,  with  pockets  along  each  side  to  receive  the 
stretcher  poles;  weight  3  pounds.  Stretched  taut 
and  provided  with  any  kind  of  a  quilt  mattress,  it  is 
comfortable,  and  I  have  slept  night  after  night  for 
weeks  at  a  time  in  the  canvas  sailor's  hammock, 
virtually  the  same  thing  as  a  stretcher  bed,  without 
ever  wearying  of  it.  In  both  hammock  and  bed, 
if  hung  Uke  a  bag,  it  will  be  impossible  to  stretch 
out  arms  and  legs  comfortably.  Sailors  adjust  their 
hammocks  to  He  flat  and  comfortable  by  taking  up 
and  letting  out  on  the  lengths  of  the  lanyards  run- 
ning from  the  hammock-ring  to  the  grommets  in 
the  edge  of  the  canvas,  and  the  same  thing  is  done 
with  the  stretcher  bed,  by  seeing  to  it  that  it  is 
stretched  taut  and  braced  so  as  to  stay  so.  Many 
a  time  I  have  made  up  the  pack-sack  sleeping-bag 
owned  by  the  lady  of  the  family  so  as  to  make  a 
comfortable  stretcher  bed  of  it,  as  she  prefers  this 
to  any  form  of  browse  mattress,  probably  because 
it  raises  her  above  an  imaginary  snake  zone.  The 
side  poles  should  be  amply  strong  so  as  not  to  spring 
in,  and  their  ends  are  staked  in  place  over  two  short 
cross-logs  which  form  the  foundation  skids  of  the 


78  CAMP  CRAFT 

bed.  Head  and  foot  are  secured  by  lashing  the  ends 
of  the  canvas  to  suitable  cross-sticks  on  top  of  the 
side  poles. 

Few  outdoorsmen  have  investigated  the  net  bed, 
and  only  one  has  so  far  reported  on  it  to  me.  The 
French  make  wonderful  net-bags,  which  hold  over 
a  bushel  of  produce,  yet  when  collapsed  into  a  mere 
handful  of  twine  take  up  no  room  at  all.  A  net  bed 
of  the  same  type  would  take  but  little  room  and 
weight,  and  could  be  stretched  on  a  frame,  much  as 
with  a  stretcher  bed,  and  a  mattress  laid  upon  it. 
Something  like  camel's-hair  or  horsehair  should  be 
used  to  stuff  this  mattress,  as  the  tendency  of  the 
net  thongs  to  cut  would  have  to  be  counteracted  by 
quite  a  substantial  stuffing.  This  objection  would 
seem  to  put  the  net  bed  out  of  the  running  as  com- 
pared with  the  stretcher  bed  of  woven  textiles,  but 
still,  when  some  of  our  original  go-light  cranks  start 
experimenting  with  it,  there  is  no  telling  what  they 
will  bring  forth ! 


CHAPTER  V 
THE  CAMP-FIRE 

THE  open-hearth  log  fire  is  the  heart  of  the 
country  home.  Poets,  philosophers,  artists — 
all  have  contributed  to  the  world's  sentiment  over 
the  sacred  hearthstone.  Entwined  in  the  earHest 
memories  of  every  country  boy  is  the  home  fireplace, 
with  its  crackling  logs,  its  fancy-inviting  flames,  its 
good  cheer  of  pop-corn,  black  walnuts,  and  apple 
cider,  the  children's  revels  around  the  home  hearth- 
stone, the  old  people's  comfort,  the  deHght  of  the 
strong  master  of  the  house  and  his  gracious  life 
partner.  Like  the  sound  given  out  by  the  taut 
skin  drum,  there  is  an  indefinable  something  about 
the  sight  of  a  log  fire  in  the  home  fireplace  that  tugs 
at  the  very  heart-strings  of  mankind.  Yet  if  we 
analyze  either  drum  or  fire  we  find  that  their  soul- 
stirring  appeal  dates  back  to  the  remotest  birth  of 
the  human  race.  The  skin  drum  that  calls  men  to 
war  and  the  wood-fire  that  always  makes  every  spot 
in  which  it  is  kindled  home  have  been  with  us  for 
untold  centuries;  they  call  to  the  blood  of  the  race, 
and  every  remote  ancestral  strain  in  our  being  re- 

79 


8o  CAMP  CRAFT 

spends  intuitively  no  matter  how  deep  the  veneer  of 
civilization. 

The  forebear  of  the  log  fire  on  the  hearth  is  the 
camp-fire.  We  have  it  with  us  yet,  as  always,  but, 
while  the  hearth  has  been  evolved  so  as  to  yield 
heat  with  almost  any  huddle  of  logs  and  kindlings, 
the  camp-fire  must  be  built  rightly  for  the  purpose 
intended,  or  it  is  worse  than  a  nuisance. 

Mankind  on  the  trail  cannot  get  along  without 
external  heat.  The  day's  toil  spends  his  energy, 
and  his  vitality  grows  low;  the  cold  creeps  over  him 
and  he  has  no  strength  left  to  drive  it  off  with  further 
output  of  toil.  Cold  food  may  yield  sustenance 
and  allow  him  to  continue  a  little  longer,  but  to 
really  restore  his  vigor  he  needs  external  heat,  hot 
food  cooked  over  the  camp-fire,  warm  heat-rays 
to  penetrate  his  body  and  relax  the  tired  muscles, 
drive  out  the  cold  and  rheumatic  aches,  and  put 
him  in  a  state  of  comfort  that  enables  mind  and 
body  to  recuperate.  And  so  we  find,  even  in  the 
Arctic  wastes,  where  fuel  must  actually  be  carried 
along,  that  it  is  never  gone  without  and  its  weight 
replaced  by  extra  blanketing,  but  rather  treasured 
and  appreciated,  for  the  finest  part  of  the  day, 
even  in  the  snow  igloo,  is  that  hour  when  the  day's 
march  is  done,  the  Httle  spirit-lamp  lighted,  the 
frozen  pemmican  boiled,  and  the  explorers,  with 
their  heavy  outer  furs  removed,  revel  in  the  comfort 


THE  CAMP-FIRE  8i 

and  luxury  of  the  heat  from  that  tiny  flame  which 
soon  warms  the  igloo  far  above  the  temperature 
outside  and  brings  to  an  end  the  day-long  struggle 
of  bodily  vigor  against  the  bitter  cold  of  the  open 
wastes. 

Even  in  the  ordinary  hunter's  camp  the  energy 
spent  on  chopping  wood  for  a  good  camp-fire  at 
night  is  well  worth  while.  One  can  get  along  without 
it,  and  through  the  long,  still  hours  of  the  night  a 
warm  sleeping  equipment  that  will  defy  any  cold 
is  the  thing,  but  to  miss  the  cheery  warmth  of  a 
well-built  camp-fire,  substituting  for  it  the  glare  of 
the  carbide  lamp  and  the  warmth  of  one's  mack- 
inaws,  is  to  lose  the  cream  of  camping  out.  What 
is  really  needed  is  the  mental  equipment  of  a  knowl- 
edge of  what  kind  of  a  fire  to  build  with  different 
forms  of  camps,  so  as  to  get  the  most  comfort  for 
the  least  expenditure  of  axemanship.  For  there  are 
a  whole  series  of  camp-fires,  each  best  adapted  to 
its  particular  camp,  and  the  veteran  woodsman  will 
build  the  right  one  for  the  right  camp  every  time. 
There  is  the  backlog  fire,  virtually  a  log  hearth, 
suitable  for  cold  nights  in  front  of  a  group  of  open 
tents;  the  Indian  fire,  a  circle  of  log  ends  with  the 
fire  in  the  centre,  a  great  labor  saver  and  easily 
replenished  by  simply  shoving  the  log  ends  in  as 
they  burn  away,  suitable  for  the  central  fire  of  an 
encampment  of  closed  tents;,  the  teepee  fire,  similar 


82  CAMP  CRAFT 

but  of  fewer  and  thicker  logs,  meant  to  give  out 
heat  with  the  least  possible  smoke,  not  a  big  fire  but 
one  built  to  burn  long  and  continuously;  the  various 
cook  fires,  such  as  log  ranges,  reflector  baker  fires, 
lunch  fires,  and  wire-grate  fires;  the  tent-stoves  for 
both  cooking  and  heating;  the  snow  fire,  built  so  as 
to  burn  on  a  snow-bank  and  yet  not  put  itself  out 
through  melting  the  snow  beneath;  the  tent  warm- 
ers and  spirit-lamps  for  camping  in  country  above 
timber-line;  and  finally  the  fires  intended  for  some- 
thing else  than  intense  heat,  such  as  the  various 
smudges  and  jerky  fires. 

And  a  knowledge  of  these  does  not  begin  to  exhaust 
the  subject  either,  for  back  of  them  must  be  the 
knowledge  of  what  woods  to  use  and  what  to  reject, 
how  to  kindle  any  fire  and  what  materials  are  best 
for  the  purpose  in  various  countries,  and  then  how 
to  manage  your  fire  so  as  to  get  just  the  right  amount 
of  heat  for  the  purpose,  not  too  much  nor  yet  too 
little.  Every  woodland  cook  should  be  a  first-class 
fireman;  even  if  you  have  not  yet  learned  how  to 
cook  you  can  at  least  become  an  expert  fireman, 
thus  relieving  the  cook  of  much  labor. 

To  begin  with  the  backlog  fire:  Before  you  start 
in  to  cut  anything  there  are  a  couple  of  points  to 
consider,  the  first  being  what  size  axe  you  have  to 
do  it  with,  and  the  second  the  kinds  of  wood  to 
select.    If  you  are  alone  or  with  a  bunky  in  a  small 


THE  BACK-LOG  FIRE. 


THE  INDIAN  STICK  FIRE. 


THE  CAMP-FIRE  83 

open  tent  and  have  a  belt-axe  you  will  not  want  logs 
over  4  or  5  inches  in  diameter,  3  feet  long,  and  twenty 
of  these  can  be  cut  to  length  and  a  backlog  fire 
set  up  in  about  an  hour's  work.  If  a  big  fire,  like 
the  one  in  the  illustration  is  wanted — something  to 
warm  up  a  large  Baker  tent  with  four  or  five  men 
in  it — the  same  job  can  be  done  with  a  sharp  three- 
quarter  axe,  and  the  logs  will  run  6  and  8  inches, 
4  feet  long.  Both  fires  will  be  built  on  the  same 
plan:  two  stout  stakes  leaning  slightly  backward, 
then  your  heaviest  log,  and  then  four  others  on  top 
of  it;  next  two  smaUish  logs  of  length  a  foot  shorter 
than  those  for  the  backlogs  are  put  down  as  andirons 
and  staked  in  place;  across  the  front  of  these  a  thin 
log  for  a  forestick,  and  in  the  space  between  it  and 
the  backlogs  a  full  pyramid  of  short  2  and  3  inch 
branches,  well  chinked  with  twigs,  split  stuff,  dead 
leaves,  and  dry  duff.  This  fire  is  touched  off  after 
twilight  and  at  once  becomes  a  pyramid  of  flame 
6  feet  high.  As  soon  as  the  first  charge  burns  down, 
three  or  four  3  and  4  inch  logs  are  laid  across  the 
andirons  together  with  more  branches  to  keep  up  the 
blaze,  and  when  these  have  burned  to  coals  there 
should  be  a  glowing  bed  of  them  large  enough  to 
keep  all  the  succeeding  logs  going  without  trouble. 
Three  charges  of  four  logs  each  put  on  at  1 1  p.  m.,  2 
A.  M.,  and  4  A.  M.  will  keep  up  a  warm  glow  in  the  tent 
all  night,  and  it  is  the  answer  to  comfortable  camping 


84  CAMP  CRAFT 

if  the  party  is  provided  with  nothing  but  blankets. 
The  sound  and  refreshing  sleep  you  get  is  worth 
the  hour  spent  in  wood-chopping,  and  is  far  better 
than  shivering  half  the  night  and  arising  half  fit  for 
the  succeeding  day's  work.  For  backlogs  for  this 
fire  you  will  want  non-inflammable  woods — in  the 
North  country,  green  balsam  or  green  black  ash; 
in  hardwood  forests,  red  oak  and  red  maple;  in 
pine  country,  green  pitch-pine  and  sour-gum.  The 
same  woods  will  be  wanted  for  andirons  and  fore- 
stick.  On  the  other  hand,  you  need  long-burning 
woods  that  give  good  coals  and  do  not  require  very 
much  small  stuff  to  keep  them  going  for  the  fire 
itself,  so  that  a  few  heavy  logs  will  keep  burning 
without  continuous  replenishing,  and  here,  for  the 
North  country  you  have  the  yellow  and  paper  birch; 
in  the  hardwood  forests,  black  birch,  pignut  hickory, 
hard  maple,  white  ash,  white  oak,  chestnut,  and 
chestnut-oak;  in  the  pine  countries  swamp  white 
oak,  post-oak,  water-ash  and  black-jack.  And  while 
putting  in  your  good  energy  with  the  axe,  it  is  well 
not  to  waste  it  on  "trash,"  i.  e.,  woods  that  burn  up 
in  a  hurry,  leaving  you  not  even  a  respectable  bed 
of  coals  to  give  out  a  glow  of  heat.  Such  woods  are 
hemlock,  sweet-gum,  tulip,  dry  balsam,  all  the  white 
pines,  soft  maple,  the  cedars,  and  the  spruces. 
Many  of  them  are  not  only  short-lived  but  pop  as 
if  full  of  .22's,  driving  sparks  about  that  will  burn 


THE  CAMP-FIRE  85 

tents  and  bedding  and  perhaps  set  a  leaf  fire  in  the 
woods  about  the  camp.  A  knowledge  of  how  to 
identify  the  above  trees,  with  or  without  the  leaves, 
is  the  minimum  of  forestry  that  any  one  should  take 
into  the  woods  in  his  mental  kit. 

Our  next  illustration  shows  an  Indian  fire — ^the 
lazy  man's  fire.  It  can  and  has  been  built  without 
ever  seeing  an  axe,  by  the  simple  process  of  pushing 
down  dead  saplings  and  dragging  them  to  camp, 
building  over  their  ends  a  fire  of  dead  pick-up  wood, 
and  after  the  punky  sapling  ends  get  dried  out  and 
started,  pushing  them  in  2  feet  at  a  time  until  all 
are  consumed.  It  is  a  good  fire  to  give  light  and  a 
little  heat  in  the  centre  of  an  encampment,  where, 
after  the  evening  meal,  the  party  gathers  to  loaf  and 
smoke  and  sing,  and  no  one  wants  to  work.  The 
popular  woods  for  it  are  dead  beeches  and  white 
oaks,  which  may  be  pushed  down,  branchless  for 
many  feet  up  the  trunk,  under  almost  all  high  forest, 
particularly  in  moist  ravines  and  wet  hollows.  Dead 
birches,  balsams,  hemlocks,  and  pines,  with  a  little 
dressing  from  the  belt-axe,  serve  the  same  purpose 
in  the  North,  while  in  pine  country,  dead  white  cedars, 
black-jacks,  and  pitch-pines  are  to  be  had  in  untold 
millions  from  similar  thickets  of  young  growth. 
Fat-wood  fires  of  dead,  long-leaf  pines  are  also  used 
for  the  central  camp-fire  in  the  South,  but  the 
black,  sooty  smoke  which  they  give  out  will  soon 


86  CAMP  CRAFT 

make  tents  and  duffel  sorry   and  dirty  in  appear- 
ance. 

The  illustration  opposite  shows  the  well-known  log 
range.  I  do  not  like  it  much  because  it  does  not  ex- 
pose enough  of  the  pot  bottom  to  the  heat  without 
making  the  pot  too  tippy  and  unstable,  and  practical 
woodsmen  have  no  patience  with  the  upset  of  a  pail 
of  good  grub  into  the  fire  after  half  an  hour's  cook- 
ing. The  side  logs  should  be  of  non-inflammable 
logs  about  8  inches  in  diameter,  and  must  have  small 
billets  of  wood  under  each  end  so  as  to  get  a  proper 
draft  under  the  logs.  The  fire  is  built  in  between 
and  across  the  top  of  the  logs,  and  by  the  time  it 
has  all  died  down  to  coals  it  is  ready  for  culinary 
experiments — theoretically.  In  practice  you  have 
no  control  over  the  height  of  your  pot  above  the 
fire,  because  it  must  go  on  top  of  the  logs,  so  that 
in  spots  there  is  too  much  heat  for  the  particular 
job  and  elsewhere  there  is  too  little.  I  personally 
prefer  the  cross-stick  fire  with  chain  or  wire  pot- 
hooks, or  the  dingle  stick,  where  not  more  than  three 
pails  are  on  at  the  same  time.  With  a  wire  grate, 
as  shown  in  the  picture  opposite,  much  better  control 
over  the  height  can  be  had  by  driving  down  the 
grate  pins  with  an  axe,  and  the  best  fire  for  it  is  a 
cross  grid  of  split  hardwoods,  such  as  maple,  king- 
nut  hickory,  chestnut,  and  black-jack  oaks,  etc. 
None  of  these  gives  out  much  smoke,  and,  both  while 


THE  LOG  COOKING-RANGE. 


ON  RIGHT,  REFLECTOR  BAKER  FIRE;  LEFT,  WIRE  GRATE  AND  GRID  FIRE 
OF  SPLIT  BILLETS. 


THE  CAMP-FIRE  87 

flaming  and  as  coals,  they  give  a  steady,  intense  heat 
that  is  fine  for  all  boiling  operations  and,  with  a  little 
trash  wood  added,  good  for  frying.  In  the  same 
illustration  a  correctly  made  fire  for  the  reflector  baker 
is  shown.  The  logs  for  this  may  be  of  any  wood,  and 
the  fire-wood  should  be  "trash,"  for  baking  must 
be  done  hot  from  the  start  and  finished  in  fifteen 
minutes  if  the  biscuit  or  corn  bread  is  to  rise  properly. 
What  is  wanted,  then,  is  a  hot,  flaming  fire,  of  short 
duration  but  high  in  flame,  2  to  3  feet.  The  slow- 
burning,  non-flaming  woods  are  just  what  one  does 
not  want  in  this  work,  for  they  will  invariably  burn 
the  under-side  of  the  baking  before  the  upper  has 
even  begun  to  brown.  A  couple  of  blazing  sticks 
laid  on  top  of  the  wire  grate  will  give  you  the  same 
desirable  high  flame. 

For  starting  any  of  these  fires.  Nature  has  pro- 
vided a  suitable  tinder  for  every  forest  in  which  the 
woodsman  may  find  himself,  for  the  bark  peelings 
of  all  the  birches  are  good  tinder,  and  some  species 
of  the  family  grows  almost  everywhere;  white  cedar 
is  universal,  and  its  bark  when  crumpled  and  worked 
by  hand  into  a  wad  of  bark  fibre  will  take  the  smallest 
spark.  In  practice  one  seldom  hunts  up  either  of 
these  trees,  for  the  dead  twigs  which  can  be  broken 
from  the  tree,  underneath  the  Hving  boughs  of  all 
spruces,  balsams,  hemlocks,  and  many  hardwoods, 
are  right  to  hand   and  nearly  always  dry.     Even 


88  CAMP  CRAFT 

when  thoroughly  wet,  all  one  needs  is  a  stick  of  soft 
wood  and  a  hunting-knife  to  cut  all  the  dry  shavings 
needed  after  once  getting  through  the  wet  surface 
of  the  wood.  If  you  have  only  one  match  and  no 
cedar  or  birch  seems  to  be  handy  to  the  blazed  trail 
on  which  you  have  halted,  and  you  want  to  be  abso- 
lutely sure  of  that  fire,  cut  at  least  a  hatful  of  shav- 
ings before  you  light  the  match;  even  a  handful  of 
them  may  go  out  unexpectedly  before  the  larger 
wood  ''takes "  in  wet  weather,  but  a  hatful,  never. 
And,  before  the  precious  match  is  struck,  be  sure 
that  the  whole  gradation  of  a  fire — shavings,  splin- 
ters, twigs,  sticks,  branches,  and  small  logs  is  at 
hand. 

As  soon  as  one  moves  the  camp-fire  inside  of  the 
tent,  a  new  variety  of  conditions  arises.  All  the 
products  of  combustion  must  be  gotten  out  of  the 
tent,  and  this  applies  to  smokeless  tent-warmers  as 
well  as  fires,  for  a  good  deal  of  carbon  monoxide  is 
produced  in  all  stoves,  as  well  as  the  carbon  dioxide 
which  follows  complete  combustion.  Both  gases 
are  poisonous,  the  former  virulently  so,  and  many 
a  fatal  termination  to  a  night's  sleep  in  a  closed  tent 
has  been  narrowly  escaped  by  parties  of  explorers 
and  hunters  who  trusted  to  one  of  these  tent  heaters 
without  seeing  to  it  that  the  tent  had  proper  venti- 
lation. Yet  in  a  closed-tent  camp  a  fire  of  some  sort 
is  a  luxury  that  it  is  hard  to  make  the  uninitiated 


I 


THE  CAMP-FIRE  89 

conceive  as  possible.  Not  only  is  the  earth  damp- 
ness and  chill  driven  away,  but  the  necessity  of 
cooking  a  meal  out-of-doors  in  perhaps  inclement 
weather,  often  in  pitch  darkness,  is  removed,  and 
one  is  cosey  and  at  home  for  the  night  after  the 
day's  work  is  done — done  with  the  stern  and  in- 
hospitable wilderness  for  the  time  and  at  peace  for 
once  with  the  whole  visible  world.  Many  men,  be- 
cause of  having  to  do  writing,  or  scientific  work, 
or  having  some  other  occupation  aside  from  hunting 
and  travelHng,  require  a  closed  tent  for  the  eve- 
ning's work,  and  in  wintry  weather  such  a  tent  will 
give  one  more  comfort  with  less  labor  than  any  open 
tent  made.  Wherefore  the  problem  of  how  to  bring 
the  camp-fire  inside  the  tent  has  been  given  much 
study  by  those  who  know.  The  most  primitive  of 
tent  stoves  is  the  red  man's.  He  has  had  that  prob- 
lem before  him  for  centuries,  and  has,  as  usual, 
solved  it  in  the  only  logical  way  without  sheet  metal 
to  help  him.  With  pottery  and  stone-work  at  hand 
to  construct  a  stove,  he  does  nothing  of  the  kind, 
but  contents  himself  with  *bringing  his  outdoor  fire 
inside,  feeding  it  in  the  same  way — but  with  a 
difference !  For,  to  feed  in  the  logs  toward  a  central 
point,  while  it  answers  very  well  in  the  daytime, 
argues  that  some  one  will  have  to  stay  awake  to  do 
the  feeding  if  the  same  scheme  is  to  be  followed  at 
night.     But  any  one  who  has  handled  a  log  fire  in 


90  CAMP  CRAFT 

the  home  fireplace  knows  that  a  well-charred,  bone- 
dry  log  will  burn  steadily  all  night — with  a  glow,  not 
a  flame,  giving  off  considerable  heat,  yet  no  smoke 
— if  it  has  a  small  bed  of  embers  under  it.  The  same 
charcoalizing  process  takes  place  as  in  a  well-man- 
aged tent-stove  with  this  log  in  the  open,  if  it  rests 
on  its  own  embers,  partly  smothered  in  fire  ashes,  so 
as  to  reduce  the  draft  to  a  minimum.  Two  of  these 
logs,  or  rather  billets,  is  the  Indian's  answer  for  a 
small  all-night  fire  in  the  teepee,  the  last  and  biggest 
of  his  log  ends  being  huddled  over  the  remaining 
embers  and  allowed  to  glow  for  the  rest  of  the  night, 
the  best  wood  for  this  purpose  being  white  oak. 
While  a  white  man  usually  fills  the  teepee  with  more 
smoke  than  heat,  and  ends  by  having  a  fire  that  is  out 
to  the  last  ember  two  hours  after  the  party  has  turned 
in,  there  is  no  reason  why  his  being  a  white  man 
should  make  this  inevitable;  two  big  logs  that  have 
had  the  fire  between  them  all  evening,  if  set  together 
over  the  coals  on  turning  in,  will  char  and  burn  slowly 
all  night,  giving  off  plenty  heat  enough  to  keep  the 
chill  out  of  the  teepee.  For  the  white  man's  tent, 
however,  the  sheet-iron  tent-stove  is  best,  for  it  means 
coffee,  biscuits,  bacon,  fish,  and  cereal  for  breakfast  in 
the  morning,  and  that,  too,  without  ever  going  out- 
side; and  it  means  mulligan,  rice,  steak,  tea,  stewed 
fruit  and  hot  corn  bread  at  night,  when  the  day's  hunt 
is  done  and  it  is  dark  and  snowing  a  blizzard  outside 


THE  CAMP-FIRE  91 

and  every  one  is  dog-tired.  All  this  is  worth  while, 
whether  the  tent  will  hold  one  or  six,  and  your 
veteran  will  take  some  sort  of  a  collapsible  tent- 
stove  along,  fitting  outside  his  cook-kit  or  else 
folded  flat  in  his  knapsack  if  he  is  doing  winter 
work.  The  big  outfitters  have  provided  various 
sizes  and  models,  many  of  them  worked  up  from 
the  experience  of  the  Rocky  Mountain  and  Klondike 
men,  and  almost  every  large  cook-kit  has  some  sort 
of  stove  that  fits  over  its  biggest  pail,  adding  little 
to  the  weight  and  almost  nothing  to  the  bulk.  Over 
the  nesting  aluminum  outfits  goes  a  plain  cylinder 
stove  about  12  inches  diameter  by  12  high,  one  hole, 
with  telescopic  pipe  fitting  on  a  collar  in  the  top  of 
the  stove.  But  a  one-hole  stove  is  a  hard  thing  to  get 
even  the  simplest  meal  on,  and  an  oven  saves  many 
times  its  weight,  in  that  it  allows  flour  and  corn-meal 
to  be  baked  into  hot,  fresh  breadstufFs,  food  weigh- 
ing much  more  than  the  original  flour,  so  that  we 
find  on  the  market,  and  worthy  of  investigation, 
several  sizes  of  folding  sheet-iron  stoves  and  ovens, 
besides  a  number  of  light  box  stoves  with  the  oven 
in  place,  same  being  used  to  carry  cook-kit  or  grub- 
box  inside.  One  type  is  a  log  stove  in  the  shape  of  a 
half  cylinder,  with  two  stove-holes  in  the  lid  and  a 
collar  for  the  smoke-pipe,  an  oven  which  forms  part 
of  the  stovepipe,  and  can  be  stowed  inside  the  stove 
when  carrying;   and,  as  this  oven  is  raised  6  inches 


92  CAMP  CRAFT 

above  the  top  of  the  stove,  the  whole  surface  of  the 
stove  is  available  for  cooking. 

For  the  amateur  camper  and  experimenter,  both 
stove  and  oven  make  fascinating  problems.  Any 
pail  not  soldered  can  be  turned  into  an  oven,  either 
by  setting  the  baking-tin  inside  of  it,  held  above 
the  bottom  by  another  tin  inverted,  or  the  pail  can 
be  laid  on  its  side  and  a  square  tray  with  biscuits 
or  batter  on  it  set  in  sideways,  whereupon  the  curve 
of  the  walls  of  the  pail  will  hold  the  tray  clear  of 
contact  except  where  its  edges  rest  on  the  pail  walls. 
This,  set  in  a  bed  of  coals  and  ashes  and  covered  with 
live  coals,  makes  a  good  oven.  For  my  own  cook- 
kit  I  got  up  a  round-ended  stove  of  27-gauge  sheet 
iron,  as  shown  in  the  picture,  which  just  holds  the  two 
aluminum  pots  side  by  side  with  a  sheet-iron  bridge 
in  between.  It  gives  me  a  two-hole  stove,  with  the 
smoke-pipe  attachable  to  one  rounded  end  and  the 
stove-door  in  the  other.  The  pots  either  rest  on  the 
coals  inside  or  are  held  above  them  by  long  through- 
bolts,  on  which  they  rest. 

Most  fires,  logs  or  sticks,  go  out  and  the  stove 
is  cold  two  hours  after  the  party  is  asleep;  but  if 
care  is  taken  to  prepare  a  billet  or  two  of  hardwood 
that  will  just  about  fit  inside  over  the  coals,  that 
billet  will  smoulder  and  give  out  heat  all  night  long 
with  a  pinhole  draft  in  the  stove-door,  and  most 
of  these  doors   are  provided  with  such  a  hole  for 


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THE  CAMP-FIRE  93 

that  very  purpose.  They  are  all  hard  to  start  if 
one  puts  in  more  fuel  at  first  than  the  draft  can 
properly  take  care  of;  the  thing  to  do  is  to  get 
enough  small  wood  burned  down  to  coals  to  form  a 
bed  of  them,  after  which  large  sizes  of  split  wood 
can  be  fed  in  and  the  stove  will  use  them  up  by  the 
charcoal-making  route. 

For  work  above  timber-line,  the  camp-fire  takes 
the  form  of  a  spirit  or  kerosene  lamp.  Denatured 
alcohol,  or  just  plain  kerosene,  costing  a  tenth  as 
much;  both  have  one-hole  and  two-hole  blue-flame 
burners  available  in  light,  folding  explorer's  stoves. 
The  kerosene-burners  work  on  the  principle  of  the 
familiar  gasolene  plumber's  torch,  a  little  raw  kero- 
sene first  being  ignited  to  heat  the  burner,  after 
which  the  affair  is  self-vaporizing,  and  the  height 
of  the  flame  is  then  controllable  with  a  needle-valve. 
With  these  burners  is  suppHed  a  sheet-iron  radiating 
drum  for  tent-warming,  after  the  cooking  is  done, 
and  this  drum  serves  as  a  packing-case  for  the  lamp 
and  its  special  kerosene-can  when  on  the  trail.  With 
denatured  alcohol  the  process  is  even  simpler,  the 
burner  simply  being  lighted,  when  the  hot  blue 
flame  of  alcohol  vapor  is  at  once  available,  and,  of 
course,  it  gives  many  more  heat-units  per  pound  of 
fuel  than  kerosene. 

A  rig  similar  to  these  which  a  friend  of  mine  uses 
on  his  one-man  hikes  is  nothing  in  the  world  but 


94  CAMP  CRAFT 

a  short,  extra-fat  candle  with  a  big  wick,  the  only 
other  apparatus  besides  the  candle  being  a  sheet-iron 
collar  or  spider,  on  which  the  bowl  or  frying-pan  rests, 
held  by  it  a  short  distance  above  the  flame.  A 
similar  apparatus  using  solidified  alcohol  is  on  the 
market  and  gives  much  more  heat  for  the  weight 
carried. 

Finally,  there  are  the  briquet  tent-warmers,  the 
briquet  simply  requiring  to  be  ignited,  when  it  will 
smoulder  all  night.  Of  course,  it  will  asphyxiate 
you  unless  there  is  a  ventilator  up  in  the  tent  peak; 
but  the  heat  it  gives  out  means  the  difference  be- 
tween absolute  chill,  with  your  breath  forming  a 
sheet  of  ice  on  the  inside  of  the  tent  near  your 
face,  and  a  reasonable  atmosphere  of  warmth,  warm 
enough  to  breathe  freely,  and  considerably  above 
the  temperature  outside.  Most  of  these  briquets 
have  some  sort  of  frame  stove  or  warmer  in  which 
they  go  while  burning,  and  some  experimenting 
would  adapt  this  holder  more  to  the  requirements 
of  portability  and  compactness  required  by  trail 
conditions,  as  the  present  models  listed  are  identical 
with  those  sold  for  household  purposes. 


CHAPTER  VI 
COOK-KITS  AND  COOK-FIRES 

MOST  people  seem  to  think  they  are  missing 
something  in  their  camping  unless  everybody 
squats  down  to  burn  a  piece  of  meat  on  a  forked 
stick  over  a  camp-fire.  Fll  admit  that  there  are 
all  kinds  of  ways  of  preparing  for  your  stomach  the 
crop  that  is  garnered  with  rifle  and  rod.  I  have  been 
— and  am  yet — as  primitive  in  my  ways  as  any  of 
them;  but,  having  cooked  many  a  square  meal  with 
all  kinds  of  culinary  equipment,  from  no  utensils  at 
all  up  to  a  complete  aluminum  outfit  for  eight  people, 
I  should  like  to  set  down  here  a  few  rambling  notes 
and  experiences  under  the  subcaption,  "Cooking- 
Kits  I  Have  Met." 

To  begin  with  the  one  where  there  are  no  cooking 
utensils  at  all:  Were  you  ever  out  for  two  days  with 
nothing  else  but  rifle,  axe,  and  ditty-bag  ^  Here  we 
get  an  immediate  return-ticket  to  the  ways  of  the 
"ignorant  and  barbarous'*  savage.  (I  often  wish 
that  the  professor  who  coined  that  phrase  would 
try,  just  once,  to  make  a  flint  arrow-head !)  You, 
in  all  your  enlightenment,  plus  a  good  rifle,  are  now 
to  match  your  wits  against  the    "primitive"    red 

95 


96  CAMP  CRAFT 

man's  in  the  great  game  of  keeping  alive  and  com- 
fortable. Your  blanket  will  be  a  leaf  pile,  your  tent 
a  brush  lean-to,  your  cuisine  a  forked  stick  and  a 
bark  tranchoir.  Your  ditty-bag  furnishes  you  salt, 
tea,  sugar,  and  pea  meal — nothing  else — and  your 
rifle  has  provided  a  grouse  or  the  rod  a  fish. 

To  broil  the  grouse  on  a  sassafras  fork  is  simple 
enough,  even  for  an  enHghtened  white  man,  and 
to  plank  the  fish  is  also  not  out  of  his  mental  reach; 
but  if  we  are  to  enjoy  tea  and  soup  a  container  of 
boiling  water  must  be  produced.  Your  folding 
drinking-cup  does  not  arouse  any  enthusiasm  as  a 
pot  to  boil  water  in;  better  save  it  for  the  tea.  How 
are  we  to  procure  a  container  holding  at  least  a 
quart  cf  water  ?  How  did  the  early  Indian  .?  Well, 
he  made  them  out  of  bark,  skins,  tight-woven 
basketry,  pottery,  cedar  boxes  with  wooden  tree- 
nails, and,  finally,  dugouts.  We  want  that  tea  and 
that  pea-meal  soup,  but  it  is  nearly  dark  and  there 
is  no  time  to  search  the  woods  for  a  birch  or 
an  elm  for  bark.  This  leaves  the  dugout  as  the 
sole  remaining  practicabiHty.  First,  get  some  good 
hard  stones  from  the  brook  for  boiling  your  water. 
This  done,  rake  out  a  bed  of  embers,  pile  a  layer  of 
stones  on  them,  and  pile  a  layer  of  embers  atop  with 
a  grating  of  black-jack  oak  sticks,  spHt  lengthwise, 
to  encourage  the  embers  to  continue.  All  this 
predicates  a  pair  of  tongs,  which  are  easy  enough 


COOK-KITS  AND  COOK-FIRES         97 

to  make  out  of  the  nearest  young  hickory  or  red  oak 
shoot.  Flatten  and  cross-hatch  in  the  middle  with 
your  hatchet,  flatten  a  grip  on  the  ends,  supple  over 
the  fire  and  bend  double,  securing  with  a  bit  of 
twine.  You  will  need  it  to  handle  both  embers  and 
stones. 

Now  for  the  dugout.  Fell  a  young  maple  or 
black  birch  6  inches  across  and  cut  off  a  clear  length 
about  2  feet  long.  Flatten  one  side  and  make  a  set 
of  deep  cuts  along  the  flat  face — **chamfering"  it  is 
called — ending  with  a  cut  in  the  opposite  direction. 
Split  off  the  chips  with  a  series  of  lengthwise  cuts 
and  you  will  perceive  a  long,  shallow  hollow  taking 
form.  Cut  and  split,  deepening  and  widening  the 
hollow  and  finish  out  with  knife  and  hot  co-^ls.  A 
hollow  i^  inches  deep  by  3^  inches  wide  by  14 
inches  long  will  hold  one  quart  of  water.  Cut  a 
pouring  lip  in  one  end  and  fill  with  water  and  you 
are  ready  for  the  stones,  which  should  be  ready  for 
you.  Dip  them  in  at  one  end  of  the  boat.  It  takes 
six  hot  stones  the  size  of  an  egg  to  bring  a  quart  of 
water  to  a  boil.  Put  a  pinch  of  tea  in  the  drinking- 
cup  and  pour  on  boiUng  water.  It  will  be  ready  in 
four  minutes.  To  make  the  soup,  two  teaspoonfuls 
of  erbswurst  will  make  all  you  can  eat.  As  I  am 
probably  one  of  the  few  white  men  who  have  boiled 
water,  made  tea,  and  again  boiled  it  for  fifteen 
minutes  and  made  a  palatable  soup  in  a  log  bowl 


98  CAMP  CRAFT 

with  hot  stones,  a  few  hints  on  the  **technic"  of 
it  are  given  here.  The  bowl,  as  above  described, 
took  just  an  hour  less  five  minutes  to  make,  com- 
plete. It  held  an  even  quart  of  water.  At  the  fifth 
stone  it  was  boiling,  and  I  steeped  two  cups  of 
tea  in  a  folding  aluminum  drinking-cup.  After  that 
two  teaspoonfuls  of  erbswurst  powder  were  added 
and  the  stones  applied  one  after  the  other,  keeping 
the  bowl  boiling  for  fifteen  minutes.  Pictures  in 
museum  groups  usually  show  the  Indians  handUng 
dirty  black  stones  with  stick  tongs,  but  if  you 
manage  your  fire  right  and  leave  the  stones  on  the 
fire  till  they  are  really  hot,  they  will  be  clean  as 
ice,  and  though  your  boiling  water  will  not  be 
exactly  clean,  it  will  not  be  dirty,  as  is  the  soup  of  a 
digger  Indian.  It  takes  ten  stones  the  size  of  an  egg, 
heated  in  the  fire,  to  keep  a  bowl  of  quart  size  con- 
tinuously boiling,  and  about  one-half  of  it  will  be 
boiled  away,  leaving  a  pint  of  very  palatable  soup, 
albeit  slightly  dirty  in  spite  of  your  best  care.  The 
wood  I  used  is  red  maple,  which  gives  absolutely 
no  woody  taste  of  any  kind  to  the  soup. 

For  meat,  if  you  have  no  grouse  and  no  fish,  half 
a  dozen  small  birds  will  answer.  I  have  done  a 
dozen  small  beach-snipe  very  nicely  by  broihng  on 
a  wire  out  of  the  ditty-bag  stretched  across  a  large 
maple  fork — and  they  fed  two  men  full. 

If  you  happen  to  have  a  small  bag  of  self-raising 


COOK-KITS  AND  COOK-FIRES         99 

flour,  biscuits  are  not  beyond  your  reach.  Get  a 
club  about  4  feet  long,  peel  about  a  foot  of  one  end 
and  drive  it  in  slantwise  over  the  fire,  where  it  will 
get  roasting  hot.  Make  up  a  stiff  dough  with  your 
flour  and  mould  it  into  a  long  strip.  When  the  club 
is  almost  burning  hot,  wrap  the  strip  around  it  and 
replace  the  club  over  the  fire,  turning  it  now  and  then 
as  the  strip  of  biscuit  cooks.  When  done,  face  the 
club  your  way  and  go  to  it ! 

Man  can  get  along  a  day  or  so  in  primitive  savagery 
and  have  considerable  fun  out  of  it,  instead  of  the 
hardships  usually  dilated  upon  by  the  outdoor-fiction 
artist,  but  an  emergency  ration  in  a  small  shallow 
tin  container  makes  his  work  much  easier.  I  have 
carried  for  years  in  the  ditty-bag  a  small  tin  about 
4  inches  in  diameter  by  ^  inch  deep  (originally  the 
top  of  some  can).  Generally  it  holds  trout  leaders, 
but,  made  up  as  an  emergency  ration,  it  holds  a 
couple  of  slices  of  bacon,  a  paper  of  tea,  two  bouillon 
capsules  flattened,  a  little  smoked  beef,  and  a  pilot 
biscuit.  There  is  a  nail-hole  in  each  side  and  a  bit 
of  string  passes  through  the  holes  and  keeps  in  the 
hardtack,  under  which  is  the  rest  of  the  ration. 
With  a  nail  driven  through  the  hole  into  a  bit  of 
hard  wood  you  have  a  very  passable  frying-pan  and 
can  do  a  fish  in  chunks  nicely,  after  which  it  is  ready 
to  boil  you  a  dish  of  bouillon  and  cup  of  tea.  Emer- 
gency salt  I  always  have  in  the  ditty-bag  in  a  hard- 


.V- 


loo  CAMP  CRAFT 

rubber  screw-top  container.  There  are  four  meals 
in  this  little  ration,  even  with  no  help  from  fish  or 
game,  and  while  one  can  always  find  fish,  frog,  or 
bird,  there  are  occasions  when  a  quick,  nourishing 
lunch  and  a  push  on  back  to  camp  are  better  than 
time  spent  in  rustling  game  and  an  enforced  night 
in  the  open. 

Another  good  emergency  ration  can  be  made  from 
the  tin  of  a  well-known  brand  of  tobacco — Arcadia. 
This  is  pressed  seamless,  with  rounded  corners,  so 
that  it  will  slip  into  any  pocket.  It  has  no  solder 
anywhere  to  melt.  It  holds  a  whole  cupful  of  water, 
is  3>^x3^xi>^  inches  deep  and  you  can  stow  in 
it  tea,  coffee,  sugar,  pork,  bouillon,  corn-meal,  rice, 
powdered  soup-stock,  erbswurst — in  all  two  full  days' 
rations  of  condensed  foods.  With  a  nail-hole  in 
the  side,  it  is  ready  to  act  as  frying-pan,  tea-pail, 
soup-kettle,  and  oven,  or  you  can  suspend  it  over 
the  fire  with  a  pothook  by  means  of  a  wire  passing 
through  holes  in  cover  and  side  as  shown. 

The  next  step  up  the  cuHnary  ladder  from  the 
emergency  ration  consists  in  the  various  compact 
one-man  and  two-man  cook-kits.  I  will  venture 
on  a  description  of  two  of  them.  The  first  is  a  well- 
known  outfit,  purchasable  at  any  sporting-goods 
store.  It  weighs  2j^  pounds  and  goes  in  your  pack 
or  your  pocket  as  a  package  9  inches  long  by  4  inches 
wide  by  2  inches  thick.     Dissecting  it,  we  get,  first, 


COOK-KITS  AND  COOK-FIRES       loi 

two  cups  2x4x3^  inches  deep,  capacity  of  nearly 
two  ordinary  cups;  next  a  pail  2x4x8  inches  deep, 
holding  i}4  quarts  of  water;  then  two  long  frying- 
pans  of  pressed  steel  9x4x1  inch  deep,  one  with  an 
enlarged  lip  to  close  over  the  other  to  make  a  Dutch 
oven;  finally  a  folding  wire  grate  8  by  7  inches  with 
four  7^-inch  wire  legs  and  an  upstander  to  hang 
the  pail  in.  All  these  pails,  cups,  and  pans  have 
detachable  wire  handles  which  go  inside  of  the 
package,  and  there  is  still  room  for  knives,  forks, 
spoons,  and  a  lot  of  condensed  provisions.  The 
meal  for  two  or  even  six  that  can  be  cooked  on  this 
rig  is  really  astonishing.  The  pail  stands  in  the 
upstander  of  the  grate  to  prevent  any  untoward 
upsets  and  can  be  making  a  soup  while  tea  is  brewing 
in  one  of  the  cups  (double  strength,  so  that  it  makes 
all  two  people  can  drink),  the  frying-pan  is  just 
right  for  fish,  while  the  other  pan  is  turning  out 
flapjacks.  Most  beginners  with  this  kit  do  not 
know  how  to  manage  the  fire.  The  grate  legs  are 
too  short  for  the  usual  grid  fire  of  such  larger  grates 
as  the  regular  camp-grate,  which  should  not  go  less 
than  10  inches  above  the  ground.  With  the  little 
grate,  build  your  fire  of  hardwood  until  you  get 
a  substantial  pile  of  live  coals,  meanwhile  boiHng 
water  in  the  pail,  then  stick  the  grate  down  over  the 
coals  and  replenish  underneath  with  oak,  maple, 
and    hickory    sticks    as   needed,    a   very   few   at    a 


I02  CAMP  CRAFT 

time,  for  the  classic  beginner's  mistake  is  too  much 
fire. 

