HOW TO BECOME A BACKWOODSMAN
Any fellow who means to be a backwoodsman, whether it is for pleasure or for work, should first of all get some practice at it at home.
For eight years of my life I hardly ever slept in a house and I thoroughly enjoyed it. But to enjoy it you must know how to make yourself comfortable in camp.
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TENTS.
The first thing to consider is what kind of substitute for a house you are going to have to protect you from bad weather. This depends a good deal on what kind of country you are in. In a forest you can, of course, get plenty of timber out of which to build huts, but it is not much use being able to build a log-hut and then to find yourself in the open desert of the Sahara.
The best all-round kind of camp-house is, of course, a tent. I had what is called a "Cabul" tent—a small square erection, seven feet long by seven feet wide, which can be opened or closed at either end, and has a double roof. I lived in this through the winter in Afghanistan, through snow and blizzard, in the greatest comfort. At one end I built a brick fireplace and chimney; and I built a low wall, two feet high, round the outside; this kept out all draughts and prevented snow from melting into the tent. And I lived there as cosily and comfortably as in a house.
In that same tent I afterwards lived in the blazing heat of the plains of India. Instead of the fireplace at the end to keep it hot, I had a great mat of Khuskhu's fibre stretched on a frame and kept always wet to keep it cool; the hot wind blowing through this was at once cooled, and kept the tent delightfully cold and fresh inside, and the double roof prevented the sun from baking it. And I had a punkah, or swinging fan, slung from the ridge-pole, and worked by a native from outside.
It was a sturdy little tent, too, and no gale could ever manage to blow it down. So you see it did equally well for every kind of climate and weather.
Another form of tent which I used in Mafeking and South Africa, and still use for sleeping out in, in England, is one which you would hardly call a tent. It is really a slungcot, with a movable canvas roof to it. It is called the "Ashanti Hammock."
[Illustration: A BIVOUAC SHELTER.]
It packs up quite small, and is put up in a few minutes. Requires no pegs. Keeps you off the wet ground. And when the gale comes and all the tents in camp blow down, you lie there swinging gently in the breeze, the envy of all the rest. It also forms an excellent stretcher if you are ill and have to be carried; and if you die it also makes a very satisfactory coffin, being laced over you as you lie in it. Very complete, isn't it?
[Illustration: THE ASHANTI HAMMOCK.]
There are tents of every sort and kind to be got, from a single-man tent up to a hospital tent for thirty beds. And there are also many kinds of camps there is a "standing" camp, where you remain in the same spot for weeks at a time, or a "tramping" camp, where you move on every day to a new place, and "boating" camp, where also you move but can carry your tent in your boat. But it is rather necessary to know which kind of camp you are making before you can tell which kind of tent you need.
As I have said in Scouting for Boys: "For a standing camp 'bell' tents are useful, or huts can be made. Bell tents can be hired in almost any town for a few shillings per week, or you can buy a second-hand one in good condition for about 2 Pounds.
"You could probably let it out on hire to other patrols when not using it yourself, and so get back your money on it. A bell tent, just holds a patrol nicely.
"Scouts' 'patrol' tents also do very well for camp, but you need a second set of staves or poles for rigging them if you want to leave the camp standing while you are out scouting.
"You can make your own tents during the winter months—and this, perhaps; is the best way of all, as it comes cheapest in the end. And if, while you are about it, you make one or two extra ones, you may be able to sell them at a good profit."
A "lean-to" tent is used by many backwoodsmen. It can be made with the Scouts' patrol tent on the same principle as the lean-to shelter described in Scouting for Boys.
If pitched with its back to the wind, with a good fire in front, it can be made a most luxurious bedroom on cold night. The roof catches all the warmth and glow of the fire, and you lie there warm in your blankets, yet breathing the fresh air of the forest or veldt and gazing at the stars. There is nothing better on earth.
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THE "TRAMP" TENT.
We will begin with the simplest and cheapest. Here is a one-man "tramp" tent, which is used by a certain class of gipsy in Scotland.
[Illustration: CONSTRUCTION OF TRAMP-TENT.] You want six hazel sticks, all exactly alike, about 3 ft. 6 in. long, just sufficiently pliant to bend over near the top, but not so thin as to be wobbly.