Another  excellent  two-man  cook-kit,  soon  to  be 
put  on  the  market,  is  the  one  designed  by  Mr. 
Phelps,  a  modest  member  of  the  great  outdoor 
brotherhood,  whose  original  ideas  in  the  art  of  going 
light  are  well  worth  pubHshing.  Mr.  Phelps's  kit  is 
shown  in  detail  in  the  photographs  herewith.  The 
whole  outfit  goes  inside  a  6  x  7>^-inch  canvas  water- 
pail  which  folds  over  with  a  strap  to  make  a  packag.e 
6  inches  in  diameter  by  5  inches  high.  The  kit 
weighs  lyi  pounds  and  consists  of  two  seamless  tin 
bowls  6  inches  in  diameter  by  2}4  inches  deep, 
holding  a  quart  each,  a  6-inch  steel  frying-pan,  two 
6-inch  flat  plates,  a  3  x  2  inch  cup,  knife,  fork, 
spoon,  swab,  two  chain  pothooks  and  the  detachable 
bales  for  bowls  and  pan.  These  latter  deserve 
especial  mention.  Any  one  who  has  tried  cooking 
in  shallow  pans  and  bowls  with  wire  bales  knows 
how  exasperatingly  tippy  they  are  apt  to  be.  Phelps 
circumnavigated  this  difficulty  by  making  one  side 
of  his  wire  bales  double-wired  and  providing  two 
holes  in  one  side  of  the  bowls.  The  bale  then  snaps 
into  two  holes  at  one  side  and  one  in  the  other  and 
is  thus  rigid  and  will  not  permit  the  bowl  to  spill 
its  contents.  With  this  rig  you  can  boil  rice,  make 
a  quart  of  tea,  and  fry  a  fish  all  at  the  same  time,  or 
one  of  the  bowls  can  be  covered  with  one  of  the  flat 


v^ 


COOK-KITS  AND  COOK-FIRES       103 

tin  plates  (which  just  fit)  and  used  as  a  Dutch  oven. 
The  chain  pothooks  are  made  of  ordinary  window- 
sash  chain  with  a  brass  curtain-hook  at  each  end, 
and  not  only  are  exceedingly  stowable  but  allow 
adjustment  of  the  pail  at  any  desired  height  by 
hooking  the  upper  hook  into  any  link  of  the  chain 
that  will  give  the  right  height. 

I  presume  that  my  own  cook-kit  comes  next  in 
this  ascending  scale  of  culinary  grandeur.  I  never 
feel  comfortable  as  acting  chef  without  three  pails 
about  me.  Less  than  that  you  can  worry  along  with, 
but  with  three  you  can  have  rice,  soup,  and  tea  all 
going  at  once,  or  one  can  **be"  a  biscuit  oven,  while 
another  does  cofFee,  and  the  third  puts  the  breath 
of  life  into  some  dried  apricots  or  has  pork  cubes 
bubbling  in  it.  No  matter  where  you  wander  along 
culinary  trails,  those  three  pots  follow  you  like  so 
many  kittens,  and  there's  always  a  job  for  each. 

The  principal  trouble  with  provisions  in  a  pack- 
sack  is  that  they  may  get  wet,  and  they  are  not 
particularly  available,  especially  the  small  parcels. 
If  you  put  them  all  in  one  water-proof  bag  inside  the 
pack,  said  bag  is  likely  to  be  lumpy  and  knobby 
and  not  in  the  least  accommodating  to  artistic 
stowing.  My  cogitations  on  these  matters  led  me 
to  the  principle  that  all  small  provisions  are  better 
stowed  in  the  cook-kit,  where  they  cannot  get  wet 
or  lost,  than  anywhere  else,  leaving  but  a  few  large 


104  CAMP  CRAFT 

bags  of  bulk  provisions  to  go  in  the  top  of  the  pack. 
Further,  if  the  cook-kit  is  of  the  right  shape  to  stow 
on  top  of  the  pack-sack  it  will  be  handiest  there, 
as  easier  to  get  at  for  noon  lunches,  first  out  of  the 
way  when  making  camp  at  night,  and  last  to  be 
packed  on  hitting  the  trail  again  next  morning. 
I  wanted  something  of  small  diameter  and  lengthy 
enough  to  strap  nicely  on  top  of  the  pack,  and  so 
began  experiments  with  two  tin  pails  which  ate  each 
other  like  a  collapsible  stovepipe  and  inside  of  which 
were  all  small  provisions  and  utensils.  These  gave 
way  to  two  aluminum  pots  holding  a  gallon  each, 
7  inches  diameter  hy  6%  inches  high.  The  covers 
were  held  on  with  snap-hooks  and  the  handle  of  the 
cover  took  a  twig  pothook  or  a  chain  one  with  equal 
facility.  Nesting  inside  of  one  pot  is  a  tin  tea  and 
cofFee  pail,  inside  of  which  are  stowed  bags  of  sugar, 
corn-meal,  rice,  salt,  and  macaroni,  a  pound  tin  box 
of  bacon,  a  pound  tin  box  of  codfish,  dried  onions, 
beef  capsules,  soup-powder,  and  tea.  In  the  other 
pot  go  two  nesting  7  x  2^-inch  mixing-pans,  three 
6  X  i-inch  tin  pans,  three  6-inch  tin  plates,  a  can  of 
14  fresh  eggs,  cans  of  matches,  cofFee,  baking-powder, 
and  butter.  Empty,  the  kit  weighs  4>^  pounds; 
loaded,  12  pounds.  The  two  pots  go  back  to  back  in 
a  brown  canvas  pillow  bag,  or,  as  Mr.  Phelps's  pail 
idea  is  excellent,  I  will  doubtless  put  them  in  a  water- 
proof canvas  pail  bag,  13  by  7  inches,  hereafter,  and 


COOK-KITS  AND  COOK-FIRES       105 

the  package  is  strapped  on  the  pack  by  an  extra  pair 
of  straps  for  the  purpose.  Inside  the  pack  I  carry  a 
lo-inch  aluminum  plate,  a  blue  enamel  cup,  and  a 
6-inch  steel  frying-pan  with  the  handle,  as  this  latter 
useful  adornment  is  not  in  the  way  at  all  and  saves 
the  bothersome  attachable-handle  nuisance.  My 
bulk  provisions  are  white  flour,  pancake  flour,  pork, 
dried  apricots  and  prunes,  and  a  few  fresh  white 
onions,  in  all  7  pounds;  or  15  pounds  of  provi- 
sions in  all,  making  about  50  pounds  of  food  when 
cooked,  enough  for  one  man  for  two  weeks  or  two 
men  a  week  without  either  fish  or  game.  As  you 
can  surely  count  on  one  or  both  amounting  to  one- 
third  of  the  total  food  supply,  the  cruising  radius 
of  this  rig  is  about  three  weeks  for  one  man. 

This  kit  will  cook  for  six  but  is  at  its  best  for  two  or 
three  men,  who  will  usually  consume  a  gallon  of  almost 
anything  they  set  their  tongues  to  in  a  single  meal. 
All  of  the  kit  can  be  bought  in  a  department  store, 
as  there  is  not  a  patentable  or  patented  article  in  it. 

As  I  have  no  room  for  a  wire  grate,  I  have  come 
to  prefer  the  dingle-stick  fire  (shown  in  the  illus- 
tration) for  lunch,  and  crotch-and-cross-pole  rig  for 
supper  and  breakfast.  The  dingle  stick  is  a  stout 
lo-foot  sapling  with  one  end  shoved  in  the  ground 
and  a  support  of  two  forks  rigged  as  a  shears  holding 
it  out  over  the  fire.  From  it  hang  by  chain  pothooks 
the  two  aluminum  pots  and  the  tea-pail.     Usually 


io6  CAMP  CRAFT 

for  lunch  I  have  chocolate,  a  couple  of  scrambled 
eggs  out  of  the  egg-can,  and  some  warmed-up  fish 
or  game,  and  corn  bread  or  hasty  pudding.  For  this 
meal,  then,  you  need  but  the  tea-pail,  one  pot,  and  the 
frying-pan.  For  supper,  both  pots,  the  pail,  and  the 
frying-pan  will  usually  be  at  work,  with  the  tin  pans 
for  mixing,  etc.  While  two  forked  sticks  and  a 
cross-pole  are  the  classic  camp-range,  the  forks  are 
not  easy  to  get,  and  a  quicker  rig  is  to  drive  two 
3-foot  stakes  into  the  ground  and  lash  the  cross-pole 
to  them  with  a  couple  of  bits  of  copper  wire  out  of 
the  ditty-bag.  Building  a  fire  of  hardwood,  you 
soon  have  the  tea-pail  and  the  two  pots  simmering 
over  the  fire  on  chain  hooks,  the  latter  hanging  by 
their  covers,  which  are  held  on  by  stout  snap-hooks 
on  each  side. 

Before  leaving  the  small  kits  the  mention  of  some 
sort  of  a  hot-lunch  rig  is  in  order.  I  believe  that 
half  of  the  headaches  and  upset  stomachs  that 
anglers  seem  to  be  heir  to  is  due  to  the  cold  lunch 
which  the  landlord  sticks  in  your  creel  or  fish-basket 
at  the  last  minute,  and  which  usually  turns  out  to 
be  made  of  lead  sandwiches,  concrete  pie,  and  a 
couple  of  petrified  eggs.  Your  stomach  looks  in 
vain  for  the  good  old  hot  coffee  which  serves  more 
to  warm  up  the  rest  of  the  edibles  and  get  your 
gastric  juices  in  action  than  anything  else.  I  show 
herewith  a  species  of  pail,  bent  to  fit  the  body,  with 


COOK-KITS  AND  COOK-FIRES       107 

a  wire  hook  to  hang  it  over  the  fire  and  a  cover 
which  serves  as  a  cup.  Department  stores  keep 
it  in  tin  for  the  munificent  sum  of  25  cents,  or  the 
outfitters  will  sell  you  what  is  known  as  the  Japanese 
army  cook-kit  in  aluminum  for  $1.75.  This  is  also 
kidney-shaped,  size  3J^x6>^x5>^  inches,  weight 
16  ounces,  fastened  up  with  strap  and  buckle.  All 
these  are  stamped  in  one  piece,  with  no  joints, 
whereas  the  tin  one  is  soldered  and  you  will  have 
to  watch  the  fire.  The  Japanese  kit  has  an  inset 
tray  which  would  do  as  a  frying-pan,  giving  you  two 
cooking-utensils  and  a  cup  cover.  The  department- 
store  affair  is  big  enough  to  take  two  shallow  tin 
dishes,  useful  for  either  frying  or  as  an  eating  dish. 
If  I  were  taking  an  outdoor  lunch  with  this  kit  I 
would  have  a  little  bag  of  tea,  ditto  of  sugar, 
some  salt,  a  packet  of  bacon,  and  a  packet  of  erbs- 
wurst  or  a  packet  of  some  one  of  the  condensed 
soups,  such  as  bean  or  mushroom.  When  lunch  time 
comes  you  can  then  supplement  the  sandwich  with  a 
good  hot  cup  of  tea  and  in  ten  to  fifteen  minutes'  cook- 
ing have  a  couple  of  platefuls  of  palatable,  nourishing 
soup,  and  your  bacon  will  serve  to  fry  a  fish.  After 
that  you  can  fish  or  tramp  till  the  sun  sets  and  the 
moon  comes  up  and  yet  not  get  that  empty  feeling. 
There  is  plenty  of  room  in  this  container  for  all  your 
fishing-tackle,  compass,  and  other  small  duffel,  so 
that  it  acts  as  a  sort  of  a  tin  ditty-bag,  so  to  speak. 


io8  CAMP  CRAFT 

When  there  are  six  or  eight  in  the  party,  all  these 
go-light  cooking-kits  had  best  give  way  to  the 
standard  aluminum  nesting  sets  manufactured  for 
the  purpose.  You  want  at  least  four  pails  and  they 
must  hold  several  gallons  each;  you  must  have 
mixing-pans  and  at  least  two  large  frying-pans  with 
detachable  handles.  A  stout  wire  grate,  with  its 
own  legs,  replaces  the  cross-pole  cook-range  and  a 
folding  baker  makes  biscuits,  a  dozen  at  a  time,  or 
corn  bread  in  cakes  large  enough  for  eight  hungry 
campers.  There  is  no  getting  away  from  this  outfit 
with  any  comfort,  and  a  party  of  that  size  can 
easily  pack  the  whole  kit  between  them.  The 
pictures  in  this  chapter  tell  the  story  concisely.  In 
these  illustrations,  by  the  way,  I  have  shown  the 
fire-wood  placed  but  not  lighted,  as  it  is  almost  im- 
possible to  get  sharp  pictures  when  there  is  any 
camp-fire  smoke  about.  The  illustrations  show  an 
aluminum  nesting  outfit  in  action,  a  folding  baker 
and  the  way  to  use  it,  a  camp  kitchen  rigged  for 
handy  management  of  the  provisions,  and  an  eating 
fly  with  table  improvised  from  logs  and  stakes 
under  it.  Examining  first  the  utensils,  you  will  note 
three  pails  and  two  frying-pans  (on  the  wire  grate). 
The  larger  pails  are  12x12  inches  and  10  x  8  inches, 
respectively,  and  hold  4  and  2  gallons.  The  largest 
is  for  general  boiling-water  supply  and  the  second 
is  doing  soup.    The  third  pail  is  boiUng  rice  and  the 


COOK-KITS  AND  COOK-FIRES       109 

frying-pan  has  presumably  a  dozen  quail  in  it.  Note 
the  arrangements  in  cut  form  of  the  split  hardwood 
and  the  wire  grate.  We  find  that  a  crib  of  crossed 
split  black-jack  gives  the  most  heat  for  the  longest 
time  and  leaves  the  best  bed  of  coals.  Standing 
alongside  the  fire  is  a  gallon  pail  of  tea,  set  there  to 
be  handy  for  boiling  water  on  the  tea  grounds  just 
before  supper  is  served.  The  other  pail  has  prunes  in 
it,  just  simmering  over  a  bed  of  live  coals  raked  out 
from  under  the  grate.  Five  pails  and  a  frying-pan  are 
at  work  for  we  have  a  party  of  eight  to  feed. 

But  there  is  still  more  to  the  story  of  this  supper. 
Note  the  biscuit-baker  and  its  fire,  also  the  dough- 
mixing-pan,  the  bread-board  for  rolling  out  the 
dough,  and  the  second  pan  with  a  cover  on  it  from 
the  largest  pail  to  keep  the  first  batch  of  biscuits 
hot  while  the  second  is  doing.  About  sixteen  biscuits 
to  the  batch  is  the  best  that  we  can  do  and  I  never 
saw  a  party  of  eight  yet  who  couldn't  stow  thirty-two 
biscuits  between  them.  There  is  no  better  rig  for 
baking  fresh  biscuits  or  corn  bread  or  roasting  meats 
than  the  folding  reflector  baker,  yet  through  badly 
made  and  managed  fires  inexperienced  campers 
usually  succeed  in  burning  the  bottoms  of  their 
biscuits  black  before  the  tops  have  begun  to  brown. 
While  certain  woods  such  as  long-leaf  yellow  pine 
will  give  tall,  hot  flames,  high  enough  to  roast  both 
ends  of  a  biscuit,  the  reverse  is  true  of  most  of  the 


no  CAMP  CRAFT 

hardwoods.  Wherefore  the  best  fire  for  the  baker 
is  made  by  driving  in  two  pairs  of  stakes  absolutely 
upright  and  about  i8  inches  high,  each  pair  being 
3  inches  apart.  Between  them  are  slipped  short 
3-inch  logs  2  feet  long,  one  above  the  other,  making 
a  little  wall  of  logs  18  inches  high.  Flat  against 
this  is  built  the  fire  of  vertical  sticks  of  hardwood 
well  chinked  with  dry  chips  and  twigs.  When  the 
biscuits  are  in  the  pan  and  ready  to  be  done,  touch 
off  your  fire  and  you  will  have  a  roaring  flame  30 
inches  high  at  once.  The  biscuits  ought  to  rise  and 
brown  in  ten  minutes.  Have  an  extra  green  log 
handy  and  if  you  see  that  your  under  biscuit  faces 
are  getting  burned  before  the  tops  are  done,  lay  the 
log  across  the  lower  face  of  the  baker  where  it  will 
effectually  stop  at  least  half  of  the  heat-rays.  And 
never  let  the  baker  become  sooty  or  rusty.  The 
biscuit-pans  can  be  as  black  as  you  please,  but  if 
your  reflector  baker  is  going  to  reflect  heat  it  must 
be  kept  bright  and  shiny.  The  bakers  come  in  two 
sizes,  8x12  inches  and  10  x  18  inches.  They  pack  in 
flat  canvas  bags,  with  a  shoulder-strap  like  a  school- 
book  bag,  and  weigh  with  bread-board  2  pounds  and 
5  pounds,  respectively.  So  long  as  flour,  baking- 
powder,  and  corn-meal  hold  out,  there  will  always 
be  fresh  bread  in  camp  day  after  day,  week  after 
week,  if  you  take  along  a  reflector  baker — also  roast 
'coon,   'possum,  squirrel,  duck,  any  beast  or  fowl 


COOK-KITS  AND  COOK-FIRES       iii 

that  can  be  persuaded  into  an  8  x  12-inch  baking- 
pan. 

When  a  large  party  is  on  the  trail,  moving  camp 
from  day  to  day  either  by  canoe,  pack  and  saddle, 
or  back  pack,  it  saves  much  time  and  exasperation 
to  have  all  the  edibles  in  one  or  more  side-opening 
tump-bags  which  can  be  hung  up  on  stakes  handy 
to  the  cook-fire.  I  described  one  of  these  in  the 
Sportsman  s  Workshop  some  time  ago.  The  bag  is 
22  X  9  inches  diameter  with  long  side  lips  and  a 
stout  maple  stick  through  the  hem  of  one  side  by 
which  the  two  lips  can  be  rolled  up  tight  like  a 
curtain  roll.  When  all  is  snug,  a  sort  of  shawl-strap 
harness  is  strapped  around  the  bag  and  it  is  ready 
for  canoe,  saddle,  or  shoulder-strap  harness.  The 
rig  is  almost  water-proof  and  the  8-inch  paraffined 
muslin  bags  inside  are  equally  capable  of  keeping 
out  water,  so  that  an  upset  or  swimming  a  ford  will 
in  no  way  wet  down  your  provisions. 

Arrived  at  the  chosen  camp  site  for  the  night, 
by  the  time  the  tents  are  up  it  is  likely  to  be  dark, 
and  meanwhile  the  chef  has  his  range  built,  the  cook- 
kit  unpacked,  and  the  two  provision-bags  opened 
and  hung  by  their  maple  sticks  to  a  cross-pole  on 
two  stakes  handy  to  the  fire.  An  acetylene  camp- 
lamp  hung  so  as  to  light  the  whole  cooking  scene 
robs  cooking  by  night  of  its  terrors,  and,  as  the 
provisions  are  used  from  the  food-bags,  they  are 


112  CAMP  CRAFT 

returned  to  their  place  in  the  provision-kit,  so  that 
nothing  gets  lost  in  the  dark.  Two  men  make  a 
good  cooking  crew,  leaving  the  other  six  to  put  up 
tents,  rig  the  sleeping  outfits,  and  build  the  main 
camp-fire.  It  is  hopeless  to  expect  one  man  to  cook 
for  eight  and  besides  rustle  his  own  fire-wood  and 
water.  The  worst  meal  I  ever  cooked  was  when 
expected  to  do  that  very  thing.  I  had  had  a  long, 
hard  day's  canoeing,  with  innumerable  portages 
and  down  trees.  Every  one  was  dog-tired,  and  the 
rest  just  sat  back  and  smoked,  letting  me  chop  my 
own  fire-wood,  haul  the  water,  make  the  cook-range 
and  get  on  the  pots  to  boil.  Presently  the  last  of 
the  fire-wood  disappeared,  the  pots  stopped  boiHng 
(the  larger  ones  hadn't  begun  yet),  and  everything 
came  to  a  standstill.  It  was  dark  and  every  one  was 
hungry,  but  I  preferred  going  hungry  to  bed  to 
chopping  up  another  supply  of  fire-wood,  and  told 
them  so. 

No,  it  takes  two  men  to  do  any  kind  of  a  job. 
If  the  other  man  wants  to  cook,  I  am  right  on  the 
job  keeping  up  fires,  fetching  water,  preparing  the 
edibles,  etc.,  and  when  I  cook  I  expect  him  to  do  the 
same  by  me. 

Finally,  if  even  a  stand  of  only  two  nights  is  to  be 
made,  it  pays  to  put  up  an  eating  tent-fly  and  make 
a  rough  log  dining-table.  A  sheet  of  water-proof 
green  tent  cloth  6  x  lo  will  weigh  3^  pounds  and 


COOK-KITS  AND  COOK-FIRES       113 

can  be  stowed  away  with  the  cook-kit.  While  there 
are  a  dozen  quick  and  easy  methods,  one  way  of 
putting  it  up  is  simply  a  ridge-pole  nailed  to  two 
trees  and  the  cloth  stretched  over  it  with  a  slight 
fall  each  way.  In  fair  weather  one  can  eat  com- 
fortably around  a  camp-fire  with  a  plate  in  one's 
lap  and  a  bowl  in  the  hands,  but  when  it  rains  you 
will  enjoy  life  more  standing  up  to  a  table  on  which 
are  your  plate,  soup-bowl  and  cofFee-cup  with 
butter-can,  sugar-bag  and  "cow"  on  the  table, 
handy  for  every  one.  If  you  are  to  sit  at  a  table, 
it  is  well  to  bear  in  mind  that  the  standard  height 
of  it  is  32  inches  (or  from  the  muzzle  to  the  locks 
of  your  shotgun),  and  the  standard  bench  height 
16  inches. 


CHAPTER  VII 
THE  CHEF  ON  THE  TRAIL 

THE  subject  of  camp  cookery  is  so  vast,  and 
there  are  so  many  kinds  of  camps  and  ways 
of  cooking,  that  in  this  article  but  one  phase  of  camp 
cookery  can  be  treated,  the  labors  of  the  chef  on 
the  trail;  that  is,  the  nomadic  camp,  either  of  a 
canoe  trip,  a  hiking  tour  for  big  game  or  game-fish,  or 
a  pack-and-saddle  trip  through  the  mountains.  The 
recipes,  foodstuffs,  cooking  apparatus  and  how  to  use 
it,  that  I  have  had  personal  experience  with  will  alone 
be  dwelt  upon;  it  may  be  something  of  an  advertise- 
ment for  these  particular  kits,  but  I  cannot  help 
that.  Certes,  I  owe  all  of  them  much  good-will — • 
but  others  may  write  on  other  apparatus  which  they 
know  about  from  personal  use,  and  welcome;  we 
are  always  glad  to  hear  the  facts.  For  it  is  a  curious 
thing  that  thousands  who  purchase  the  standard 
nesting  cooking-kits,  or  the  various  patent  ones,  little 
know  how  to  use  them  fully,  and  might  almost  as  well 
take  along  a  lot  of  kitchen  utensils  and  fry  every- 
thing from  grouse  to  oatmeal.  Yet  every  first-class 
cooking-outfit  is,  and  should  be,  a  complete  bakery, 

grill,   "  stewry,"    and    frying-outfit   combined,   and 

114 


THE  CHEF  ON  THE  TRAIL         115 

every  camper  who  buys  one  should  know  how  to 
use  it  to  the  full  extent  of  its  possibilities. 

In  general,  for  trail  cookery,  one  should  know  how 
to  make  fresh  breadstuflFs,  to  cook  good,  palatable 
soups,  stews,  vegetables,  and  desserts,  to  make  such 
beverages  as  tea,  coffee,  and  chocolate,  to  broil  wild 
meats  of  all  kinds,  and  to  fry  fish,  flapjacks,  and 
fritters  without  getting  them  greasy.  Further  than 
this,  he  should  know  how  to  serve  these  things 
without  letting  them  get  cold  and  indigestible.  Even 
poor  cooking  will  taste  well  at  first  in  camp,  as  one's 
appetite  is  ravenous  and  the  open  air  brings  our 
bodily  efficiency  up  to  the  loo-per-cent  mark;  but 
inside  of  a  week  I  warrant  you  that  such  cooking 
will  result  in  headaches  and  indigestional  upsets 
and  take  half  the  pleasure  out  of  your  outing  in  the 
woods.  But  any  good  cook-kit  can  do  all  the  above- 
mentioned  cooking  operations  if  you  only  know  how 
to  use  it. 

To  make  breadstufFs,  you  need  as  utensils  mixing- 
pans  and  some  sort  of  an  oven  or  something  that 
can  be  used  as  an  oven;  to  boil  soups,  vegetables, 
mulligans,  and  desserts,  you  must  have  at  least  two 
pails,  unless  going  entirely  alone;  for  broiling,  the 
forked  stick,  the  wire  grate,  or  the  hot  frying-pan  will 
be  needed,  and,  for  frying,  one  or  two  small  7-inch 
frying-pans  are  ample,  as  the  temptation  is  rather  to 
overdo  in  this    department.     Wherefore,  see   that 


ii6  CAMP  CRAFT 

your  cook-kit  has  the  above  necessities  to  do  with. 
A  wire  grate  is  also  a  handy  but  not  essential  ad- 
dition, and  is  a  great  convenience  with  a  large  party. 
I  have  made  out  with  the  cross-pole  camp-fire  and 
some  pothooks  for  hanging  over  the  cooking-pails, 
but  it  was  not  nearly  so  convenient  as  with  a  double 
wire  grate  that  would  take  four  pails  from  2-gallon 
down  to  4-pint,  cooking  all  the  vegetables,  soups, 
and  stews  needed  for  eight  persons.  Other  little  con- 
veniences that  may  well  be  added  are  a  swabbing- 
stick  for  washing  up,  a  gas-lamp  so  that  you  can  see 
what  you  are  doing  when  cooking  at  night,  and  a 
set  of  chain  pothooks,  which  are  easily  stowable, 
light,  and  adjustable  to  any  height  over  the  fire 
desired.  Also  a  pair  of  ten-cent  cotton  gloves, 
which  enable  you  to  pick  up  hot  firebrands,  pail 
handles  and  other  calorific  commodities  without 
getting  your  fingers  burned. 

If  the  camp  is  a  nomadic  one  instead  of  a  per- 
manent location,  it  is  imperative  to  select  only  such 
foodstuffs  as  are  light  in  themselves  and  to  which 
many  times  their  weight  of  water  is  added  when 
cooking.  There  is  no  sense  in  packing  a  lot  of  water 
in  the  form  of  potatoes,  green  vegetables,  meat,  and 
eggs  when  every  brook  you  meet  is  full  of  it,  and 
you  have  a  rifle  or  rod  to  accumulate  fresh  meat 
as  you  go.  Your  provisions  should  have  an  average 
capacity  of  making  6  pounds  of  cooked  food  for 


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I 


THE  CHEF  ON  THE  TRAIL  117 

every  pound  of  provisions  carried.  Some  of  them, 
such  as  dried  soup-greens,  rhubarb,  onions,  and 
spinach,  will  make  15  to  20  pounds  of  food  to  the 
pound  carried;  others,  such  as  erbswurst,  dried 
egg-powder,  and  the  various  dried  soup-stocks  will 
make  as  high  as  forty  times  their  weight  of  cooked 
food,  but  the  bulk  of  your  stuff,  such  as  rice,  flour, 
pork,  corn-meal,  and  dried  fruits,  will  run  four  to  six 
times  its  weight  in  cooked  food.  From  i^  to  2 
pounds  of  provisions  per  man  per  day  will  be  ample 
in  such  foodstuffs,  and  they  are  healthy  and  nour- 
ishing and  taste  good.  One  never  tires  of  them, 
whether  out  a  week  or  a  month. 

Most  veterans  in  the  art  of  living  out-of-doors 
and  hitting  the  trail  daily  are  agreed  that  the  Indian 
and  guide's  way  of  two  meals  a  day,  with  a  light 
pocket  lunch  at  noon,  is  the  only  way  to  get  time 
enough  to  make  progress.  Wherefore,  count  on 
cooking  a  breakfast  about  eight  times  as  substantial 
as  the  coffee,  rolls,  and  fruit  affair  of  civilization, 
putting  away  part  of  it  for  a  warmed-up  lunch  at 
noon;  and  then  when  camp-making  time  comes, 
usually  3 130  to  4  P.  M.,  in  the  spring  and  fall,  or 
6  in  the  summer,  another  tremendous  feed  will  be 
assembled. 

For  breakfast,  coffee  is  the  beverage,  two  cups  per 
man,  and  big,  generous  cups,  too;  you'd  better  pre- 
pare about  a  gallon  for  four  men,  made  with  a  liberal 


ii8  CAMP  CRAFT 

grab  of  coffee-grounds  to  each  man.  Bring  to  a  boil, 
let  simmer  for  ten  minutes,  and  then  set  on  some  hot 
ashes  until  wanted.  I  have  made  it  in  three  kits, 
the  nesting  aluminum,  the  Forester  aluminum  and 
tin,  and  the  Stopple  pocket-kit  with  its  large  quart 
container.  In  the  first  two  there  is  a  special  pail 
for  the  purpose,  usually  the  smallest  of  the  set.  The 
worst  coffee-pots  I  know  of  are  the  agate-ware  and  tin 
kitchen  pots  which  fit  nowhere  in  any  known  pack 
and  invariably  come  unsoldered  as  to  spout  and 
handle  in  the  camp-fire. 

There  are  several  good  breakfast  breadstuffs,  all 
easily  prepared,  of  which  flapjacks,  wheat  cakes 
and  corn  bread  are  the  ones  most  frequently  used. 
Corn  bread  will  stick  under  your  ribs  in  a  hard  day's 
work  longer  than  any  of  the  others  and  is  easily 
made  in  twenty  minutes'  time.  My  own  recipe  is:  i 
cup  flour  to  ^  cup  of  corn-meal,  2  heaping  teaspoon- 
fuls  of  baking-powder,  one  level  teaspoonful  of  salt, 
and  a  tablespoonful  of  sugar;  mix  these  dry,  add  a 
beaten  egg  and  enough  milk-water  to  make  a  batter 
that  will  just  pour,  add  a  tablespoonful  of  melted 
butter,  and  stir  vigorously.  Grease  your  baking- 
pans,  pour  half  an  inch  of  the  batter  in  each,  and 
into  the  oven  with  them.  This  last  sentence  means 
more  in  camp  than  it  does  at  home.  If  you  have 
a  reflector  baker  of  the  12  x  15  x  8-inch  size,  the 
above  recipe  will  just  fill  one  pan  nicely  for  a  thick 


THE  CHEF  ON  THE  TRAIL         119 

cake,  or,  better,  divided  into  two  pans,  making  two 
cakes  about  an  inch  thick  when  baked.  Without  a 
reflector  baker  the  batter  can  be  baked  in  the  frying- 
pans  of  the  nesting  set,  with  one  of  the  mixing-pans  in- 
verted over  the  frying-pan  and  hot  coals  on  top.  Set 
in  a  bright,  clear  heat,  but  not  on  Hve  coals,  or  the 
bottom  of  the  cake  will  surely  be  burned.  With  the 
Forester  cook-kit,  one  of  the  large  aluminum  pots 
makes  an  ideal  oven.  There  are  three  baking-tins, 
and  this  batter  will  fill  two  of  them.  Put  the  third 
tin  empty  in  one  of  the  aluminum  pots,  upside  down, 
and  set  one  of  your  pans  full  of  batter  on  it.  Put  on 
cover  of  pot  and  cover  it  with  live  coals.  The  deep- 
lipped  shape  of  the  cover  is  identical  with  the  cast- 
iron  Dutch  oven,  and  the  pot  makes  a  fine  aluminum 
Dutch  oven,  being  set  right  on  the  live  coals.  The 
pan  inside  is  lifted  by  the  inverted  pan  that  it  sits 
on,  about  an  inch  above  the  metal,  so  that  the  cake 
is  in  no  danger  of  being  burned.  For  the  Stopple  kit 
you  would  need  about  half  the  batter  given  by  the 
recipe,  as  it  will  bake  enough  for  one  man  at  a  batch. 
Fill  the  long  frying-pan  without  a  lip  with  batter 
nearly  full,  put  on  the  pan  with  a  lip,  set  the  two  on 
the  grate  with  a  bed  of  live  coals  underneath  (not 
too  low,  to  avoid  burning),  and  some  more  live  coals  on 
top.  In  all  three  kits  the  bread  is  done  in  two  batches, 
the  second  cooking  while  breakfast  is  in  progress. 
The   nesting   aluminum   and    Forester   kit   will   do 


I20  CAMP  CRAFT 

enough  for  four  men  in  two  batches,  and  the  Stopple 
enough  for  two. 

For  flapjacks  I  usually  take  along  a  small  bag  of 
prepared  pancake  flour,  requiring  only  the  addition 
of  water  or  diluted  evaporated  cream  to  make  a 
batter  ready  for  the  pan.  Sometimes  I  enrich  it 
with  the  addition  of  an  egg  or  a  spoonful  of  egg- 
powder;  more  often  it  is  just  wet  down  and  fried 
forthwith.  If  done  right,  there  is  no  reason  why 
flapjacks  should  not  form  a  staple  and  healthful 
breadstuff.  Your  care  will  be  not  to  get  them  greasy, 
and  the  only  way  I  know  of  to  avoid  greasiness  is  to 
keep  a  cup  or  container  of  pork  or  bacon  fat  on  the 
side,  pour  a  little  in  the  hot  pan,  and  then  pour  it  all 
off  again,  every  drop  that  will  drain,  back  into  the 
cup.  The  residue  will  be  ample  to  do  a  cake,  and 
it  will  be  browned  nicely — in  effect  a  baked  cake, 
not  a  fried  one.  About  eight  flapjacks  per  man  is  a 
good  allowance,  or  four  if  you  are  getting  them 
thick — a  thing  to  be  avoided.  If  you  have  a  big 
party  to  deal  with,  use  one  large  frying-pan  and  drop 
the  cakes  on  it  three  at  a  time,  turning  them  with 
the  knife;  otherwise  the  time-honored  flip  with  the 
pan  itself  will  do  and  is  always  provocative  of 
much  camp  hilarity. 

For  breakfast  meat,  fried  fish  are  usually  the  staple 
raw  material,  or  else  big  game  steaks  sauteed  in  the 
frying-pan,   the  gravy  left  over  being  mixed   with 


THE  CHEF  ON  THE  TRAIL         121 

water  and  flour  and  cooked  to  make  a  "dope"  for 
the  cakes.  To  do  your  fish,  fry  first  a  generous  slice 
of  bacon  to  each  man  and  set  them  aside  in  one  of 
your  mixing-pans  to  keep  warm.  Roll  the  fish  in  a 
little  egg-white  or  egg-powder  and  then  in  corn-meal 
and  fry  slowly,  with  a  cover  over  the  pan.  The 
process  is  really  a  sort  of  roasting,  the  hot  fat  form- 
ing an  envelope  around  the  fish.  Be  sure  that  your 
fat  is  screeching-hot  when  you  put  the  fish  in,  other- 
wise the  fat  will  get  into  the  tissues  of  the  fish  and 
you  will  have  a  greasy  mess.  Allow  ten  minutes 
to  each  side  of  the  fish,  and  do  not  get  your  fire  too 
hot  or  you  will  burn  the  corn-meal  envelope.  Except 
for  quick  browning  of  pork  cubes  there  is  no  use 
in  a  frying  fire  that  will  melt  a  gun-barrel;  it  burns 
everything  before  it  gets  time  to  cook.  Fat  reaches 
a  temperature  of  some  350  degrees  or  higher  at 
flash-point  and  therefore  cooks  flesh  faster  than 
any  boiling  process,  which  is  Hmited  to  212  degrees 
or  less,  depending  upon  the  altitude;  but  even  hot 
fat  requires  some  twenty  minutes  to  cook  a  steak 
or  fish,  and  the  upper  side  should  be  protected  from 
cold  by  a  cover  over  the  pan.  To  meet  this  need, 
the  covers  of  the  aluminum  nesting  pots  fit  also 
the  frying-pans;  and  the  pans  in  the  Forester  kit  do 
the  same  for  the  two  aluminum  frying-pans  which 
come  with  the  set;  also  the  Hpped  pan  of  the  Stopple 
kit  is  arranged  to  perform  the  same  service  for  its 


122  CAMP  CRAFT 

second  frying-pan.  If  fresh  game  fails  you,  there 
is  recourse  to  creamed  codfish  and  pork  cubes.  I 
always  carry  a  little  codfish  along — in  the  steak  form, 
not  the  shredded — as  it  is  one  of  the  lightest  and  most 
compact  and  nourishing  forms  of  flesh.  All  it  needs 
is  two  boihngs  to  get  out  the  salt,  pouring  ofF  the 
water  after  each  boiHng  of,  say,  ten  minutes'  duration. 
Then  add  a  thumb  of  butter,  a  tablespoonful  or  so 
of  evaporated  cream  and  a  Httle  flour  for  a  thickener, 
stir,  and  boil  for  five  minutes  more,  and  it  is  ready  to 
serve.  Pork  cubes  are  delicious  with  rice.  Cut  the 
expeditionary  pork  into  dice  size,  fill  a  frying-pan 
with  water,  and  parboil  the  cubes  until  they  swell 
up  to  about  twice  their  former  Hneal  dimensions. 
Pour  off"  water  and  fry  lightly  to  a  nice  brown;  be- 
ware of  overdoing  this,  for  pork  is  very  prone  to 
"try"  out,  leaving  nothing  but  a  mess  of  bitter, 
wooden,  burnt  cubes  behind.  If  browned  over  a 
red-hot  fire  and  tumbled  immediately  out  of  the 
pan  and  mixed  with  rice,  they  are  very  succulent 
and  make  a  good  breakfast  meat. 

For  a  cereal,  oatmeal  is  the  old  standby,  the  three- 
minute  varieties  being  best  for  camp  use.  Bulk 
oatmeal  has  not  been  precooked  long  enough  at 
the  factory  and  usually  requires  twenty  minutes 
at  least  of  careful  boiling  and  stirring  to  be  ready 
to  eat;  and  there  is  no  comestible  more  prone  to 
burn  nor  more  mussy  to  clean  up  after   than    this 


THE  CHEF  ON  THE  TRAIL         123 

same  oatmeal.  For  this  reason  some  camps  have 
discarded  it  entirely,  but  I  generally  take  it  if  there 
is  room,  for  it  is  light  and  sustaining  and  very  palat- 
able with  sugar  and  evaporated  cream.  Cook  over 
a  slow  fire  about  ten  minutes,  the  longer  the  better, 
so  that  you  do  not  burn  it.  The  two  best  cereals 
for  breakfast  are  corn-meal  and  rice,  using  the  former 
if  flapjacks  are  the  breadstuff  and  the  latter  if  corn 
bread  is  being  baked.  Take  one  of  the  gallon  pots 
of  either  the  nesting  aluminum  or  Forester  cook- 
kits,  put  in  a  grab  of  corn-meal  or  rice  to  each  nose, 
and  add  a  teaspoonful  of  salt.  For  corn  mush  just 
enough  water  to  hydrate  the  meal  is  to  be  brought 
to  a  boil  and  the  corn-meal  stirred  into  it;  for  rice, 
fill  the  pot  nearly  full  of  water  and  add  the  rice.  It 
should  then  boil  furiously  for  thirty-five  minutes, 
when  the  rice-water  is  drained  oflF  and  saved  for 
soup-stock  and  the  rice  left  to  steam  itself  nearly  dry. 
With  the  corn  mush  stirring  and  occasional  addition 
of  water  will  be  necessary.  Serve  with  sugar  and 
cream  or  as  a  vegetable  on  the  side  with  the  meat. 
It  is  also  delicious  fried  and  may  be  served  so  if 
there  is  time  and  some  bacon  fat  to  use  up. 

No  camp  breakfast  is  complete  without  a  liberal 
deal  of  fruit.  It  is  not  only  a  general  intestinal 
regulator,  but  serves  as  a  basis  for  the  assimilation 
of  sugar,  one  of  the  three  elements  of  bodily  nutri- 
ment.    All   outdoorsmen,   when   working   hard   on 


124  CAMP  CRAFT 

trail  life,  crave  sugar  and  will  even  pack  a  big  tin 
"log  cabin''  full  of  maple  syrup,  making  their  back 
serve  their  belly  to  satisfy  this  craving.  There  is 
no  doubt  but  that  sugar  is  one  of  the  heaviest  pro- 
visions carried,  no  matter  in  what  form,  but  there 
is  no  leaving  it  behind,  for  none  of  the  tabloid  sub- 
stitutes are  anything  but  sweeteners,  intended  only 
to  satisfy  the  palate,  being  in  no  sense  nutriment, 
but  rather  a  drug.  I  always  carry  four  kinds  of  dried 
fruits:  apricots,  apples,  peaches,  and  stoned  prunes, 
and  mix  them  together  to  make  a  tutti-frutti  fruit 
stew,  with  the  addition  of  sugar  and  water.  Until 
you  have  tried  it  you  have  no  idea  how  these  four 
supplement  each  other  in  their  various  quaHties. 
Dried  apples,  alone,  seem  to  lack  enthusiasm,  apricots 
are  a  bit  too  tart,  peaches  are  disappointing,  and 
prunes  are  medicine.  But  mix  them  and  you  will 
take  out  of  that  pot,  after  some  twenty  minutes* 
slow  stewing,  a  dessert  that  your  palate  will  fly  at 
with  rapturous  relish,  no  less  ! 

The  midday  lunch  has  always  been  a  fascinating 
problem  to  me.  No  one  wants  to  stop  travel  or 
hunting  or  fishing  to  get  out  the  whole  cook-kit  and 
build  a  regular  feed,  yet  we  must  have  a  bite  1  One 
pot  should  suffice,  and  that  will  do  tea  or  chocolate, 
preferably  the  latter,  over  a  small  fire  and  a  dingle 
stick  scratched  up  out  of  the  brush.  Chocolate  is 
really  wonderful  in  the  amount  of  sustaining  food 


THE  CHEF  ON  THE  TRAIL         125 

that  it  packs  in  a  tiny  compass.  A  teaspoonful  to 
each  person  is  ample,  and  a  small  bag  of  it,  4x6 
inches  in  size,  will  hold  enough  for  a  whole  trip. 
It  needs  about  twenty  minutes'  boiling,  and  the 
evaporated  cream  and  sugar  should  be  stirred  in 
while  boiling.  With  it  you  want  a  sandwich  saved 
over  from  breakfast,  a  handful  of  nuts  and  raisins, 
a  pipe,  and  a  rest.  The  whole  operation  will  not 
take  over  an  hour  from  the  time  you  start  looking 
for  fire-wood  until  the  kit  is  repacked  and  you  are 
on  the  trail  again. 

When  the  day's  work  is  over  and  a  definite  stop 
is  made  for  the  nightly  camp,  the  cooks  in  the  party 
should  set  about  at  once  on  the  Big  Feed,  leaving 
the  tents  and  browse  to  the  others.  The  assistant 
cook's  first  duty  is  that  of  fire  and  water  commis- 
sioner. While  he  is  getting  the  canvas  camp-bucket 
filled  with  fresh  water  from  the  brook  he  should  see 
to  it  that  the  larger  pots  are  filled  also,  to  give  the 
chef  something  to  start  on.  If  there  is  a  wire  grate 
in  the  outfit,  it  is  set  up,  and  the  assistant  cook  splits 
a  grid  of  2-inch  logs  of  black-jack  oak,  red  maple, 
pignut  hickory,  or  birch  for  it.  For  the  pots  a 
camp-fire  cross-pole  is  rigged.  The  classic  form  of 
this  is  two  forked  stakes  and  a  cross-pole,  but  forked 
stakes  are  hard  to  drive  and  not  easy  to  find  off- 
hand; so  I  usually  carry  a  pair  of  small  lengths  of 
copper  wire  to  fasten  the  cross-pole  with  and  have 


126  CAMP  CRAFT 

done  it  with  ordinary  twine.  Either  wire  or  chain 
pothooks  are  next  gotten  out  and  hung  from  the 
cross-pole,  the  fire  started,  and  the  larger  pots  hung 
over  to  boil.  The  nesting  aluminum  sets  have  wire  pot 
bails;  the  Forester  pots  have  a  rigid  aluminum  handle 
on  the  cover,  and  the  cover  is  held  to  the  pot  by  two 
side  snap-hooks,  so  that  it  can  be  lifted  or  carried 
or  hung  by  its  cover.  Our  proposed  menu  will  be 
soup,  stew,  a  vegetable,  a  cereal,  fried  or  broiled 
meat,  biscuits,  fruit  and  tea.  That's  quite  a  feed 
when  you  come  to  add  it  up,  a  gallon  of  each  to 
every  four  men.  For  soups  I  have  found  the  pre- 
pared powders  sold  at  the  sportsman's  stores  excel- 
lent, only  you  must  follow  the  directions  on  the 
package.  For  instance,  take  mushroom  powder. 
If  properly  cooked  it  will  give  twenty  plates  of  as 
dehcious  a  soup,  tasting  something  like  chicken 
puree,  as  you  ever  ate,  and  all  from  one  little  package 
about  2  inches,  cubed  and  weighing  but  a  couple 
of  ounces.  If  you  just  tilt  the  powder  into  a  pot  of 
boiling  water  and  go  off  and  forget  it  you  will  get  a 
queer  beverage,  hardly  palatable,  and  will  find  most 
of  the  powder,  still  uncooked,  sticking  to  the  bottom 
of  the  pot.  Most  of  these  powders  are  to  be  first 
mixed  with  cold  water  until  the  powder  is  thoroughly 
dissolved,  and  then  stirred  into  your  boiUng  pot  and 
afterward  stirred  frequently  until  each  grain  of  the 
powder  has  taken  up  its  proper  amount  of  water 


THE  CHEF  ON  THE  TRAIL         127 

and  swelled  up  to  a  good  many  times  its  dehydrated 
bulk.  Some  of  them  contain  two  separate  packages 
of  powder,  which  are  to  be  moistened  separately 
and  then  stirred  into  the  pot.  I  vary  these  soups 
with  home-brewed  decoctions  of  my  own,  of  which 
the  following  is  a  sample:  SHce  in  one  potato  or 
equivalent  of  dehydrated  potato,  one  onion  or  the 
same  in  the  dried  onion  chips,  a  handful  of  dried 
soup-greens,  a  Httle  rice,  ditto  macaroni,  ditto  celery 
salt,  and  boil  in  your  gallon  pot  for  half  an  hour. 
Just  before  serving  stir  in  one  beef-extract  cube 
to  each  person,  and  you  will  have  as  appetizing  a 
soup  as  four  men  ever  ate !  If  there  is  fresh  game 
in  camp,  all  the  bones  and  odd  scraps  of  meat  are 
put  in  with  the  above.  Erbswurst-powder  is  also 
fine,  added  to  any  soup  mixture  or  served  alone.  It 
positively  must  be  boiled  at  least  fifteen  minutes 
to  become  palatable  and  digestible.  It  is,  essentially, 
ground-up  and  dehydrated  pea-meal  already  partly 
cooked,  with  fine  powder  of  bacon  mixed  with  it, 
and  the  whole  compressed  into  a  paper  cyHnder 
about  the  size  of  a  candle.  This  powder  will  swell 
up,  every  grain  of  it,  to  such  a  bulk  that  a  teaspoonful 
of  it  will  make  a  cupful  of  thick  soup;  but  it  requires 
fifteen  to  twenty  minutes'  cooking,  with  occasional 
stirring,  to  do  this;  and  one  should  not  serve  it 
while  any  of  the  powder  still  has  a  tendency  to 
settle  on  the  bottom  of  the  pot,  for  that  is  a  sure 


128  CAMP  CRAFT 

sign  that  it  is  not  yet  cooked.     The  particles  will 
float  in  the  liquor  when  done. 

A  second  pot  will  be  wanted  for  your  stew.  The 
basis  of  this  is  game,  either  chunks  of  animal  flesh 
or  birds.  The  latter  are  quickest  prepared  for  the 
stew  by  opening  the  skin  at  the  breast,  ripping  off" 
skin,  feathers,  backbone,  and  entrails  in  one  fell 
swoop,  and  then  cutting  off  legs  and  rump  from  the 
residue.  You  have,  then,  practically,  all  the  meat 
of  the  fowl  worth  saving,  and  it  is  quickly  done  with- 
out any  muss  or  feather-plucking.  I  once  saw  Frank 
Stick  prepare  six  grouse  for  the  mulHgan  this  way 
in  about  five  minutes'  work.  In  the  stew  goes  rice, 
erbswurst,  macaroni,  with  potatoes  and  tomatoes 
if  there  are  any  such  heavy  and  bulky  provisions 
along;  otherwise  the  dried  varieties  are  just  as  good 
and  will  be  there,  full  size,  good  as  new,  restored  to 
life  again,  when  the  mulHgan  is  served.  For  a 
vegetable,  boiled  rice  or  macaroni,  both  prepared 
in  the  way  described  above.  For  breadstuffs,  bis- 
cuit, or  corn  bread.  The  former  are  easy  to  make  in 
camp.  Mix  a  cup  of  flour,  a  teaspoonful  of  baking- 
powder,  a  Httle  salt,  and  a  tablespoonful  of  pork-fat 
suet.  This  latter  is  to  be  mixed  in  thoroughly  with 
the  hands,  working  it  over  and  over  in  the  mixing- 
pan  until  thoroughly  incorporated  into  the  flour. 
Add  one  cupful  of  diluted  cream  to  make  a  stiff  dough. 
Roll  out  on  the  back  of  a  large  plate,  handling  gently, 


THE  CHEF  ON  THE  TRAIL         129 

and  having  plenty  of  flour  on  your  hands,  on  the 
roller,  and  on  the  plate.  Cut  out  biscuits  with  the 
top  of  the  baking-powder  can  and  put  them  in  your 
baking-pans,  first  sprinkling  a  little  flour  on  the 
bottom  of  the  pan.  Bake  as  with  corn  bread.  The 
things  to  guard  against  are  getting  too  much  suet, 
or  shortening,  and  handhng  or  beating  your  dough 
too  much;  also  putting  the  biscuits  too  close  to- 
gether. They  want  room  to  rise  and  swell  up.  The 
fruits  for  dessert  I  have  already  spoken  of,  and,  as 
for  tea,  all  it  needs  is  steeping  four  or  five  minutes 
in  water  which  has  been  brought  to  a  boil.  I  prefer 
the  Ceylon  teas  because  their  grounds  settle  to  the 
bottom  of  the  pail  when  steeped,  so  that  they  will 
pour  without  a  strainer,  though  the  nesting  aluminum 
pails  for  tea  and  coffee  already  have  an  inside  strainer. 
In  making  the  above  meal  four  pots  will  be  wanted, 
which  the  nesting  aluminum  outfit  has;  but  with 
the  Forester  it  is  necessary  to  make  one  of  the 
mixing-pans  do  duty  to  stew  the  fruit,  as  the  kit 
has  two  gallon  pots  and  one  three-quart  pail,  all  of 
which  are  on  duty  elsewhere. 

Let  us  look  over  these  three  kits,  close  at  hand, 
to  see  just  what  they  contain  and  what  each  article 
is  for.  Beginning  with  the  four-man  nesting  alumi- 
num outfit,  there  are  three  nesting  pots,  the  largest 
about  9  inches  by  ^]4.  inches,  holding  13  pints  or 
over  a  gallon  and  a  half;    one  9-inch  and  one  lo-inch 


I30  CAMP  CRAFT 

frying-pan  with  detachable  handles;  one  tea  and 
coffee  pot,  6x6  inches,  holding  4  pints;  4  plates,  4 
cups,  4  soup-bowls,  4  knives,  4  forks,  4  teaspoons 
and  4  dessert-spoons.  Weight  about  8  pounds,  size 
io>^  inches  diameter  by  8>^  inches  high.  The  outfit 
seems  to  lack  mixing-pans,  as  furnished,  but  these 
can  be  added  in  the  1 1  x  4-inch  size  to  fit  over  the 
largest  pot. 

The  Forester  outfit  is  a  mixture  of  tin  and  alumi- 
num utensils,  on  the  principle  that,  while  aluminum 
is  essential  for  the  large  utensils  and  the  plates  one 
eats  off  (because  the  cutting  of  knives  on  tinware 
soon  rusts  and  ruins  the  utensil),  there  is  no  reason 
why  baking  and  mixing  pans,  small  plates,  etc., 
should  not  be  of  light  tin.  Furthermore,  the  space 
inside  the  cook-kit  is  the  best  place  to  carry  all 
small  provisions,  such  as  tea,  coffee,  butter,  con- 
densed cream,  salt,  corn-meal,  soup-powders,  beef- 
cubes,  chocolate,  baking-powder,  etc.  These  things 
are  perishable,  easily  lost  in  a  pack-sack,  their  pack- 
ages will  break  and  open  out  all  over  everything 
under  the  strains  of  the  pack  rope  or  harness,  and 
most  of  them  are  ruined  if  wetted.  The  outfit, 
therefore,  comprises  two  gallon  aluminum  pots,  7^ 
inches  diameter  by  Gyi  inches  height,  which  go  back 
to  back  in  a  lacing-up  bag,  suitable  for  a  pillow  at 
night;  two  7  x  3-inch  tin  mixing-pans,  three  Gyi  x  i- 
inch   tin   baking-pans,   used   also    for    soup-plates; 


THE  CHEF  ON  THE  TRAIL         131 

three  6-inch  tin  plates,  one  9-inch  aluminum  plate, 
two  7-inch  aluminum  frying-pans  with  handles,  one 
aluminum  cup,  and  one  tin  tea-pail  of  about  7  pints' 
capacity,  used  for  tea,  coffee,  chocolate,  stewed 
fruits,  etc.  Weight  of  Forester  kit  ^yi  pounds,  size 
13x7^  inches  diameter.  No  knives,  forks,  or 
spoons  are  furnished,  though  there  is  plenty  of  room 
for  them.  Most  campers  have  their  own  table  outfit 
of  this  kind,  the  cook-kit  being  a  separate  institution, 
and  any  one  purchasing  one  would  hardly  care  to 
load  up  with  a  lot  of  tableware  which  he  personally 
would  have  no  use  for.  In  fact,  in  selecting  any  of 
the  standard  nesting  aluminum  ware  one  would  do 
well  to  pick  out  such  utensils  as  will  suit  his  indi- 
vidual needs,  always  providing  that  the  utensils 
will  cook  for  a  party  of  three  or  four,  and  that  they 
all  are  of  the  proper  sizes  to  nest.  Room  is  generally 
found  for  the  tableware,  cups,  bowls,  etc.,  inside  the 
cofFee-pot,  or  they  can  be  carried  elsewhere  and  small 
provisions  stowed  there,  particularly  if  each  member 
of  the  party  already  has  his  own  personal  eating  kit. 
The  Stopple  kit  consists  of  an  oblong  rectangular 
pail  holding  a  quart,  9  x  4^  x  2%  inches  inside, 
with  two  big  cups,  each  holding  nearly  half  a  quart, 
fitting  over  each  end  of  the  large  container.  Inside 
of  it  are  two  sheet-iron  frying-pans,  one  with  a  lip 
fitting  over  the  other,  the  size  being  8^x4x1^ 
inches  deep.    Detachable  wire  handles  are  provided 


132  CAMP  CRAFT 

for  all  the  utensils.  Inside  of  the  pans  is  a  folding 
grate,  which  opens  out  to  form  a  grid  about  8  inches 
square.  There  is  also  room  here  for  the  wire  handles, 
several  forks,  spoons,  and  one  large  stirring-spoon. 
The  rig  answers  very  well  for  two  men  and  I  have 
given  methods  of  using  it  earher  in  this  article. 
The  quart  pail  stands  in  a  wire  bracket  forming  part 
of  the  folding  grate  when  cooking,  and  will  come  to 
a  boil  from  the  flames  under  the  grate  playing 
around  it  while  you  are  using  the  frying-pans.  I  have 
gotten  many  a  meal  quickly  and  easily  with  it  and 
doubt  if  it  can  be  beaten  for  a  one-man  or  two-man 
outfit.  Two  of  them,  one  to  each  man,  would  give 
the  chef  quite  a  layout.  For  example,  he  has  two 
quart  pails,  one  for  tea  and  the  other  for  soup;  four 
half-quart  utensils,  one  of  which  can  do  a  stew  for 
two  while  the  other  does  your  fruit,  leaving  the 
other  two  for  cups.  Two  of  the  frying-pans  will  take 
care  of  fish  or  flesh,  while  the  other  pair  prepare 
your  breadstuff's.  For  quick  and  handy  getting  up 
a  light  meal  this  combination  is  good.  One  must 
study  his  fire,  as  the  grate  is  small;  I  usually  keep 
another  fire  going  alongside  the  grate  and  transfer 
coals  and  brands  to  it  as  needed.  For  larger  parties 
than  two,  you  want  the  kits  with  gallon  pots,  as  it  is 
a  serious  matter  to  feed  four  hungry  men,  with  the 
cook's  reputation  hanging  in  the  balance,  and  one 
must  have  the  things  to  do  with  ! 


THE  CHEF  ON  THE  TRAIL         133 

A  word  in  conclusion  as  to  carrying  bulk  pro- 
visions. For  a  party  of  four  or  five  men  for  two 
or  three  weeks'  grub,  the  best  scheme  I  have  yet 
encountered  is  the  paraffined  muslin  food-bags, 
8  inches  diameter  and  6  to  10  inches  height.  These 
collapse  to  flat  packages  like  thick,  round  pancakes 
when  packed  and  piled  one  atop  the  other  in  the  food- 
bags.  To  get  the  one  you  want  without  pawing  over 
all  the  others,  a  side-opening  tump-bag  is  the  thing, 
and  when  rolled  up  tight  and  strapped  this  bag  is  as 
rain  and  water  proof  as  the  standard  lo-inch  end- 
opening  tump-bag.  For  short  trips  for  four  men 
or  for  long  ones  for  one  or  two,  these  round  muslin 
food-bags  are  too  large  and  introduce  too  much 
waste-bag  material  in  packing.  So  far  I  have  met 
no  company  that  puts  out  small  paraffined  muslin 
food-bags,  except  one  that  made  up  a  set  to  order 
for  a  Western  sportsman  who  ordered  them  specially 
for  his  own  use;  but  I  have  made  up  at  home  a  set 
of  4  X  6-inch  and  4  x  lo-inch  bags  of  paraffined  sheet 
muslin,  bought  from  the  outfitters',  besides  some 
smaller  bags,  3  x  4-inch,  for  such  commodities  as 
tea,  salt,  and  chocolate,  and  I  use  these  for  all  trips 
where  not  over  10  pounds  of  provisions  are  to  be 
carried.  All  the  smaller  bags  stow  away  in  the  cook- 
kit,  while  the  larger  ones  find  a  place  in  the  pack- 
sack.  None  of  them  holds  over  2  pounds,  and  the 
smaller  ones  less  than  half  a  pound,  which  will  be 


134  CAMP  CRAFT 

found  to  give  ample  quantity  and  variety  for  all  one- 
man  and  two-man  trips,  and  even  for  four  men  for 
a  week-end  camp. 


CHAPTER  VIII 
TRAIL  ACCESSORIES 

THERE  are  quite  a  few  minor  essentials  in 
wilderness  equipment  that  do  not  loom  up 
very  large  or  very  important  in  the  beginner's  eyes, 
but  which  have  received  quite  as  inexorable  an  evo- 
lution in  the  hands  of  the  professional  woodsman  as 
the  larger  necessities,  such  as  rifle,  rod,  tent,  cook-kit, 
and  sleeping-rig.  I  refer  to  those  lesser,  but  equally 
needful,  accessories,  the  axe,  knife,  compass,  camp- 
lamp,  repair  and  cleaning  outfits,  sharpening-stone, 
match-safe  and  medicine-kit.  Some  of  these  things 
look  superfluous  to  the  inexperienced  man — ^who  is 
quite  ready  to  borrow  yours  upon  occasion — but 
there  will  surely  come  times  when  the  wilderness 
will  ask  him  personally  for  each  and  every  one  of 
these  accessories,  and  there  will  be  no  old-timer 
around  to  lean  upon  and  borrow  from. 

Most  of  them  you  are  using  around  camp  all  the 
time,  so  they  must  be  of  A-i  quality  and  kept  right 
up  to  the  mark  if  you  are  to  have  any  peace  of  mind. 
Here  is  where  the  poor  steel  knife,  the  axe-with- 
the-head-always-coming-off*,  the  lamp  that  blows  up 
or  out  in  the  wind,  and  the  compass  that  requires 

13s 


136  CAMP  CRAFT 

a  feat  of  memory  to  know  which  end  of  its  needle 
is  north  get  shown  up.  The  acid  test  of  their 
owner's  well-being  comes  upon  them  and  they  fail. 
If  some  one  else  is  around  to  lend  the  real  article, 
well  and  good,  if  not — woe  to  you  ! 

There  are  not  so  many  of  these  accessories  all 
told,  so  it  is  well  worth  the  effort  to  strain  the 
financial  rigging  a  bit  and  get  them  of  the  best 
quality.  A  belt-axe  that  costs  you  less  than  about 
two  simoleons  is  just  no  axe  at  all,  merely  a  poor 
heavy  thing  whose  edge  and  head  alike  are  always 
coming  off.  The  knife  that  will  really  serve  you 
when  it  comes  to  skinning  out  a  tough  old  hide  is 
no  cheap  iron  affair  with  hilt  and  handle  all  wrong 
for  real  work;  it  is  rather  an  extra  fine  bit  of  steel, 
with  a  handle  that  has  been  evolved  out  of  the  needs 
of  hunters  who  follow  the  art  as  a  daily  occupation, 
and  it  will  set  you  back  not  less  than  one  dollar  and 
fifty  cents.  No  matter  where  one  hits  the  list  of 
accessories  the  same  rule  holds  good — there  are  two 
kinds  of  them,  the  sort  that  always  has  something 
out  of  order  and  do  not  somehow  fit,  and  the  kind 
that  are  always  "all  there,''  good  and  plenty,  with 
something  left  over  for  extra  hard  duty. 

Like  everything  else  in  outdoor  equipment,  a  good 
deal  depends  upon  the  country,  the  time  of  the  year, 
and  the  kind  of  trip  one  proposes  to  take.  For  ex- 
ample, on  a  canoe  trip  or  a  pack-and-saddle  trip, 


TRAIL  ACCESSORIES  137 

in  cold  weather,  a  sharp  three-quarter  axe  is  a 
necessity  for  fire-wood  and  down  trees,  although 
the  party  is  well-provided  with  belt-axes  and  could 
get  along  with  them  alone.  On  a  hiking  or  toboggan 
trip  in  winter  the  Hudson  Bay  axe  takes  the  place 
of  the  three-quarter  axe  (although  again  a  sharp 
belt-axe  alone  would  answer),  because  with  the  fight, 
keen  head  and  long  handle  of  the  Hudson  Bay  axe 
one's  swing  radius  and  cutting  power  are  enor- 
mously increased,  and,  as  there  is  a  lot  of  night  wood 
to  cut,  it  meets  the  requirements  admirably.  The 
same  axe  would  be  in  the  way  and  a  nuisance  in  a 
summer  or  early  fall  trip  afoot,  where  only  one  axe 
is  to  be  taken,  and  that  one,  of  course,  your  belt-axe. 
For  the  latter  is  your  most  inseparable  companion 
and  it  cannot  be  too  well  made.  Strapped  over  your 
left  hip,  it  goes  with  you  every  day  on  the  hunt  away 
from  the  home-camp;  around  camp  it  is  constantly 
being  used  for  everything  from  driving  tent-pegs  to 
whittling  shavings  in  starting  a  fire;  in  the  canoe  or 
in  thick  brush  it  clears  the  way;  and  after  the  kill  it 
is  your  butcher's  cleaver  par  excellence.  As  nothing 
drags  one  down  so  as  a  heavy  load  on  the  belt,  it 
must  be  fight,  not  over  24-ounce  weight,  and  to 
make  this  light  weight  eff'ective  in  cutting  logs  for 
camp-fire  and  bed,  it  must  be  keen  and  hold  its 
edge.  Not  a  brittle  keenness  that  chips  out  on  hard 
knots  or  when  used  as  a  screw-driver  to  open  up 


138  CAMP  CRAFT 

the  rifle,  but  a  mild,  somewhat  malleable  keenness 
that  only  the  best  steel  possesses.  The  head  should 
have  a  nail-claw  somewhere  on  it,  for  one's  stock 
of  nails  is  not  to  be  lightly  wasted,  and  all  should  be 
pulled  out  and  taken  along  when  camp  is  moved. 
The  head  must  not  come  ofF,  no  matter  how  much 
used,  and  this  cannot  be  insured  against  except  by 
some  sort  of  expansion  bolt  or  screw-and-wedge  de- 
vice that  positively  prevents  the  head  from  coming  off. 
All  kinds  of  driven  wedges  have  failed  in  belt-axe 
work,  and  an  axe  with  a  loose  head  had  far  better 
be  left  behind.  The  helve  should  be  stout  and  broad 
where  it  enters  the  head,  because  the  usual  way  to 
drive  a  peg  or  stake  is  with  the  flat  of  the  head, 
since  the  face  of  it  is  sure  to  split  green  stake  timber, 
and  if  the  helve  is  weak  at  that  point  it  will  break 
and  leave  you  axeless  in  the  tall  uncut.  The  helve 
should  be  properly  curved,  so  that  the  shock  of  cut- 
ting will  not  vibrate  up  into  your  palm  and  hurt 
you  worse  than  it  does  the  tree,  and  the  helve  must 
have  a  large,  generous  stop  on  the  hand  end,  so  that 
you  can  swing  at  full  arm's  length,  with  no  fear  of 
the  whole  axe  flying  out  of  your  hand  if  you  miss  a 
swing  or  cut  clear  through  or  strike  a  glancing  blow 
that  tends  to  wrench  it  out  of  your  grip.  It  is  thus 
apparent  that  the  belt-axe  is  quite  as  much  a 
poem  of  construction  as  a  fine  vioKn,  and  many 
a  keen  mind  has  labored  over  the  evolution  of  the 


TRAIL  ACCESSORIES     '  v       139 

ideal.  Some  of  them  are  of  the  standard  axe-poll 
shape,  some  double-bitted  and  others  of  the  toma- 
hawk head.  All  require  some  sort  of  sheath  or  guard, 
the  latter  usually  folding  into  the  handle  when  not 
in  use.  My  own  axe  is  of  the  standard  poll  shape, 
of  the  finest  Damascus  steel,  weighs  just  a  pound  and 
a  half  and  has  been  with  me  constantly  for  over  five 
years.  It  has  been  sharpened  twice,  and  once  has 
had  the  screw  in  its  head  taken  up.  Otherwise  it  is 
as  good  as  new,  and  I  often  cut  twenty  logs  of  3  and 
4  inch  night  wood  with  it,  besides  cutting  all  the 
tent-poles,  stakes,  and  cook-fire  wood  needed,  and 
this  service  has  extended  over  fifty  camps  of  all 
kinds  and  in  a  variety  of  countries.  I  would  not 
part  with  that  axe  for  any  consideration,  as  I  have 
a  superstition  that  it  is  an  exceptional  piece  of 
steel.  The  helve  is  13^  inches  long  with  a  2-inch 
stop  on  it,  a  thin,  tough,  hickory  shank  broadening 
to  ij^  inches  where  it  enters  the  poll;  case  of 
leather,  reinforced  with  rivets  along  the  blade  and 
fastened  with  two  snap-buttons.  We  have  two 
other  belt-axes  in  the  family,  both  of  the  folding- 
guard  variety  with  tomahawk  head,  the  latter  to 
get  as  much  weight  into  as  great  a  swing  radius  as 
possible.  Both  of  these  axes  have  seen  much  service 
for  camp  use,  and  neither  has  given  any  trouble 
from  the  head  coming  off  or  the  edge  giving  out 
unduly.     They    are   invaluable   for   cutting   brush. 


I40  CAMP  CRAFT 

tent-poles,  stakes,  and  light  fire-wood,  and  are  just 
about  the  right  weight  for  their  users,  i6  and  20 
ounces  respectively. 

The  double-bitted  axe  was  first  reduced  to  camper 
dimensions  by  Nessmuk,  of  revered  memory,  who 
had  one  made  to  order  for  him.  It  has  since  been 
put  on  the  market,  and  can  be  had  by  any  one  who 
wants  two  edges  on  his  axe,  one  keen  and  sharp  for 
soft  cutting  and  the  other  more  blunt  for  bones  and 
hard  knots.  The  principal  diificulty  is  to  get  a  good 
stop  for  the  helve,  as  the  stop  should  slope  to  fit  your 
hand,  and  it  is  impossible  to  slope  it  both  ways. 
Nessmuk  avoided  this  by  wrapping  the  helve  and 
providing  as  much  stop  as  could  be  reversed  without 
interfering  with  the  grip,  and  the  same  result  could 
be  obtained  to-day  with  bicycle  tape,  the  way  the 
handle  of  a  bat  is  wrapped.  A  very  neat,  keen, 
light,  double-bitted  belt-axe  can  be  made  for  you  by 
any  blacksmith  if  you  get  him  two  large,  flat  files 
from  the  used  stock  of  any  machine-shop.  They 
are  always  glad  to  sell  ofF  any  worn-out  files  on  hand, 
and  the  blacksmith  will  weld  them  into  an  axe  head 
with  a  hole  between  for  the  helve,  and  rough  shape 
the  blades  for  you.  A  session  with  the  grindstone 
and  a  final  tempering  will  give  you  a  Hght,  double- 
bitted  belt-axe  weighing  about  a  pound.  Bob  Davis, 
the  world-renowned  bassologist,  is  the  landlord  of 
the  first  one  of  these  axes  I  ever  saw. 


TRAIL  ACCESSORIES  141 

The  question  of  knives  is  as  lengthy  as  some  of 
the  bowies  themselves,  and,  like  the  rifle,  it  is  hard 
to  get  an  all-around  one.  There  is  the  heavy,  long 
brush-knife,  which  aims  to  do  away  with  the  belt- 
axe,  and  there  is  the  light  skinning-knife  not  in- 
tended for  hacking  of  any  sort.  Personally,  I  prefer 
to  keep  my  belt-axe  sharp  for  all  hack  work,  and 
use  a  light,  keen  knife,  with  a  blade  especially 
adapted  for  skinning  purposes,  though  not  as  light 
as  the  out-and-out  skinning-knife.  Every  man  to 
his  taste,  only  let  it  be  one  knife,  as  there  is  no  room 
for  two  about  your  belt,  and  the  pocket-knife  is  a 
separate  institution,  those  with  combination  tools 
of  one  sort  or  another  being  especially  serviceable 
on  the  trail  and  well  patronized,  especially  by  people 
who  carry  along  only  an  ordinary  pocket-knife  and 
borrow  yours.  Mine  weighs  6  ounces  and  has  a  3-inch 
blade  (excellent  for  difficult  skinning),  a  2-inch  blade, 
fish  disgorger,  corkscrew,  screw-driver,  scissors,  twee- 
zers, awl,  reamer,  and  two  large  needles  for  canoe 
and  canvas  sewing.  All  of  these  tools  have  been 
used,  dozens  of  times,  on  various  trips. 

The  sheath  that  the  hunting-knife  is  slung  in  also 
required  considerable  evolution  from  the  scabbard 
that  the  old  desperado  knife  used  to  fit  in,  more  or 
less.  Its  principal  function  is  to  keep  the  knife  from 
falling  out,  and  yet  swing  it  in  such  a  manner  that 
it  will  neither  dig  into  your  groin  nor  make  a  one- 


142  CAMP  CRAFT 

legged  stool  of  you  when  you  kneel  down.  Anything 
rigidly  strapped  to  your  belt  is  sure  to  do  this,  and 
so  was  evolved  the  long  sheath,  coming  well  up  on 
the  knife  handle,  so  that  it  would  not  drop  out  in 
any  position,  and  loose-hung  to  the  belt  so  as  to 
tuck  away  automatically  when  its  owner  stooped  or 
squatted  over  camp-fire  or  game-sign.  As  the  old 
brass  tip  proved  more  a  weapon  of  offense  than  the 
knife-point  itself,  it  was  discarded  for  a  well-sewn 
tip,  guarded  with  a  few  rivets  properly  placed,  the 
stop  of  the  knife  handle  preventing  the  blade  from 
being  driven  through  from  above. 

Time  was  when  the  barn-lantern  and  the  con- 
verted bicycle-lamp,  or  miner's  lamp,  was  the  sole 
illuminant  about  camp,  and  both  of  them,  with  their 
kerosene-oil  fuel,  were  such  a  nuisance  that  we  came 
to  depend  upon  firelight  and  a  carefully  guarded 
candle  for  such  light  as  we  absolutely  had  to  have. 
This  made  night  going  through  the  brush  a  de- 
batable matter  and  enforced  the  rule  of  getting  back 
to  camp  before  dark.  But  the  new  gas-lamps  have 
changed  that  considerably.  Light  and  easily  carried, 
giving  a  splendid,  efficient  illumination,  almost  im- 
possible to  blow  out  in  anything  short  of  a  gale,  they 
soon  found  their  way  into  the  old-timer's  pack — 
the  acid  test  of  serviceability !  Not  that  they 
superseded  the  sure-to-run  candle,  as  no  woodsman 
would  go  anywhere  without  his  thick,  fat  candle 


TRAIL  ACCESSORIES  143 

stowed  away  somewhere  in  the  duffel  and  brought 
out  triumphantly  when  the  gas-lamp  is  temporarily 
disabled.  But  the  candle  is  now  in  reserve,  to  be 
used  principally  for  temporary  lighting  or  at  the 
tail  end  of  the  evening,  when  the  gas-lamp  gives 
signals  of  needing  replenishment  and  no  one  wants 
to  start  in  on  a  new  charge  of  carbide,  as  all  hands 
are  preparing  to  turn  in.  It  will  be  conceded  that 
the  writer  of  this  work  is  not  apt  to  take  along 
any  unnecessary  duffel — he  has  even  been  wrongfully 
accused  of  going  on  a  three  weeks'  trip  without  even 
a  tooth-brush — yet  I  would  not  go  on  any  camping 
trip  without  taking  my  Httle  gas-lamp,  its  two  re- 
ceivers crammed  with  carbide,  and  a  small  friction- 
tin  containing  a  few  more  charges.  I  have  used 
two  types  on  the  market  and  have  no  preferences, 
but  I  will  back  the  gas-lamp  against  any  other  com- 
fort you  can  carry  that  weighs  under  6  ounces.  Stuck 
on  a  twig,  I  get  the  evening  grub  in  peace  by  its 
light  while  the  fire  is  naught  but  a  bed  of  glowing 
coals  and  the  stars  are  shining  overhead;  carried 
in  the  hand,  it  has  often  guided  me  through  the 
woods  for  an  early  start  before  daylight  after  big 
game,  and,  returning  late  at  night,  it  has  lit  up 
the  compass-dial  (a  "luminous"  one  at  that),  and 
steered  me  through  swamp  and  brush  miles  and  miles 
back  to  camp;  perched  on  a  shingle,  it  has  lit  up  the 
beach  for  yards  around  while  a  party  of  four  fished 


144  CAMP  CRAFT 

the  surf  at  night;  and  hung  from  a  grommet  hole  in 
the  tent-flap,  it  has  illumined  our  dining-service  and 
lit  us  off  to  bed  night  after  night,  never  failing  while 
there  was  a  cubic  inch  of  gas  still  left  in  the  carbide. 
Would  I  go  back  to  the  old  days  of  dark  tent,  feeble 
candle-light,  blazing  cook-fires  that  scorched  the 
good  mulligan  the  while  it  gave  us  light  to  see  and 
also  impenetrable  shadows  to  explore  where  some  in- 
dispensable article  was  lurking  under  the  leaves  ? 
Hardly ! 

In  principle  these  lamps  are  exceedingly  simple. 
The  upper  compartment  contains  water,  or  any 
other  liquid  comprising  mostly  water,  and  there  is 
a  small  brass  drip-tube  in  one  type,  inside  of  which 
is  a  brass  rod,  the  clearance  between  the  two  forming 
an  automatic  drip-feed.  In  the  other  the  drip  is 
controlled  by  a  screw  drip-valve.  The  receiver  con- 
tains enough  carbide  crystals  to  last  a  given  time. 
Judged  by  previous  experience,  three-quarters  full 
lasts  three  hours.  You  do  not  fill  it  any  farther 
because  the  crystals  swell  with  the  addition  of  water 
and  fill  the  whole  receiver.  With  the  drip-valve 
screwed  down  tight,  you  screw  the  receiver  to  the 
lamp,  making  sure  that  your  gasket  joint  on  the 
receiver  fits  gas-tight.  Then  open  the  drip-valve, 
whereupon  with  one  type  the  drip-feed  starts, 
allowing  just  enough  water  to  drip  on  the  crystals 
to  make  a  nice  flame  lyi  inches  long,  depending 


TRAIL  ACCESSORIES  145 

upon  the  relation  of  the  clearance  to  the  hole  aperture 
in  the  burner.  In  the  other  type,  the  length  of  flame 
may  be  adjusted  by  hand,  as  it  can  also  in  the  auto- 
matic drip  type  within  certain  limits.  If  it  appears 
longer  and  evidently  under  considerable  pressure 
you  are  giving  it  too  much  water,  and  will  lose  a  lot 
of  unburned  gas,  as  it  must  escape  somewhere,  and 
will  bubble  up  through  the  water  by  way  of  the  drip- 
valve  and  force  its  way  past  the  rubber  gasket  on 
the  receiver.  So  shut  down  on  your  drip  until  you 
have  a  steady,  nice  flame  and  then  leave  it  alone. 
In  the  course  of  an  hour  or  so  the  drip  may  clog  from 
waste  crystal  matter  swelling  up  into  the  end  of  the 
tube.  There  is  a  little  wire  rod  projecting  up  through 
the  drip-tube  for  the  purpose  of  freeing  this  deposit 
on  the  lower  end,  and  all  you  have  to  do  is  to  pump 
it  up  and  down  a  few  times  or  rotate  the  wire.  Oc- 
casionally a  carbon  tit  will  form  on  the  burner  and 
obstruct  the  flow  of  gas;  knock  it  off  with  a  knife 
blade  and  all  will  be  well.  This  is  about  all  the  care 
your  gas-lamp  needs,  except  an  occasional  cleaning 
of  the  felt  filter  which  separates  the  receiver  from 
the  exit  to  the  burner.  If  you  have  been  filHng  the 
receiver  too  full  of  crystals  they  may  swell  up  and 
clog  this  felt  filter  with  carbide  mud,  or  if  you  have 
given  the  crystals  so  much  water  as  to  drown  them 
and  then  have  shaken  the  lamp  about  too  much  in 
carrying,  besides  dropping  it  a  few  times,  the  filter 


146  CAMP  CRAFT 

again  may  get  clogged.  Otherwise  it  will  run  nicely, 
rain  or  shine,  windy  or  still,  in  almost  any  old  posi- 
tion not  actually  upside  down,  and  you  can  light  it 
from  the  camp-fire,  a  glowing  ember,  a  flint-spark, 
from  a  spark  wheel  in  the  reflector  or  even  the  snap 
of  a  match.  I  usually  start  out  with  both  receivers 
full  of  crystals  and  use  half  of  one  the  first  night. 
The  crystals  spoil  rapidly  when  exposed  to  the  air 
and  must  be  carried  in  an  air-tight  tin,  but  that  first 
half  charge  will  answer  very  well  overnight  if  put 
away  in  any  covered  container.  Next  morning  the 
receiver  is  washed  clean,  dried  over  the  camp-fire,  and 
the  second  half  put  in.  The  two  receivers  last  four 
nights  and  the  friction-tin  holds  three  more  charges, 
so  I  have  a  week's  supply  of  fight  on  far  less  room 
and  weight  than  the  equivalent  in  candles.  And 
"dar  is"  a  candle  lurking  in  the  ditty-bag  for  emer- 
gencies, too !  If  the  gas-lamp  burner  gets  knocked 
out  or  broken  it  can  be  replaced  immediately  with 
a  spare  one  or  with  a  .22  empty  cartridge  with  a 
very  tiny  hole  made  by  a  tack-point,  and  if  the  wire 
gets  lost  a  straightened  hairpin  or  a  bit  of  straight 
iron  wire  or  just  a  plain  wooden  plug  in  the  top  of 
the  valve  nut  will  do  as  a  makeshift.  And  at  the 
end  of  your  trip  the  gas-lamp  is  presented  to  your 
faithful  guide,  who  by  that  time  is  an  enthusiastic 
convert  and  wants  one  more  than  your  gold  ! 
The  next  accessory  on  our  fist  is  the  compass. 


TRAIL  ACCESSORIES  147 

something  that  you  positively  cannot  do  without, 
even  on  a  fishing  trip  where  you  live  in  a  fisherman's 
hotel  every  night  of  your  stay  !  I  once  went  on  such 
a  trip  with  that  great  fisherman,  Bob  Davis,  who 
spent  more  time  scoffing  at  my  woodsman's  outfit 
than  he  did  catching  fish.  The  compass  came  in  for 
its  due  share  of  scorn — but  wait !  Of  course,  it  would 
be  impossible  to  get  lost  fishing  anywhere  on  that 
lake — oh,  sure  !  Why,  in  the  name  of  Ike  W.,  take 
along  a  compass,  then  ?  Well — ^we  went  out  one 
fine  morning,  trolHng  for  lake  trout,  and  in  the  midst 
of  our  frolics  down  came  a  fog  as  thick  as  pea  soup. 
We  weren't  more  than  a  mile  from  shore,  and  Bob 
had  the  oars.  I  let  him  go  as  far  as  he  liked — and 
it  was  a  good  long  mile,  too !  We  didn't  seem  to 
be  arriving  anywhere.  .  .  .  How  long  was  this 
lake,  anyway  .?  .  .  .  Would  that  fog  ever  let  up  ?  .  .  . 
Finally  some  deft  interpellations  were  thrown  out 
as  to  the  needs  and  uses  of  a  compass.  Did  I  have 
the  "dad-blasted"  thing  along,  and  would  it  show 
north  or  just  a  white  and  black  needle  which  no  one 
could  tell  anything  about  ?  I  wish  I  hadn't  trotted 
it  out  just  then,  for  when  its  dial  came  to  rest  it 
yielded  up  the  information  that  he  was  rowing 
straight  down  the  lake,  at  right  angles  to  our  proper 
course,  and  with  five  miles  of  good  rowing  yet  to 
come  before  we  could  bump  up  against  the  unsym- 
pathetic rocks  under  the  mountain  at  the  far  end  1 


148  CAMP  CRAFT 

A  good  compass  is  not  necessarily  an  expensive 
thing,  but  there  are  some  features  it  must  have  to  be 
serviceable  in  the  woods.  It  should  be  totally  en- 
closed in  some  form  of  metal  case  or  have  a  metal 
cover  so  that  it  will  not  get  broken  in  packing;  it 
must  be  easily  carried  on  your  person,  have  a  special 
pocket  for  its  carrying,  and  must  be  capable  of 
being  used  at  night.  This  latter  requisite  has  not  yet 
been  satisfactorily  solved  by  our  manufacturers,  as 
the  various  luminous  compasses  sold  must  be  ex- 
posed to  the  sun  at  least  on  the  day  before  using  or 
the  luminous  part  of  the  dial  will  not  show  at  night. 
As  no  one  ever  remembers  to  do  this,  it  turns  out 
as  a  rule  that  when  the  emergency  arises  the  dial  has 
not  been  exposed  that  particular  day,  and  the  com- 
pass is  useless  without  a  lamp.  Yet  a  hunting-case 
compass  could  be  gotten  up  in  which  the  base  is  a 
small  battery  serving  a  lamp  in  the  cover  which 
could  be  flashed  on  at  will,  and  if  one  of  our  optical 
companies  interested  in  outdoor  equipment  would 
put  such  a  compass  on  the  market  it  would  be  well 
patronized.  However,  as  we  have  no  such  thing  yet, 
let  us  get  along  with  what  we  have.  A  good  lu- 
minous compass,  with  the  north  end  prominently 
marked,  can  be  had  for  two  dollars  up,  and  the 
cheaper  but  serviceable  non-luminous  compasses 
will  answer  very  well  if  you  are  a  smoker  and  can 
get  a  glow  from  cigarette  or  pipe  as  you  go  along. 


TRAIL  ACCESSORIES  149 

Or,  combined  with  a  small  pocket-flasher  (which 
is  a  tremendous  convenience  about  camp,  anyhow, 
to  find  things  in  the  dark),  you  are  able  at  any  time 
to  rectify  your  course.  In  night  steering,  lay  your 
course  for  camp,  and  then  steer  from  one  prominent 
object  on  the  landscape  to  the  next.  There  will  be 
always  a  dark  blur  on  the  darkest  night  which  is  a 
rock  or  a  clump  of  trees  lying  more  or  less  in  your 
course,  and,  having  reached  this  landmark,  take  a 
look  at  the  compass  and  pick  out  another  one, 
correcting  as  you  go.  Cruising  in  the  deep  timber 
at  night  is  a  bad  business  and  dangerous  to  Hfe  and 
limb — as  bad  as  chopping  wood  at  night — and  it 
is  far  better  to  den  up  than  to  attempt  it.  Of  course, 
following  a  trail  at  night  is  another  matter,  and  in 
that  case  you  need  lamp  or  flasher  more  than  any 
compass. 

The  carrying  of  matches  is  another  detail  of  more 
importance  than  it  seems  at  first  blush.  A  ten-gauge 
or  twelve-gauge  brass  shell,  corked,  makes  a  fine 
emergency  match-safe,  one  that  cannot  under  any 
circumstances  be  drowned  and  that  will  float  if 
dropped  overboard.  Screw-top  rubber  and  metal 
match-safes  are  on  the  market  for  about  forty 
cents,  and  there  are  a  lot  of  flash-lighters  with 
spark  and  gasolene  wick  which  are  worth  investigat- 
ing. All  of  them  work  on  the  principle  of  saturated 
vapor  of  gasolene  given  ofF  from  a  wick  in  the  pres- 


I50  CAMP  CRAFT 

ence  of  a  steel-and-flint  or  steel-and-pyrites  spark. 
The  reservoir  holds  cotton  saturated  with  the  gaso- 
lene, and  the  burner  is  either  immersed  in  it  or  forms 
the  end  of  the  wicking.  A  spark  is  had  by  rubbing  a 
steel  against  a  bit  of  pyrites  or  a  chip  of  flint.  The 
same  idea  has  been  lately  appHed  to  the  burner  of 
the  acetylene  gas-lamp,  and  a  new  lamp  having  this 
device  has  appeared  on  the  market. 

As  a  rule  you  need  three  suppHes  of  matches,  the 
main  store  in  a  friction-top,  air-tight  tin  (mine  is 
^y^  inches  diameter  by  3  inches  long);  the  daily 
supply  for  pipe-smoking,  etc.,  usually  an  ordinary 
match-safe  or  some  of  the  papers  of  waxed  paste- 
board matches;  and,  finally,  the  emergency  matches, 
always  on  your  person  and  carried  in  a  special 
water-proof  shell  with  the  matches  wrapped  in  a 
few  folds  of  birch-bark  tinder.  When  these  are  used 
you  want  a  fire  and  want  it  badly,  and  the  birch 
will  save  a  hunt  for  tinder  to  start  things  going. 
It  is  also  well  to  know  that  safety-matches  will 
strike  on  glass  in  case  you  find  a  last  one  in  your 
pocket  and  no  corresponding  box  with  its  phosphor- 
escent striker.  Without  a  match  the  only  sure  way 
that  I  know  of  to  start  a  fire  is  with  the  rifle,  with 
bullet  and  most  of  the  powder  removed  from  a  shell, 
a  train  of  powder  laid  down  the  rifle-barrel  and  the 
rest  spread  on  your  tinder.  When  the  woods  are 
wet  I  am  sceptical  as  to  whether  a  fire  can  be  had 


TRAIL  ACCESSORIES  151 

with  the  rubbing-stick.  I  once  tried  it  out  in  a 
February  blizzard,  taking  the  dry  heart  of  a  young 
white  pine  for  drill  and  fireboard  and  using  my 
moccasin  thong  for  the  bowstring.  I  was  ready  to 
start  fire-making  with  woods-made  apparatus  in 
about  half  an  hour  from  the  time  I  first  drew  my  axe 
and  went  into  temporary  camp  under  a  huge  white 
pine;  but  over  a  dozen  vigorous  attempts  resulted 
in  nothing  but  plenty  of  smoke  and  almost  the  vital 
spark;  but  never  would  it  fan  to  a  coal.  In  that 
country  there  was  neither  balsam  nor  white  cedar 
to  be  had  without  long  and  continuous  cruising, 
and  white  pine  direct  from  the  dead  tree  is  too  damp 
and  resiny  to  get  a  live  coal. 