Each should be sharpened at the butt, and marked with a nick ten inches from the point to show how far to drive it into the ground. The points should be slightly charred in the fire to harden them.
Then you want a sheet of light canvas, or waterproofed linen, to form your tent, six feet square, with eyelets or loops along the sides.
[Illustration: ONE-MAN TRAMP-TENT COMPLETE.]
Plant your sticks firmly in the ground, in two rows, two feet apart from each other. Bend the tops inwards to form an archway. Over these arches spread your canvas to form a kind of tunnel tent, and peg down the loops to the ground.
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THE "BIVOUAC" TENT.
This is, perhaps, an equally simple tent. The roof, or "fly," can be 6 ft. by 6 ft. Two poles, 3 ft. 6 in., should be planted firmly-at least six inches in the ground.
A stout ridge-rope should be stretched tightly between them, and tied at the top of each, and then securely fixed to a tent peg well driven into the ground in front of each end of the tent.
[Illustration: "BIVOUAC" TENT.]
The edges of the "fly" all round should have large metal eyelets, by which the sides of the tent can be pegged to the ground, and flaps can be laced on at the ends to give protection against wind and rain, etc.
Instead of using pegs at the sides, it is equally good to lace the edge along a stout log, or to a rope stretched tight, or a pole, and well anchored in the ground.
Then you have the "patrol" tent of canvas, as described in Scouting for Boys, which is carried in pieces, which lace together, and, with the staves of the patrol as supports, form the tent for six or eight boys. These are very easy to make in a couple of evenings.
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THE "CABUL" TENT.
The "Cabul" tent, mentioned previously, was the kind that we used in the war in Afghanistan.
Cabul is the chief town of that country.
These tents are equally comfortable in snow and rain, or in the baking heat of the plains of India.
[Illustration: CABUL TENT COMPLETE] It has an extra roof to keep out the sun or heavy rain. A tent like this, with two roofs, is called a "double-fly" tent. It is, of course, heavier and more expensive than a "single-fly," but it is also more comfortable.
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"CABUL" TENT POLES.
The horizontal "ridge-pole," 5 ft. 9 in. long, has an iron eyelet at each end The outer fly rests on this. The loops of the inner fly also hang from it to hold up the inner roof.
[Illustration: INNER "FLY" OF "CABUL" TENT]
[Illustration: OUTER "FLY" OF "CABUL" TENT]
[Illustration: CABUL TENT-POLES.]
The upright poles are six feet high; each of these is fitted with an iron cap and spike at the top to fit the eyelets of the ridge-pole. Each is also fitted with a circular wooden disc at one foot from the top; this supports the inner fly, the upper part of each pole having been passed through the hole at either end of the inner fly-roof.
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TENT MAKING.
Before starting to make your tent, you should, in the first place, have a good look at ready-made tents, and see exactly how they are made-especially at the edges.
[Illustration: TREES INSTEAD OF TENT POLES.]
You should always make a model of the tent you propose to construct, first with paper, to scale, so as to get the proper dimensions, and then with linen, with string and poles complete, to see how to cut it out in the right sizes. Afterwards, you can proceed to make the real, article.
This, again, is best done by cutting it out in newspapers pasted together and spread out on the floor. These paper cuttings then serve as "patterns," on which you can cut your canvas without wasting any of it.
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THE MATERIAL.
The kind of stuff to use for tent making depends a good deal on how much you can afford for material, and what work you want the tent for.
Thus, if you want a very light tent for carrying on your back or bicycle, and have plenty of money, a silk tent at 4s. a yard is very nice; but probably you would like one of cheaper material, and fairly light and strong.
Lawn, made of Egyptian cotton, calico sheeting, or brown calico makes a very satisfactory tent at an outlay of 10s. or so for the whole thing complete.
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SEWING.
After having purchased your stuff, and cut it out according to the paper pattern, pin it, or tack it, all together, and see how it fits.
Then stitch the seams together, using cotton, not thick thread.
[Illustration: STEEP SIDES TOO WIDE.]