How  to  assemble  a  light  and  compact  yet  efficient 
medicine-kit  is  quite  a  problem.  The  ones  shown 
in  the  outfitters'  catalogues  are  excellent,  and  one  of 
them  ought  to  be  ample  for  a  party  of  four  men  on 
an  extended  trip.  As  I  go  a  good  deal  alone  or  with 
one  or  two  companions,  I  have  to  have  something 
smaller  and  lighter,  yet  able  to  take  care  of  every 
one,  for  few  campers  seem  to  realize  that  one  kind  or 
another  of  sickness  or  accident  is  pretty  sure  to 
overtake  them  on  every  trip,  and  many  an  old-timer 
has  been  doctored  out  of  my  kit,  too.  The  kit  is 
just  a  tin-box  3^  x  2%  x  yi  inches  in  size;  weight, 
loaded,  2}i  ounces.  It  contains:  A  roll  of  surgical 
bandage  2  feet  long  by  3  inches  wide,  already  treated 


152  CAMP  CRAFT 

with  antiseptic  solution  (smells  like  iodoform);  a 
piece  of  surgical  tape  i6  inches  long  hy  lyi  inches 
wide;  a  small  tube  of  carbolated  vaseHne;  a  safety- 
pin;  ten  two-grain  quinine  capsules;  ten  bismuth 
tablets  for  diarrhoea;  one  dozen  small  fever  tablets; 
one  dozen  quarter-grain  podophyllin  pills  for  liver 
troubles  and  constipation;  six  headache  pills;  four 
bronchitis  tablets;  the  little  burner  cleaner  for  the 
gas-lamp;  sewing-needle  and  thread;  a  button; 
heavy  needle  and  shoe  thread,  and  a  paper  of  burnt- 
rag  tinder.  It  may  seem  incredible  that  all  this  can 
be  contained  in  such  small  weight  and  size,  par- 
ticularly to  those  literal  souls  who  put  down  what 
they  think  each  separate  item  ought  to  weigh  and 
then  add  up  the  total,  but  that  is  what  the  box 
weighs  and  measures  on  the  scales.  Doctor  Acker- 
man,  of  Asbury  Park,  pronounced  that  kit  the  light- 
est and  most  complete  he  ever  saw,  and  he  is 
"some*'  authority  in  the  medical  world,  too! 

Not  that  it  is  in  any  way  held  up  to  an  admiring 
world  as  a  model,  but  that  it  illustrates  what  can 
be  done  in  the  way  of  saving  weight  and  space  by 
omitting  that  cute  little  row  of  glass  vials  with  their 
leather  compartments  and  putting  all  that  space 
into  pills.  Better  a  plain  tin  case  that  is  always  on 
the  job  than  a  handsome  leather-embossed  apothe- 
cary shop  that  is  left  behind  in  the  trunk. 

Extraneous  to  the  medicine-kit,  but  closely  allied 


TRAIL  ACCESSORIES  153 

to  it,  is  the  tube  of  fly  dope.  I  take  one  along,  not 
that  I  ever  had  much  rehef  for  more  than  half  an 
hour  after  painting  my  pelt,  but  as  a  standby  in 
case  anything  happens  to  the  net,  which,  if  a  good 
one,  is  an  accessory  of  the  first  rank.  Things  will 
happen  to  it,  Hke  fire-sparks,  rips  from  unsympathetic 
or  openly  hostile  underbrush,  and  getting  lost  in  the 
shuffle;  so  take  two  of  them,  of  the  kind  that  go  over 
your  hat  and  secure  to  straps  around  your  shoulders. 
While  under  way  in  a  canoe  the  pests  do  not  bother 
much,  but  in  making  and  breaking  camp  at  dusk 
and  in  the  early  morning  they  are  at  their  worst  and 
a  head-net  is  a  boon.  With  it  goes  the  ten-cent 
cotton  glove,  which  protects  the  hands  not  only 
against  mosquitoes  but  around  the  camp-fire,  making 
one  immune  from  burns,  master  of  the  overboiling 
kettle,  and  able  to  do  anything  one  chooses  about 
picking  blazing  brands  out  of  the  fire  or  readjusting 
their  position.  Without  the  gloves  it  is  almost 
impossible  to  avoid  burns,  and  your  skin  is  not 
tough  enough  to  let  you  put  your  hand  in  or  near 
a  hot  fire  for  a  quick  grab  at  a  utensil,  a  pot  cover 
or  a  brand  that  wants  fixing,  all  of  which  is  easy  to 
the  man  with  the  cotton  glove.  They  also  prevent 
that  unspeakable  grime  which  otherwise  crocks 
itself  in  every  crack  and  crevice  of  your  hands  on 
long  camps  in  spite  of  much  use  of  soap  and  water. 
Formerly  we  bought  the  gloves  in  unblushing  and 


154  CAMP  CRAFT 

staring  white  and  toned  them  down  with  fire-dirt, 
but  they  can  now  be  had  at  any  hardware  store  in 
brown  as  well  as  white. 

For  a  rifle  or  shotgun  cleaning  outfit  you  do  not 
need  more  than  a  simple  rope  outfit  and  a  good  oil- 
can, one  that  will  hold  such  insidious  oils  as  the  new 
nitro-solvent  preparations  without  leaking.  The 
cleaner  is  a  brass  scratch-brush  with  a  stout  twine 
attached  to  both  ends  of  it  by  small  brass  couplers. 
It  weighs  i>2  ounce  and  packs  in  ditty-bag  or  war- 
bag  along  with  the  oil-can  and  a  rag  or  two.  Hitch 
the  loop  of  your  twine  over  a  twig  and  pull  the  rifle- 
barrel  over  the  brass  brush,  puHing  it  back  with 
your  right  hand,  the  rifle  being  held  in  your  left. 
Simple  and  eflFective.  To  clean  a  shotgun  with  it, 
tie  a  rag  around  the  brass  brush  and  "go  to  it." 
The  oil-can  should  have  a  screw-top  with  a  rubber 
or  parchment  washer.  No  metal  joint,  however 
tightly  screwed,  will  hold  nitro-solvent  oils,  with 
the  result  that  when  you  want  to  use  it  the  can  is 
dry  and  your  pouch  has  a  suspicious  smell  about  it — 
something  like  a  creosote  factory. 

And  do  not  omit  the  auxiHary  cartridge,  or  "sup- 
plementary chamber,'*  as  it  is  called.  They  are  made 
to  adapt  almost  any  high-power  rifle  to  some  one  of 
the  low-power  pistol  cartridges,  and  the  accuracy  at 
short  ranges  of  these  latter  is  ample  for  all  meat- 
in-the-pot  chances.    They  make  little  noise,  and  as 


TRAIL  ACCESSORIES  155 

one  is  always  coming  upon  grouse,  rabbits,  chickens, 
and  ducks  in  a  good  game  country,  there  is  no 
reason  why  one  should  be  condemned  to  Hve  ex- 
clusively on  tough  old  moose  and  elk  steaks.  My 
two  pet  rifles  are  the  .32-20  for  deer  hunts,  with  its 
.32  S.  &  W.  auxihary  pistol  cartridge,  fed  direct  into 
the  high-power  chamber  without  any  supplementary 
cartridge  at  all;  and  the  .35  high-power,  shooting 
the  .38  pistol  cartridges  (all  except  the  .38  Special) 
in  a  steel  auxiliary  shell,  fed  single  shot  into  the 
rifle  when  meat-in-the-pot  has  flown  into  a  near-by 
spruce  and  is  there  for  the  taking.  My  revolvers 
for  either  trip  take  these  cartridges,  so  there  is  no 
doubling  up  on  ammunition.  The  .32  long-barrel 
revolver  and  .38  officer's  model,  with  7-inch  barrel, 
have  accounted  for  much  feathered  game  with  these 
auxihary  pistol  cartridges  when  there  was  no  time 
to  get  out  either  rifle  or  supplementary  cartridge. 
A  last  bit  of  equipment  often  overlooked  is  the 
sharpening-stone.  You  will  not  miss  it  much  until 
there  is  a  job  of  skinning  or  heavy  axemanship  to 
be  done,  and  then  you  would  pretty  nearly  give  the 
trophy  for  just  one  hck  at  a  good  stone.  The  round 
carborundum  stone,  with  coarse  face  on  one  side  and 
fine  on  the  other,  carried  in  a  leather  case  on  your 
belt,  is  the  standard  rig.  Then  there  are  fine  little 
vest-pocket  stones,  with  the  same  grades  of  finish 
on  either  face;   a  little  small,  and  apt  to  let  you  get 


IS6  CAMP  CRAFT 

cut  in  sharpening,  maybe,  but  light  and  preferable 
for  the  man  who  wants  as  little  weight  hanging  about 
his  belt  as  possible.  For  me  neither  scheme  seems 
ideal,  and  I  have  steered  a  middle  course  by  adopting 
a  segment  cut  off  the  round  stone  by  a  cold  chisel, 
large  for  both  knife  and  axe  sharpening  and  this 
goes  in  the  justly  celebrated  ditty-bag,  along  with 
a  raft  of  other  knacks  and  kinks  Hke  unto  it.  With 
this  stone  the  belt-axe,  hunting-knife,  and  pocket- 
knife  are  kept  up  to  normal  keenness,  not  because 
I  like  to  work  over  them  by  the  light  of  the  camp- 
fire,  after  cleaning  rifle  and  revolver  and  before 
turning  in,  but  because  I  am  lazy — phenomenally 
lazy — and  no  effort  of  mine  is  ever  put  forth  except 
with  the  ultimate  aim  of  saving  yet  more  labor  of  a 
greater  kind — in  this  case  a  sharp  axe  saving  much 
cutting  and  many  blows,  while  a  sharp  knife  walks 
through  anything  you  have  to  cut,  requiring  no 
effort  at  all  but  just  guidance  on  your  part ! 


CHAPTER  IX 
IN  EMERGENCY 

THOSE  of  us  who  take  the  trail  early  and  often 
are  aware  that  this  being  left  out  all  night, 
this  matter  of  being  pitted  against  the  savage  con- 
ditions of  the  wilderness,  alone  and  unaided  except 
by  the  equipment  carried  on  the  person,  is  such  a 
frequent  occurrence  as  to  demand  a  certain  fore- 
thought in  providing  an  emergency-kit,  both  mental 
and  material — in  a  word,  the  knowledge  and  where- 
withal for  obtaining  food,  shelter,  and  warmth  from 
the  materials  at  hand  in  the  forest  regardless  of  the 
time,  place,  or  state  of  preparedness  in  which  one  is 
found.  Resourcefulness — that  is  the  slogan  of  this 
great  game  of  living  in  the  open.  Assuming  that 
you  already  have  a  camp  and  trail  equipment  that 
just  suits  your  tastes  and  temperament,  what  can 
you  do  in  the  emergency,  deprived  of  part  or  all 
of  the  equipment  which  you  have  brought  into  the 
woods  with  you  ?  You  may  lose  rifle,  axe,  or  grub, 
or  all  three;  you  may  get  burned  out  and  lose  clothes 
and  shelter.  What  would  you  do  to  replace  them, 
in  emergency  ?    The  following  ideas  are  offered  as 

iS7 


iS8  CAMP  CRAFT 

showing  the  way  to  efficient  substitutes  which  have 
been  used  in  just  such  emergencies  by  the  waiter 
and  others  during  our  trail  experiences. 

FOOD 

Forest  conditions  impose  a  feeding  regime  of  two 
meals  a  day.  It  is  the  only  way  to  get  anywhere 
or  accomplish  anything,  unless  you  expect  to  con- 
fine yourself  to  cooking,  eating,  and  washing  dishes 
all  day,  or  else  propose  to  leave  off  your  hunting  or 
fishing  at  midday  and  seek  camp  at  noon  for  some- 
thing to  eat.  The  successful  hunter  ranges  far  and 
wide,  and  he  needs  the  whole  day  to  cover  territory 
and  track  his  game;  the  fisherman  knows  that  no 
fish  are  caught  on  a  dry  line  and  that  it  takes  time 
to  get  on  your  ground,  to  fish  a  stream  properly  or 
cast  a  pond  thoroughly,  and  he  must  not  be  hampered 
by  the  necessity  to  return  to  camp  at  midday. 
TravelHng  by  canoe  or  pack-and-saddle,  the  day's 
trip  must  be  made  in  one  lap,  with  at  best  a  brief 
stop  at  noon  for  a  bite  and  a  smoke;  even  the  best 
cook  cannot  prepare  a  cooked  meal,  have  it  eaten 
and  the  dishes  washed  and  repacked  in  less  than  two 
hours,  which  is  too  much  time  out  of  the  day's  total. 

The  answer  to  all  this  is  the  pocket  lunch,  a  matter 
too  often  forgotten  or  not  properly  provided  for. 
Our  stomachs  have  been  so  long  accustomed  to  the 
three-meal   day   that   the  omission   of  the  midday 


IN   EMERGENCY  159 

one  entirely  is  not  to  be  endured,  except  by  a  gradual 
process  of  getting  accustomed  to  the  change.  Yet 
a  mere  bite  will  satisfy  the  craving;  a  sandwich 
and  a  cup  of  something  hot,  easily  prepared  during 
that  noonday  stop  which  is  necessary  for  a  rest 
and  a  break  in  the  most  arduous  hunt  or  the  most 
successful  fishing  day.  The  plain  sandwich  will  do, 
but  it  is  cold  and  indigestible,  and  Hkely  to  cause 
intestinal  upsets  and  be  half-digested  unless  ac- 
companied by  something  hot,  and  this  need  led  me 
to  give  a  good  deal  of  study  to  the  ideal  emergency 
ration,  especially  as  the  festive  sandwich  is  likely 
to  be  forgotten  or  omitted  altogether  in  setting  out 
from  camp.  This  ration  should  be  a  small  package, 
something  to  go  in  pocket  or  ditty-bag;  something 
that  is  in  itself  a  cooking  utensil  (or  two  of  them), 
and  something  that  will  contain  not  only  enough 
raw  material  for  one  lunch,  but  for  four  or  five  or  a 
dozen  of  them. 

For  several  years  I  used  a  flat  tin,  4  inches  in 
diameter  by  ^  of  an  inch  deep,  with  two  tack-holes  in 
the  rim  so  that  it  could  be  tacked  to  the  end  of  a 
stick  or  to  two  forks  of  a  green  branch  and  serve  as 
a  small  frying-pan  or  to  boil  a  dish  of  tea.  This  tin 
contained  flat  packages  of  tea,  bacon,  bouillon  cap- 
sules, salt  and  Saxine  sugar  tablets,  being  closed 
by  a  hardtack  which  fitted  in  the  tin  Hke  a  cover. 
It  was  a  little  too  small,  though  very  quick  to  use,  as 


i6o  CAMP  CRAFT 

a  tiny  fire  would  boil  water  in  it  in  no  time.  It  held 
just  enough  to  fill  my  folding  aluminum  drinking- 
cup  and  I  would  steep  a  pinch  of  tea  in  it  and  pour 
the  brew  into  the  hunting-cup  for  drinking,  doing  the 
same  thing  for  bouillon.  For  frying,  a  chunk  of  fish 
and  a  slice  of  bacon  were  all  you  needed  for  a  meal, 
and  the  tin  was  then  tacked  inside  of  a  green  sassa- 
fras fork,  for  if  put  at  the  end  of  a  stick  it  would 
always  warp.  My  present  kit  has  an  emergency 
ration  which  is  a  pressed-tin  affair  3>^  inches  by 
3^  inches  by  i^  inches  deep,  with  rounded  corners, 
capable  of  holding  just  half  a  pint  of  water.  This 
boils  in  five  minutes,  with  a  fire  made  of  a  few  dry 
sticks  heaped  together  and  two  stouter  ones  for  fire 
logs.  It  boils  you  a  full  cup  of  tea  or  erbswurst,  and 
inside  it  there  is  room  for  a  brass  primer-box  full 
of  Ceylon  tea,  another  of  erbswurst-powder,  another 
of  salt,  half  a  dozen  bouillon  cubes,  a  tiny  bottle  of 
sugar  tablets  (one  is  enough  for  a  cup  of  tea),  four 
slices  of  bacon  and  some  chunks  of  army  emergency 
chocolate.  There  is  no  solder  whatever  anywhere 
on  this  tin,  and  it  goes  in  the  ditty-bag  as  a  standard 
institution  therein.  With  rifle  or  rod,  or  neither, 
provided  there  is  fish  and  game  to  be  caught,  I  can 
keep  going  a  long  while,  and  often  have  I  made 
myself  a  nourishing  emergency  lunch  with  it,  some- 
times with  the  pocket  sandwich  to  help  out,  more 
often  without. 


IN  EMERGENCY  i6i 

Total  loss  of  the  grub-sack  is  not  likely  to  happen 
with  experienced  woodsmen,  but  it  can  happen  and 
occasionally  does.  More  often  the  provisions  run 
low  before  the  party  has  any  idea  of  coming  out  of 
the  woods,  or  guests  and  Indians  cause  unforeseen 
inroads  into  the  larder  and  the  flour-sack  runs  dry 
when  you  are  still  two  or  three  hundred  miles  from 
anywhere.  Bartering  for  flour  with  passing  Indians 
and  trappers  is  the  usual  way  of  replenishment,  but 
a  little  knowledge  of  the  edible  and  really  delicious 
plants  and  nuts,  used  by  the  Indians  before  the  days 
of  flour,  is  a  way  out  that  every  sportsman  should 
know.  The  best  vegetables  that  grow  wild  are  the 
wild  rice,  the  roots  of  the  yellow  and  arrow-leaved 
water-liHes,  the  Indian  potato  (most  erroneously 
dubbed  the  Jerusalem  artichoke),  the  flour  made 
from  the  various  acorns,  and  the  beefsteak  mush- 
room. Wild  rice  is  a  most  unsavory-looking  dish, 
but  much  more  appetizing  and  delicious  in  flavor 
than  our  white  cultivated  rice.  It  is  best  gathered 
by  two  men  in  a  canoe,  one  paddling  and  the  other, 
armed  with  two  sticks,  bending  the  stalks  over  the 
canoe  while  he  thrashes  out  the  grains  with  taps 
of  the  other  stick.  A  bushel  of  it  will  fall  into  the 
bottom  of  the  canoe  in  a  morning's  collecting — 
enough  to  take  a  party  a  good  many  hundred  canoe 
miles.  Ripe  from  September  on.  Boil  thirty-five 
minutes. 


i62  CAMP  CRAFT 

The  roots,  or  rather  bulbs,  of  the  arrow-head 
water-Hly  are  gotten  by  wading  around  in  the  mud 
in  a  bed  of  them,  thereupon  they  float  to  the  surface, 
as  you  may  have  often  noticed  in  freeing  your  casting 
lure  from  these  same  HHes  (the  ones  with  the  blue 
spikes  of  flowers).  Washed  and  boiled,  the  root 
makes  a  good  substitute  for  potato,  particularly  with 
a  stew  of  wild  flesh — rabbit,  bird,  squirrel,  venison, 
elk,  moose,  or  what-not.  Another  wholesome  addi- 
tion to  the  stew  is  the  bulb  of  the  wood-lily.  Boiled 
in  a  meat  stew,  it  takes  the  place  of  the  onion  of  com- 
merce. Another  addition  is  the  root  of  the  yellow 
pond-lily,  a  thick,  tuberous  root  gotten  in  two  to 
four  feet  of  water  by  dredging  for  it  with  the  hands. 
Growing  all  over  the  Eastern  woods,  from  Minnesota 
to  New  Brunswick,  and  south  to  the  Gulf  States, 
is  the  best  "spud''  of  them  all — the  wild  bean,  or 
ground-nut.  Look  for  it  in  wet  forest  meadows  and 
swamp  borders,  a  vine  with  five  or  seven  pointed 
leaflets  on  the  stem,  dark  purple-maroon  flowers 
something  like  a  clover  or  green  pods  full  of  nutritious 
little  beans,  and  a  root  with  lots  of  small  tubers 
attached,  from  marble  up  to  egg  size.  These  boil 
and  taste  like  potatoes,  and  where  you  can  find 
wild  beans  never  despair  for  a  proper  "mulHgan," 
even  if  the  "  spud-sack  "  is  down  to  its  last  occu- 
pant ! 

The  Jerusalem  artichoke,  or  Indian  potato,  occurs 


IN  EMERGENCY  163 

by  the  roadside  and  in  forest  meadows,  being  gen- 
erally the  reHc  of  former  Indian  plantations,  for  the 
Indians  used  this  root  extensively  as  a  tuber  in  stews, 
etc.  It  looks  something  like  the  ordinary  yellow 
daisy  or  black-eyed  Susan,  except  that  the  centre 
button  is  yellowish-green.  The  leaves  are,  however, 
broad,  lance-shaped  with  thick  leaf-ribs  which  at 
once  distinguish  it  from  the  narrow-leaved  daisies. 
It  is  really  a  wild  sunflower  and  its  root  when  boiled 
makes  an  excellent  substitute  for  potato.  It  occurs 
from  Pennsylvania,  west  to  the  Rockies,  south  to 
the  Gulf  States. 

For  flour,  all  the  round-leaved  oaks — ^white, 
swamp,  post,  black-jack,  chestnut,  and  overcup  oak — • 
throw  down  incredible  quantities  of  edible  acorns. 
To  make  flour,  dry  the  kernels  in  the  sun  or  over  the 
fire,  pound  to  powder,  and  leach  out  the  tannin  by 
percolating  through  a  cloth  bag  until  the  water  has 
no  yellow  tinge.  It  is  then  ready  for  boiling,  making 
a  corn  mush  of  it,  wholesome  and  nourishing,  albeit 
nothing  extra  as  to  taste.  The  same  sort  of  flour 
can  be  made  from  chestnuts,  or  they  can  be  roasted 
and  eaten  out  of  hand.  No  acorn  can  be  eaten  with- 
out first  getting  rid  of  the  tannin,  and  the  spike- 
leaved  oaks,  even  the  red  with  its  great,  blunt  acorns, 
all  have  such  acrid  acorns  that  they  are  best  left 
alone.  The  other  oaks  are,  however,  easy  to  manage 
and  the  flour  is  high  in  nutrition. 


i64  CAMP  CRAFT 

The  beefsteak  mushroom,  or  common  puffball,  is 
familiar  to  us  all.  When  old  and  dry  it  is  valuable  as 
a  fire  punk,  as  a  spark  caught  in  it  will  yield  a  hot 
coal  and  can  be  carried  a  long  distance.  When 
young  and  solid  white  inside  it  makes  a  good  bread, 
being  peeled  and  sHced  and  fried.  The  common 
mushrooms  are  also  fine  additions  to  any  mulligan, 
and  are  recognized  by  their  pink  or  brown  gills  and 
their  wholesome  smell.  Never  use  a  mushroom 
with  white  or  yellow  gills,  growing  out  of  a  bulb  or 
cup,  as  these  are  poisonous,  some  of  them  so  deadly 
that  there  is  no  known  remedy. 

FIRE 

Next  to  something  to  eat,  is  a  fire  to  cook  it.  Did 
you  ever  stop  to  think  how  many  of  our  garden 
vegetables  would  be  absolutely  inedible  and  useless 
unless  cooked  ?  The  same  thing  holds  with  forest 
vegetables.  Merely  tasting  them  raw  is  no  criterion; 
most  of  them  are  bitter  to  a  degree  until  cooked, 
when  the  bitter  ingredient  disappears.  To  make  a 
fire  with  matches,  let  alone  without,  seems  to  be 
beyond  the  abilities  of  many  tyros  who  come  into 
the  woods.  For  a  quick  little  lunch  fire,  the  best 
thing  is  four  stakes  driven  in  the  ground  and  a  little 
inverted  pine  cone  of  slivers  whittled  from  a  dry 
stick,  the  slivers  being  left  on  the  stick  and  the  same 
stuck  into  the  ground.     Pile  your  sphnters  around 


IN  EMERGENCY  165 

this  and  put  the  frying-pan  on  the  stakes.  For 
a  kettle  or  pail,  use  a  dingle  stick,  an  inch  sapling 
stuck  in  the  ground  and  adjusted  as  to  height  over 
the  fire  by  two  forked  stakes.  In  your  ditty-bag 
should  always  be  several  brass  chains  with  pothooks 
attached,  which  are  forthwith  slung  over  the  dingle 
pole  and  the  proper  height  of  pail  adjusted  by 
hooking  the  upper  hook  into  the  right  link  of  the 
chain.  These  httle  chains  weigh  nothing  and  fold 
into  the  most  inconspicuous  corner  of  the  ditty-bag. 
Two  pieces  of  copper  wire  should  also  find  place 
there  for  lashing  a  cross-pole  to  two  upright  stakes, 
in  case  you  have  several  pails  over  the  fire.  With- 
out either  chains  or  hooks,  use  forked  short  branches 
with  a  notch  in  the  lower  end  to  take  the  bail  of  the 
pail.  For  the  emergency-ration  container  you  need 
two  small  inch  logs  side  by  side,  with  two  short  ones 
under  them  and  a  small  fire  of  twigs  built  in  between. 
For  a  fire  on  the  snow,  four  short  3-inch  logs  side 
by  side  with  the  fire  built  on  them.  For  a  reflector- 
baker  fire,  two  pairs  of  stakes  driven  in  vertically 
about  a  foot  high  and  four  or  five  small  logs  piled 
in  between  these  stakes,  forming  a  vertical  back- 
ground. Pile  the  kindlings  vertically  against  this, 
getting  a  high  flame  that  will  bake  both  sides  of 
your  biscuits  or  corn  bread  at  the  same  time.  To 
make  a  sure  fire  where  you  have  only  one  last  match, 
prepare  a  large  quantity  of  shavings,  at  least  a  hatful, 


i66  CAMP  CRAFT 

and  strike  your  match  in  the  centre  of  these;  it  will 
surely  start. 

Now  for  fire  without  matches.  First  your  rifle 
or  pistol:  hack  out  the  bullet,  take  out  all  the 
powder;  put  some  of  it  in  a  linty  rag,  or  some  tinder, 
such  as  shredded  birch  or  cedar  bark;  put  the  rest 
loose  down  the  barrel  and  fire  it  into  the  tinder, 
holding  the  muzzle  about  a  foot  away.  If  you  have 
only  your  hunting-knife,  search  the  brook  bed  for  a 
flint,  and  make  a  tinder  by  tearing  a  strip  off  your 
handkerchief;  roll  the  torn  edge  into  a  fuzzy  cylinder 
and  work  over  the  flint  until  you  get  a  spark  caught 
in  the  tinder — not  to  be  caught  on  the  first  trial ! 
And  flints  are  not  easy  to  find  in  most  hunting 
countries. 

If  you  have  on  your  watch  and  there  is  sun,  you'll 
do  better  to  retire  to  some  secluded  sunny  spot  and 
use  the  watch  crystal  on  your  tinder,  filled  level  with 
water  to  make  a  burning  glass  of  it.  This,  however, 
is  not  practical  in  the  spring  and  fall  months,  when 
the  sun's  declination  places  it  well  down  on  the 
horizon,  as  one  cannot  hold  the  glass  any  other  way 
than  level  without  spilling  the  water,  and  you  there- 
fore can  get  no  hot  point  in  focus.  It  will  work  at 
high  noon  in  midsummer  only.  Your  camera  lens 
unscrewed  from  the  plate  will  start  you  a  fire  in  any 
old  sun. 

Without  rifle  or  matches,  the  surest  way  to  get 


IN  EMERGENCY  167 

a  fire  is  with  the  fire-drill.  This  is  a  bow  with  a  loose 
thong,  a  thick  drill  of  about  an  inch  of  dry  balsam, 
linden,  cedar,  or  Cottonwood,  a  foot  long  and  rough- 
sided,  so  that  the  drill  thong  will  not  slip  on  it.  A 
drill  socket  of  any  hardwood,  with  a  cup  in  it  to  take 
the  top  of  the  drill,  is  next  in  order,  and  a  fireboard 
of  the  same  wood  as  the  drill,  with  a  set  of  notches 
in  it,  at  the  point  of  one  of  which  you  start  drilling 
the  cup.  Passing  the  thong  around  the  drill  and 
bearing  down  hard  on  the  socket,  you  saw  back  and 
forth  and  the  drill  begins  to  form  a  cup  in  the  fire- 
board.  Its  detritus  piles  out  into  the  angle  of  the 
notch  onto  a  chip  placed  under  the  fireboard.  This 
little  pile  is  composed  of  hot,  charred  drill  splinters 
and  dust,  and,  as  you  work  at  the  drill,  smoke 
arises  from  the  cup,  and  finally  a  spark,  which 
tumbles  out  into  the  notch  and  is  picked  up  with 
its  pile  of  punk  on  the  chip  and  fanned,  ever  so 
gently,  until  a  small  coal  is  formed.  This  is  to  be 
deftly  transferred  into  your  wad  of  cedar  or  birch- 
bark  tinder  and  blown  to  a  flame.  Mr.  Ernest 
Thompson  Seton,  the  man  who  rescued  this  method 
for  us  from  the  domain  of  legend  and  made  it  a 
practical  reality,  can  light  a  fire  with  the  bow-drill 
in  thirty-one  seconds.  I  have  seen  him  do  it  in  less 
than  a  minute,  but  most  of  us  make  clumsy  mistakes 
or  get  wood  not  exactly  right  for  the  purpose  (it 
should  be  just  soft  enough  to  yield  good  friction 


i68  CAMP  CRAFT 

splinters),  and  we  make  a  number  of  bungles  before 
getting  any  fire.  The  soul  of  it  is  speed,  however. 
Get  everything  ready  and  then  saw  away  like  a 
good  fellow.  Any  strong,  flexible  twine  will  do  for 
the  bowstring  in  lieu  of  a  rawhide  thong  (your 
moccasin  lacing),  so  that  one  should  be  forthcoming 
from  your  own  clothing  without  much  trouble,  but 
the  only  vegetable  bark  or  root  I  have  yet  proven 
out  which  will  yield  a  thong  strong  enough  yet  flex- 
ible enough  to  work  around  the  drill  is  the  bark  of 
mockernut  hickory  peeled  ofF  when  the  sap  is  in  the 
bark,  split  into  thin  strips,  and  platted  into  a  stout 
bast  cord. 

UTENSILS 

Often  one  gets  left  out  overnight,  well-found  ex- 
cept for  a  cooking  utensil.  If  in  the  north  country, 
where  birch  bark  is  to  be  had,  it  is  a  matter  of  but 
half  an  hour  to  make  a  bark  bowl  which  will  hold  a 
quart  and  boil  anything  you  want  to  as  long  as  you 
care  to  keep  it  up.  Here,  also,  there  is  a  good  deal 
in  the  savoir  faire,  as  many  gUb  writers  mention 
this  method  without  these  accompanying  practical 
cautions  and  directions  which  show  the  hand  of  the 
man  who  has  actually  done  it.  To  begin  with,  the 
bark  must  have  the  rough  outer  coat  peeled  off"  or  it 
will  surely  crack  and  leak  when  you  fold  up  the  ends. 
There  is  no  time  to  supple  it  overnight,  nor  neces- 


IN  EMERGENCY  169 

sity,  if  only  the  inner  folds  are  used.  A  piece  a  foot 
square  is  ample,  got  off  a  young  tree  at  a  spot  where 
there  are  no  checks  or  knots,  for  the  least  leak  is 
fatal.  Fold  the  corners  and  skewer  them  flat  with 
a  green  stick  and  you  will  have  a  square  box  2  inches 
deep  by  about  8  inches  square.  This  is  to  go  on 
two  logs  over  a  bed  of  glowing  coals  from  the  main 
fire,  replenished  occasionally.  At  that,  the  upper 
edges  of  the  bowl  will  warp  and  curl  and  are  better 
reinforced  with  a  light  green  twig  frame.  No  flame 
should  touch  the  bark,  because,  while  it  is  true  that 
birch  bark  will  not  ignite  with  water  inside  of  it, 
it  is  equally  true  that  it  will  burn  readily  down  to 
the  water's  edge,  whereupon  the  least  sagging  will 
spill  the  soup  over  into  your  fire,  putting  it  out. 
A  bed  of  hot  coals,  however,  will  bring  the  water  to 
boil  in  about  ten  minutes,  and  you  have  all  the  tea 
you  want  for  the  steeping.  To  make  erbswurst  soup 
you  must  keep  it  boiling  about  twenty  minutes,  and 
this  I  once  did  in  a  birch-bark  bowl  as  above  de- 
scribed, making  an  excellent,  palatable  soup  and 
keeping  the  bowl  bubbUng  merrily  by  assiduous 
blowing  on  the  coals. 

In  a  country  where  the  canoe  birch  does  not  grow, 
you  have  recourse  to  the  red  maple,  in  a  log  of  which 
you  can  cut  a  bowl  holding  a  quart,  with  your  axe 
and  hunting-knife  as  the  sole  tools.  Select  a  log 
about  8  inches  thick  and  cut  oflF  a  section,  clear  and 


I70  CAMP  CRAFT 

free  from  knots,  2  feet  long.  Dap  ofF  the  top  flat 
and  lay  out  on  it  a  rectangle  4  by  18  inches  long. 
Dig  down  with  axe  and  knife  until  you  have  made 
a  boat  about  2  inches  deep,  smooth  and  level  it 
and  fill  with  water.  To  boil  it,  set  some  smooth 
quartz  stones  on  the  fire;  about  fifteen  of  them  will 
be  wanted  about  the  size  of  a  large  hen's  egg.  These 
should  get  white  hot,  for  at  first  they  will  be  covered 
with  black  soot,  but  as  they  heat  up  this  goes  off 
and  the  stones  are  clean  as  ice.  Pick  them  up  with 
tongs  and  put  them  one  at  a  time  into  the  bowl. 
The  whole  thing  will  be  boiling  at  the  fourth  stone, 
and  after  that  one  stone  a  minute  will  suffice  to  keep 
the  thing  bubbhng.  It  takes  an  hour  to  make  the 
bowl  and  you  get  your  tea  four  minutes  later  and 
your  soup  in  twenty  minutes  to  half  an  hour.  It 
will  be  dirtier  than  the  birch-bark  bowl  soup,  but 
palatable  and  nourishing.  Elm  bark  also  makes 
a  good  boat  if  you  have  balsam  pitch  handy  to  stop 
up  the  ends.  Get  off  a  section  about  2  feet  long  and 
bend  it  at  the  ends  into  a  sort  of  boat.  Clamp  these 
tight  with  pairs  of  sticks,  flow  in  your  pitch,  and 
stick  the  clamps  into  the  ground.  Water  is  boiled 
in  it  with  stones,  as  in  the  other  boat. 

WEAPONS 

Occasions  can  arise,  and  sometimes  do,  even  with 
cautions  and  experienced  woodsmen,  when  one  is 


IN  EMERGENCY  171 

deprived,  by  total  loss  of  rifle  or  cartridges,  or  loss 
of  some  important  screw  in  cleaning,  of  a  weapon, 
and  it  cannot  be  replaced  for  love  or  money.  What's 
to  do  ?  Are  you  going  to  give  up  the  trip  and  make 
the  best  of  your  way  back  to  civilization,  or  are  you 
going  to  make  an  interesting  experience  of  it  and 
try  your  skill  with  man's  ancient  weapon,  the  bow  ? 
While  javelin,  sling,  and  club  are  all  much  more 
efficient  than  we  give  them  any  credit  for,  the 
things  one  can  do  with  a  good  bow  are  incredible, 
unbeHevable,  to  one  who  has  not  actually  tried. 
Most  of  our  bow  memories  are  of  the  boyhood 
plaything,  made  out  of  an  old  stick  of  wood,  weak, 
inaccurate,  and  furnished  with  an  arrow  which  never 
twice  takes  the  same  trajectory.  Fll  admit  that 
finding  a  driven  arrow  in  the  forest  is  an  aggravating 
pastime — worse  than  untangling  fly-hooks  on  a  trout- 
stream — but  the  accuracy  and  strength  of  a  man- 
made  bow,  with  a  straight  ash  arrow  well  feathered, 
has  to  be  tried  to  be  appreciated.  A  natural-oak 
branch  with  a  mockernut-hickory  bark  thong  and  a 
feathered  arrow  made  from  a  natural  chestnut  or 
maple  shoot  is  no  mean  weapon,  let  me  tell  you.  At 
the  ranges  at  which  fool-hens,  grouse,  and  squirrels 
can  be  shot  in  the  real  wilderness,  such  a  weapon 
should  keep  you  in  meat  indefinitely,  and  there  is 
not  a  part  of  it  but  that  can  be  had  from  the  forest 
with  no  other  tools  than  your  bare  hands  and  a  sharp 


172  CAMP  CRAFT 

stone.  Braided  rope  of  the  bark  of  cedar  or  mocker- 
nut  hickory  makes  better  thongs  than  vines  much 
more  easy  to  get,  such  as  greenbrier.  At  25  feet 
you  can  drive  your  arrow  into  any  mark  8  inches  in 
diameter,  and  that  early  in  the  game  of  learning 
how  to  shoot,  and  your  effective  range  will  quickly 
increase.  You  need,  first  of  all,  plenty  of  power — 
a  bow  as  long  as  yourself  and  of  thick  stock.  The 
English  longbow  was  3  inches  wide  and  an  inch  and 
a  half  thick  at  the  middle.  Hornbeam,  oak,  and  ash 
make  good  raw  bows;  hickory  must  be  seasoned 
to  be  worth  anything,  and  ash  must  be  peeled  and 
dried  over  the  camp-fire  before  it  gets  enough  stiff- 
ness. For  a  makeshift  I  would  choose  a  stout  limb 
of  oak  already  somewhat  bow-shaped  and  taper  down 
its  thick  end  with  knife  or  hatchet.  Then  two  deep 
notches  at  the  ends,  and  a  thong  of  stout  cord, 
triple-braided  cedar  or  kingnut-hickory  bark,  or  eel- 
skin,  in  order  of  preference  named.  The  loop  is  to 
be  lashed  on  the  cord  with  fishing  line  or  cedar  bark 
or  greenbrier  tendril,  half-hitching  at  every  turn. 

Make  a  cuff  for  your  left  arm  of  leather,  canvas, 
or  birch  bark,  and  you  are  ready  for  the  really  im- 
portant article,  the  arrow.  Natural  arrows  are 
made  from  the  shoots  of  Viburnum  dentatum  or 
arrowwood,  red  maple,  chestnut,  sassafras,  or  small 
spruce  Hmbs,  peeled,  straightened  by  hand  and  eye, 
and  then  hung  up  over  a  small  fire  to  season,  with  a 


IN  EMERGENCY  173 

heavy  weight  at  the  lower  end.  Better  arrows  are 
split  from  dry  pine  or  cedar,  spruce  or  ash,  splitting 
out  from  a  3-foot  billet  with  the  axe  and  finishing 
with  the  knife.  If  dry  billets  are  chosen,  these  will 
already  be  seasoned  and  will  stay  straight,  so  that, 
once  finished,  you  can  proceed  to  learn  the  flight 
characteristics  of  each  arrow  forthwith.  Any  reason- 
ably straight  arrow  will  go  straight  for  a  short 
distance  under  a  powerful  bow — enough  for  small- 
game  shooting  at  close  range — but  if  you  are  to  do 
some  small  deed  upon  big  game  at  75  to  100  yards 
you  must  know  each  arrow  and  its  flight  charac- 
teristics, as  no  two  home-made  ones  are  alike.  For 
feathering,  the  dropped  feather  of  duck,  goose,  hawk 
or  even  such  a  bird  as  the  whiskey-john,  or  even  made 
of  birch  bark  will  answer,  and  the  vanes  are  lashed 
on  at  both  ends,  three  to  the  shaft.  The  arrow-head 
is  the  hardest  thing  to  furnish  from  camp  supplies. 
The  best  are  made  from  eight  or  ten  penny  nails, 
forged  in  the  camp-fire;  not  a  difficult  thing  to  do, 
as  an  axe  driven  into  a  stump  is  a  very  fair  anvil. 
The  nail  is  driven  into  a  green  stick  in  lieu  of  tongs, 
and  there  is  metal  enough  in  the  nail-head  to  flatten 
into  a  fair  flat-pointed  arrow-head,  reversing  the 
flat  and  welding  over  to  get  a  barb.  Such  arrows 
should  have  some  taper,  with  the  heaviest  end  at 
the  head,  for  there  is  not  metal  enough  in  the  nail 
to  make  a  good  balance.    The  arrow  is  well  lashed 


174  CAMP  CRAFT 

an  inch  back  from  the  head  and  the  point  tapered 
down  to  the  nail,  when  you  have  there  a  formidable 
missile  that  a  good  bow  will  drive  clean  through  a 
deer  from  side  to  side.  For  small  game,  arrows 
with  bone  or  thorn  heads  are  effective  enough  and 
easily  made,  as  bird  and  small  animal  bones  are 
easily  stone-ground  to  a  point.  Certain  woods, 
notably  pin-oak,  hornbeam,  locust,  laurel,  and  holly, 
when  sharpened  and  burned,  give  a  hard  enough 
arrow-head  for  all  bird  and  small-game  shooting. 
The  Indians  make  a  whole  set  of  arrows  on  this  order 
of  straight  cane  stalks  with  a  hardwood  point  and 
tied-on  feathers,  amply  good  and  straight  enough 
for  short-range  pot  shooting. 

Out  West,  where  the  crack  of  the  rifle  is  apt  to 
scare  ofF  big  game,  they  use  the  "rubber  gun"  or 
slingshot  of  boyhood  days,  for  pot  shooting  grouse 
and  fool-hens.  No.  2  buck  is  the  missile  and  a  body 
shot  is  just  as  effective  as  a  head  shot.  A  man- 
sized  wood  crotch,  two  rubber  elastics,  ^  inch  by  5 
inches,  and  a  leather  pouch  are  all  the  materials 
needed,  and  room  should  be  found  for  them  in  your 
pack  or  on  your  belt. 

TACKLE 

While  a  camping  party  is  perhaps  never  without 
tackle,  it  often  happens  that  the  lone  hunter  finds 
himself  beside  a  pond  teeming  with  fish  and  no  hook 


IN  EMERGENCY  175 

to  catch  them  with.  We  all  Hke  a  little  fish  for  a 
change,  and  nearly  every  one  carries  a  fly  or  two 
and  some  spare  hooks  in  his  inside  hat-band;  but 
if  totally  without,  one  need  not  despair,  for  a  hook 
that  will  land  'em  is  not  such  a  mystery  as  it  seems. 
A  greenbrier  thorn  lashed  to  a  tiny  bit  of  wood 
pointing  back  at  a  sharp  angle  by  its  own  tendril 
served  our  Indian  fisherman  for  a  mighty  long  while 
before  the  white  man  and  his  steel  hook  put  in  an 
appearance.  A  sharp-pointed  bird  bone  or  even 
a  hardwood  sliver,  charred  and  pointed  as  sharp  as 
the  proverbial  spHnter,  makes  a  good  hook  when 
lashed  to  a  small  stock  in  the  same  way.  The  whole 
hook  is  covered  with  an  attractive  bait — a  lump 
of  raw  meat  will  do  for  blue-gills,  perch,  and  catfish — 
and,  with  a  ready  line  and  a  hunter  keen  to  yank 
at  the  first  nibble,  the  fish  is  out  of  water  before  he 
knows  it.  A  grasshopper  and  a  short  pole  will  do 
the  same  thing  for  trout.  Work  the  pole  through 
the  alders  and  skitter  the  grasshopper  over  the  pool, 
and  if  there  is  a  trout  in  it  he  strikes  and  is  snitched 
out  onto  the  bank  before  he  can  flip  a  fin.  Not 
angUng,  but  great  for  meat  in  the  pot ! 

With  a  greenbrier-thorn  hook  you  need  a  flexible 
pole  and  must  tire  out  your  fish  on  a  taut  line,  for 
the  thorn  will  not  stand  a  stiff  jerk  without  breaking 
oflF.  I  once  made  two  hooks  on  this  order  and  caught 
a  mess  of  sunfish  with  no  materials  but  the  green- 


176  CAMP  CRAFT 

brier  thorn  on  its  own  twig,  lashed  into  hook  form 
with  the  flexible  tendrils  of  the  vine  which  are  about 
4  inches  long  and  strong  as  No.  40  cotton  thread, 
and  knot  readily. 

SHELTER 

It  depends  upon  the  country  you  are  in,  the  main 
object  being  to  keep  the  cold  radiation  of  space  off 
you  in  clear  nights  and  the  rain  or  snow  oflF  in  cloudy 
ones.  No  improvised  shelter  will  turn  a  heavy, 
driving  rain,  but  even  a  flimsy  one  is  better  than 
none  at  all.  Wherefore,  if  caught  out  overnight  do 
not  "rough  it,"  dozing  before  the  fire,  roasting  one 
side  at  a  time,  but  build  a  small  lean-to  or  wickiup. 
The  classic  brush  lean-to  of  balsam  or  cedar  boughs 
is  the  thing  if  in  the  country  of  these  trees;  do  not 
use  small  trees,  but  rather  boughs,  lopped  from  the 
lower  trunks  of  large  trees.  These  already  have 
the  flat  spread  so  useful  for  roof  shingling.  The  only 
small  tree  at  all  suitable  for  roofing  is  the  red  or 
white  cedar,  and  that  will  by  no  means  shed  rain, 
as  its  branches  do  not  set  right  for  such  service.  In 
hardwood  countries  the  best  lean-to  is  made  by 
shingling  the  lower  branches  of  red  oak,  birch, 
beech,  and  soft  maple,  following  the  same  lines  as 
the  balsam  lean-to.  In  grass  country  a  thatch  roof 
is  made  by  putting  cross-purlins  of  small  sapHngs 
about  a  foot  apart  up  the  poles  of  the  lean-to,  gather- 


IN  EMERGENCY  177 

ing  a  quantity  of  long  grasses  and  bundling  them  with 
a  vine  or  cord  passing  around  the  lean-to  purlins, 
and  taking  a  sheave  of  grasses  as  thick  as  your  wrist 
at  every  turn.  Three  rows  of  these  grass  bundles 
are  sufficient,  overlapping  a  foot,  and  the  edifice 
will  take  about  two  hours  to  build.  Using  the  same 
sort  of  frame,  I  have  shingled  pine  sprays  from  the 
pitch-pine  in  sandy  countries  with  very  good  results, 
and  the  "niggerheads"  of  the  long-leaf  pine  in  the 
South  would  serve  the  same  purpose  admirably. 
In  the  tropics  I  have  made  very  good  lean-tos  of  the 
seaside  palm-leaf.  In  all  these  shacks  with  a  fire 
out  in  front,  if  you  have  no  blanket  it  is  far  better  to 
prepare  a  dry,  comfortable  bed  than  to  attempt  to 
sleep  with  your  clothes  on,  only  throwing  in  a  Httle 
brush  to  take  ofF  the  raw  edge,  so  to  speak. 

It  is  much  better,  if  the  woods  are  dry,  to  fill 
the  lean-to  with  a  great  pile  of  dry  leaves  or  pine- 
needles  or  grasses  at  least  2  feet  deep,  occupying  the 
hours  after  supper  for  this  purpose.  Bank  these  in 
two  main  piles,  with  a  hollow  in  between,  lie  down 
in  this  hollow,  take  off  your  outer  clothes  and  put 
them  over  you,  depending  upon  your  bodily  heat 
to  make  the  dry  stuff  under  you  warm  and  cosey. 
There  is  never  any  trouble  about  this  if  you  have 
enough  dry  leaves,  needles,  or  grass  underneath;  it 
is  the  upper  side  that  gets  cold.  No  amount  of 
clothes  if  kept  on  will  be  warm  enough  and  comfort- 


178  CAMP  CRAFT 

able  enough  to  let  you  get  to  sleep.  They  shut  off 
circulation  and  impede  free  movement;  but  it  is 
surprising  how  effective  even  a  mackinaw  coat  and 
trousers  are  when  spread  over  one  of  a  cold  night, 
with  a  bed  of  dry  stuff  to  lie  down  in.  You  will 
arise  next  morning  refreshed  and  ready  to  find  that 
lost  trail  again,  whereas  if  you  had  "stuck  it  out" 
all  night  in  your  clothes  before  a  fire,  you  would  be 
just  that  much  the  worse  for  wear  and  likely  to 
spend  yet  another  night  out  before  you  got  through. 

THE   DITTY-BAG 

My  great  panacea  for  all  emergencies  is  the  ditty- 
bag.  It  is  the  first  thing  taken  off  and  hung  on  a 
twig  when  a  camp  site  is  decided  upon  and  the  last 
thing  put  on  when  camp  is  broken.  It  has  every- 
thing in  it  for  repairs,  accidents,  emergencies  of  all 
kinds.  Canoe  leaking  .?  In  the  ditty-bag  is  a  small 
stick  of  canoe  glue,  a  heavy  needle,  and  strong 
thread.  Moccasin  stitch  out  ?  You'll  find  a  leather 
needle  with  a  thread  of  moccasin  twine  in  the 
d.-b.  Suspender  button  off.?  In  that  repository 
of  repairdom  is  another  button,  a  needle,  and  shoe 
thread.  Sick  ?  There  is  a  medicine-kit  in  the  emol- 
lient of  emergencies  which  will  cure  anything  you 
have,  from  fever  to  deUrium  tremens.  Hurt  ?  Right 
this  way,  we  have  it  right  here,  surgical  bandages, 
tape,    stitch    needle,    antiseptics — can    give   you    a 


IN  EMERGENCY  179 

whole  new  rubber  neck  on  demand.  Gun  needs 
cleaning  ?  The  whole  works  are  in  the  ditty-bag. 
Hungry  ^  There  are  a  dozen  square  meals  lurking 
inside  the  covers  of  that — grab  it  from  me — justly 
famous  ditty-bag.  Tackle  frayed  or  lost .?  There 
are  bass  and  trout  fly-hooks,  a  dozen  leaders,  spoons, 
plugs,  sinkers,  swivels,  hooks,  spinners,  guides,  tips, 
and  safety-pins  floating  at  large  in  the  confines  of 
that  capacious  receptacle.  Lost  in  the  woods  or 
in  a  fog  on  a  lake  ?  In  the — well,  you  know — ^you 
will  find  a  compass  that  will  help  some.  Grommet 
pulled  out  of  tent  or  tarp  ?  We  have  it,  a  spare  one 
or  two;  also  nails,  tacks,  copper  wire,  and  four  pot- 
hook chains.  Lost  your  fish-line  ?  Never  mind,  in 
this  tucket  of  trinkets  we  have  50  yards  of  No.  5 
casting-Hne  and  30  yards  of  E  trout-hne.  Tossum 
up  a  hollow  tree  ?  We  have  the  exact  specific  for 
him,  for  here  comes  the  crowning  glory  of  the  ditty- 
bag  a  steel  'possum  hook  made  from  a  bent  file, 
sharp  as  the  devil,  will  hold  a  ton,  good  for  any  use 
to  which  a  stout  hook  may  be  put,  from  gaffing  a 
fish  to  lassoing  a  runaway  canoe! 


CHAPTER  X 
TAKING  THE  FAMILY  ALONG 

I  HAVE  two  angler  friends,  both  of  them  mighty 
fishermen,  both  of  great  repute.  The  only  blot 
on  the  fair  escutcheon  of  one  of  them  is  that  he  has 
a  tendency  to  revile  the  other  for  bringing  along 
his  wife,  children,  puppy-dog,  and  pussy-cat  when 
he  goes  a-t routing.  To  me,  however,  that  is  one 
of  the  chief  charms  in  the  character  of  the  other 
angler  and  I  admire  and  respect  his  desire  to  share 
his  stream-side  joys  with  his  family,  even  though 
I  reaUze  fully  that  it  increases  his  personal  labor  and 
decreases  his  available  time  for  wetting  trout-lines. 
Piscator  No.  i,  in  common  with  the  vast  majority 
of  outdoorsmen,  prefers  to  go  it  alone — to  fish  while 
he  is  fishing  and  stay  home  when  he  is  staying,  and 
not  mix  the  two,  and  he  usually  propitiates  the 
partner  of  his  joys  and  sorrows  by  a  notable  present 
after  each  trip.  He  is  privileged  to  do  so — but,  just 
the  same,  he  is  missing  something. 

Let  me  tell  you  a  httle  story:  some  time  ago  a 
few  of  us  formed  an  organization  whose  avowed 
purpose  was  camping  out  once  a  month  every  month 

i8o 


TAKING  THE  FAMILY  ALONG       i8i 

of  the  year.  We  had  lots  of  fun  out  of  it,  first  and 
last,  but  each  and  every  camp  left  an  aching  gap 
in  the  family  circle  when  camping  dates  came  around, 
and  each  time  the  juveniles  became  more  and  more 
clamorous  to  go,  too.  Then  some  one  suggested  that 
we  take  the  kids  along,  and  forthwith  the  affair  was 
brought  about — in  mid-December;  four  daddies  and 
six  kiddies — and  maybe  they  didn't  have  the  time 
of  their  lives !  The  oldest  was  thirteen,  youngest 
eight,  three  girls  and  three  boys.  We  had  a  14  by  16 
wall-tent  and  stove,  ten  folding  canvas  camp-cots, 
and  complete  cooking  outfit.  The  six  kids  cut  and 
drove  tent-pegs,  helped  put  up  the  tent,  cleaned  out 
the  floor  of  it  inside,  set  up  the  cot-beds,  carried 
water,  chopped  fire-wood,  helped  cook,  did  nearly 
all  the  eating,  and  washed  up  afterward.  We  had 
camp-games  all  evening  and  by  eight  o'clock  six 
warm  sleeping-bags  held  six  curly  heads,  which 
would  pop  up  every  time  the  men  outside  around 
the  camp-fire  cracked  a  joke  or  took  a  drink.  Finally, 
after  awful  threats,  they  all  fell  asleep,  and  soon  we 
turned  in  also. 

Next  morning  a  wash  in  the  lake,  breaking  through 
an  inch  of  ice  to  do  it,  breakfast,  dishes,  more  games, 
an  exploring  trip  through  the  forest;  and  if  there 
had  been  snow  we  were  ready  with  snow-shoes  and 
skates.  Altogether  the  kids  had  a  gorgeous  time 
and  broke  camp  with  a  howl  of  dismay,  while  the 


i82  CAMP  CRAFT 

four  daddies  agreed  that  camping  was  even  easier 
with  them  than  without. 

The  ladies  at  home  put  up  with  all  this  with 
amused  tolerance;  but  when,  on  the  return,  they 
were  assailed  by  a  crowd  of  excited  juveniles,  radiant 
with  snapping  eyes  and  blazing  cheeks,  they  began 
to  put  forth  hints,  more  or  less  obvious,  that  it 
wasn't  just  exactly  the  height  of  bliss  to  be  left 
behind,  either ! 

I  think  that  most  outdoorsmen  who  have  ob- 
served keenly  are  agreed  that,  given  the  same  com- 
pleteness of  equipment  and  the  same  real  wilderness 
conditions,  the  girl  is  as  keen  a  sport  as  the  man. 
She  enjoys  the  zest  of  the  wild  life  as  well  as  the  man 
does  and  she  will  endure  hardship  and  fatigue  quite 
as  well  as  he.  She  doesn't  Hke  tame  wood-lot  camp- 
ing, where  there  is  a  farmhouse  every  mile;  nor 
camping  in  old  clothes;  nor  in  a  wall-tent  in  plain 
sight  of  a  country  road.  But,  take  her  along  on  a 
long  canoe  trip  through  an  uninhabited  region,  or 
on  a  hunting  and  fishing  trip  in  Maine  or  Canada, 
where  the  whole  world  is  yours  as  far  as  you  can  see, 
and  note  how  intensely  she  will  enjoy  every  phase  of 
camp  and  trail  Hfe,  provided  that  you  know  your 
business  of  going  in  reasonable  comfort  and  do  not 
run  her  into  the  miseries  and  tribulations  usually 
endured  by  tenderfeet. 

Getting  back  to  the  kids;  they  are  passing  through 


TAKING  THE  FAMILY  ALONG       183 

their  age  of  primal  savagery,  anyhow,  and  to  them 
every  detail  of  camping  and  exploration  is  a  joy 
beyond  all  joys.  Even  the  Glorious  Fourth  is  tame 
compared  to  a  real  camp !  They  can  go  with  you 
anywhere — fishing,  camping,  canoeing;  in  the  snipe 
blind,  the  duck  boat,  or  the  up-land  brush — any- 
where but  big-game  hunting,  for  the  hardships  of 
which  they  have  not  the  necessary  endurance. 
Quick  sales  and  small  profits  for  them  1 

A  boy  of  nine  to  twelve  can  carry  a  12-pound 
pack,  without  tuckering  out,  from  6  to  10  miles, 
depending  upon  the  going.  He  can  handle  a  bait 
casting-rod  quite  as  well  as  most  men,  usually 
catches  the  most  small  trout  on  a  trout  trip,  and  in 
salt-water  work  will  take  fish  up  to  6  pounds  entirely 
unaided.  Rifle-shooting  the  American  boy  takes 
naturally  to.  I  do  not  approve  of  letting  boys  under 
twelve  go  afield  with  either  the  .22  Or  the  small- 
bore shotgun,  but  a  good,  accurate  air-rifle  is  safe 
in  the  hands  of  a  reasonably  steady  boy  of  ten  years 
and  older.  With  such  a  weapon  he  has  an  incentive 
to  go  into  the  woods  and  learn  the  great  game  of 
woodcraft.  Most  outdoor  boys  are  great  naturalists 
and  collectors,  and  if  the  thing  is  not  overdone  it 
should  be  encouraged.  As  the  curator  of  a  great 
museum  once  said  to  me,  **the  self-reliance,  wood- 
craft, and  love  of  Nature  that  your  boyhood  col- 
lecting trips  taught  you,  far  more  than  repaid  any 


1 84  CAMP  CRAFT 

slight  drain  that  you  may  have  made  on  wild-Hfe 


resources." 


For  the  boy's  equipment,  in  that  12  pounds  of 
knapsack  load  must  be  found  blanket,  bed,  pillow, 
tackle,  extra  clothes,  2  pounds  of  provisions,  and 
usually  a  can  of  worms.  So  far  as  I  know,  there  are 
no  boys'  knapsacks  for  sale  that  are  anything  more 
than  toys,  by  no  means  strong  enough  for  real  trail 
conditions.  A  very  good  one  can  be  made  out  of  a 
canvas  shell-bag,  costing  one  dollar  at  the  sporting- 
goods  stores.  Take  the  strap  off  this  and  move  the 
leather  ring  tabs  around  to  the  rear  upper  corners 
of  the  bag.  Cut  up  the  strap  to  make  two  shoulder- 
straps  and  you  have  a  servicable  knapsack  that  will 
fit  a  boy  of  ten  to  twelve  years.  For  a  blanket  you 
want  something  water-proof,  warm  enough  for  tem- 
peratures below  freezing,  not  over  12  inches  long 
by  4  inches  in  diameter  when  rolled  up,  and  not 
over  3>^  pounds  weight.  The  size  blanket  for  a 
boy  of  nine  or  ten  would  be  4  feet  6  inches  long  by 
36  inches  wide,  with  pins  or  lacings  to  secure  it  to 
the  browse-bag.  To  make  such  a  bag  you  will 
need  lyi  yards  of  brown  water-proof  canvas  or  tent 
silk,  30  inches  wide,  and  to  this  sew  a  lining  of  fine 
all-wool  blanketing  36  by  54  inches,  running  the 
seam  an  inch  inside  the  canvas  edge,  and  face  this 
lining  with  gray  flannel  with  a  gray  tape  edg- 
ing around   blanket   and  flannel.      This  rig  weighs 


TAKING  THE  FAMILY  ALONG       185 

3>^  pounds,  is  water-proof  when  rolled  up,  makes 
a  parcel  12  inches  long  by  4  inches  diameter,  which 
can  be  secured  on  top  of  the  knapsack  with  brown 
tape  straps,  and  it  is  comfortable  down  to  freezing. 
Provide  it  with  a  row  of  grommet  holes  along  the 
sides  and  foot,  so  it  can  be  laced  to  the  browse  mat- 
tress, for  boys  will  wiggle  around  at  night  and  will 
unroll  any  number  of  blankets.  A  bag  of  some  sort 
for  them !  For  a  browse-bag,  24  inches  wide  by  5 
feet  6  inches  long  is  ample;  top  face  of  brown  canton 
flannel,  bottom  face  of  brown  8-ounce  canvas.  It 
weighs  15  ounces  and  goes  with  the  pocket  cook-kit, 
tackle,  bait,  etc.,  in  the  pack.  For  a  boy's  clothing 
outfit  I  would  prescribe:  high-top,  water-proof 
moccasins,  fine,  long  wool  stockings  over  his  ordin- 
ary ones,  drab  army  wool  shirt,  corduroy  knickers, 
corduroy  or  mackinaw  coat,  soft  felt  hat,  sweater, 
bandanna,  belt,  sheath-knife  and  belt-axe.  For 
summer  camping  a  khaki  rig  with  khaki  riding 
breeches,  stockings  and  low  mocs  is  best.  Personally, 
I  do  not  care  much  for  summer  camping,  insects 
and  neighbors  being  too  plentiful  and  cheap,  but  it's 
a  great  time  o'  year  for  boys'  camps. 

For  a  little  girl's  fall,  winter,  and  spring  sleeping- 
bag,  we  got  up  a  very  successful  one  as  follows: 
materials,  6  yards  of  brown  "sateen"  and  four 
25-cent  rolls  of  fine  AustraUan  wool.  Of  these  we 
made  two  quilts,  sewing  them  together  around  the 


1 86  CAMP  CRAFT 

edges,  leaving  the  top  open  and  2  feet  of  seam  down 
one  side.  Then,  turning  this  inside  out  to  bring  the 
seams  inside,  we  had  a  Hght  sleeping-bag  for  the 
little  lady  {cet,  7),  weighing  but  2  pounds  and  rolling 
into  a  parcel  14  by  3  inches  in  diameter.  This,  with 
a  small  feather  pillow,  a  browse-bag,  flannel  nightie, 
toilet-kit  and  sweater,  went  into  a  Hght  rubber-silk 
raincoat,  and  the  whole  parcel  weighed  ^}4  pounds. 
For  her  clothing  in  the  cold  months,  white  wool 
sweater,  white  toque,  mackinaw  coat  (child's  size), 
forestry  cloth,  loden,  or  corduroy  bloomers  and  skirt, 
long,  fine,  wool  socks  and  high,  water-proof  moc- 
casins. A  pair  of  low  camp  moccasins  are  also  de- 
sirable, and,  for  additional  warmth  to  the  feet,  a 
pair  of  gray  lumbermen's  socks. 

As  already  mentioned,  the  better  halves  of  the 
various  parties  to  this  yarn  showed  more  than  a 
languid  interest  in  being  taken  along  next  time, 
especially  after  the  infectious  enthusiasm  of  the 
youngsters  had  had  time  to  get  in  its  deadly  work. 
Nothing  would  do  but  complete  outfits  for  them  also. 
There  are  no  better  sports  afield  than  the  outdoor 
girls — heaven  bless  'em ! — but  they  have  to  be  con- 
vinced first  of  all,  that  they  lose  no  caste  by  going 
camping,  but  rather  acquire  merit;  second,  that 
the  rig  in  which  they  flourish  about  is  really  be- 
coming; and  third,  that  their  camp  sleeping  ac- 
commodations will  be  really  comfortable,  not  the 


TAKING  THE  FAMILY  ALONG       187 

kind  that  require  them  to  endure  misery  without  a 
whimper  of  protest. 

Beginning  with  shelter,  the  tent  must  be  light 
and  easily  stowed,  insect-tight,  snow  and  rain  proof, 
roomy,  and  capable  of  taking  camp-cots  or  stretcher 
beds.  Of  course,  the  closed-front  type  is  the  only 
one  considered  for  ladies'  use.  At  the  same  time, 
especially  in  go-light  and  back-pack  trips,  the  tent 
weight  is  always  an  essential  factor,  6  pounds  being 
about  the  limit.  Three  tents  come  to  mind  as  ful- 
fiUing  these  conditions — a  wall-tent  of  the  Miner's 
type,  a  canoe-tent  with  ridge,  and  the  Snow  tent. 
The  two  former  are  good,  but  the  Snow  tent  (shown 
in  our  illustrations)  fulfils  every  requirement  in  pre- 
cisely the  most  logical  way.  In  front  its  shape 
resembles  an  ordinary  wall-tent,  and  this  is  carried 
back  for  about  30  inches,  after  which  the  ridge 
terminates  with  a  double  triangular  plane  filling 
the  space  from  the  ridge  to  the  rear  wall  and  held 
taut  with  a  rear  guy.  It  takes  seven  long  stakes, 
a  pair  of  shears,  and  a  short  club  to  set  up  this  tent, 
and,  once  the  stakes  and  shears  are  on  hand,  a  very 
few  minutes  suffice  to  put  it  up.  The  three  side 
stakes  should  stand  about  3  feet  above  the  ground 
when  driven,  and  to  them  are  tied  the  tent  corners 
and  mid-seam  at  the  top  and  bottom  of  the  wall. 
The  seventh  stake  should  be  stout  and  stand  4  feet 
above  the  ground.     To  it  is  guyed  the  rear  peak, 


i88  CAMP  CRAFT 

while  the  shears  which  carry  the  ridge  club  on  a 
bridle  lean  somewhat  against  it,  thus  not  only 
stretching  the  tent  taut,  but  providing  three  points 
of  support  against  outside  wind  strain.  The  Snow 
tent  is  6  by  6  feet  floor  space  and  weighs  6  pounds 
in  American  drilling — the  three-six  tent,  so  to  speak. 
It  is  7  feet  high  to  the  ridge,  giving  ample  standing- 
room  and  accommodates  the  wife  and  two  children, 
the  former  using  a  pack-sack  sleeping-bag  arranged 
as  a  stretcher  bed,  and  the  latter  sleeping  on  browse- 
bags  on  a  rubber  floor-cloth.  Let  us  see  how  this 
tent  suits  itself  to  your  lady's  use.  It's  light — 
6  pounds  in  driUing,  three  in  Japanese  silk;  she 
can  carry  it  in  her  pack  if  need  be — in  case  you  are 
already  burdened  with  another  tent  for  yourself 
and  the  boys;  it's  roomy;  the  canvas  does  not  lean 
over  you  too  soon,  as  in  all  wedge-shaped  tents; 
and  there  is  room  for  two  cots  or  stretcher  beds, 
with  space  to  move  about  in  between.  Used  as  an 
open  tent,  the  broad  rear  triangle  reflects  the  heat 
of  the  camp-fire  satisfactorily,  and  when  the  front 
is  closed  in  you  have  privacy  and  immunity  from 
mosquitoes.  It  is  very  quickly  put  up,  making  it  a 
good  trail  and  canoe  trip  tent,  and,  finally,  its  sides 
are  high  enough  to  permit  the  construction  of  all 
sorts  of  Httle  camp  comforts,  such  as  stick  racks  to 
hang  toilet  and  clothing  pockets  on,  etc.  You  will 
want  your  madam  to  be  as  comfortable  as  in  her  own 


TAKING  THE  FAMILY  ALONG       189 

home,  and  this  tent  pretty  nearly  lets  you  do  it,  on 
marvellously  little  weight. 

Next,  let  us  consider  her  sleeping  accommodations. 
Woman  will  not  endure  much  discomfort  from  hard 
browse  mattresses,  rope  beds,  and  the  Uke  and  still 
keep  up  her  nerve  and  enthusiasm.  Some  sort  of  a 
modified  stick  bed,  a  plain  stretcher  bed  or  a  pack- 
sack  sleeping-bag  made  up  with  the  lacing  running 
around  the  poles  will  give  her  all  the  comfort  she 
wants.  I  show  the  latter  made  up  in  a  Snow  tent. 
The  head  end  of  the  browse-bag  has  a  pocket  across 
it  for  insertion  of  a  short  head  stick,  which  is  tied 
to  the  side  poles.  The  lacings  across  the  foot  take 
in  also  a  foot  stick,  and  this  frame,  formed  of  two 
side  poles,  head  stick,  and  foot  stick,  is  lashed  to 
four  stakes  which  form  the  legs  of  the  bed.  Other 
available  camp-beds  that  come  to  mind  are  the 
standard  stretcher  beds,  72  by  36  inches,  weight  3 
pounds;  the  folding  camp-cots,  6  feet  6  inches  by 
27  inches,  weight  16  pounds,  folding  to  a  parcel  36 
by  8  inches  diameter;  and  Abercrombie's  modi- 
fication of  the  Indian  stick  bed.  This  consists  of  a 
sort  of  khaki  and  wool  quilt,  with  pockets  running 
across  it  every  few  inches,  in  each  of  which  is  a 
tough,  springy  wooden  rod.  It  is  72  by  27  inches 
wide  and  rolls  up  into  a  parcel  8  inches  in  diameter, 
weighing  6  pounds.  To  make  up  your  bed,  you  simply 
need  two  straight  side  poles  and  two  short  logs  un- 


I90  CAMP  CRAFT 

der  them  at  the  ends.  Stake  in  place  and  then  un- 
roll and  tie  fast  your  stick  bed,  which  is  also  a  warm, 
comfortable  mattress.  A  good  combination  to  go 
with  this  is  either  one  of  the  wool-and-silk  quilt 
bags  previously  described  or  the  one  of  gabardine 
and  woven  llama  wool  sold  by  the  outfitters. 
Either  one  will  weigh  about  3  pounds,  making  her 
total  weight  for  sleeping  equipment  with  stick-bed 
mattress  9  pounds.  In  addition,  you  should  provide 
wool  sleeping  socks,  bed  slippers,  and  wool  pajamas. 
Women  lose  interest  in  camping  if  expected  to  sleep 
in  their  clothes. 

Now  as  to  how  to  clothe  her:  The  garments  must 
look  dressy,  not  too  conspicuous  or  bizarre  to  be 
worn  on  the  train  to  the  jumping-ofF  place;  must 
be  rain-proof  and  warm  and  rugged  enough  not  to 
worry  her  when  the  going  is  bad.  Obviously,  old 
clothes  or  home-made  rigs  are  hardly  going  to  fill 
the  bill.  (The  bill,  by  the  way,  will  not  be  much 
under  $50,  but  when  it  comes  to  outfitting  Her,  you 
do  not  want  anything  cheap !)  For  summer  camp- 
ing you  will  get  off  rather  easy — a  neat,  well-tailored 
khaki  suit  will  stand  you  $10,  bloomers  ^4.50,  hat 
^3,  high  water-proof  hunting-shoes  ^9,  army  drab 
flannel  shirt  $3.50.  Finish  her  off  with  a  silk  ban- 
danna and  she  will  tickle  your  eye  as  a  modern 
Diana  of  the  woodland  trail.  So  rigged  out,  she 
will   be   cool    and    comfortable,  laugh    at   thunder- 


TAKING  THE  FAMILY  ALONG       191 

showers,  can  wade  a  brook  or  plough  up  a  swamp, 
and,  with  a  dollar  head-net,  will  be  serene  in  a 
country  where  insects  and  black-flies  are  not  to  be 
ignored. 

I  forgot  her  hands.  Get  her  a  pair  of  buckskin 
gloves  with  cuflTs,  price  $1.75.  If  the  nights  are  cold 
— and  they  generally  are  in  any  country  worth 
cruising  in — add  a  mackinaw  coat.  Red-and-black 
plaid  is  the  popular  women's  color;  and  get  the  real 
goods,  costing  around  ^15,  in  all  wool,  not  the  shoddy 
imitation  which  the  department  stores  will  sell  you 
for  a  couple  of  dollars.  This  coat  is  quite  rain-proof, 
light  to  carry,  warm  under  all  conditions,  and  is  the 
thing  for  her  to  slip  on  when  the  chill  night  breezes 
keep  you  standing  around  the  camp-fire. 

For  spring,  fall,  and  winter  camping  she  will 
want  tweed,  forestry  cloth,  or  loden  garments  and 
thick  wool  socks  inside  the  high  hunting-shoes.  The 
modern  divided  skirt  is  no  shocking  affair;  it  looks 
like  the  ordinary  skirt  with  a  double  row  of  buttons 
fore  and  aft,  and  it  is  essential  to  manoeuvring  in 
and  out  of  canoes,  over  rough  portages  and  moun- 
tain trails.  The  coat  is  in  the  Norfolk  jacket  style, 
tailored  to  fit  her  figure  smartly.  The  two  will 
stand  you  a  good  stack  of  iron  dollars,  but  she  will 
look  right  and  feel  right,  which  conditions  a  woman 
prefers  above  much  game  and  many  fish. 

On  top  of  her  crown  of  sunset  hair  (the  novelist's 


192  CAMP  CRAFT 

favorite  material  for  his  heroine's  wig)  you  put  a 
floppy  hat.  Get  it  in  mackinaw  for  cold  weather, 
and  with  a  saucy  cockade  and  a  black  tassel  on  the 
side;  the  same  thing  in  corduroy  for  summer.  For 
midwinter  a  wool  toque  or  hood  is  better — some- 
thing that  will  keep  her  ears  warm. 

After  she  gets  all  this  outfit,  her  one  idea  will  be 
to  preserve  it  immaculate  from  the  merciless  ele- 
ments. Under  no  considerations  will  she  daub  those 
lovely  yellow  boots  with  that  horrid  water-proofing 
grease,  and  she  will  run  for  shelter  at  the  first  drop 
of  rain,  just  as  if  she  were  wearing  the  gauzy  butterfly 
wings  of  civilization.  Woman,  lovely  woman,  has — 
alas ! — none  of  man's  liking  for  worn,  dirty,  and 
blood-clotted  trail  clothes,  and,  what  is  worse,  she 
will  proceed  to  reform  you  the  moment  she  is  out- 
fitted herself;  and  all  your  beloved  and  picturesquely 
dirty  clothes  are  sent  to  the  wash  forthwith — to 
their  utter  ruination. 

However,  a  few  trips  by  trail  and  canoe  will  take 
the  raw  edge  oflF  all  that;  the  angel  becomes  more 
tolerant  and  broad-minded,  and  you  will  find  her 
the  best  camp-mate  you  ever  took  along. 

As  to  the  kind  of  trip  to  take,  I  believe  a  good 
down-stream  canoe  trip  appeals  more  to  the  outdoor 
girl  than  anything  else.  She  will  do  thirty  or  forty 
miles  of  river  a  day  and  will  enter  every  bit  of  rough 
water  with   squeals  of  delight.     Do  not  rush   her 


TAKING  THE  FAMILY  ALONG       193 

along  too  fast;  stop  to  fish  or  hunt  or  loaf  when  you 
hit  a  particularly  pretty  camp  site.  Choose  a  really 
wild  river — one  with  no  farms  along  its  banks. 
Maine,  Canada,  the  Lake  States  and  the  Southland 
are  full  of  good  rivers  and  lake  chains.  Take  the 
family  along.  They  will  have  the  time  of  their  lives, 
and  you  will  work  twice  as  hard  as  you  usually 
do,  but  it  is  worth  it  for  the  pleasure  it  gives  to 
others. 

A  go-light  outfit  is  the  ideal.  It  is  not  to  be  ex- 
pected that  women  and  children  can  pack  any  more 
than  their  own  sleeping-outfit  and  personal  effects. 
The  weight  they  can  carry  on  trail  and  portage  will 
be:  for  the  madam,  22  pounds;  boy,  10  to  12  pounds; 
little  girl,  6  pounds.  The  22  pounds  for  the  lady 
would  comprise  her  sleeping  and  personal  kit,  be- 
sides a  Hght  tent  for  herself  and  the  little  girl.  Your 
own  kit  would  run  somewhere  about  35  pounds  and 
would  cover  sleeping  rig,  cook-kit,  tackle,  tent,  axe, 
rifle,  and  ammunition.  All  this  you  take  with  you 
en  route  as  hand-baggage,  and  beware  of  intrusting 
it  to  the  tender  mercies  of  the  baggage-smasher  and 
the  express  companies,  for  the  way  these  gentry 
rip  off  pack  straps  and  tump-bag  handles  is  a  crime, 
no  less !  The  food  bags,  baker,  and  grate  you  can 
check,  also  suitcases  containing  the  wilderness  garb, 
which  you  exchange  for  your  store  clothes  at  the 
jumping-ofF  place. 


194  CAMP  CRAFT 

On  the  portage  your  guide  looks  after  the  food- 
bags,  and  you,  with  your  pack-sack  on  your  back,  can 
take  one  end  of  the  canoe  while  the  rest  carry  their 
personal  effects,  making  the  portage  in  one  lap. 
So  organized,  you  and  the  family  can  take  almost 
any  trip,  but  beware  of  loading  up  heavy;  right 
there  is  where  your  troubles  will  begin. 

And  bestir  yourself  to  make  things  comfortable 
for  them.  A  camp  eating-table  is  to  be  had  by 
driving  four  stakes,  tying  on  two  cross-pieces,  and 
filling  in  with  four  3-inch  logs  5  feet  long  laid 
side  by  side.  Top  and  level  off  with  gravel  from 
the  brook.  Nail  up  a  cross-rail  and  hang  up  the 
food-pack,  or  else  swing  the  bags  in  pairs  over  the 
rail. 

Have  a  systematic  set  of  jobs  for  the  family  on 
making  camp.  The  boys  will  be  cutting  stakes  while 
the  little  girl  rustles  browse  and  the  madam  un- 
packs the  various  packs  and  gets  out  the  tents  and 
sleeping-kits.  Meanwhile  you  are  cutting  a  supply 
of  poles.  Next,  the  stakes  are  driven  for  the  ladies* 
tent,  the  bridle  and  club  put  on,  the  shears  tied 
together,  and  up  she  goes !  Poles  10  feet  long  are 
ample,  coming  down  close  alongside  the  tent  and 
leaning  slightly  forward.  Next  goes  up  your  own 
tent,  and  the  boy  will  be  filling  your  browse-bag 
while  you  set  about  getting  supper.  Two  stakes  and 
a  cross-pole  tied  to  them,  chain  pothooks,  and  three 


TAKING  THE  FAMILY  ALONG       195 

pails  full  of  water  lay  the  foundation  for  supper. 
While  they  are  coming  to  a  boil,  rig  up  your  kitchen, 
get  out  the  frying-pan,  grate,  and  the  baker,  and  start 
the  madam  on  biscuits.  We'll  have  rice,  tea,  fried 
black  bass,  stewed  apricots,  and  hot  biscuits.  Keep 
the  children  away  from  the  camp-fire  or  they  will 
kick  dirt  and  sand  into  everything,  for  they  are  full 
of  high  spirits  and  excitement  and  cannot  exactly 
be  described  as  quiet. 

Supper  over,  while  they  are  washing  dishes  (have 
on  a  pail  of  water  during  supper  for  this  very  purpose) 
you  light  your  pipe  and  set  about  making  the 
stretcher  bed  for  the  madam.  That  finished,  see 
that  the  little  girl  has  browse  enough  and  then  look 
over  your  own  layout.  If  the  tents  need  trenching, 
now  is  the  time  to  do  it;  after  which  you  are  free 
to  join  the  group  around  the  camp-fire. 

Early  to  bed  is  the  rule  in  well-regulated  camps, 
and  by  nine  o'clock  all  hands  ought  to  have  turned 
in.  See  that  every  one  is  comfortable,  and,  if  not, 
insist  on  the  defect  being  remedied,  for  it  is  utter 
folly  to  endure  a  night  of  discomfort  when  you 
should  be  sleeping  soundly.  Finally,  throw  a  tarp 
over  the  food-bags,  take  a  nip,  and  turn  in  yourself. 

And  do  not  camp  just  for  the  sake  of  camping. 
There  must  be  an  objective — bass,  trout,  a  canoe 
trip,  feathered  game,  or  general  hunting.  Camping 
is  hard  work  if  you  do  it  right.    It  is  the  most  health- 


196  CAMP  CRAFT 

ful  occupation  in  the  world  and  your  bodily  efficiency 
rises  to  lOO  per  cent;  but  there  must  be  some  object 
to  it  all — some  keen,  good  sport  that  repays  for  all 
your  labor. 


CHAPTER  XI 
WESTERN  CAMPING 

SOONER  or  later  the  Eastern  sportsman  takes 
the  bit  in  his  teeth  and  goes  on  a  big-game  trip 
in  the  Rockies.  Elk,  sheep,  goat,  and  grizzly  bear 
are  to  be  hunted  in  those  mountains  and  cannot 
under  any  circumstances  be  had  east  of  the  main 
chain;  after  one  has  gotten  his  moose  and  his  caribou, 
maybe  a  black  bear  and  a  wild  hog,  his  Eastern  big- 
game  list  is  done,  assuming  that  you  already  have 
your  deer.  On  the  score  of  expense  the  Western 
trip  need  not  prove  so  very  much  more  of  a  prop- 
osition than  one  to  the  far  Canadian  wilds,  where 
moose  abound,  and  it's  a  new  and  entirely  different 
country,  alone  worth  the  visit  to  camp  in  it;  a 
country  of  big  mountains  and  big  distances,  where, 
to  get  into  the  heart  of  the  game  districts,  one  must 
travel  from  50  to  a  100  miles  in  from  the  nearest 
railroad.  The  Eastern  hunter  finds  it  different  from 
what  he  has  been  accustomed  to;  not  .that  the  wilder- 
ness is  essentially  different  but  that  the  means  of 
transportation  and  the  corresponding  equipment 
are  different,  necessitating  different  clothing,  more 

adequately    suited   to   the   needs   of  the    country. 

197 


198  CAMP  CRAFT 

These  few  lines  are  penned  to  give  a  sketch  of  what 
an  Eastern  hunter  going  into  the  Rockies  for  the 
first  time  will  have  to  take  with  him  both  as  to 
physical  and  mental  equipment. 

For  main  travel,  instead  of  the  canoe  we  have 
the  horse.  That  means  a  whole  lot  that  one  has  to 
know  or  pick  up  as  fast  as  may  be,  for  often  you 
and  your  horse  will  be  entirely  on  your  own  re- 
sources; yet  you  are  comparative  strangers,  so  to 
speak — in  point  of  fact,  you  may  not  know  how  to 
even  ride  him  faster  than  a  walk  !  Unless  your  guide 
is  to  do  everything  for  you,  almost  breathe  for  you, 
it  is  essential  to  know  how  to  pick  your  own  animal 
out  of  the  corral  or  to  apprehend  him  if  pasturing 
in  a  mountain  meadow,  how  to  bridle  and  saddle 
him,  what  you  can  and  cannot  take  on  and  about 
your  saddle,  how  to  mount  and  ride  him,  and, 
above  all,  about  a  thousand  things  that  you  can  not 
do  on  or  around  a  horse.  For  it  is  a  willy-witted 
beast,  whose  principal  motive  in  life  is  Fear,  this 
emotion  governing  everything  he  thinks  and  does. 
He  has  no  confidence  in  strangers,  goes  wild  at  the 
mere  sight  of  your  camera  flashing  in  the  sunlight 
over  his  head,  shies  all  over  the  lot  when  you  draw 
your  rifle — let  alone  attempt  to  fire  it  (which  ac- 
tion would  probably  land  you  over  the  moon) — and 
the  scent  of  a  grizzly  track  two  days  old  crossing 
your  trail  will   send  him  into  fits.     So  much   for 


WESTERN  CAMPING  199 

your  saddle-horse;  your  pack-horse  is  another  born 
lunatic,  perverse  and  pig-headed,  full  of  original 
meanness,  understanding  no  language  outside  of 
vigorous  expletive,  and  you  must  know  how  to  pack 
him,  drive  him,  hobble  him,  catch  him  every  morning, 
and  extricate  him  from  a  thousand  difficulties  and 
misdemeanors  into  which  he  is  always  thrusting  his 
foolish  head. 

Getting  back  to  the  saddle-horse,  for  that  is  where 
you  begin  as  soon  as  your  city  duds  are  packed  and 
you  show  up  with  your  war  togs  on :  At  first  your 
guide  will  rope  him  for  you,  but  he  will  appreciate 
your  showing  some  class  and  cutting  out  your  own 
animal  as  soon  as  yqu  get  to  know  the  game.  The 
bunch  of  cayuses  is  in  the  corral,  quietly  switching 
flies.  You  enter,  not  forgetting  to  put  up  the  bars 
again,  and  they  will  at  once  herd  over  to  one  side, 
with  your  particular  animal  buried  deepest  in  the 
crowd.  Now,  if  you  want  to  start  a  riot  among  those 
horses,  just  go  at  them  with  the  lariat  whirling 
around  your  head  the  way  you've  seen  it  done  in 
Wild  West  shows.  Not  that  way  at  all,  Genevieve ! 
The  pitch  is  the  thing,  not  the  throw.  Get  out  a 
large  loop  behind  you  10  or  12  feet  long  and  5  wide, 
grasping  the  loop  and  rope  together  about  a  yard 
along  the  rope  beyond  the  ring.  As  you  approach 
the  bunch  in  the  corner,  crowd  them  along  the  fence, 
when  they  will  all  break  and  run  by  you  in  a  string 


200  CAMP  CRAFT 

past  the  fence,  going  at  full  speed.  Docile,  nice 
horsies — want  to  work  so  bad  that  it's  all  they  can 
do  to  keep  from  running  under  your  noose — Aher 
nichtl  Now  is  your  chance,  a  good  one  at  your 
animal's  neck,  which  is  Hkely  showing  over  the  rump 
of  the  next  one  ahead.  You  run  forward,  getting 
momentum  for  your  toss,  and  pitch  the  loop  straight 
ahead  of  you,  aiming  high,  and,  if  successful,  will  get 
him  around  the  neck.  Brace  and  bring  him  up  all 
standing.  Talk  to  him  as  you  come  up  along  the 
rope.  Calm  him  down  and  then  lead  him  with  you 
out  of  the  corral.  It  is  wonderful,  the  effect  of  the 
tones  of  the  human  voice  upon  a  horse.  He  is  used 
to  being  damned  off  his  feet  by  some  great,  un- 
feeling brute  of  a  cow-man,  and  he  understands  no 
other  tones;  so  hand  it  to  him  strong,  as  if  there  was 
nothing  to  it  but  to  come  along  and  be  bridled.  Tie 
to  hitching  rail.  Take  the  bit  in  your  hand  and  put 
it  in  his  mouth.  The  chances  are  he  will  set  his 
teeth  and  laugh  at  you,  but  grip  the  gums  of  his 
lower  jaw  over  his  teeth  and  press  down  and  he'll 
have  to  open  his  mouth.  Then  you  slip  in  the  bit 
and  secure  the  bridle  with  the  strap  back  of  his 
ears.  Be  sure  that  this  strap  brings  the  bit  up  above 
the  last  teeth  or  he  will  get  a  grip  on  it  with  his 
teeth  and  you  can  do  nothing  with  him.  Take  off 
halter  and  tie  bridle-reins  around  hitching  rail  in  a 
double  hitch. 


WESTERN  CAMPING  201 

Now  comes  the  saddle.  Hang  the  ofF  stirrup  up 
on  the  pommel  and  throw  the  saddle  on  his  back, 
first  adjusting  the  saddle-blanket,  which  should  come 
well  forward  on  the  neck,  as  there  is  where  it  is  apt 
to  chafe.  The  cinch-ring  is  now  dangling  free  on  the 
ofF  side,  and  you  reach  under  his  belly  and  get  three 
turns  of  the  cinch-strap  through  it  and  the  saddle- 
ring  on  the  near  side.  Take  up  on  these  turns, 
beginning  with  the  innermost  one,  and  cinch  up 
hard.  You  can  hardly  get  it  too  tight,  for  he  will 
pufF  himself  full  of  wind  anyhow,  so  that  it  will  be 
loose  when  he  is  breathing  normally  again.  Test 
it  by  trying  your  hand  under  the  cinch-strap  after 
a  few  moments.  It  should  go  under  with  great 
difficulty. 

All  beginners  mount  so  poorly  that  they  put  a 
heavy  side  drag  on  the  saddle,  often  pulling  the 
whole  works  over  if  the  cinch-strap  is  at  all  loose. 
To  secure  the  cinch-strap  after  all  is  tight,  take  two 
or  three  turns  of  the  end  of  it  around  the  standing 
loops  and  finish  with  a  slip-knot  in  your  second 
half-hitch.  Never  pull  through,  as  the  sHp-knot  is 
the  favorite  tie  of  all  straps  and  thongs  about  a  horse 
so  that  they  can  quickly  be  gotten  loose  again  in 
emergency.  Lift  the  off  stirrup  from  the  pommel 
and  let  it  hang,  and  the  horse  is  ready  for  you.  The 
next  thing  is  what  to  put  on  him  in  the  way  of 
duffel.     Always  approach  your  horse  on  the  near 


202  CAMP  CRAFT 

(left)  side  and  say  something  to  him  as  you  step  up. 
Sling  your  rifle  in  its  scabbard  on  the  near  side  by 
the  thongs  which  you  will  find  for  that  purpose  on 
the  saddle.  If  you  have  an  Eastern  canvas  rifle 
case,  it  will  answer  by  tying  the  thongs  around  the 
tang  outside  the  case  and  around  the  barrel  forward. 
Never  tie  through  the  carrying  strap,  as  the  latter 
is  apt  to  jolt  off  from  the  constant  pull  of  the  rifle's 
weight,  letting  one  end  of  the  rifle  dangle  under  your 
horse's  hoofs,  scaring  him  to  death,  and  he  will  most 
probably  bolt.  A  Western  rifle  scabbard  is  the  thing, 
as  the  canvas  case  is  far  too  slow  to  unlimber  when 
a  game  chance  comes  your  way  on  the  mountain 
trail — as  it  always  is  doing. 

To  the  right,  under  your  pommel,  is  the  place  for 
your  camera  case.  The  leather  3-A  case  with  a 
pommel-strap  riveted  to  it  is  convenient — any  rig 
that  will  permit  taking  the  camera  out  of  the  case 
when  wanted,  leaving  the  case  in  place  on  the  saddle, 
secured  by  the  off  side  front  thongs,  with  a  hold  over 
the  pommel.  As  the  horse  can  easily  see  what  is 
going  on  on  his  back  without  turning  his  head,  be 
careful  about  flourishing  that  shiny  camera  about, 
and  the  less  bright  work  on  it  the  better.  And  if 
he  will  stand  for  your  carrying  a  rifle  on  his  back 
at  all  it  will  be  across  your  lap,  never  out  over  his 
head  or  ears — most  of  them  are  skittish  about  any- 
thing around  their  ears,  and  if  you  want  to  get  them 


WESTERN  CAMPING  203 

going  wild  just  flap  your  sombrero  over  said  aural 
appendices  and  sit  tight ! 

In  the  cantle-thongs  goes  your  slicker,  with 
anything  you  want  to  carry  rolled  up  inside  of  it. 
This  may  include  a  mackinaw  and  package  of  grub 
or  fishing-tackle,  but  not  much  more,  for  you  are 
limited  as  to  the  height  of  that  package  on  behind 
for  the  excellent  reason  that  one  cannot  throw  one's 
leg  over  it  in  mounting  if  much  more  than  about 
6  inches  in  height.  Finally,  before  mounting,  see 
that  you  have  no  weighty  and  bulky  articles  about 
you  in  pockets  or  slung  about  your  shoulders,  for 
they  will  be  sure  to  bounce  out  or  loose  or  else  dig  a 
hole  through  your  clothes.  Also  be  sure  that  what 
you  do  need  is  not  forgotten — pipe,  matches,  tobacco, 
watch,  compass,  binoculars,  knife,  revolver,  and 
cartridges.  All  these  will  be  wanted  at  one  time  or 
another,  also  any  maps  used  on  the  route;  and  the 
place  for  them  is  stowed  about  you,  not  in  the 
pockets  of  your  clothing  in  the  slicker  roll,  nor  yet 
in  the  pack  under  the  tarp  on  the  pack-horse's  back. 
For  no  one  is  going  to  stop  the  caravan  to  let  you 
dig  up  these  essentials  once  on  the  march.  Chances 
at  small  game  of  all  kinds  are  frequent  along  these 
mountain  trails,  and  a  good,  accurate  revolver  and 
proficiency  in  its  use  are  mighty  valuable  assets. 

You  are  now  ready  to  mount.  Approach  your 
horse  on  the  left  or  near  side — always;   pass  the 


204  CAMP  CRAFT 

bridle-reins  over  his  head  and  then  turn  the  stirrup 
facing  forward  and  put  your  foot  in  it  at  once, 
grabbing  pommel  and  cantle  and  swinging  up  on 
his  back.  In  the  act  of  mounting  most  horses  go 
forward  so  that  you  will  swing  into  them  instead 
of  away  from  them  if  you  take  the  trouble  to  turn 
the  stirrup  forward.  In  swinging  up  try  to  get  a 
good  spring  with  your  left  foot  so  as  not  to  drag 
your  weight  on  the  saddle.  A  good  horseman  hardly 
needs  the  pommel  except  to  guide  himself,  so  well 
does  he  spring  into  the  saddle.  Once  up,  the  first 
thing  to  try  is  the  stirrup  length.  There  is  no  use 
in  enduring  the  discomfort  of  stirrups  that  do  not 
fit,  for  if  too  long  you  will  soon  be  cut  in  two  and  if 
too  short  the  pain  in  your  knees  will  shortly  become 
intolerable.  The  stirrups  are  adjusted  by  thongs 
in  the  strap,  cross-laced  through  holes  which  are 
punched  in  pairs  through  the  straps.  Unlace  and 
lower  or  raise  as  needed,  being  sure  that  both  stirrup 
lengths  are  the  same,  for  nothing  is  more  annoying 
than  stirrups  of  uneven  length,  tending  as  they  do 
to  topple  one  sideways  out  of  the  saddle  on  the 
long  side.  Your  stirrups  will  probably  be  the  stand- 
ard iron  affairs,  and  the  best  position  for  your  feet 
is  with  the  tap  of  the  shoe  well  in  the  stirrup  but 
not  as  far  back  as  the  instep,  so  that  in  case  of  a 
bad  shy  or  fall  of  your  horse  you  can  easily  step  out. 
If  you  are  wearing  mountain  shoes  or  shoepacks  with 


WESTERN  CAMPING  205 

screw  calks  in  the  soles  they  will  soon  take  a  position 
in  the  stirrup  and  stay  there;  if  trying  to  use  the 
Eastern  moccasins,  either  high  or  low,  the  oil  in 
them  makes  them  slip  through  to  the  instep  before 
the  horse  has  gone  ten  feet  and  much  misery  will 
be  yours. 

In  riding,  if  a  novice,  come  up  on  your  stirrups 
and  aim  to  ease  down  into  the  saddle  at  every  other 
bump  of  the  horse  (his  gait  gives  just  twice  as  many 
bumps  as  you  can  reasonably  handle).  When  walk- 
ing there  is  not  so  much  for  you  to  do  but  to  keep 
him  going  with  a  clout  over  the  neck  now  and 
then  with  the  ends  of  the  reins,  and  also  to  keep 
him  from  acquiring  the  bad  habit  of  stopping  to 
nibble  a  bit  of  grass  or  a  tempting  weed  every  few 
minutes.  If  you  let  him  do  this  a  few  times  he  con- 
cludes that  you  are  easy  and  will  impose  on  you  to 
the  limit,  with  the  result  that  you  will  be  constantly 
falling  behind  the  pack-train.  In  galloping  you  want 
a  forward  thrust  to  the  stirrups;  the  motion  is  easy, 
in  long  leaps  or  bounds,  and  you  let  yourself  go 
with  him,  being  careful  not  to  lean  too  much  for- 
ward or  the  pommel  will  soon  get  into  an  argument 
with  your  vest  that  may  pull  you  forward  over  his 
head.  In  general,  try  to  sit  easy,  with  loose  body 
and  arms;  it  is  the  unnecessary  rigidity  that  all  be- 
ginners assume  that  causes  them  so  much  pounding 
and   subsequent   soreness.     Watch   an   Indian  gal- 


2o6  CAMP  CRAFT 

loping  along,  30  miles  in  a  morning,  as  free  and  loose 
in  every  muscle  as  if  he  were  just  flopping  on  the 
horse's  saddle;  yet  he  can  keep  it  up  mile  after  mile 
and  neither  horse  nor  man  get  tired.  It  is  the 
pounding  of  a  rigid  rider  that  makes  a  horse  mad — 
that  and  his  total  lack  of  confidence  in  you  as  his 
rider  and  his  alleged  master. 

You  will  find  that  considerable  proficiency  as  a 
rider  will  be  demanded  of  you  almost  the  first  day 
out.  The  pack-animals  are  always  getting  out  of 
Hne,  ofF  the  trail,  and  mixed  up  in  the  timber,  and 
all  hands  will  have  to  aid  in  driving  them  back  again. 
In  such  cases  a  touch  of  the  spur  or  a  thrash  of  your 
reins  puts  your  horse  into  full  speed  and  your  job 
as  outrider  rounding  up  the  perverse  cayuses  begins. 
Then,  for  one  reason  or  another — prairie-chicken, 
a  duck  pond  to  investigate  or  a  change  to  make  in 
your  appurtenances — ^you  become  separated  from 
the  main  pack-train  for  considerable  stretches  of 
time,  and  you.  and  your  horse  are  all  alone,  with  no 
guide  or  horse  wrangler  to  help  you  out  in  case  you 
get  into  difficulties.  Here  are  several  things  to 
keep  in  mind,  the  principal  of  which  is  never  to  let 
your  horse  get  out  of  hand.  They  are  fooHsh  enough 
when  you  are  on  them  and,  if  starting  in  to  gallop, 
may  get  excited  and  turn  the  affair  into  a  genuine 
bolt;  so  it  is  well  to  check  up  before  he  gets  out  of 
hand.      But,  dismounted,  your    horse    becomes    as 


WESTERN  CAMPING  207 

cunning  as  Satan  himself.  He  will  nibble  quietly 
enough  so  long  as  you  have  his  reins  or  do  not  at- 
tempt to  regain  them;  but,  once  he  has  them,  he 
knows  enough  not  to  let  you  get  hold  of  them  again. 
The  beginner  in  such  cases  is  apt  to  rush  at  the 
horse  and  try  to  catch  him  by  his  sprinting  speed. 
As  well  try  to  catch  the  wind !  Work  up  to  him 
casually  and  regain  the  reins  if  you  can,  but  it  is 
much  better  on  a  stalk  with  a  comparatively  strange 
horse  to  tie  him  up  somewhere.  And,  in  doing  this, 
be  sure  that  it  is  in  no  place  where  he  can  hang  him- 
self or  get  tangled  up  in  the  reins  while  you  are  off 
on  the  stalk. 

A  favorite  trick  of  his  is  to  step  into  his  bridle- 
reins  when  allowed  to  graze  near  you  and  then  most 
obstinately  to  stand  firmly  on  one  pin  while  you 
try  to  get  him  to  raise  it.  A  sharp  blow  back  of 
the  fetlock  is  the  only  thing.  If,  in  remounting,  you 
are  clumsy  and  pull  the  whole  saddle  over,  get  his 
reins  and  stop  him  as  quickly  as  possible,  tie  him 
up,  and  then  take  off  the  whole  thing,  readjust  the 
saddle-blanket,  and  retighten  the  cinch-strap.  No 
makeshift  pushing  it  back  will  do,  for  the  blanket 
is  sure  to  have  a  crease  in  it  or  to  be  out  of  place, 
with  the  resulting  saddle  chafing.  In  riding  through 
timber  your  horse  is  always  either  sending  you  too 
near  a  tree  or  else  he  goes  between  two  of  them  so 
that  one  of  them  is  sure  to  take  ofF  your  knee.    Re- 


2o8  CAMP  CRAFT 

member  that  a  push  with  your  hand  on  the  tree 
will  always  shove  the  horse  far  enough  over  to  one 
side  to  let  your  leg  pass,  and  if  done  quickly  enough 
you  can  even  work  him  through  two  trees  without 
either  barking  your  leg. 


CHAPTER  XII 

THE   LONE   JACK   DIAMOND   HITCH,   TENTS,   AND 
CLOTHING 

IN  riding  your  saddle-horse  and  leading  your  pack- 
horse,  a  new  variety  of  experiences  is  in  store. 
The  halter  of  the  led  horse  should  not  be  less  than 
8  feet  long,  with  a  knot  in  the  end  of  it.  Never 
carry  it  in  any  form  of  hitch  or  knot  around  your 
hand  or  fasten  it  to  your  pommel.  The  best  scheme 
is  to  carry  it  in  a  loose  loop  with  standing  and  run- 
ning strands  grasped  in  your  hands.  Then,  if  the 
led  horse  balks  or  stops  for  any  reason,  the  loop 
slips  through  your  hand,  giving  you  time  to  check 
your  saddle-horse  without  losing  your  grip  on  the 
halter.  I  once  nearly  had  my  hand  torn  ofF  by 
getting  a  hitch  in  the  halter  around  my  fingers. 
We  were  working  through  down  timber,  and  ''Injun," 
my  pack-horse,  persisted  in  balking  at  every  tree 
across  the  trail  over  which  we  jumped.  As  a  rule 
the  loop  in  the  halter  would  slip  through,  giving  me 
time  to  stop  my  saddle-horse,  "Blaze."  At  about 
the  hundredth  time,  however,  the  rope,  instead  of 

slipping,  twisted  a  half-hitch  over  my  fingers,  and 

209 


2IO 


CAMP  CRAFT 


the  next  instant  I  was  hung  up  between  the  two 
horses,  with  Injun  showing  his  teeth  and  backing 
like  a  fiend  on  one  side  of  a  down  tree  and  Blaze 
going  ahead  full  speed,  on  the  other  side.  I  let  out 
a  cuss  that  they  heard  clear  to  the  Woolworth  Build- 


eiN«H  I — {  MeoK 


Hee< 


^ 

-  1  } 

^ 

J 

L 

t: 

. 

r 

NEAK 

1      ^ 

K/        J 

RUMf 


LONE  JACK  HITCH,  Fig.  1 

Throw  lengthwise  of  pack,  gather  up  into  a  loop,  give  it  a 
twist,  throw  across  pack,  and  catch  in  cinch-ring. 

ing,  in  Broadway,  and  just  checked  Blaze  in  time 
to  save  being  unseated.  It  put  my  hand  so  far 
to  the  bad  that  Injun  had  to  be  tied  to  the  tail  of 
another  pack-horse,  and  it  was  six  months  before  the 
first  and  Httle  fingers  could  be  flexed  even  moderately. 
At  present  writing  they  are  still  stiff. 

Coming  to  the  pack-cayuses,  a  party  of  four  hunt- 
ers can  subsist  for  a  month  with  what  provisions  and 
duffel  they  can  carry  between  them,  each  leading  a 
pack-horse.  The  animal  carries  a  pack-saddle,  an 
affair  looking  like  a  sawbuck  with  its  short  legs  se- 


LONE  JACK  DIAMOND  HITCH       211 

cured  by  thongs  to  flat  wooden  plates  shaped  to  fit 
the  contours  of  a  horse's  back.  Under  this  goes  a 
pack-pad  made  of  felt  and  cloth,  about  an  inch 
thick,  and   it   has   a   cinch-strap,   also   breast    and 


CIWCH 


ifCtK 


OFF 

7 

WEAR. 

V 

T^WNlC^. 

C»i^«-H 


fr 


LONE  JACK  HITCH,  Fig.  2 

Tighten  loop  hard,  carry  slack  around  rear  corner  of  near 
pannier,  pull  out  bight  between  ropes  of  cross-loop  and 
pass  around  rear  corner  of  oflF  pannier. 

breeching  straps,  all  designed  so  as  to  take  the  load 
weight  either  up  or  down  hill,  or  sideways  in  case 
the  cayuse  falls  over  or  lies  down,  both  of  which 
some  of  them  manage  to  do  in  plain  sight  of  the 
whole  disgusted  pack-train.  As  a  rule,  the  horse- 
wranglers  of  a  large  outfit  take  care  of  all  the  cayuse 
work,  but  if  you  go  in  a  small  party  or  without  guides, 
having  a  few  mountain  men  along  as  companions, 
you  will  be  expected  to  do  your  share  of  the  packing. 
Assuming  that  the  horse  expert  of  the  party  has  put 


212 


CAMP  CRAFT 


on  the  pack-saddle  for  you  and  tied  him  to  a  tree, 
it  is  up  to  you  to  report  him  ready  for  the  trail. 
Across  the  top  of  the  "tree/*  as  the  sawbuck  part 
of  the  saddle  is  called,  you  will  find  the  sling  ropes 


LONE  JACK  HITCH.  Fig.  3 

Brace   foot   against   horse's  flank   and   spread   rear   half  of 
diamond.     Pass  slack  around  off  pannier. 


which  are  to  go  around  your  panniers  and  whatever 
load  you  put  on  the  tree.  Unwind  these  ropes  and 
let  hang  on  each  side  of  the  horse.  Pick  up  the 
near  pannier  and  hang  it  over  the  tree  by  its  leather 
loop  strap.  Same  with  the  off  pannier.  Next,  take 
a  turn  of  the  sling  rope  on  each  side  around  the 
pannier  outside,  up  over  the  forward  tree,  and  down 
under,  behind  the  pannier.  Come  up  underneath 
the  pannier  with  it,  cinch  tight,  taking  part  of  the 
pannier's  weight  off  its  straps,  and  then  secure  with 


LONE  JACK  DIAMOND  HITCH      213 

a  loop-knot  around  the  sling  rope  where  crossed 
in  front  of  the  pannier.  Do  the  same  with  the  off 
pannier.  Now  you  are  ready  for  some  long  packages, 
say,  a  couple  of  dufFel-bags  on  top  of  each  pannier. 


NCCK 


LONE  JACK  HITCH,  Fig.  4 

Keeping  slack  tight,  go  under  horse's  neck,  grab  end  of  rope, 
brace  against  horse,  and  stretch  forward  half  of  diamond. 
Pass  slack  around  front  corner  of  near  pannier  and  fin- 
ish by  securing  in  cinch-ring. 

making  a  nearly  level  surface  across  the  top  of  the 
tree  and  giving  you  a  foundation  for  your  bulkiest 
parcel.  This  may  be  the  big  tent,  your  bed  roll, 
the  tent-stove  or  the  Dutch  oven — any  large  parcel 
that  must  be  centred  over  the  horse's  back.  This 
completes  the  load  and  the  total  should  not  exceed 
1 20  pounds  for  the  mountains  and  150  for  the  plains. 
Test  the  load  for  balance  by  shaking  it  gently;  it 
should  balance  nicely  and  show  no  tendency  to 
work  over  to  one  side,  otherwise  take  off  and  read- 


214  CAMP  CRAFT 

just  the  weights  to  make  a  balance.     You  are  now 
ready  for  the  sling  ropes  again. 

Throw  each  one  of  them  across  the  pack,  pass 
through  the  loop  previously  made  in  the  sHng  rope 
on  the  back  of  each  pannier,  and  cinch  tight,  coming 
up  hard  on  the  rope  ends  and  securing  with  a  slip- 
knot. Test  the  load  for  balance  again.  If  O.  K., 
throw  the  tarp  over  the  pack  and  get  out  your 
hitch  rope.  We  used  the  government  diamond,  the 
squaw  hitch  and  the  Lone  Jack,  the  latter  most 
of  the  time,  because  one  man  can  sling  it,  whereas 
the  government  diamond  is  better  done  with  two 
men.  If  you  are  working  at  your  horse  alone,  with 
all  the  others  busy  at  their  pack-animals  and  all 
expected  to  be  ready  at  the  call,  "Over  the  river!" 
better  use  the  Lone  Jack  hitch.  Lay  the  cinch-strap 
under  your  horse  with  the  hook  on  the  far  side  and 
well  in  under  him  to  allow  for  coming  out  again  when 
you  pull  up  the  diamond  loop.  Stand  at  the  near 
shoulder  of  your  horse,  leave  about  a  yard  of  the 
end  of  the  hitch  rope  on  the  ground  at  your  feet 
and  throw  the  rest  of  it  lengthwise  of  the  pack, 
letting  the  bight  fall  on  the  near  side.  Gather  this 
residue  up,  make  a  long  loop  of  it,  and  throw  it 
across  the  pack  to  the  far  side.  Reach  under  the 
horse  and  hook  this  loop  in  the  cinch-hook.  Take 
up  your  slack  around  the  near  hind  corner  of  the 
pannier  and  cinch  up   on  your  loop,   "giving  her 


LONE  JACK  DIAMOND  HITCH      215 

both  barrels,"  as  the  mountain  men  say,  for  upon 
the  tightness  of  that  loop  depends  the  staying 
quality  of  your  future  diamond. 

You  will  note  that  when  this  loop  went  over  the 
pack  it  crossed  also  over  the  length  that  you  originally 
threw  lengthwise  of  the  pack.  Pull  out  a  loop  of 
this  length  between  your  two  cross-ropes,  go  around 
on  the  far  side  of  your  horse,  grab  this  loop,  and  pass 
it  around  the  far  hind  corner  of  your  pannier.  Put 
your  foot  on  the  horse's  flank  and  pull  like  the  devil 
on  this  rope,  thus  spreading  the  rear  cross-rope  out 
backward  to  form  the  hinder  half  of  your  diamond. 
Pass  the  slack  around  the  bottom  of  the  far  pannier, 
pass  up  around  the  front  corner,  dive  under  the  horse's 
neck,  still  holding  tight  to  that  rope,  grab  the  other 
end  of  it  (which  is  the  end  of  the  original  length  of 
rope  that  you  threw  lengthwise  of  the  pack  when  you 
began),  pull  out  all  slack,  and  then  get  a  good  brace 
and  pull  for  all  you  are  worth  on  it,  standing  at  the 
original  position  in  which  you  began,  viz.,  the  near 
shoulder  of  the  horse.  This  last  heave  will  pull  out 
the  front  cross-rope  to  form  the  front  half  of  your 
diamond.  Holding  fast  to  it,  so  as  to  let  no  slack 
get  in,  pass  it  around  the  front  near  corner  of  your 
near  pannier  and  tie  it  finally  in  the  cinch-ring.  The 
hitch  is  now  done,  and  it  is  a  good  one,  provided  that 
you  let  no  slack  get  in  and  that  you  put  plenty  of 
beef  into  it.    "Cinch  up  till  he  grunts"  is  a  good  old 


2i6  CAMP  CRAFT 

rule.  I  taught  this  hitch  to  a  Mexican  war  corre- 
spondent in  the  Field  and  Stream  office  in  ten  min- 
utes, using  a  blanket  roll  for  the  "horse"  (with  books 
for  his  legs)  and  a  camp-pillow  for  the  pack.  The 
cinch-hook  was  made  of  a  manuscript  hook,  and 
some  tump-line  did  duty  for  the  hitch  rope.  Never 
did  I  see  a  more  enthusiastic  man  than  that  cor- 
respondent after  he  had  learnt  that  hitch,  for  his 
Indian  packers  had  always  imposed  on  him,  because 
they  knew  he  couldn't  pack  a  horse  himself.  Per- 
haps the  accompanying  illustrations  will  help  some 
brother  to  learn  the  Lone  Jack  hitch  at  home. 

In  general.  Western  camping  differs  from  Eastern 
because  the  horse  transportation  permits  taking  a 
big  tent  along  and  a  stove  to  go  in  it,  and  it  is  the 
right  tent,  because  in  Montana,  Alberta,  British 
Columbia,  and  Alaska,  the  opening  of  the  big-game 
season  generally  coincides  with  the  first  snows, 
which  are  always  heavy,  a  foot  to  2  feet  deep.  In 
Wyoming,  Idaho,  and  Washington  the  season  opens 
September  i,  so  that  you  have  little  snow  to  con- 
tend with  and  open-tent  camps  are  all  right;  but 
even  there  the  main  camp  is  best  a  wall-tent  or 
Sibley,  with  a  few  spike  tents  for  outlying  camps. 
The  main  camp  must  have  lots  of  rope,  20  or  30 
pounds  of  it,  for  making  temporary  corrals,  rescuing 
horses,  etc.,  a  full  set  of  bells  and  hobbles,  a  shoeing 
set,  a  full-grown  axe,  and  an  oven  of  some  sort  for 


LONE  JACK  DIAMOND  HITCH      217 

making  fresh  bread,  all  of  which  total  up  beyond 
the  limits  of  any  back-pack  trip.  Your  go-light 
equipment  will  be  just  right  for  outlying  camps 
and  trips  of  a  few  days  away  from  the  main  camp 
after  special  game  chances;  so  do  not  hesitate  about 
taking  it  along,  but  do  not  insist  at  the  same  time 
that  the  mountain  man's  rig  be  left  behind,  for 
yours  has  very  definite  limitations  in  that  coun- 
try. Clothing  requires  some  modification  from 
standard  Eastern  practice.  You  have  rain,  cloud, 
snow,  ice,  sunshine,  and  intolerable  heat  to  contend 
with  in  alternate  streaks,  and  the  wind  is  blowing 
hard  all  the  time.  The  Eastern  mackinaw  is  apt 
to  be  chilly,  as  the  wind  gets  through  its  weave. 
The  Western  men  pin  their  faith  to  a  good  vest, 
which  is  left  open  until  the  cold  bites  in  at  high 
points  on  the  trail,  when  it  is  buttoned  up.  If  more 
protection  is  required  they  have  recourse  to  the  sheep- 
fleece-lined  leather  greatjacket,  with  a  high  collar, 
carried  on  the  cantle  wrapped  up  in  the  oilskin 
slicker,  which  is  often  trotted  out  for  the  frequent 
showers  which  occur  in  the  mountains.  A  good 
combination  for  warmth  and  lightness  is  a  sweater- 
coat  of  fine,  light  wool,  backed  up  with  a  thin  rubber 
rain-jacket,  which  latter  can  be  carried  in  your  coat 
pocket.  This  with  a  warm,  wool  vest  will  take  care 
of  nearly  all  temperature  changes.  Do  not  bring 
out  any  chaps,  spurs,  cowboy  boots,  or  any  horse 


2i8  CAMP  CRAFT 

specialities  except  a  good  pair  of  riding-gloves  with 
a  pair  of  wool  finger  mitts  for  cold-weather  riding, 
also  a  Western  wide-rimmed  felt  hat;  it 'cannot  be 
beaten  for  conditions  in  that  country.  And  do  not 
leave  behind  your  belt-axe  under  the  impression  that 
the  main  camp-axe  will  be  all  that  is  needful.  A 
belt-axe  strapped  to  your  coat  is  one  of  the  few 
things  you  positively  must  have  when  starting  out 
for  the  day*s  hunt  in  that  country,  for  you  may 
not  get  back  that  day  at  all. 

Good  wool  night  socks  and  a  warm  sleeping-bag 
will  be  wanted,  also  at  least  four  pair  of  day  socks 
and  two  changes  of  wool  underclothing  and  two 
pair  of  pants.  You  will  be  out  in  the  snow  all  day 
long  and  come  home  wet  through  at  night,  when, 
at  the  first  spare  moment,  you  take  the  freezing, 
soaking  things  off  and  change  into  warm,  dry  trousers, 
drawers,  and  socks.  A  pair  of  low  camp  mocs,  made 
of  thick  "moosehide"  so  that  you  can  step  out  in 
the  snowy  paths  about  the  tent  without  their  soaking 
through  (as  all  the  buckskin  ones  do),  is  the  answer 
to  footgear  about  camp.  Under  a  spruce-tree  near 
the  tent  is  usually  a  drying  fire;  as  soon  as  your  share 
of  wood-chopping,  cooking,  or  helping  about  camp 
is  done  wring  the  water  out  of  those  wet  clothes 
which  you  are  to  wear  next  day  and  string  them 
around  the  drying  fire.  It  is  quite  an  art  to  get 
these  things  dry  without  scorching  or  ruining  them. 


LONE  JACK  DIAMOND  HITCH      219 

and  the  secret  of  It  is  to  take  your  time  and  not  get 
too  ambitious  about  hanging  things  too  near  the 
fire.  Next,  your  boots  want  a  good  dubbing  all  over 
with  boot  grease  or  elk  fat,  after  which  they  are  set 
aside  on  the  wood-pile,  not  too  near  the  stove,  so 
that  they  will  gradually  dry  instead  of  freezing  stiff 
as  they  are  sure  to  do  anywhere  else.  After  supper 
the  dry  and  near-dry  clothes  are  brought  inside  the 
main  tent  and  hung  up  on  the  clothes-line  which 
goes  along  under  the  ridge-pole.  Next,  you  have 
rifle  and  revolver  to  dry  and  clean.  Snow  will  have 
gotten  into  the  action  of  both  and  then  turned  to 
water,  and  they  want  wiping  down  and  oihng  in 
addition  to  the  regulation  cleaning  of  the  barrel. 
By  the  way,  one  of  the  best  cleaning  solutions  for 
modern  cartridge  residue  in  the  barrel  is  plain,  strong 
ammonia,  followed  up  with  oiled  rags.  Rags  soaked 
in  strong  ammonia  will  come  out  black  with  dirt 
after  you  think  that  the  rifle  is  thoroughly  cleaned 
with  the  usual  oils  and  solvents. 

Last  thing  of  all:  going  to  bed.  In  order  to  get 
room  for  eating  and  daily  occupations  in  the  tent, 
Western  camp  regulations  contemplate  every  man 
rolling  up  his  bed  roll  or  sleeping-bag  as  soon  as  he 
IS  dressed  in  the  morning,  whereupon  they  are  piled 
in  a  corner  of  the  tent,  giving  room  to  manoeuvre 
about  in  the  rest  of  it  during  the  day.  Each  man 
has  his  allotted  place  at  night,  and  when  the  carbide 


220  CAMP  CRAFT 

lamp  begins  to  make  signs  that  its  charge  is  ap- 
proaching exhaustion  and  the  pipes  have  all  been 
smoked  and  the  stories  told,  each  one  digs  out  his 
bed  roll  and  spreads  it  in  his  particular  corner.  It 
will  be  cold  enough  by  midnight,  even  with  a  first- 
class  sleeping-bag,  to  require  that  you  keep  on  some 
of  your  clothes  at  night.  I  have  usually  been  com- 
fortable in  that  country  sleeping  in  my  underclothes 
with  wool  sleeping-socks  and  wool  slippers  on  my 
feet  inside  the  bag,  wool  pajamas,  a  sleeping-cap, 
and,  on  very  cold  nights,  a  soft,  fine  wool  sweater 
added.  I  throw  my  coat  over  the  whole  works  and 
find  a  small  breathing-hole  somewhere  through  its 
folds.  You  will  chill  down  quickly  in  that  bitter  night 
cold  if  you  breathe  the  frosty  air  direct  without  any 
covering  of  any  kind  over  your  head. 

The  above  sketch  may  give  you  some  idea  of  the 
conditions  obtaining.  If  you  go  prepared  to  meet 
them  you  will  have  a  fine,  comfortable  experience 
with  no  hard-luck  tales  and  no  life-and-death  thrillers 
to  relate.  If  you  disregard  them,  by  that  much  will 
Misery  camp  on  your  trail ! 


CHAPTER  XIII 
GETTING  ON  YOUR  FEET 

ALMOST  every  line  of  human  endeavor  has  its 
L  tale  of  uplift,  of  getting  on  one's  feet;  but  I 
have  yet  to  see  any  article  devoted  exclusively  to 
the  aspects  of  the  subject  as  they  appear  in  the  out- 
door world.  Yet,  by  camp  and  trail,  one  is  on  one's 
feet  most  of  the  time,  and  unless  these  pedal  ex- 
tensions are  properly  housed,  their  owner  is  in  for 
considerable  misery.  The  main  trouble  is,  however, 
a  tendency  to  overdo  it — to  house  one's  feet  so 
thoroughly  and  strongly  that  3  or  4  pounds  of  hob- 
nails and  leather  are  to  be  waved  about  all  day  long 
at  the  end  of  the  unfortunate  owner's  legs,  the  while 
said  owner  suffers  unceasingly  from  chronic  tired 
feeling.  Aside  from  out-and-out  mountain  country, 
I  have  yet  to  see  the  country  that  is  too  rough  for 
the  high  cowhide  or  moosehide  moccasin — "lar- 
rigans,"  as  they  are  called  in  the  north.  But  don't 
mistake  me;  this  is  purely  an  opinion  based  on 
personal  experience.  A  bigger  and  heavier  man 
would  no  doubt  find  the  cruiser  moccasin  or  the 
hunter's  boot  more  serviceable  in  the  same  country. 
I  only  confess  to  127  pounds  of  muscle  and  bone 


222  CAMP  CRAFT 

strung  along  5  feet  8  of  stature,  and  I  can  jump  and 
land  on  a  ledge  of  rock  in  moccasins  and  stick  there, 
whereas  the  same  stunt  in  a  heavier  man  would 
undoubtedly  strain  or  break  his  ankle.  In  general, 
light,  wiry  men  will  take  naturally  to  moccasins — • 
not  the  thin  buckskin  ones  that  leak  in  a  heavy  dew, 
but  the  single  or  double  sole  "moosehide"  product, 
water-proof  and  big  enough  to  allow  one  or  two 
thicknesses  of  gray  lumbermen's  socks  to  intervene 
and  soften  the  shock  and  pressure  of  climbing,  run- 
ning, and  walking  in  rough  country.  Such  a  pair  of 
mocs  will  weigh  24  ounces — 12  ounces  to  the  foot 
— ^will  stand  8  inches  high,  and  be  water-proof  to 
their  tops,  for  there  is  a  soft  leather  bellows  tongue 
inside,  sewed  tight  to  the  tops  and  vamp.  They 
lace  up  with  rawhide  thongs,  and  the  uppers  are 
usually  of  heavy  deerskin,  oil-tanned.  Single  or 
double  sole — take  your  choice.  With  them  you  can 
run  over  windfalls,  along  down  trees,  up  steep  rock 
escarpments,  down  rocky  streams,  and  across  muddy 
bogs  with  equal  facility,  and  you  will  be  dancing 
a  jig  by  nightfall,  when  the  man  with  heavy  boots 
can  only  sit  on  a  log  and  blink  at  you.  Mocs  of 
this  kind  are  good  for  still-hunting  trips,  for  long 
canoe  trips  where  there  is  wooded  country  on  the 
banks  to  be  hunted,  and  for  forest  cruising  on  snow- 
shoes.  They  are  not  good  for  hunting  in  rough, 
mountainous  country  with  little  timber,  nor  for  a 


GETTING  ON  YOUR  FEET  223 

canoe  trip  devoted  exclusively  to  fishing  and  water 
travel,  nor  for  salt-marsh  gunning  and  salt-water 
canoeing.  In  snowy  weather  the  high  moc  comes 
into  its  own  again.  You  cannot  beat  it  for  snow- 
shoe  gear — two  pair  of  fine,  all-wool  knitted  socks 
and  one  of  gray  lumbermen's  socks  inside  the  moc- 
casins, and  outside  of  them  the  snow-shoe  thongs. 
Another  warm  moc  for  snow  wear  grows  ready 
to  order  on  caribou  and  moose.  They  are  called 
*' shanks"  in  the  north  country  and  are  made  of 
the  gambrel-joint  skin  of  the  hind  legs  of  the  animals 
in  question,  and  a  pair  of  them  grows  on  every 
caribou  you  shoot.  They  are  worn  over  socks,  with 
the  hair  side  out.  So  far  as  I  know,  the  only  way 
to  own  a  pair  is  to  shoot  one  or  else  obtain  them  by 
barter  with  the  aborigines. 

The  low  moccasin  of  thick  moosehide  or  cowhide 
is  the  real  moccasin  as  distinguished  from  the  lar- 
rigan,  or  top  moccasin.  This  moc  is  laced  by  a  thong 
passing  completely  around  it,  being  rove  through 
slits  along  the  top  and  crossing  over  the  tongue  in  a 
loop  and  a  bow-knot.  Pulling  taut  on  the  thong 
cinches  the  moc  tight  to  your  foot  all  around.  For 
a  canoe  trip,  where  you  do  not  expect  much  inland 
tramping  outside  of  portages,  I  do  not  know  of  a 
more  comfortable  footgear  than  the  low,  water-proof 
HOC  and  a  pair  of  wool  socks  coming  up  and  folding 
ver  the  cufF  of  your  khaki  or  moleskin  breeches. 


224  CAMP  CRAFT 

And  for  mountain  work,  where  you  tramp  all  day 
in  heavy,  laced  boots,  this  moc  is  a  welcome  relief 
to  wear  around  camp;  and,  when  staying  in  to  skin 
out  trophies  or  putter  about  camp,  they  are  the  acme 
of  solid  comfort. 

All  these  thick-hide  mocs  will  require  occasional 
water-proofing  and  repairing,  also  rubbing  down 
with  neat's-foot  oil  to  keep  the  leather  supple.  The 
water-proof  greases  require  to  be  slightly  warmed  to 
enable  you  to  daub  them  on  the  seams,  and  the  oils 
need  plenty  of  elbow  grease  and  generosity  in  rub- 
bing them  in.  At  ordinary  temperatures  they  stick 
on  in  the  form  of  an  impervious  gum,  and  a  good 
dose  of  grease  in  seams  and  stitches  will  make  your 
mocs  water-proof  for  a  considerable  time  of  complete 
immersion.  As  you  wear  them  for  several  hard 
hunting  trips  your  mocs  will  develop  broken  stitches 
here  and  there,  particularly  around  the  vamp  at  the 
toe  and  the  "T"  heel  joint.  For  repairs  you  will 
require  an  awl,  two  blunt  leather  needles,  and  two 
waxed  lengths  of  shoe  twine.  Clean  out  the  old 
stitch-holes  back  to  where  the  twine  is  sound  and 
start  your  repair  seam  a  couple  of  stitches  back, 
using  both  needles  stitched  opposite  and  cinched  as 
taut  as  they  will  go,  finishing  with  a  hard  knot. 
Along  about  the  second  season  your  mocs  will  develop 
a  new  disease.  The  threads  will  stretch  from  long 
use,  allowing  the  seam  to  bird-mouth  open  when 


GETTING  ON  YOUR  FEET  225 

you  flatten  them  to  go  in  your  pack.  By  the  same 
token  they  will  leak  all  along  the  seam,  even  in  a 
damp  meadow.  To  have  them  resewn  by  the  maker 
will  cost  almost  as  much  as  a  new  pair,  but  if  you 
send  them  to  your  little  dago  shoemaker  around  the 
corner  all  will  be  well  for  a  "price-a  fifta-da  cents," 
and  you  may  get  another  season's  wear  out  of  them. 
Or,  if  you  have  the  time  and  ambition,  you  can 
resew  them  yourself  in  a  day's  work,  using  two 
needles  and  following  the  original  stitch-holes. 

The  hunting-boot  grows  in  all  sizes,  from  a  sort 
of  glorified  shoe  made  of  green  "elkhide"  with  a 
water-proofed  tongue,  to  a  tall,  laced-up-to-your- 
knee  snake-discourager  that  would  put  an  armor- 
plate  greave  to  shame.  You  can  get  these  commod- 
ities in  all  prices  from  $3  to  ^15,  but  the  bootman's 
problem  is  to  give  you  wear  and  strength  in  a  light 
boot,  and  this  cannot  be  done  cheaply.  You  step 
2,000  paces  for  every  mile,  and  15  to  20  miles  is  no 
great  day's  hunt.  And  this  will  be  creeping  up 
rocky  slopes,  hurdling  through  down  timber,  turkey- 
trotting  over  windfalls,  gamboHng  lightly  from 
hummock  to  hummock  over  the  muskeg,  and  worm- 
ing perseveringly  through  scrub  brush.  Wherefore, 
if  you  put  more  than  a  pound  and  a  half  of  boot  on 
each  foot,  your  day's  work  is  apt  to  be  exhausting 
beyond  the  legal  limit. 

You  can  get  almost  any  height  and  almost  any 


226  CAMP  CRAFT 

specification  for  your  hunting-boot,  but  I  would  limit 
the  weight  to  about  3  pounds  6  ounces. 

I  do  not  attempt  to  pose  as  an  authority  on 
leather  tanning  processes.  Some  of  the  best  boots 
made  are  mineral-tanned;  others  equally  as  good, 
if  not  better,  are  vegetable-tanned,  and  these  man- 
ufacturers vehemently  abjure  all  mineral  processes 
as  "unnatural."  To  my  mind,  as  a  civil  and  elec- 
trical engineer  for  twenty  years  before  going  ex- 
clusively into  the  outdoor  game,  there  is  little  dif- 
ference in  the  chemistry  of  leather  if  either  process 
is  correctly  and  honestly  carried  out.  Fixing  the 
leather  fibres  by  chemical  action  is  the  object  of  all 
tanning,  and  the  vegetable  processes  will  naturally 
take  longer  than  the  mineral  because  the  tannic 
properties  are  less  concentrated  in  barks  and  roots 
than  in  the  chemical  salts  themselves.  On  the  other 
hand,  if  the  mineral  processes  are  unduly  hurried, 
your  leather  will  be  acid-burnt  and  have  little 
durability.  Following  the  tanning,  the  leather  must 
be  oil-impregnated  to  resist  the  destructive  action 
of  alternate  wetting  and  drying,  and  here  the  vege- 
table-tan man  uses  animal  oils  and  the  mineral-tan 
party  may  or  may  not  use  mineral  oils.  Just  why 
alum  and  potassium  bichromate  tanned  leathers 
should  require  some  form  of  petroleum  oil  to  follow 
is  not  apparent — certainly  not  the  small  amount  of 
sulphuric   acid   present  in  the  tan-liquor.     I  have 


GETTING  ON  YOUR  FEET  227 

used  neat's-foot  oil  and  animal  grease  on  mineral- 
tanned  mocs  and  boots  for  years  without  any  harm- 
ful results  whatever. 

However,  let  us  prescribe  for  our  hunting-boots 
honest,  A-i  quality  vegetable  or  mineral  tanned  grain 
leather,  not  buffed;  calfskin  or  **elkskin'*  for  the 
uppers,  not  over  1-16  inch  thick,  soft  and  pliant; 
for  the  bottoms  or  vamps,  grain  leather  cowhide  or 
"moosehide"  3-32  inch  thick;  inner  sole  attached  to 
welt  by  some  sort  of  water-proof  seam  or  else  bottom 
carried  up  in  one  piece  to  form  a  vamp;  outer  sole  of 
oak-tanned  hide  leather  stitched  to  welt — no  nails  — 
protecting  counter  and  tip  at  heel  and  toe;  built- 
up  heels  of  oak-tanned  hide  leather  plates;  bellows 
tongue  water-tight  to  the  top;  rawhide  lacers,  large 
eyelet  holes — the  larger  the  more  grip  they  take  on 
the  leather  and  the  less  likely  to  pull  out.  Weight 
not  over  3^  pounds  to  the  pair  in  the  No.  12  size. 
All  the  boot  people  are  excessively  modest  about 
cataloguing  the  weights  of  their  product,  but  an 
inquiry  will  usually  give  you  the  facts,  and  many 
of  the  sportsmen's  outfitters  give  the  weights  of  all 
the  boots  they  carry.  The  manufactured  sizes  run 
from  6  to  1 2  in  men's  boots,  3  to  6  boys'  and  4  to  9 
ladies'.  All  of  them  append  an  order  blank  with 
measuring  diagrams,  so  as  to  fit  you  by  mail,  and 
some  factories  will  make  the  entire  boot  to  order  if 
they  cannot  fit  these  measurements  with  stock  sizes. 


228  CAMP  CRAFT 

In  no  case  is  it  necessary  to  go  the  factory  to  be 
fitted,  but  the  maker  should  always  be  told  to  allow 
for  sock  room  and  how  many  pair.  You  should 
always  figure  on  at  least  one  pair,  and  customarily 
for  one  pair  of  ordinary  street  socks  and  one  pair 
of  heavy  knit  ones.  These  latter  come  up  over  your 
trouser  leg  or  cufF  of  riding-breeches,  secure  with  a 
garter,  and  turn  down  the  overlap. 

As  to  the  kinds  of  leather  used  in  hunting-boots, 
I  venture  to  state  that  they  all  come  out  of  the 
Chicago  stock-yards.  It  is  what  the  maker  does 
with  his  hide  that  counts;  how  he  tans  it;  whether 
or  not  he  rejects  flanky  and  oil-rotten  spots,  etc., 
rather  than  the  kind  of  animal  that  the  hide  grew  on. 

"Moosehide"  and  "elkhide"  are  in  the  nature 
of  things  trade  terms,  for  neither  animal  is  salable  in 
the  States  where  it  can  be  hunted,  and,  with  the  ex- 
ception of  a  few  moccasin-makers  up  in  the  woods 
of  Maine  and  Wisconsin,  genuine  moosehide  is  not 
used,  nor  is  it  essentially  any  better  than  tough  old 
Texas  steer. 

For  mountain  work,  either  hobnails  or  screw 
calks  are  essential.  In  the  Alps  we  always  con- 
sidered two  sure  signs  of  a  tenderfoot  to  be  a  shoe 
full  of  hobnails  and  an  alpenstock  that  would  not 
hold  its  owner's  weight  when  used  as  a  trapeze  bar. 
The  real  glacier  stormer  will  have  but  ten  hobs 
or  calks  in  the  sole  and  five  in  the  heel,  any  one  of 


FOOT-WEAR. 

I.  Mocs  and  socks  for  snow-shoeing.     2.  Larrigans  for  the  canoe  trip.     3.  Hunting-boots. 
4.  Rubber  hip-boots  for  salt-water  gunning. 


GETTING  ON  YOUR  FEET  229 

which  will  withstand  his  whole  jumping  weight; 
and  the  nails  are  far  enough  apart  to  get  into  the 
crevices  of  the  rocks  and  stick;  and,  as  for  the 
alpenstock,  he  is  more  than  likely  to  carry  an  ice-axe 
instead. 

Midway  between  the  boot  and  the  moc  comes  the 
popular  cruiser,  or  shoepack.  It  is  essentially  the 
heavy  man's  protest  against  the  too-thin  and  too- 
flexible  moccasin.  A  sole  and  a  heel  are  added  to  the 
moc,  and  to  do  this  without  leaking  through  the 
stitches  the  moccasin  is  made  double,  the  outer  sewed 
to  the  welt  and  the  welt  being  sewed  to  the  sole.  To 
support  the  arch  of  the  boot  the  sole  is  also  curved 
up  under  the  instep.  Many  heavy  men  suffer  from 
falling  arch,  especially  on  flat  city  streets,  but  this 
trouble  is  far  less  likely  to  assail  one  in  woods  tramp- 
ing. Cruiser  mocs  come  in  sizes  from  3  to  12  and 
heights  from  7  inches  to  16  inches.  A  good  average 
specification  would  be: 

Bottoms  and  uppers  of  strong,  water-proof  grained 
leather,  heights  7  to  16  inches,  double  or  single 
bottoms,  flexible  oak-tanned  leather  out-soles,  hand- 
sewed  to  the  welt,  the  latter  curving  up  to  the  seam 
joining  the  uppers.  Stitches  into  but  not  through 
this  outer  sole  or  welt  and  through  the  outer  sole. 
Heel  added,  if  desired.  Rawhide  lacing,  water-tight 
bellows  tongue.     A  good  moc  for  a  heavy  man. 

For  still-hunting,   and   especially  where  there  is 


230  CAMP  CRAFT 

snow  on  the  ground,  an  ideal  boot  is  the  leather 
topped  **over,"  as  this  boot  not  only  keeps  the  feet 
dry  in  a  wet  snow  but  with  a  heavy  pair  of  woolen 
socks  you  can  keep  going  all  aay  without  hurting 
your  feet.  Another  thing  to  consider  is  that  you  can 
go  through  the  woods  over  dead  limbs  and  twigs, 
etc.,  with  this  boot  as  quietly  as  with  a  moccasin. 

And  in  all  these  high-top  boots  be  sure  and  knot 
the  lacing  over  the  instep  before  lacing  up  the  calf. 
Otherwise  the  instep  will  steal  lacing  from  the  uppers, 
with  the  result  of  shutting  off  circulation  in  the  calf 
of  your  leg. 

For  marsh  and  duck  shooting  neither  the  shoe 
nor  the  moc  is  suitable.  You  can  worry  along  with 
either,  but  sooner  or  later  a  marsh  hole  or  a  salt 
creek  gums  the  works,  and  that  usually  when  there 
is  a  flock  marked  down  just  across  the  creek  or  a 
cripple  is  leading  you  a  merry  bog  trot  over  fathoms 
of  black  mud.  And  in  duck  shooting  some  one  has 
to  wade  out  now  and  then,  even  if  the  stools  are  all 
placed  from  the  duck  boat;  so  a  pair  of  rubber  hip 
or  thigh  boots  are  a  necessity  unless  your  partner 
is  always  to  be  "it.'*  Here  again  quality  counts  for 
lightness  and  durability.  The  better  the  rubber,  the 
longer  they  wear  and  the  less  they  will  tire  you.  A 
good  pair  can  be  had  from  four  dollars  to  six  dollars. 
Below  four  dollars  the  boot  is  dear  at  any  price.  And 
be  sure  to  include  a  pair  of  wool  boot  socks,  for  they 


GETTING  ON  YOUR  FEET  231 

not  only  keep  your  feet  from  freezing  off  but  save 
you  from  becoming  the  landlord  of  a  fine  crop  of 
world-beater  blisters  due  to  the  chafing  of  a  loose 
boot. 

For  surf  fishing,  too,  the  hip  rubber  boot  is  the 
only  foot-gear.  On  the  flat  Long  Island  beaches  you 
have  to  wade  well  out  into  the  undertow  to  cast  far 
enough  so  as  to  land  beyond  the  breakers,  and  on 
the  Jersey,  Virginia,  and  Carolina  coasts  to  land  your 
lead  in  a  Hkely  hole  often  calls  for  a  hop,  skip,  and 
jump  down  the  undertow  to  the  edge  of  the  combers, 
as  you  hurl  the  bait  over  2CXD  feet  into  the  fishy  ocean. 

On  trout  streams  there  are  three  kinds  of  foot- 
gear, each  one  having  its  own  best  time  of  year  and 
type  of  stream.  In  the  early  spring  when  the  ice 
has  just  gone  out  you  will  invite  cramps  and  rheuma- 
tism if  you  wear  anything  but  water-proof  foot-gear 
and  lined  inside  with  wool  socks  at  that.  For  a 
rocky  stream  with  few  large  pools  and  plenty  of 
bowlders  for  fording,  a  15-inch-high  pair  of  water- 
proof hunting-boots  with  steel  calks  in  the  soles 
will  answer,  and  in  mid-summer  either  a  pair  of  holey 
shoes  or  a  pair  of  rubber  wading  stockings  with  hob- 
nailed canvas  shoes  will  answer.  These  will  require 
wool  socks  made  especially  to  wear  in  between 
the  wading  stocking  and  the  canvas  shoe.  They 
protect  the  rubber  from  chafing  with  sand  and 
canvas  inside  the  shoe  and  add  appreciably  to  the 


232  CAMP  CRAFT 

warmth  of  your  foot.  Waders  come  in  sizes  6  to  12 
and  all  heights  from  waist  or  breast  high  down  to 
thigh  height.  They  can  also  be  bought  with  leather, 
hobnailed  soles  and  an  instep  strap  to  tighten  over 
your  foot.  A  rubber  repair-kit  is  essential  for  any 
cold-water  trout  trip,  as  leaky  waders  are  no  waders 
at  all.  If  you  already  own  a  pair  of  rubber  boots 
a  happy  solution  of  the  wader  problem  is  a  pair  of 
leather  wading  sandals  to  prevent  the  boots  slipping 
and  covering  you  with  obloquy,  wet  breeches  and 
profanity.  They  have  adjusting  straps  which  will 
take  any  size  boot  and  plenty  of  hobnails  in  the  toe, 
the  heel  being  absent. 

In  the  higher  boots  some  sort  of  buckle  strap  is 
advisable  for  quickly  and  strongly  tightening  the 
boot  around  your  calf.  Side  lacings  are  also  furnished 
to  be  adjusted  once  for  all  for  the  weight  of  trousers 
or  socks  underneath  so  that  the  leg  will  come  snug 
when  laced  up.  A  compass  pocket  on  the  boot  side 
is  a  favorite  wrinkle  with  engineers  and  might  well 
be  specified  by  sportsmen,  as  with  a  hunting-case 
compass  safely  ensconced  in  your  boot-leg  it  is 
difficult  to  go  hunting  without  taking  it  along,  no 
matter  how  much  you  change  your  clothes. 

Speaking  of  the  difference  between  engineers'  and 
sportsmen's  boots,  it  is  well  to  reflect  that  the  en- 
gineer wants  durability  above  all  things,  even  at 
considerable  weight.     His  job  is  day  in  and  day  out 


GETTING  ON  YOUR  FEET  233 

all  the  year,  and  he  is  not  necessarily  tramping  all 
the  time.  He  may  be  putting  in  a  lot  of  time  over 
his  instrument  or  standing  around  bossing  a  gang 
of  "wops"  on  a  concrete  job,  so  a  few  ounces  extra 
weight  do  not  bother  him  enough  to  sacrifice  any 
durability.  The  hunter,  on  the  other  hand,  must 
cover  a  lot  of  territory  every  day  and  his  total  wear 
on  the  boots  will  be  only  a  few  weeks  each  year. 
Wherefore  he  looks  for  ease,  flexibility,  and  lightness, 
even  if  his  boots  are  not  so  durable  as  the  engineer's. 

Let  us  look  for  a  minute  at  some  foot-gear  habitu- 
ally worn  by  lumbermen  and  trappers.  A  popular 
boot  in  the  Hudson  Bay  Company's  empire  is  the 
botte  sauvage  of  the  voyageur.  This  is  in  effect 
a  cowhide  boot  and  a  cruiser  moccasin  all  in  one, 
with  a  strap  over  the  instep  for  close  fitting  when 
a  sock  is  put  on  under  the  boot. 

The  lumberjack,  who  works  in  wet  snow,  swamp, 
and  river  the  entire  winter  and  spring,  uses  larrigans 
with  rubber  bottoms  or  rubber  arctics  with  felt  leg- 
boots  inside.  The  sportsman  can  spend  several 
weeks  in  an  almost  normal  condition  of  wet  feet 
without  suffering  in  mild  fall  weather,  since  his  wool 
socks  keep  his  feet  warm  in  spite  of  the  wet;  but  in 
midwinter  and  raw  March  such  a  course  would 
result  in  cold  and  pneumonia.  Wherefore,  rubber, 
the  best  and  liveliest  procurable,  forced  into  canvas 
and  leather  for  the  bottom  and  uppers,  and  we  get 


234  CAMP  CRAFT 

the  lumberman's  larrigan — water-proof,  mud-proof, 
and  slush-proof.  Comes  in  six  heights,  about  four 
dollars  and  fifty  cents  for  the  loinch,  with  or  without 
rubber  heel.  It's  a  great  favorite  with  trappers  and 
woodsmen  who  have  a  good  deal  of  snow  and  wet  to 
work  in  week  after  week.  The  lumberman's  arctic 
is  one-buckle  and  two-buckle,  water-proof  to  the  top, 
and  inside  he  wears  thick  felt  boots,  about  three 
dollars  a  dozen,  and  he  keeps  a  lot  of  these  drying 
while  one  or  two  pair  get  wet  in  the  day's  work. 

These  felt  inner  boots  are  snow-proof  and  warm 
and  do  not  get  wet  unless  slush  must  be  waded  in 
above  the  top  of  the  arctics.  In  the  general  run  of 
work  one  will  get  along  all  day  with  warm,  dry  feet 
and  there  is  no  constant  greasing  needed  as  with 
leather  mocs,  larrigans,  and  *^  shanks." 

Finally,  snow-shoes.  You  want  the  bear-paw  for 
firm,  wet  snows  in  wooded  country;  for  open  work 
in  dry,  drifting  snows  the  standard  type,  48  to  54 
inches  long  by  13  to  15  inches  wide,  bows  of  black 
ash,  coarse,  flat  filling  of  caribou-skin  lacing.  The 
Cree  three-bar  shoe,  60  inches  long,  owes  its  type 
to  the  fine,  powdery  snows  often  encountered  in  the 
far  north.  It  has  fine  filHng  and  large  toe  sharply 
bent  up  so  as  to  stand  considerable  sinkage.  As  an 
exact  opposite  may  be  instanced  the  Adirondack 
type  for  heavy,  wet  snow,  coarse  filling,  heel  and  toe 
open;   length,  42  inches. 


CHAPTER  XIV 
CAMP  COMFORTS 

ONE  of  the  hall-marks  of  the  veteran  woods- 
man is  the  way  he  contrives  to  make  himself 
comfortable  in  camp,  mainly  by  utilization  of  the 
forest  materials  ready  to  hand.  He  has  gotten  past 
the  stage  of  unnecessary  roughing  it,  knowing  well 
that  the  hardships  of  the  hunting  trail  will  be  quite 
enough  without  imposing  any  additional  burdens 
in  camp.  Doctor  Hornaday,  than  whom  there  is 
no  more  experienced  wilderness  traveller,  has  small 
patience  with  the  man  of  harrowing  experiences 
afield  or  with  the  novelist  who  builds  his  themes 
upon  the  sufferings  supposedly  inevitable  in  the 
waste  spots  of  the  earth.  These  who  so  suffer 
simply  do  not  know  the  game,  are  inadequately 
supplied  with  either  equipment  or  knowledge,  or 
both,  and  richly  deserve  all  the  misfortunes  that 
befall  them  or  are  heaped  upon  them  by  the  malig- 
nant novelist.  He,  and  many  another  veteran  ex- 
plorer, has  proved  in  his  own  person  the  truth  of 
his  argument;  any  man  who  can  and  did  make  the 
Pinacate  trip  virtually  without  a  harrowing  incident 

235 


236  CAMP  CRAFT 

or  can  spend  two  years  in  the  Malayan  jungles 
without  serious  misfortune  surely  is  entitled  to 
speak  strongly  on  the  subject.  Doctor  Wallace, 
the  EngUsh  naturalist,  spent  eight  years  in  the 
Malay  Archipelago,  living  in  the  open  the  entire 
time,  also  with  no  incidents  of  battle,  murder,  and 
sudden  death  to  relate. 

As  in  the  game  of  life,  it  is  attention  to  the  little 
things  that  counts,  the  savoir-faire  that  enables  a 
man  to  guard  himself,  seemingly  without  effort, 
against  the  petty  annoyances  which  the  wilderness 
sets  over  against  him  for  a  pitfall  and  a  gin.  This 
body  of  ours  has  certain  needs  which  intrude  them- 
selves upon  our  consciousness  at  regular  intervals 
and  give  us  distress  until  satisfied.  It  must  be  fed, 
couched  in  a  comfortable  nest  at  night,  and  washed, 
shaved,  and  curried  periodically,  besides  which  it 
demands  a  change  of  position  occasionally,  ob- 
jecting decidedly  to  the  standing  position  all  the 
time;  and  it  is  annoyingly  vulnerable  to  insect 
attack. 

Nature  has  provided  no  comforts  at  all,  and  she 
launches  her  armies  of  insect  life  or  her  legions  of 
chilly  particles  of  air  and  water  against  the  poor 
body  without  respite  and  without  pity.  The  veteran 
woodsman  automatically  puts  up  screens  against 
any  and  all  these  annoyances  with  the  same  skill 
with  which  he  follows  the  faint  game  track.    Com- 


CAMP  COMFORTS  237 

fortable  sleeping,  comfortable  eating,  comfortable 
cooking,  and  comfortable  washing  are  his  without 
fail,  for  he  knows  the  necessity  of  guarding  the  body 
against  the  fret  and  wear  of  minor  hardships. 

Comfortable  eating  is  the  feature  most  often 
neglected  by  the  tyro.  To  grab  a  plateful  of  food 
and  squat  down  somewhere  not  out  of  range  of  the 
acrid  smoke  of  the  camp-fire  seems  to  him  all  right 
and  part  of  the  fun.  So  it  is,  for  the  first  day  or  so 
maybe,  but  it  soon  palls.  The  necessity  of  an  eating- 
table  of  some  sort  has  been  given  much  study  by 
veteran  outfitters,  so  important  is  it  in  the  long  run. 
For  the  permanent  camp  the  log  and  plank  tables 
shown  in  our  illustrations  solve  the  problem  amply 
and,  with  a  log  bench  on  each  side,  make  for  com- 
fortable, happy  meals.  The  right  height  for  a  table 
with  benches  is  30  inches  (the  length  of  your  gun 
barrels),  and  the  height  of  the  bench  is  18  inches, 
from  soles  of  feet  to  just  below  the  kneecap.  If  the 
meal  is  eaten  standing,  40  inches  is  a  better  height 
for  the  table.  A  mere  plank,  or  two  logs  side  by  side 
and  packed  in  with  pebbles  to  form  a  level  surface, 
will  make  a  very  comfortable  table  for  four  men  and 
will  not  take  over  an  hour's  time  with  the  belt-axe 
for  some  ambitious  member  of  the  party.  A  four- 
log  table,  also  gravel-filled,  will  take  a  setting  for 
eight,  the  logs  being  4  inches  in  diameter  by  6  feet 
long,  and  a  light  fly  over  it  makes  eating  in  rainy 


238  CAMP  CRAFT 

weather  possible  without  bringing  the  food  into  the 
tents.  But  what  of  the  nomadic  camps,  such  as 
on  a  down-stream  canoe  trip  where  no  stop  is  made 
long  enough  to  warrant  any  extensive  construction  ? 
For  this  the  outfitters  have  gotten  up  a  wooden 
suitcase,  made  of  the  hardest  and  toughest  veneers, 
light  and  strong  and  rendered  water-proof  by  a 
rubber  gasket  running  around  the  joint  between 
the  faces.  Such  a  suitcase  will  be  5  inches  deep  by 
30  by  16  in  area  and  holds  all  the  smaller  provisions 
or  sometimes  a  complete  aluminum  cook-kit  of  pots 
of  the  right  height  to  fit  inside  it.  When  making 
camp,  four  stakes  are  cut  and  driven  in  the  ground, 
the  suitcase  opened  out  flat,  and  at  once  you  have 
a  table  30  x  32  inches  useful  as  a  cooking-table  and 
bread-board  while  preparing  the  evening  meal  and 
later  for  setting  the  aluminum  table-service  upon. 
The  care  and  stowage  of  provisions  is  another 
matter  apt  to  wear  and  abrade  upon  the  chef's  men- 
tal economy  unless  automatically  met  by  various 
little  woodsman's  dodges.  Mice,  squirrels,  and 
porcupines  love  to  get  into  a  provision  cache  left 
unprotected  while  the  party  is  away  on  the  day's 
pursuit  of  game  and  fish.  Also  ants,  which  will 
march  in  regiments  upon  all  foodstuffs  left  in  their 
reach.  Two  devices  for  thwarting  them  are  shown 
herewith,  one  used  by  the  writer  and  the  other  by 
Lieutenant   Townsend    Whelen.      Mine   is    a    light 


CAMP  COMFORTS  239 

maple  crate  which  holds  all  the  provisions  when 
in  some  camp  that  can  be  reached  by  boat,  canoe, 
or  automobile.  Turned  on  its  side  and  swung  by 
two  stout  cords  from  a  pole  nailed  across  two  tfees, 
it  makes  an  insect  and  animal  proof  storehouse,  as 
shown,  and  at  night  a  light  oiled  tarp  is  tied  over  it. 
The  folding  cupboards  sold  by  the  outfitters  serve 
the  same  purpose  admirably,  but  are  not  good  to 
pack  in.  Three  flat  boards  8  x  16  inches  in  size  are 
enclosed  on  three  sides  by  canvas  walls  and  back 
tacked  to  them  and,  when  hung  up  by  the  top  board, 
drop  down  to  form  a  three-shelf  cupboard.  The 
device  is  easily  made  at  home  by  any  enthusiast  who 
has  the  time  and  the  inclination. 

Lieutenant  Whelen's  camp  cupboard  is  shown 
next.  A  cross-pole  laid  between  two  trees  on  jutting 
stubs  holds  the  straps  of  his  knapsack  and  canteen, 
thereby  hanging  provisions  and  valuables  out  of 
harm's  way  and  handy  to  get  at.  A  woodsman's 
pothook,  made  of  a  forked  stick  with  a  nail  in  the 
lower  end,  is  to  be  noted  over  the  camp-fire.  The 
point  not  to  be  overlooked  in  these  rigs  is  the 
necessity  for  order  and  completeness  in  the  woods. 
Things  thrown  about  or  left  about  in  the  leaves  get 
lost  much  more  easily  than  in  any  house  and  are 
impossible  to  replace.  I  will  never  forget  the  loss 
of  a  humble  fork  once  from  our  kit  in  Montana. 
There  were  four  forks  and  four  hunters.    About  the 


240  CAMP  CRAFT 

eighteenth  day  out  one  of  the  forks  turned  up  miss- 
ing. Some  one  had  to  go  without  or  wait  his  turn 
at  the  steak,  and  there  was  almost  a  row  over  who 
should  be  the  man.  However,  I  whittled  a  hard- 
wood fork  that  answered  during  the  rest  of  the  trip 
and  which  was  duly  washed  and  carried  along  each 
day  with  the  rest  of  the  outfit.  All  small  articles 
must  have  a  place  and  be  in  their  place  when  camp 
is  struck,  or  one  by  one  they  will  unaccountably  dis- 
appear and  their  loss  not  be  discovered  until  many 
arduous  miles  lie  between  you  and  the  lost  article. 

For  carrying  provisions  and  culinary  utensils, 
table-service,  etc.,  it  is  hard  to  improve  upon  the 
side-opening  food-packs  described  before  in  these 
pages.  Two  detail  photographs  are  shown,  giving 
some  idea  of  what  these  bags  look  like,  open  and 
rolled  up,  and  also  of  the  paraffined  muslin  food- 
bags  that  go  inside  of  them.  Note  the  khaki  pockets 
sewn  to  the  back  of  the  bag,  in  which  are  to  be  put 
the  knives,  forks,  spoons,  pepper,  salt,  and  celery 
shakers,  dish  mops  and  towels,  soap,  can-opener, 
cooking-gloves,  and  pothooks  for  the  trip.  When 
these  bags  are  rolled  up,  a  glance  into  these  pockets 
will  show  at  once  if  anything  is  missing,  and  then 
is  the  time  to  look  for  it.  When  cooking,  the  muslin 
food-bags  lie  side  by  side  in  the  packs,  easily  found, 
and,  what  is  more  important,  easily  replaced,  so 
that  they  can  be  found  again.     That  is  where  this 


CAMP  COMFORTS  241 

pack  is  superior  to  the  ordinary  end-opening  war- 
bag.  On  laying  out  the  outland  kitchen  the  chef 
hangs  up  one  or  more  of  the  side-opening  bags  by 
the  stout  hickory  rods  which  are  sewed  into  one 
Hp  of  each  bag  and  provided  with  a  grommet  hole 
at  either  end  of  the  seam  for  that  very  purpose. 
Two  stakes  driven  in  near  the  cooking-fire  serve 
to  hold  up  the  pack  with  its  side  hanging  open  to 
the  hand.  As  fast  as  the  provisions  are  used  the 
food-bags  are  chucked  back  into  the  pack,  and  from 
it  also  are  taken  the  table-service  utensils  when 
needed.  At  night  the  bag  is  closed  up  by  its  straps 
and  is  then  water-proof  and  animal-proof.  Even 
in  the  case  of  an  upset  the  provisions  will  come  by 
no  harm,  for  the  rolling  up  of  the  two  lips  around 
the*wooden  rod  makes  a  seal  quite  as  tight  as  the 
pucker  string  of  the  ordinary  tump-bag.  The  large 
cans  shown  in  the  second  illustration  have  friction 
tops  and  will  hold  pork,  bacon,  and  butter;  some 
4  pounds*  weight  in  the  shallow  cans  and  8  in 
the  deep  one.  To  pack  the  bag,  stand  it  on  end 
with  a  single  paraffined  bag  on  the  bottom;  next  a 
large  can,  then  the  other  bags  one  atop  the  other; 
finally  the  two  shallow  tins,  and  then  squeeze  in  a 
musHn  bag  for  a  buffer  between  them  and  the  end 
of  the  pack.  The  normal  diameter  of  both  bags  and 
tins  is  8  inches,  and  the  musHn  bags  assume  a 
thinner  or  thicker  depth  with  the  same  diameter, 


242  CAMP  CRAFT 

depending  upon  how  much  provisions  are  carried. 
I  have  taken  provisions  for  a  party  of  eight  for  two 
weeks  in  two  of  these  side-opening  grub-bags,  each 
weighing  40  pounds. 

One  of  the  handiest  kinks  I  ever  saw  in  the  way 
of  camp  comforts  was  a  combined  eating,  cooking, 
and  sleeping  camp,  made  of  a  canoe  and  two  6x12- 
feet  green  silk  shelter  cloths.  When  camping  time 
came,  the  canoe  was  hauled  out  and  carried  up  to 
the  camp  site,  where  it  was  turned  on  its  side  and 
hoisted  up  so  that  it  could  be  lashed  to  two  trees 
with  its  lower  gunwale  about  3  feet  from  the  ground. 
The  two  shelter  cloths  were  next  pegged  down  to 
the  ground  behind  the  canoe,  overlapping  each  other 
somewhat,  led  over  the  back  of  the  canoe  and  for- 
ward over  the  space  in  front,  where  they  were  guyed 
out  with  poles  and  guy-ropes  led  down  to  pegs  in 
the  ground.  In  front  of  the  canoe,  under  the  shelter, 
were  then  driven  four  stakes,  upon  which  a  wooden 
suitcase  was  spread  out  bottom  up,  making  a  table, 
and  the  fire  was  located  just  in  front  of  the  edge  of 
the  shelter  cloth.  All  the  food-bags,  cooking-pots, 
etc.,  were  spread  in  a  row  along  the  bottom  gunwale 
inside  of  the  canoe,  which  formed  a  most  excellent 
shelf;  and  then  bread-making,  and  food  preparation 
went  ahead  merrily  under  shelter  in  spite  of  a  rain 
outside.  When  the  meal  was  over  the  suitcase  was 
lifted  off  out  of  the  way,  its  stakes  pulled  up,  and  the 


SIDE-OPENING  FOOD  PACKS  OPENED  AND  ROLLED  UP. 


SOME  OF  THE  PROVISION  SACKS  AND  FRICTION-TOP  CANS  FOR  BUTTER 

AND  PORK. 


CAMP  COMFORTS  243 

party  gathered  under  the  shelter  cloth  before  the 
bright  camp-fire  blaze.  After  a  while  the  sleeping- 
bags  were  rolled  out,  their  pillows  coming  under  the 
canoe  up  against  the  shelter  cloth  at  the  rear,  and 
there  was  ample  room  for  five  men  to  sleep  in  a  row. 
The  two  shelter  cloths  weighed  2^  pounds  each,  and 
the  canoe,  which  held  all  the  provisions,  duffel,  and 
cooking  utensils  up  out  of  harm's  way,  being  part 
of  the  scenery,  could  not  legitimately  be  charged  as 
weight  at  all.  In  other  words,  on  a  weight  of  5 
pounds  this  idea  provided  a  cooking,  eating,  and 
sleeping  shelter  for  five  men. 

In  making  oneself  comfortable  for  the  night  a 
number  of  comforts  are  attended  to  by  the  seasoned 
camper  as  a  matter  of  course,  nor  will  he  go  to  bed 
satisfied  until  they  are  to  his  mind.  There  is  plenty 
of  time  to  make  oneself  a  suitable  sleeping-place 
in  the  hours  between  finishing  with  supper  and 
bedtime,  and  one  sign  of  the  inexperienced  man  is 
his  anxiety  to  attend  to  his  sleeping  quarters  about 
sunset  when  he  ought  to  be  helping  the  others  in 
preparing  supper  or  else  cutting  night  fire-wood,  for 
no  axe  work  should  be  done  in  the  dark.  All  this 
out  of  the  way,  however,  and  the  dishes  washed  and 
set  aside,  the  veteran  will  roll  out  his  sleeping-rig 
and  see  to  it  that  it  is  comfortable  before  retiring. 
The  subject  of  sleeping-bags  has  been  thoroughly 
treated  in  these  pages  before,  and  will  not  be  gone 


244  CAMP  CRAFT 

into  here,  merely  adding  here  a  few  cautions  such 
as  to  see  that  the  bed  site  is  level  ground,  particularly 
in  the  side-to-side  direction,  for  sleeping  sideways 
on  a  slope  is  one  of  the  impossibilities  of  the  out- 
doors. If  using  a  very  thin  mattress,  such  as  a  skin 
or  quilt,  see  that  suitable  hollows  for  hips  and  shoul- 
ders are  scooped  in  the  dufF  and  filled  with  dry 
leaves,  your  aim  being  to  distribute  the  area  of  your 
body  as  evenly  as  possible,  so  that  all  of  it  may  be 
supported  and  not  have  the  whole  weight  concen- 
trated on  hips  and  shoulders.  And  arrange  some  sort 
of  windbreak,  made  of  any  available  cloth  or  duffel- 
bag,  so  that  the  prevailing  wind  will  not  sweep  over 
you  at  night.  Outside  of  water-proof  gabardine  or 
silk  I  know  of  no  weave  that  will  not  let  night  winds 
creep  in  and  steal  away  by  conduction  the  bodily  heat 
that  you  depend  upon  for  night  warmth.  Cautions 
about  sleeping  with  too  many  clothes  on  seem  al- 
most superfluous,  yet  men  will  go  to  bed  of  a  cold 
night  with  so  much  clothing  on  them  as  to  cause 
uncomfortable  sleeping  and  be  colder  in  the  end 
than  if  without  them,  due  to  the  hampering  of  free 
circulation  during  the  sleeping  hours.  Better  put 
these  extra  things  on  outside  the  bag  and  under  the 
dew  cloth,  reserving  only  a  few  soft  undergarments 
for  night  wear.  A  pair  of  warm,  dry  socks  and  wool 
sleeping-slippers  are  almost  a  necessity  in  freezing 
weather,  for  one's  feet  are  not  constructed  so  as  to 


CAMP  COMFORTS  245 

resist  much  cold,  and  the  chilly,  cavernous  lower 
regions  of  the  sleeping-bag  do  not  seem  to  help 
much  either.  At  the  upper  end  attention  will  have 
to  be  paid  to  details  also.  Man  cannot  sleep  in 
temperatures  below  freezing  with  his  head  outside 
the  bag  without  a  night-cap,  and  if  he  pulls  the  flaps 
of  the  bag  high  enough  to  cover  his  head  he  does  not 
get  enough  outside  air  for  breathing  purposes.  A 
wool  skull-cap  or  night-cap  solves  the  difficulty 
and  is  one  those  little  things  that  are  not  overlooked 
or  made  Hght  of  by  the  veteran.  In  the  same  cate- 
gory is  the  pillow.  Without  it  some  men,  partic- 
ularly if  of  high-strung  mentality,  cannot  get  along. 
One  does  not  have  to  pack  anything  of  any  size; 
a  mere  pad  will  do,  so  that  it  has  a  fine,  smooth 
surface  and  a  soft  feather  or  wool  interior.  It  is 
intended  to  cap  the  pile  of  dufFel  and  spare  clothes 
that  you  will  build  up  at  the  head  of  your  sleeping- 
bag  to  raise  your  head  to  the  level  which  suits  you 
personally  when  sleeping.  On  this  your  head  can 
lie  serene  with  the  small  pillow  under  cheek,  even 
if  the  lower  components  of  the  pile  include  such 
lumpy  commodities  as  a  pair  of  leather  hunting- 
boots  stuffed  with  leaves. 

All  these  little  night  comforts,  besides  your  toilet- 
kit,  must  go  somewhere,  in  a  water-tight  bag  or  a 
dry  poke,  so  that  all  of  them  will  be  in  one  place 
and  not  scattered  through  your  duffel  when  wanted. 


246  CAMP  CRAFT 

Perhaps  as  good  a  receptacle  as  comes  for  the  pur- 
pose is  the  kit  roll,  about  i6  inches  long  by  8  inches 
wide  when  opened  out  flat,  and  which  is  provided 
with  rows  of  pockets  to  hold  soap,  shaving  tackle, 
comb,  and  brush,  night-cap,  night  socks  and  slippers, 
looking-glass,  tooth-brush,  mending-kit,  etc.  This 
is  hung  up  on  two  stakes  alongside  your  sleeping- 
bag,  and  then  each  article  is  handy  and  there  is  a 
place  for  every  one  of  them  when  you  get  up  in  the 
morning.  As  you  divest  yourself  of  knife,  watch, 
compass,  pipe,  bandanna,  belt,  tobacco-pouch,  elec- 
tric flasher,  and  the  Hke,  on  retiring,  these  go  into 
the  pockets  lately  occupied  by  the  night  outfit,  and 
atop  of  one  of  the  stakes  is  just  the  place  to  swing 
the  carbide  lamp  by  its  pointed  hook.  When  pack- 
ing the  kit  up  in  the  morning  the  pillow  is  folded 
flat  and  laid  lengthwise  across  the  roll;  an  inspec- 
tion shows  that  all  the  articles  are  in  their  accustomed 
pockets,  and  the  kit  is  then  rolled  up  around  the  pil- 
low and  tied  with  its  tapes. 

On  dressing  in  the  morning,  after  one's  hunting- 
boots  have  been  softened  up  and  put  on,  the  first 
thing  wanted  is  a  good  wash;  and  the  thing  to  do 
it  with  is  hot  water,  poets  and  amateur  campers  to 
the  contrary  notwithstanding.  A  very  little  out  of 
the  cook's  big  boiling  water-pail  will  make  an  aston- 
ishing quantity  of  water  as  hot  as  your  face  can 
bear,  and  so  you  sidle  up  to  him  with  your  folding 


CAMP  COMFORTS  247 

canvas  wash-basin  already  part  full  of  cold  water 
and  get  a  dipperful.  Somewhere  at  the  bottom  of 
your  tump-pack,  or  flat  in  your  knapsack  should  be 
a  small,  12-inch  canvas  basin  of  this  type.  It  folds 
down  flat  as  the  proverbial  pancake,  and  opens  up 
to  about  3  inches  high,  and  it's  one  of  those  little 
comforts  weighing  an  ounce  or  so  that  will  repay 
its  weight  by  keeping  you  looking  fresh  and  well 
and  feeling  so,  too. 

Along  after  dark  in  camp,  another  bodily  infirmity 
makes  its  presence  known,  the  inability  to  see  things 
in  the  dark  (and  especially  to  find  a  lost  belt-axe 
or  salt-shaker).  No  man  in  the  party  should  be 
without  his  own  light-producing  apparatus;  car- 
bide lamp,  candle  lantern,  or  electric  flasher.  The 
camp-fire  and  one  or  two  carbides  will  just  about 
supply  enough  working  light  for  the  cooks  and  fire- 
men; meanwhile  you  have  your  share  of  the  work 
to  do,  to  get  water  or  go  skirmishing  for  dead  trees 
in  the  dark  and  should  have  your  own  lantern. 
Personally  I  am  never  without  both  a  flasher  and 
a  small  carbide,  the  latter  usually  loaned  for  general 
illumination  as  soon  as  it  can  be  filled  and  lit.  Our 
illustration  shows  one  of  the  types  of  candle  lan- 
terns, very  popular  for  individual  and  tent  lighting. 
It  collapses  flat  in  your  pack  and  takes  very  little 
space  and  weight — 9  ounces — and  it  has  the  ad- 
vantage of  being  always  ready  to  light  and  can  be 


248  CAMP  CRAFT 

put  out  in  a  second,  which  the  carbide  cannot,  so 
that  one  is  loath  to  Hght  the  latter  merely  for 
some  private  errand  of  short  duration,  but  rather 
it  is  held  until  after  nightfall,  when  it  is  lit  for  its 
run  of  three  hours  and  is  then  at  the  service  of 
the  whole  party  except  when  you  need  to  borrow 
it  for  private  purposes.  Neither  it  nor  the  candle 
lantern  can  be  blown  out  by  any  ordinary  breeze, 
so  that  they  are  reliable  and  serviceable  in  rain, 
snow,  storm,  or  almost  any  weather  conditions  that 
obtain  in  the  wilderness.  The  electric  flasher  is 
no  doubt  the  handiest  individual  light  of  them  all. 
Carried  in  your  pocket  after  nightfall,  it  gives  a 
strong  light,  always  available  on  the  instant,  and  is 
a  great  convenience  for  finding  things  in  the  dark, 
reading  the  compass  when  night  travelling,  finding 
tools  and  trees  in  the  woods,  and  looking  over  every- 
thing at  night  before  turning  in.  In  getting  one, 
see  that  its  button  is  of  the  sHding  variety;  other- 
wise it  will  quite  likely  set  itself  going  in  your 
pocket,  using  up  the  good  current  for  no  available 
purpose.  The  button  should  also  stay  put  at  will, 
for  there  will  be  times  when  you  may  want  to  set 
the  light  down  and  use  both  hands  for  a  consider- 
able period  of  time. 

In  mild  weather,  from  early  spring  to  late  fall, 
the  dusk  and  the  early  morning  are  the  grand  display 
periods  for  insect  life.     Mosquitoes,  no-see-ums,  and 


CAMP  COMFORTS  249 

black-flies  hover  about  in  countless  thousands,  and 
woe  betide  him  who  has  no  protection  against  them  ! 
The  ten-cent  brown  cotton  camping-gloves,  worn 
when  cooking  or  paddling,  will  render  your  hands 
immune  from  their  attacks,  and  a  light  head-net  is 
the  only  really  comfortable  defense  for  your  face. 
Oil  of  citronella  carried  in  a  nickel  screw-top  oil-can 
and  sprinkled  on  the  net  front  will  keep  them  from 
lighting  on  it  and  singing  you  to  death,  while  the 
net  itself,  if  of  the  kind  that  straps  securely  to  your 
shoulders,  will  hold  them  at  bay  from  doing  you 
personal  violence.  The  net  is  a  light  and  easily  stowed 
comfort,  and  one  will  not  leave  his  behind,  nor  two 
of  them  if  on  a  long  trip,  after  one  encounter  with 
the  ungodly,  unprotected  except  by  fly  smears  and 
"dopes." 

In  permanent  camps,  a  quantity  of  light,  easily 
packed  and  transported  camp  furniture  will  be  worth 
the  owning,  particularly  if  the  stay  is  to  be  a  long 
one,  for  it  is  the  little  comforts  in  the  long  run  which 
decide  whether  such  camping  can  be  called  a  failure 
or  a  pleasurable  experience.  Such  conveniences  as 
folding  chairs,  cots,  tables,  bureaus,  tent  clothes- 
hooks,  etc.,  are  utterly  out  of  place  in  travel  camps 
into  good  game  and  fishing  country,  but  they  have 
their  place  in  tenting  beside  some  lake  where  the 
fishing  is  good,  and  where  a  team  is  to  bring  in  the 
whole  establishment  and  the  party  is  to  spend  an 


250  CAMP  CRAFT 

entire  vacation  in  one  spot.  In  such  camping  one 
should  not  scorn  these  Hght  and  easily  transported 
articles  but  get  together  the  needful  equipment  of 
them,  for  it  cannot  be  too  much  emphasized  that 
they  will  contribute  manifold  to  the  enjoyment  of 
such  a  camp.  Take  what  your  transportation 
facilities  will  permit,  and  don't  listen  to  the  man 
who  laughs  because  up  in  the  Maine  woods  no  one 
but  tenderfeet  use  these  things  !  So  they  do — the 
blessed  innocents — but  it  is  because  of  ignorance  of 
what  can  and  cannot  be  carried  in  the  wilderness 
rather  than  because  of  any  intrinsic  lack  of  merit 
in  the  articles  themselves. 


CHAPTER  XV 

^  CAMP  ORGANIZATION 

ESSENTIALLY  a  camp  consists  of  a  group  of 
tents,  a  fire,  and  a  fat  man  for  chef.  The  rest 
do  not  count — as  essentials.  But,  even  with  the 
above,  and  of  .extra-fine  quahty,  the  camp  may  be  a 
sorrowful  memory  unless  a  certain  amount  of  organi- 
zation, of  routine,  is  agreed  upon  and  lived  up  to. 
I  have  known  camps  where  the  star  hunter  blandly 
laid  him  down  on  the  browse  that  others  had  picked, 
and  informed  all  and  sundry  that,  as  he  knew 
nothing  whatever  of  fires  or  cooking,  his  job  forth- 
with would  be  to  keep  the  camp  in  game !  Where- 
upon the  fisherman,  taking  his  cue,  declared  that  he 
would  attend  to  the  fish  market,  and  the  naturalist, 
following  suit,  arose  to  remark  that  cooking  and 
dish-washing  was  no  gentleman's  job,  and  that  he 
would  attend  strictly  to  the  fruit  supply.  Just  at 
this  juncture  the  cook  appeared  in  the  doorway  with 
the  camp-bench  poised  above  his  head,  vociferat- 
ing that,  by  the  devil's  caldron,  if  all  three  of  them 
didn't  dig  out  and  rustle  fire-wood,  slick  up  the  camp, 
and  clean  all  the  pots  and  pans  in  less  than  two 

251 


252  CAMP  CRAFT 

minutes,  he  would  beat  them  all  as  flat  as  so  many 
Shrovetide-pancakes ! 

It  was  lucky  that  the  cook  was  a  large,  fat  man 
with  a  choleric  blue  eye,  for  too  often  the  chef  is 
only  a  little,  measly,  mild-mannered  individual,  whose 
only  reason  for  going  into  the  woods  is  an  abiding 
love  of  outdoor  life,  and  so  the  others  impose  on  his 
good  nature,  forgetting  that  he  may  be  as  keen  a 
hunter  and  as  ardent  a  fisherman  as  any  of  the  rest. 
There  should  be  a  separate  job  for  each  of  the  party, 
and  the  more  onerous  ones,  such  as  washing  dishes, 
should  be  taken  in  turn.  If  the  party  is  of  the  right 
sort  of  woodsmen,  no  one  wants  to  shirk,  and  each 
will  naturally  choose  the  duty  that  suits  him  best. 
For  instance,  there  will  always  be  one  who  loves  an 
axe  almost  as  much  as  his  rifle.  The  very  exercise 
is  a  joy  to  him,  and  the  play  of  the  axe  muscles  eases 
all  his  joints  with  a  satisfaction  that  he  has  waited 
all  the  year  in  the  city  for.  He  prides  himself  in 
being  able  to  split  a  hair,  to  chop  a  cut  like  fine 
joiner  work,  to  lay  a  tree  to  a  plumb-line;  let  him 
have  the  night  wood  and  the  cook-fire  wood  ex- 
clusively under  his  charge. 

Then  there  will  always  be  some  brother  whose 
sense  of  order  is  so  inborn  that  it  gives  him  the 
fidgets  to  see  anything  at  sixes  and  sevens — his 
shall  be  the  job  of  keeping  the  camp  slicked  up, 
bedding  aired,  sinks  dug,  spring-houses  constructed, 


CAMP  ORGANIZATION  253 

mess-table  built,  and  dozens  of  other  camp  comforts 
attended  to.  The  naturalist  just  naturally  takes  over 
the  care  of  water-supply  from  the  spring,  berries  from 
the  patch  over  on  the  shoulder  of  the  mountain, 
watercress  out  of  the  brook,  mushrooms  from  the 
fields.  And  all  three  of  them  take  the  dish-pan  job 
in  rotation. 

And  then,  there  is  Monsieur  Le  Chef  de  Cuisine. 
On  him  depend  the  health  and  good  spirits  of  the 
9  party.  There  is  positively  nothing  wonderful  about 
cooking,  but  your  really  good  cooks  are  neither  born 
nor  made,  but  spring,  fully  educated,  from  the  loins 
of  Lucullus  himself.  Any  fellow  that  likes  chemical 
experiments  or  has  a  hankering  for  manufacturing 
processes  from  the  raw  minerals  of  the  earth  will 
make  a  good  cook.  It  is  nothing  but  a  chemical 
reaction — so  much  heat  applied  for  so  long  a  time, 
and  you  have  the  result.  And  the  combinations 
and  blends  are  endless.  Every  woodsman  should 
know  how  to  prepare  everything  that  his  rod  and 
gun  get  him  and  how  to  use  the  simplest  herbs  and 
plants  of  the  forest.  But  the  man  in  whom  the 
study  of  food  preparation  is  a  yearning  and  an  art, 
a  consuming  interest,  is  the  one  who  naturally  steps 
forward  to  be  cook. 

To  perform  the  chemical  operation  aforesaid 
requires  the  application  of  just  the  right  heat  for 
just  the  right  time.     Therefore,  it  is  impossible  for 


254  CAMP  CRAFT 

the  cook  to  get  results  In  the  open  if  he  has  to  leave 
his  job  continually  to  rustle  fire-wood  or  water. 
These  must  be  right  at  his  elbow,  and  the  other  mem- 
bers of  the  party  must  put  them  there,  as  getting  the 
meals  takes  a  lot  of  the  cook's  time,  and  no  man  in 
the  party  should  have  to  take  any  more  time  than 
any  one  else  away  from  the  pursuits  of  the  sports 
that  all  came  into  the  woods  to  enjoy.  Neither 
should  he  wash  dishes  or  set  the  table.  Once  the 
meal  is  cooked  and  served,  the  chefs  work  is  done, 
and  he  should  be  allowed  to  return  to  his  pipe  in 
peace. 

It  is  the  most  delightful  fun  in  the  world  for  a 
party  of  four  to  live  in  the  virgin  forest  beside  some 
sheet  of  fishy  water  and  draw  from  Nature  alone 
all  the  comforts  and  variety  of  Hfe  that  the  most 
exquisite  civilization  can  afford.  Any  camp  that  is 
suffering  from  monotony  of  diet  doesn't  know  the 
game  thoroughly,  for,  even  within  fifty  miles  of  New 
York  City  there  are  hundreds  of  camping  grounds 
that  will  give  endless  variety  of  diet  and  sport.  The 
ideal  loafers'  camp  misses  the  trout,  as  it  must  be 
in  September  to  get  warmth  and  yet  get  the  cream 
of  both  hunting  and  fishing.  One  still  has  bass, 
pickerel,  perch,  sunfish,  snipe,  woodcock,  squirrel, 
'coon,  woodchuck,  possum;  crabs,  oysters,  and  clams 
(if  near  salt-water);  and  one  can  go  a-frogging,  bob- 
bing for  eels,  catting  by  jack-lantern,  "'cooning  in 


CAMP  ORGANIZATION  255 

de  dark  ob  de  moon";  berries  are  in  profusion,  and, 
if  there  is  a  cornfield  in  twenty  mile,  "dar  is  sweet 
co'n  an'  melons." 

Let  us  glance  over  the  layout  of  such  a  camp  for 
a  party  of  four.  To  begin  with  the  tents:  I  never 
cared  much  for  any  of  the  wall-tents  and  A-tents 
for  a  party  to  herd  in  except  under  special  conditions, 
such  as  mountain  work.  One  is  too  crowded.  There 
is  too  much  strain  on  the  give-and-take  requirements 
of  one's  good  behavior  for  it  to  last  long  without 
quarrels.  Four  big,  husky  men  crowded  into  a  12  x 
16-foot  army-tent  are  pretty  sure  to  step  on  one  an- 
other's toes  before  long.  And  then,  to  pack  the  thing 
means  heavy  penitential  labor  for  one  or  two  of  the 
party,  as  it  cannot  be  divided  between  them.  If  the 
camp  is  on  water  somewhere,  as  all  camps  worthy  of 
the  name  must  be,  it  is  best  reached  by  canoes,  and  a 
large  tent  is  a  dangerous  and  heavy  burden  to  paddle 
in  any  canoe.  The  camp  becomes  much  more  cosey 
and  homelike,  more  like  a  little  community,  if  there 
are  three  or  four  small  tents,  all  fronting  on  the  night 
fire.  I  was  driven  to  devise  the  "Forester  Tent," 
first  described  in  Field  and  Stream  in  "Camp  Fires 
of  an  Epicure,"  nine  years  ago  to  meet  this  require- 
ment. It  will  sleep  two  very  comfortably,  and  three 
of  them,  pitched  around  the  night  fire  on  three  sides 
of  a  square,  form  quite  a  settlement.  One  can  then 
chum  in  with  his  particular  Fidus  Achates;  and  hu- 


256  CAMP  CRAFT 

man  nature  is  always  such  that  in  any  camp  there 
is  somewhat  more  affinity  between  some  members 
than  others.  They  naturally  hunt  in  pairs  according 
to  temperament.  In  effect,  it  gives  each  man  a  room 
to  himself,  and,  as  these  tents  only  weigh  5  pounds, 
they  are  easily  transported  and  divided  about  the 
party.  For  a  camp  lasting  all  summer  I  prefer  some 
sort  of  a  shack  or  bungalow,  in  which  permanent 
comforts  can  be  built,  to  any  form  of  tent,  but  for 
a  camp  of  from  one  to  three  weeks  the  little  open 
tents  are  ideal. 

The  Orderly  Man  will  have  them  all  in  tow.  Every 
man  likes  neatness  and  comfort,  but  few  will  take 
the  trouble  to  keep  their  nest  trig  and  shipshape. 
Let  brother  Orderly  police  the  whole  encampment. 
That's  his  job.  He  hangs  out  every  man*s  blankets, 
sweeps  up  all  the  camp  enclosure,  sets  all  the  tents 
to  rights,  turns  over  all  the  browse  and  makes  up 
all  the  beds;  his  pride  being  that  the  entire  camp 
looks  eternally  like  a  new  pin.  This  done,  let  him 
take  to  his  favorite  rod  and  enjoy  himself  the  rest  of 
the  day. 

The  Man  with  the  Axe  comes  next  in  line.  To 
begin  with  the  night-fire:  I've  tried  all  kinds,  and 
the  one  described  by  old  Nessmuk  in  "Woodcraft" 
is  the  finest  of  them  all.  It  gives  you  a  cheerful 
blaze  all  night  long,  and  the  heat  is  thrown  directly 
into  the  tents  so  that  the  night  chill  is  driven  out 


CAMP  ORGANIZATION  257 

and  one  sleeps  like  a  dormouse.  To  make  it  you 
first  cut  two  stout  beech  stakes  about  3  inches  thick 
and  4  feet  long.  Drive  them  a  foot  into  the  ground, 
slanting  slightly  backward.  Next  get  out  six  6-inch 
logs  of  beech,  red  maple,  black  oak,  or  green  pine, 


THE  "NESSMUK"  NIGHT  FIRE. 

each  about  4  feet  long,  and  pile  them  up  one  on  top 
of  the  other  against  the  stakes.  They  are  called 
the  "backlogs,"  and  their  function  is  to  head  off 
the  heat  that  would  otherwise  be  dissipated  into  the 
forest  and  to  reflect  it  into  the  tents.  The  logs  for  it 
are  cut  of  green  wood,  so  that  they  will  not  burn 
out  too  quickly.  Next  you  need  two  more  green 
6-inch  logs,  about  3  feet  long,  for  andirons.  These 
are  laid  running  out  toward  the  tent  from  the  back- 
logs, about  2  feet  apart  and  staked  in  place.    Across 


258  CAMP  CRAFT 

them  at  the  extreme  front  goes  another  green  log, 
about  a  4-inch,  called  the  "forestick."  A  rough 
grid  of  small  green  sticks  is  laid  in  between  it  and 
the  backlogs  and  a  pyramid  of  chips  and  fagots 
built  on  them,  topping  off  with  short  4  and  5  inch 
dry  timber  logs  of  chestnut,  birch,  maple,  and  elm. 
The  conflagration  is  touched  off  just  at  dark,  and 
you  at  once  get  a  blaze  6  feet  high  that  will  last  till 
turning-in  time.  Twenty  4-inch  logs  and  a  quantity 
of  fagots  will  last  this  fire  during  the  night.  Put 
on  seven  or  eight  when  the  crowd  turns  in,  at  1 1  p.  m. 
About  I  A.  M.  some  cold-frog  is  sure  to  wake  up, 
rake  together  the  glowing  embers  and  pile  on  more 
fagots  and  six  or  seven  more  logs.  As  soon  as  the 
warmth  of  the  blaze  strikes  him  he  dozes  off.  Along 
about  4  A.  M.,  when  the  early  squirrels  are  racing 
about  the  woods  and  the  chorus  of  the  birds  is  in 
full  blast,  some  light  sleeper  will  turn  out  and  re- 
organize the  tumbled-down  backlogs  and  put  on  all 
the  rest  of  the  night  logs.  By  six  or  seven  in  the 
morning,  when  the  whole  camp  turns  out,  the  fire 
will  again  be  a  mass  of  glowing  embers  and  in  beau- 
tiful shape  for  breakfast  culinary  operations.  The 
last  two  of  the  backlogs  are  laid  side  by  side  across 
the  andirons,  which  are  still  in  the  game,  and  on 
them  are  set  the  coffee-pot,  frying-pan,  flapjack- 
skillet,  and  anything  else  the  chef's  soul  may  elect. 
If  he  is  a  real  fat  chef  he  will  have  buried  some 


CAMP  ORGANIZATION  259 

'taters  in  a  hole  in  the  ground  under  the  forestick 
the  night  before,  so  that  all  he  has  to  do  is  to  go 
a-grubbing  to  have  hot  roasted  potatoes  for  break- 
fast with  the  fried  work. 

It  is  now  high  time  that  the  water  department 
got  in  some  good  "licks."    There  is  a  plenty  of  pails 


WOODLAND  COOKING  RANGE. 


of  fresh,  clear  spring-water  wanted  at  once,  and  he 
should  not  have  to  be  told.  Furthermore,  there  is 
no  greater  pleasure  than  an  early-morning  picking 
at  the  berry  patch  in  the  fresh,  smoky  dew  or  a 
trip  along  the  trail  beside  the  brook  down  to  the 
little  swamp  where  the  brook  pauses  awhile  to  allow 
a  patch  of  cress  to  take  root. 

After  breakfast  it  is  the  orderly  man's  turn  to 
show  what  he  can  do.  He  should  be  a  confirmed 
and  an  habitual  potterer,  a  man  who  is  happiest 
when  he  has  taken  half  the  morning  to  get  that  d — n 
pipe   lighted    and  is   fooling    away  the  other  half 


26o  CAMP  CRAFT 

making  a  new  camp-broom  out  of  huckleberry 
switches.  He  gets  out  all  the  blankets,  hangs  them 
in  the  sun  on  the  camp  clothes-line,  sweeps  them 
all  clean  of  browse  litter  with  the  huckleberry  broom, 
rigs  up  a  cupboard  of  the  chefs  soap-box  (which 
he  fills  full  of  doodle-bugs,  just  to  show  that  there 
is  no  hard  feeling),  constructs  a  camp-lavatory 
between  two  trees  by  nailing  two  parallel  saplings 
on  each  side  of  the  trees,  on  which  the  basins  can  be 
set  in  a  row,  and  finally  dodders  ofF  to  the  lake, 
where  he  gets  out  a  line  and  hopes  the  fish  will  not 
interrupt  his  reading  from  Tennyson.  The  best  one 
I  ever  camped  with  neither  fished  nor  hunted.  He 
was  obsessed  with  one  of  those  interminable  novels 
of  Victor  Hugo's  at  the  time,  and  invariably  pro- 
duced the  cherished  volume  from  some  hidden  recess 
in  his  blouse  the  moment  his  cork  was  out  on  the 
water.  At  periodic  intervals  he  would  be  waked  up 
with  the  yell:  "Eber,  where  in  the  devil  is  your 
cork  r^  and  the  whole  boat  would  take  a  day  oflF  to 
unsnarl  his  tackle  from  the  roots  and  stumps  around 
which  the  fish  had  wound  it. 

And  the  fourth  is  D'Artagnan — le  chef!  To  begin 
with,  he  must  be  a  poet  and  an  artist — and,  further- 
more, he  must  know  how  to  cook.  There  is  nothing 
to  it.  More  good  jobs  are  spoiled  by  too  much  fire 
than  anything  else.  It  is  the  application  to  the 
utensil  of  the  heat  that  proves  the  master.     You 


CAMP  ORGANIZATION  261 

can't  cook  by  shaking  up  a  heap  of  fagots  and  wig- 
gling pots  and  pans  onto  them  the  minute  a  few 
feeble  flames  begin  to  show  up.  For  dinner  and 
supper  you  want  a  good  range,  and  the  best  wood- 
land one  I  know  of  is  two  green  logs  laid  side  by 
side  and  staked  in  place,  being  held  a  few  inches 
above  the  ground  by  two  short  cross-logs  under  their 
ends.  Tyros  always  lay  the  logs  flat  on  the  ground 
and  then  wonder  why  the  fire  is  always  feeble,  or 
else  too  vigorous.  There  is  no  way  for  the  air  to  get 
at  the  fire  from  underneath.  Set  the  two  logs  on 
two  short  ones  and  the  range  will  steam  like  a  major. 
For  breakfast  this  chef  usually  takes  the  ruins  of 
the  night  fire,  because  one  already  has  a  bed  of 
sizzling-hot  and  well-behaved  embers  to  start  with. 
Coff*ee  simply  needs  a  grab  of  it  to  each  cupful  of 
water  you  put  into  the  coffee-pot,  with  one  extra,  to 
allow  for  evaporation.  The  French  have  a  very 
handy  percolator,  a  two-storied  affair  in  which  a 
cupful  of  grounds  is  put  in  the  strainer  and  you 
simply  pour  on  boiling  water,  which  takes  five  or 
ten  minutes  to  percolate  through,  and  the  clear 
coffee  settles  in  the  pot  below.  One  can't  pack  such 
a  contrivance  into  the  blessed  woods,  however,  as 
the  duffel  law  should  always  be  "agin  it";  so  the 
old-fashioned  way  is  best.  Let  her  boil  up  once, 
putting  out  all  the  fire  for  miles  around,  and  then 
set  it  'way  off  on  the  edge  of  the  coals  to  simmer  till 


262  CAMP  CRAFT 

wanted.  Settle  with  a  dash  of  cold  spring-water 
before  serving.  As  a  moUifiant,  nothing  beats  con- 
densed milk  in  the  woods — except  condensed  cream. 
For  fish  and  the  smaller  game-birds  the  frying-pan 
is  the  thing.  Here  the  sin  of  too  much  fire  scorches 
many  a  good  breakfast.  It  takes  not  much  less 
than  twenty  minutes'  application  of  heat  to  cook 
either  fish  or  birds,  and  your  problem  is  how  to 
apply  the  heat  to  the  frying-pan  for  that  length 
of  time  without  scorching  the  skin  of  the  brute. 
By  far  the  best  fat  is  bacon  drippings,  and,  as  bacon 
is  one  of  the  breakfast  mainstays,  there  should  never 
be  any  dearth  of  drippings.  If  there  is,  you  are 
having  too  much  fried  work  and  every  one  will  get 
bilious.  The  ideal  way  to  do  a  mess  of  fish  is,  first, 
to  fry  a  chip  of  bacon  for  every  man  at  the  table. 
Turn  them  the  instant  they  are  brownish  white  and 
fish  out  as  soon  as  the  other  side  becomes  brown, 
which  will  be  in  three  or  four  minutes  for  the  whole 
operation.  In  the  pan  will  be  left  delicious  bacon 
fat.  Roll  the  fish  in  corn-meal  and  fry  slowly  for 
fifteen  minutes,  or  until  the  flesh  gets  white  and 
firm  to  the  fork.  Then  whoop  up  the  fire  and  brown 
both  sides.  Serve  with  a  chip  of  bacon  on  the  side 
and  a  garnish  of  watercress. 

The  same  regimen  is  followed  in  doing  fried  potatoes, 
either  sliced  or  stripped,  but  never  have  fried  potatoes 
at  the  same  time  as  fried  fish  or  meat.    Better  make 


CAMP  ORGANIZATION  263 

it  baked  or  boiled  with  their  jackets  on.  If  you 
have  milk,  cut  them  into  cubes  and  boil  fifteen 
minutes,  pour  ofF  the  liquor  for  soup-stock,  boil  five 
minutes  in  milk  with  a  thumb  of  butter,  and  serve 
as  creamed  potatoes.  Don't  try  it  with  condensed 
milk,  but  evaporated  cream  will  do  admirably. 
I  seldom  have  cereals   with    a   camp   breakfast. 


A  "JORESTER"  ENCAMPMENT. 

because  of  the  milk  nuisance,  but  if  same  is  handy 
and  ye  fretful  cow  inhabiteth  the  berry  pasture, 
why,  then  one  can  have  either  oatmeal,  cream  of 
wheat,  force,  or  any  of  the  numerous  cereal  prep- 
arations on  the  market.  But  it  is  really  necessary 
to  have  fruit,  unless  you  want  a  steady  prune  diet 
for  dessert,  and  there  is  no  reason,  with  the  woods 
full  of  huckleberries,  blackberries,  and  lazy  men,  why 
the  one  shouldn't  collect  the  other.  As  a  variant 
on  the  potato,  both  rice  and  hominy  are  excellent. 
Both  take  about  thirty-five  minutes  to  cook  and 
need  plenty  of  water,   as  they  wax  amazingly  as 


264  CAMP  CRAFT 

they  cook,  and  should  be  given  a  stir  every  now 
and  then,  as  they  are  prone  to  stick  to  the  bottom  of 
the  pot  and  scorch.  Nor  should  they  have  too 
fierce  a  fire.  In  all  these  cooking  operations  the  chef 
should  insist  on  having  only  legitimate  cooking 
wood  for  his  fire.  Reject  all  pine  and  hemlock 
sticks  that  may  be  offered,  or  else  everything  will 
taste  of  tannin  and  creosote.  You  want  sticks  of 
oak,  beech,  chestnut,  and  maple  for  ordinary  cooking, 
and  birch,  cherry,  beech,  and  rock-maple  for  all 
broiling  operations. 

For  bread  substitutes  the  best  I  know  are  pan- 
cakes, hardtack  and  club  bread.  For  the  first  there 
are  plenty  of  good  old  "Varginny"  pancake  flours 
that  simply  require  the  addition  of  water  to  make  a 
nice  batter;  the  second  is  delicious  when  toasted 
before  the  fire  to  restore  its  original  crispness,  and 
its  staying  power  is  wonderful;  the  last  is  some- 
what more  complicated  and  has  for  its  first  step 
cutting  down  a  healthy  young  black  birch  about 
3  inches  thick.  This  you  peel  and  set  up  slanting 
over  the  fire,  where  it  will  get  as  hot  as  the  Lid. 
Around  it  you  wind  a  thin  strip  of  dough  made  from 
self-raising  flour  according  to  directions  or  else  from 
ordinary  flour  with  a  teaspoonful  of  baking-powder. 
Turn  the  club  occasionally  and  keep  up  a  hot  fire 
with  birch  and  cherry  fagots.  You  will  soon  have 
biscuits  equal  to  any  in  mother^s  oven. 


CAMP  ORGANIZATION  265 

For  dinners,  with  the  long  range  there  is  plenty 
of  time  and  room  to  cut  a  few  pigeon  wings.  You 
can  broil,  stew,  and  raise  Cain  generally.  To  broil, 
take  the  fish,  or  snake,  or  bird,  or  animal,  whatever 
it  is,  slap  flat  with  the  hatchet,  butter  and  salt  all 
over,  shove  it  into  the  spider  and  on  with  it  over  a 
roseate  bed  of  embers  on  the  range.  Keep  the  tail 
of  your  eye  on  it,  while  you  boil  one  vegetable  and 
fry  another  to  go  with  it.  I  always  take  a  couple  of 
war-bags  full  of  potatoes,  beets,  onions,  carrots, 
etc.,  when  on  non-nomadic  camps.  These  will  keep 
throughout  a  long  camp  and  work  in  for  soups,  stews, 
fries,  and  boils.  In  fact,  you  must  have  them  if  the 
camp  is  going  to  remain  healthy  and  avoid  canned 
diets.  Just  pare  them  and  boil  them  till  tender. 
That  is  all  there  is  to  it.  Bubble  in  butter,  or  fry 
in  thin  slices  in  bacon  fat,  to  vary  the  prepara- 
tion. Another  staple  that  is  a  bully  mainstay  is 
corn-meal.  Stir  into  boiling  salted  water  and  boil 
slowly  until  done.  It  is  then  corn  mush  and  is  the 
base  for  dodgers,  fried  mush  cakes,  hoe  cakes, 
thickeners  for  this  and  that,  and  general  stock. 
Don't  have  coffee  for  dinner  as  well  as  breakfast. 
Too  much  coffee  is  at  the  root  of  most  of  the  bilious- 
ness and  general  debility  around  most  camps. 

For  supper  a  good  gumbo  soup,  or  "mulligan," 
is  the  one  best  bet.  Get  the  kettle  on  about  5  P.  M. 
Pare  the  potatoes,  three  or  four  onions,  a  carrot  or 


266  CAMP  CRAFT 

two  cut  up  into  fine  cubes,  and  little  squares  of  meat. 
Stir  occasionally  and  salt  to  taste.  By  six  o'clock  it 
will  be  the  most  appetizing  thing  you  ever  held  your 
nose  over.  Serve  one  quart  to  each  man  with  bis- 
cuits and  strong  tea,  and  stewed  prunes,  jello,  or 
fruit  for  dessert. 

Mention  of  desserts  brings  me  right  to  can,  so 
to  speak.  I  let  down  the  bars  on  canned  pears, 
apricots,  and  all  their  relatives,  for  they  are  all  fine 
and  wholesome.  If  you  can  reach  the  camp  by 
canoe  or  buckboard,  by  all  means  take  in  a  few  cans 
of  fruit,  peas,  corn,  spinach,  and  other  winter  staples. 
But  if  on  a  travelling  camp,  where  you  have  con- 
siderable get-there  to  allow  for,  be  sure  that  the  packs 
contain  no  cans,  and  rely  on  prunes,  fresh  berries, 
and  dried  apricots,  peaches,  and  apples  that  can  be 
carried  in  little  canvas  sacks. 

A  final  word — on  cleanliness.  When  the  tyro 
camper  comes  out  of  the  woods  his  first  dash  is  for 
the  tub,  where  he  soaks  out  three  or  four  weeks  of 
grime;  his  next  is  for  the  barber's,  where  a  fuzzy 
stubble  is  hoed  off;  and  the  last  is  to  the  haber- 
dasher's, where  he  gets  on  him  all  the  stiff  chokers, 
pink  socks,  and  nobby  ties  that  his  purse  will  permit, 
"to  forget  the  backwoods." 

He  hasn't  really  camped,  you  know.  He  just 
slid  gracefully  back  to  savagery  because  the  well- 
dressed  city  crowd  was  not  present  to  shame  him. 


CAMP  ORGANIZATION  267 

Now,  in  camp  one  should  be  cleaner  and  nattier 
than  an3^where  else.  There  is  plenty  of  exercise  to 
keep  the  pores  open,  and  one  can  bathe  all  day  long 
and  get  a  fine,  healthy  coat  of  tan  all  over  one's  hide 
without  half  trying.  If  there  is  a  better  or  more 
healthful  summer-camp  apparel  than  a  good  jersey 
bathing-suit  without  any  sleeves,  I  have  yet  to  hear 
of  it.  For  strenuous  work  there  is  the  gray  flannel 
shirt  and  the  forestry  suit  and  hunters'  shoes.  Set 
one  day  a  week  for  washing,  have  plenty  of  hot  water, 
and  take  along  a  small  sack  of  washing-powder — 
and  mind  that  you  do  not  try  to  make  corn  mush 
with  it ! 

In  a  word,  cut  out  all  dirt  and  petty  annoyances 
and  live  as  nearly  as  you're  accustomed  to  in  your 
own  home  as  your  brains  and  ingenuity  will  permit. 


CHAPTER  XVI 
BUILD  YOURSELF  A  PERMANENT  CAMP 

THERE  are  all  sorts  of  camps,  from  the  hasty 
voyageur  bivouac  of  the  big-game  hunter  to 
the  serene  summer  retreat  when  one  invites  his  soul 
to  ease  in  Nature's  lotos-land — that  "place  where 
it  seemed  always  afternoon."  Indeed,  I  think  that 
the  quintessence  of  camping  is  reached  when  one 
knows  the  game  thoroughly  enough  to  be  able  to 
draw  from  Nature  alone  all  the  comforts  that 
civilization  affords,  in  addition  to  the  thousand  joys 
which  no  civilization  can  give.  It  is  far  easier  to  do 
this  than  one  would  suppose,  for  the  reason  that 
most  of  the  drawbacks  of  camp-life  come  from  neglect 
of  simple  cleanliness  and  ordinary  bodily  comforts, 
such  as  homo  sapiens  has  become  accustomed  to 
from  his  cradle. 

The  subject  of  camping  is  really  so  vast  that  it 
cannot  be  even  approached  in  a  single  article.  It 
strikes  at  the  very  roots  of  life.  At  its  best  it  holds 
up  a  mirror  to  us  all,  showing  how  far  civilization 
and  overpopulation  have  combined  to  separate  us 

from  the  easy  formula  of  life  which  the  Creator  in- 

268 


BUILD  A  PERMANENT  CAMP       269 

tended;  how  they  have  driven  thousands  to  starva- 
tion within  a  stone's  throw  of  the  fabulously  rich, 
whereas  Nature  gave  every  man  the  equal  strength 
of  his  own  two  hands,  which  were  once  ample  to 
win  him  liveHhood  and  happiness. 

When  one  is  hunting  big  game,  or  on  a  canoe  trip, 
or  such  nomadic  camp-life,  the  less  of  everything 
taken  along  the  better.  A  good  sleeping-bag  is  often 
preferable  to  a  tent;  a  single  skillet  will  provide 
the  utensil  to  cook  with;  and  rifle,  axe,  and  knife 
are  really  all  the  necessities  that  can  be  mentioned. 
I  even  once  went  on  a  trip  where  I  took  nothing 
along  except  a  note-book  and  two  sheets  of  blank 
music-paper.  A  bully  tramp  over  the  mountains  it 
was,  too,  and  I  slept  in  piles  of  leaves  raked  up  in 
dry  ravines  that  were  already  filled  a  solid  foot 
deep  with  dry  leaves.  In  my  shooting-coat  pockets 
were  a  Dutch  wienerwurst,  half  a  dozen  hardtacks, 
three  potatoes,  and  a  hunk  of  bacon.  In  the  ditty- 
bag,  without  which  I  never  take  any  trip,  were  little 
primer-boxes  filled  with  butter,  salt,  tea,  and  sugar, 
and  there  was  also  a  variety  of  hooks  and  lines,  a 
steel  'possum  hook,  and  a  pickerel  hook  for  frogging. 
It  was  the  only  tramp  in  which  I  had  no  itinerary, 
hadn't  any  idea  of  getting  anywhere,  and  could  stop 
whenever  and  as  long  as  I  pleased.  I  think  I  was 
all  one  afternoon  going  two  miles  around  the  flank  of 
one  mountain,  down  into  a  ravine  and  up  the  brook 


270  CAMP  CRAFT 

to  the  spring,  where  I  camped  for  the  night.  I  was 
gone  two  days;  bagged  most  of  the  species  of  trees 
of  the  Middle  States  east  of  the  Appalachians  in  the 
note-book,  and  scrawled  the  music-sheets  so  full  of 
wriggly  black  notes  that  the  publisher  got  cross-eyed 
trying  to  read  the  copy.  Such  a  camp-tramp  can- 
not last  more  than  two  days,  or  you  are  apt  to  spend 
the  night  hugging  a  tree,  while  the  rain  deluges  every- 
thing throughout  the  woods. 

For  little  light  week-end  camps  or  fishing  trips 
not  lasting  over  ten  days,  I  always  take  the  little 
"Forester"  tent  described  before  in  these  pages. 
It  is  a  cosey  little  forest  home,  no  matter  if  it  rains 
one  day  or  the  whole  ten;  it  can  be  set  up  anywhere 
in  less  than  ten  minutes,  and  weighs  only  ^yi  pounds. 
I  always  face  it  to  the  northeast,  because  most 
sudden  thunder-squalls  brew  up  from  the  southwest, 
and  the  hot  sun  is  also  in  that  direction,  so  that  the 
tent  gives  a  shady  lounging-spot  in  its  mouth  where 
it  is  always  cool  and  homely.  An  ideal  spot  to  load 
shells,  or  mend  tackle  on  lazy  afternoons. 

But  the  goal  of  camp-life  is  to  arrange  to  spend 
the  whole  summer  out-of-doors,  beside  some  favorite 
lake  or  river.  To  most  of  us  this  must  be  somewhere 
within  commuting  distance  of  some  large  city.  To 
a  few  it  is  given  to  be  able  to  live  thus  in  a  good  game 
country,  leaving  the  business  cares  for  the  winter 
months.     It  is  this  kind  of  camp  of  which  I  wish 


BUILD  A  PERMANENT  CAMP       271 

particularly  to  speak,  for  it  is  an  ideal  life.  Every 
morning  the  sun  streaks  through  the  trees,  vivifying 
all  the  delicious  night  scents  with  a  warmth  and 
radiance  that  is  pure  joy  to  one  who  can  spend  his 
waking  hours  breathing  the  rich  forest  air;  every 
night  the  moon  makes  pictures  of  lake  and  woods 
that  live  and  live  in  one's  memory  long  after  more 
noted  sights  are  forgotten;  and  every  day  that  can 
be  stolen  from  the  city  is  one  more  store  of  golden 
hours  for  this,  the  most  dehghtful  of  all  plays. 

No  camp  that  is  at  all  worthy  of  the  name  can  be 
far  from  some  open  sheet  of  water,  and  water  usually 
means  plenty  of  bathing  and  bathing-suits,  canoes, 
sunburn,  fishing-tackle,  and  absolute  cleanliness — 
blazing  with  health  and  wide-open  pores.  Even  in 
the  hunting  season  there  is  still  the  bath,  and  then 
the  rub-down  and  the  invigorating  change  into  a 
clean  flannel  hunting-shirt,  corduroys,  and  canvas. 
Keep  in  close  touch  with  the  water  your  camp  is 
located  beside,  brothers,  and  you  will  never  fly  to 
the  city  for  relief. 

There  is  another  brand  of  water,  not  so  welcome 
or  healthful  as  that  which  one  bathes  in,  canoes  in, 
and  sails  over,  and  whips  for  pickerel.  I  refer  to 
the  variety  that  comes  a-rearin'  and  a-tearin'  out  of 
black,  rolling  clouds,  along  with  enough  wind  to 
last  twenty  summers;  ripping  up  tent-pegs,  sinking 
boats,    and    wetting    down    everything    not    under 


272  CAMP  CRAFT 

tarpaulins.  This  also  numbers  itself  among  the 
petty  annoyances  that  drive  the  long-stay  camper 
to  the  city,  and  the  only  way  to  beat  him  out  in  the 
long  run  is  to  make  the  camp  just  as  near  permanent 
as  possible.     If  you  can  get  a  board  floor,  so  much 


A  HUNTING-LODGE  THAT  CAN  BE  BROUGHT  IN  BY  CANOE. 

the  better;  but  be  very  sure  that  none  of  the  boards 
reach  out  from  under  the  walls  of  the  tent  so  that 
the  water  can  follow  them  inside.  The  best  way  is 
to  rent  your  ground,  or  buy  it  outright,  with  as  much 
of  the  surrounding  woods  as  you  can  afford,  and  buy 
or  build  a  small  bungalow.  If  you  have  the  homing 
instinct  you  will  get  to  love  that  little  shack  as  you 
do  your  boyhood  town,  and  will  put  in  all  sorts  of 
spare  hours  and  rainy  days  in  improving  it  and 
making  it   more    comfortable.     The   cheapest   and 


BUILD  A  PERMANENT  CAMP       273 

easiest  transported  one  that  I  know  of  is  to  take  a 
half-dozen  rolls  of  ready  roofing  and  some  2  x  i-inch 
hemlock  joist  into  the  woods  with  you,  and  build 
the  shack  yourself.  It  is  surprising  how  far  into  the 
backwoods  you  can  get  with  this  load,  given  a  couple 
of  canoes  and  a  day  or  so's  time.    Pick  out  a  pictur- 


i"  etvAiBSka 


DETAIL  OF  ROOF  AND  PANELS. 


esque  site,  where  the  outlook  will  be  a  pleasure  for 
many  a  serene  hour  to  come,  and  back  the  shack  up 
against  a  rocky  slope  or  steep  turn  of  the  mountain- 
side with  a  southerly  outlook.  You  will  find  that 
the  8  or  10  feet  back  of  the  house,  between  it  and 
the  wall,  will  soon  grow  into  valuable  **Hnter"  and 
may  some  day  afford  possibility  of  a  field-stone  chim- 
ney, when  you  have  the  time  and  a  canoe-load  of 
quicklime  brought  out  from  the  clearings.  The  frame 
panels  will  work  out  much  as  in  the  sketch.  They 
are  of  the  width  of  the  roofing,  36  inches,  and  7  feet 


274  CAMP  CRAFT 

high,  diagonaled,  as  shown,  to  make  them  rigid,  and 
the  roofing  is  nailed  to  the  backs  of  them. 

A  floor  space  of  8  by  14  feet  is  ample  for  a  bunga- 
low of  this  kind,  with  a  gambrel  roof  as  shown  in  the 
illustration.  It  will  have  a  door  in  each  end,  a 
window  at  each  side;  doors  and  windows  made  of 
gauze  tacked  on  the  same  framing  as  the  main 
panels,  canvas  awnings  and  porches  over  windows 
and  door,  and  a  stone-and-concrete  floor.  To  build 
it  complete  you  will  have  to  bring  out  into  the  woods 
six  rolls  of  induroid  or  rubberoid  roofing,  costing 
two  and  a  half  cents  a  square  foot,  100  square  feet 
to  the  roll;  800  running  feet  of  dressed  No.  i  Southern 
pine,  soft  maple  or  hemlock,  ^  x  2>^  inches;  8  yards 
of  bobbinet  or  gauze,  5  yards  of  8-ounce  duck  canvas, 
and  half  a  sack  of  Portland  cement — not  a  very 
heavy  layout  of  either  money  or  material,  say, 
twenty-five  dollars  all  told,  and  yet  it  will  give  you  a 
start  for  a  permanent  bungalow  that  you  can  always 
come  back  to  with  increasing  affection.  On  ar- 
riving at  your  site,  the  first  thing  to  do  is  to  pitch 
your  tents,  select  the  very  best  site  your  ground 
affords  for  the  shack,  clear  a  little  space  to  make 
panels  in,  and  saw  your  pine  up  into  the  right  lengths. 
You  will  need  twelve  panels  7  feet  by  36  inches  for 
the  sides,  and  four  panels  16  feet  by  36  inches  for 
the  roof.  Get  out  the  walls  first.  They  are  quickly 
and  strongly  joined  by  driving  in  ^-inch  corrugated 


BUILD  A  PERMANENT  CAMP       275 

iron  fasteners,  which  are  driven  across  the  joints 
with  a  hammer,  sinking  them  flush  with  the  surface 
of  the  wood.  In  this  way  the  whole  twelve  can  be 
quickly  and  strongly  knocked  together.  Tack  the 
roofing  material  to  the  backs  of  the  panels  as  fast 
as  completed,  as  they  are  very  wobbly  and  weak 
sideways  without  the  material.  This  latter  is  gray 
in  color,  with  a  leathery  surface,  and  in  each  roll 
come  the  needful  nails  and  cement  for  joints,  tin 
caps,  etc.  Space  the  nails  about  3  inches  and  run 
the  cement  ahead  as  you  nail.  The  hardware  for 
this  house  will  be  two  dozen  stout  iron  hooks-and- 
eyes  for  the  corners,  and  two  dozen  3-inch  iron  flat 
hinges  for  doors,  windows,  and  roof  panels.  Both 
hinges  and  nails  are  best  galvanized. 

Having  the  twelve  panels  to  hand,  the  next  step 
will  be  to  nail  a  strip  of  pine  14  feet  long  to  the  top 
and  bottom  of  each  four  panels,  making  two  sides 
of  four  panels  each,  with  a  2-foot  window  space  in 
the  middle  of  each.  In  the  same  way  the  two  ends 
are  assembled  with  strips  of  pine  8  feet  long,  nailed 
to  top  and  bottom  of  two  panels  with  a  2-foot  door 
space  in  between.  They  are  now  ready  to  raise  up,  but 
first  a  foundation  must  be  prepared,  and  the  simplest 
one  in  the  woods  is  made  by  driving  in  four  3-inch 
stakes  about  3  feet  long  around  all  four  sides,  having 
two  stakes  at  each  corner.  Saw  them  all  off  flat,  to 
a  string  run  all  around  and  levelled  at,  say,  8  inches 


276  CAMP  CRAFT 

above  the  soil.  On  these  the  panels  can  be  set  up 
and  hooked  at  the  corners,  nails  being  driven  down 
through  the  foot  strip  into  the  posts.  To  make  the 
corners  stanch  and  tight,  three  cleats  should  be 
nailed  to  one  of  the  panels,  giving  something  for 
the  hooks  to  pull  against.  There  will  be  cracks  at 
the  corners  and  joints,  and  to  protect  these  from  the 
weather  and  at  the  same  time  guard  against  the 
inevitable  warping  of  the  joist  in  the  weather,  you 
had  best  hunt  up  straight  4-inch  spruce  or  cedar 
saplings  and  flatten  the  backs  true  and  set  them  up 
in  front  of  the  cracks,  securing  the  panels  to  them 
with  nails  driven  from  the  inside.  The  roof  panels 
come  next,  16  feet  long  by  approximately  36  inches 
wide,  a  lap  being  left  over  as  shown  in  the  detail  of 
the  roof-joints,  so  as  to  leave  no  place  for  the  rain 
to  work  in.  There  are  twelve  hinges,  four  at  each 
joint,  and  the  frame  is  diagonaled  as  with  the  wall 
panels.  To  get  the  roof  on,  lift  it  up  on  the  walls, 
raise  the  ridge,  until  about  a  foot  of  eave  overhangs 
at  the  sides,  and  nail  light  saplings  to  the  ends  to 
hold  the  gambrel  in  its  proper  position  while  the 
gable  ends  are  measured  and  made.  After  putting 
them  in  position,  the  saplings  can  be  knocked  away 
and  the  weight  of  the  roof  allowed  to  come  on  the 
gables.  Hooks  will  be  needed  at  the  eaves  to  utihze 
the  top  wall  strip  as  a  tie. 
The  doors  are  made  just  enough  smaller  than  the 


BUILD  A  PERMANENT  CAMP       277 

opening  to  permit  a  sill  and  lintel  of  hemlock  to  be 
nailed  in  the  doorway.  They  are  covered  on  the 
inside  with  gauze  or  bobbinet,  tacked  to  the  frames 
with  galvanized  tacks.  The  windows  are  made  in 
the  same  fashion  except  that  the  lower  3  feet  is 
filled  in  with  a  solid  panel  of  roofing  material  and  a 
similar  piece  let  in  up  above  to  permit  the  window 
to  swing  clear  of  the  eaves.  After  swinging  the  door 
and  window  awnings  with  "rustic"  frames  cut  in 
the  woods,  the  house  is  ready  for  occupancy  except 
for  the  floor.  It  is  worth  while  to  take  along  a  can 
of  the  powder  of  some  good  cold-water  paint,  so  as 
to  finish  off  the  woodwork  of  the  panels.  This  in 
pure  white  gives  excellent  effects  with  the  dark  gray 
roofing,  and,  though  the  paint  has  a  discouraging 
dirty-white  appearance  when  first  put  on,  it  dries  to 
a  fine,  tough  white  which  will  not  rub  or  wash  off. 

The  easiest  way  to  make  a  floor  in  the  woods  is 
to  choose  some  lazy  afternoon  when  every  one  is  tired 
of  fishing  and  floor  the  whole  of  the  shack  with  flat 
stones  taken  from  the  natural  rock  of  the  forest.  Wash 
this  over  with  an  inch  of  thin,  watery  grout,  of  eight 
parts  sand  to  one  of  cement,  smoothing  it  with  a 
straight-edge  and  trowel  while  the  other  fellow  pours 
it  from  the  pail.  It  will  make  a  more  durable,  snake- 
proof,  and  vermin-proof  floor  than  split  logs  or  dirt. 

Though  the  3 -foot  window  wainscot  permits  four 
cots  to  be  arranged  along  the  sides  of  the  shack,  I 


278  CAMP  CRAFT 

prefer  to  use  this  space  for  living-room,  and  sky  the 
beds  Pullman-car  fashion,  just  a  little  under  the  roof. 
The  easiest  way  to  do  it  is  to  cut  two  straight 
4-inch  hemlocks,  trim,  and  gain  to  posts  set  upright 
from  the  floor  to  ceiling  against  the  front  and  rear 
walls.  They  thus  make  a  sort  of  rustic  inside  door- 
jamb,  so  do  not  take  any  useful  room,  while  the 
berths  can  be  made  in  the  space  behind  the  4-inch 
log  by  tacking  across  lo-ounce  duck  with  20-ounce 
galvanized  iron  tacks,  spaced  3  inches  apart.  A 
spreader  is  let  in  at  the  middle,  thus  making  two 
6-foot  berths  on  a  side.  They  are  filled  with  several 
inches  of  balsam  browse  and  are  then  ready  for  the 
sleeping-bags.  The  whole  floor  space  is,  by  this 
arrangement  of  sleeping  accommodations,  available 
for  living-room;  canvas  camp-chairs,  log  tables, 
etc.,  can  be  put  in  and  one  has  a  comfortable  loung- 
ing and  eating  room  (in  bad  weather). 

Such  a  bungalow,  of  course,  has  no  fire  any  more 
than  any  summer  cottage  or  seaside  bungalow  has, 
but  while  a  canvas  tent  seems  to  have  a  way  of 
getting  cold  after  the  sun  goes  down,  the  bungalow 
will  hold  its  heat  so  as  never  to  have  the  damp  chill 
of  the  forest  in  it.  It  will  be  cold  enough,  however, 
for  October  and  November  hunting  trips,  so  one 
should  have  in  mind  the  construction  of  a  stone- 
chimney  at  the  first  leisure  week's-end  trip  to  it. 
Take  in  a  pail  of  quicklime  and  slack  and  mix  a  batch 


BUILD  A  PERMANENT  CAMP       279 

of  three-to-one  mortar  with  the  lake  sand.  Build 
the  chimney  of  forest  stone  so  that  its  front  face  will 
come  about  9  inches  from  the  rear  wall  of  the  shack 
and  fill  in  this  space  with  logs  and  face  with  mortar. 
The  hearth  should  be  2  feet  by  10  inches  deep,  and 
the  flue  8  inches  square.  The  lintel  over  the  hearth 
should  be  a  long,  flat  stone,  projecting  well  out  so  as 
to  catch  stray  smoke,  and  the  brow  of  it  not  over 
3  feet  from  the  hearth. 

The  principal  use  of  such  a  woodland  shack  is  in 
the  promotion  of  what  Dr.  Van  Dyke  has  aptly 
named  "Days  Off."  Without  it,  many  a  holiday, 
especially  the  combination  ones  occurring  on  Thurs- 
day or  Friday,  when  Saturday  and  Sunday  are 
thrown  in  for  good  measure,  are  wasted  because 
one  feels  more  or  less  unprepared  and  disinclined 
to  break  a  new  trail  for  so  short  a  time.  But  if  it 
is  merely  a  matter  of  packing  some  provisions  and 
the  sleeping-kit,  whistling  up  the  "pups,"  and 
taking  a  train  to  the  nearest  jumping-off  place  in  the 
vicinity  of  "Loafer's  Glory,"  or  whatever  you  have 
named  the  shack,  you  will  get  out  of  it  many  a 
pleasant  little  outing,  each  one  a  diamond  point 
in  your  memories. 

The  shack  above  described  is  only  a  unit.  You 
will  find  it  too  small  for  a  family  camp  and  only 
really  suitable  as  a  hunting-lodge  for  yourself  and 
a  couple  of  men  friends.     But  combined  in  various 


28o  CAMP  CRAFT 

plans  it  offers  possibilities  for  development  into  a 
real  all-summer  home  that  are  not  to  be  despised. 
For  instance,  presuming  that  you  have  been  able 
to  select  enough  level  ground  on  your  property  to 
lay  out  a  permanent  summer  home  for  three  times 
the  shack  size,  it  will  be  your  pleasure  to  bring  out 
enough  material  for  a  duplicate  shack.  Place  this 
one  facing  the  other  and  at  a  distance  of  12  feet 
away.  On  one  side  of  the  space  between,  build  your 
field-stone  chimney.  You  now  have  between  the 
shacks  space  for  a  big  lounging  and  living  room, 
a  sort  of  open  porch  which  will  become  the  dining- 
room  and  general  assembly  room  of  the  camp,  the 
two  shacks  being  the  wings.  This  centre  room  does 
not  require  anything  like  the  protection  against 
the  weather  or  the  finish  demanded  by  the  two 
wings.  Logs  or  stone  can  be  laid  up  for  walls  and 
a  roof  thrown  over,  rising  higher  than  the  roofs  of 
the  two  wings  and  shedding  its  rain  upon  them. 
This  centre  roof  may  be  a  tarpauHn  brought  out 
from  civilization  and  tacked  taut  over  the  log  frame- 
work, or  it  may  be  of  ready  roofing  tacked  on  per- 
manently and  left  there  season  after  season. 

One  of  the  wings  can  now  be  made  entirely  for 
sleeping  purposes  for  the  family,  while  the  other 
wing  is  the  combined  kitchen  and  cook's  sleeping 
quarters.  The  flooring  is  best  in  thin  cement  grout 
over   the    foundation    of  laid-in    stones,    the   only 


BUILD  A  PERMANENT  CAMP       281 

material  requiring  to  be  brought  in  from  civilization 
being  a  few  bags  of  Portland  cement.  Decorate 
with  antlers  for  gun  racks  arranged  around  the  walls 
and  rustic  furniture  manufactured  on  the  site.  This 
living-room  soon  becomes  a  very  attractive  summer 
lounging-place.  The  rear  end  of  it  should  close  up 
entirely  on  the  chimney,  all  the  light  coming  in  from 
the  front  side.  It  should  have  a  large  3 -foot  door 
and  two  side  windows. 

Another  improvement  in  the  shack  can  be  had 
by  bringing  in  non-rusting  copper  mosquito-netting 
and  frame  this  in  the  windows  in  place  of  the  salt- 
water type  linen  mosquito-netting  originally  used. 
In  the  following  season,  if  it  is  possible  to  float  a 
raft  of  tongued-and-grooved  siding  down  the  lake 
to  the  camp  site,  there  is  no  reason  why  the  entire 
interior  of  both  wings  should  not  be  sheathed  inside 
with  siding  or  wainscoating  running  from  floor  to 
ceiling,  leaving  on  the  ready  roofing  outside  for 
protection  from  the  weather.  This  stiff*ens  up  the 
panels  and  takes  out  any  bags  which  may  have 
accumulated,  and  also  renders  them  stout,  to  re- 
sist kicks  and  blows  from  the  outside  which  some- 
times, but  rarely,  might  be  perpetrated  by  some 
mischievous  tramp  who  may  pass  your  shack  in 
the  winter  time.  This  same  siding  will  be  found 
advantageous  as  a  further  support  to  the  roof  against 
the  sagging  eff'ect  of  winter  snows. 


282  CAMP  CRAFT 

It  has  been  claimed  by  some  that  ready  roofing 
is  not  at  all  durable,  but  my  own  experience  with 
it  has  been  that,  properly  supported,  it  will  last  quite 
as  long  as  any  other  material,  being  tougher  and 
harder  than  most  canvases  or  tarpaulins  which  are 
used  for  roofing  purposes.  There  are  many  ways 
in  which  the  roof  panels  can  be  stiffened  in  between 
the  braces,  if  one  employs  his  ingenuity  on  the 
materials  already  at  hand  in  the  forest.  A  good 
lattice  of  stout,  straight  shoots  gathered  in  the  for- 
est in  any  thicket  of  yellow  birch,  sassafras,  young 
hickories,  and  the  like,  can  be  worked  in  under  the 
roof,  or  strips  of  bark  can  be  slipped  in  between  the 
frames  and  the  roof  to  help  stiffen  it. 

The  beauty  of  making  some  sort  of  a  beginning 
for  a  forest  home  is  that  each  year  it  gets  better 
and  more  serviceable  as  you  return  to  it  year  after 
year  for  your  summer  outing  and  keep  on  fixing  and 
improving  it.  It  is  one  of  the  cheapest  solutions  of 
the  summer  home  and  the  perennial  summer  prob- 
lem yet  devised. 


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14  DAY  USE 

RETURN  TO  DESK  FROM  WHICH  BORROWED 


LOAN  DEPT. 

This  book  is  due  on  the  last  date  stamped  below,  or 
on  the  date  to  which  renewed.  > 

Renewed  books  are  subject  to  immedi»|e^<^l. 


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