Seams should be double-stitched-that is, the edges of the two pieces of canvas should overlap, and each be stitched to the other piece. At all points where a strain is likely to come on the canvas-namely, at the corners and at places where eyelets for ropes have to come, it is best to have a strengthening patch of canvas sewn over the other canvas.
Then wide, stout tape should be sewn along the edge of the canvas wherever there is to be any strain on it, such as eyelet holes for ropes, or hooks and eyes, or strings for closing the ends of the tent, etc.
Often in woods you can find two trees standing, say, eight feet apart. If you have a six-foot tent, you can use these for tent poles by tying ("lashing" is the word used by sailors and Scouts) each end of the ridge of the tent to a tree.
This can be more easily done if your ridge is strengthened with a tape sewn inside it, and made into a loop at each end. It is always as well to make these loops on your tents, as they come in useful in other ways.
A strip of canvas is often stitched on to the foot of the tent, as shown in the picture, either to hold it down with pegs or stones, or to be turned inwards underneath your ground sheet to prevent draughts coming in under the wall.
A tent should not be made wider than its height, because the roof will not be steep enough to run the rain off quickly, and so will let it through more easily.
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TENT POLES.
The poles should not be made of any weak wood liable to split or break, but of tough elm, hickory, ash, or bamboo.
For small tents of about five feet high they need be only one to one-and-a-half inches thick.
For heavy tents of over ten feet long and over six feet high, they have to be at least two inches thick. Bamboos are generally tougher than wood, so need not be quite so stout.
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TENT PEGS.
Tent pegs may be easily made of wood, but should be of a tough kind that does not split easily. They are generally made in the shape shown below, about ten inches long.
You can also get them of iron, but these, though they do not break, do not hold quite so well in the ground, and are heavy to carry. Aluminium ones are lighter, expensive, and inclined to bend.
Then you can use stones or logs instead of pegs, and what I like best of all is half a dozen canvas bags filled with earth or stones and buried in the ground as anchors. These can be used equally well in sandy, muddy, or stony ground, where ordinary pegs would never hold.
These bags are easily made during your winter evenings, and can be used for carrying your kit from camp to camp. They also make useful buckets and washing basins. They should be made of stout duck or canvas.
The top edge of this canvas should be folded over and stitched in order to give strength.
The handles are made of half-inch rope, passed through brass eyelets, let into the canvas below the stitching? the ends of the rope being knotted inside.
In cutting out you must allow an extra inch for turning in at the edges and joining to the other pieces.
Supposing that you have not the time or means for getting tents and that you are going into camp where there are plenty of trees, and you have got the right to use them, then some of the following tips may be of use to you.
[Illustration: CORRECT TENT PEGS.]
[Illustration: A HANDY BAG.]
A bivouac shelter, as described in Scouting for Boys, is the simplest and best form of hut, and is easily made in an hour. Two upright stakes are driven firmly into the ground, with a ridge pole placed in position along the tops. Against this a number of poles should be made to lean from the windward aide, with cross-bars to support the branches, reeds, sods, or twigs, or whatever is to form your roofing material.
For a single man this shelter can be made quite small, i.e., about 3 ft. high in front, and 3 ft. wide and 6 ft. long.
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FRAMEWORK.
You build your fire about 4 ft. in front of this, and lie in it alongside your fire.
If the "shack" is for more than one man, you build it 5 ft. or 6 ft. high in front, and 5 ft. deep, so that several fellows can lie alongside each other, feet to the fire.
When you start to thatch your framework, begin at the bottom and lay your roofing material on in layers, one above the other in the way that slates are put on a roof. In this way you may make it watertight.
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THATCHING.
For thatching you can use thick spruce branches, or grass, reeds, sods, slabs of wood or bark (called "shingles"), or small twigs of heather closely woven in.
It is generally advisable to lay a few branches and stout poles over the thatch when finished in order to keep it on if a gale springs up.
[Illustration: FRAMEWORK.]
If you want to build a complete hut, you can make a lean-to from each side on the same ridge-pole; but the single lean-to, with its fire in front of it, is quite good enough for most people.
Another way to build a shelter hut is to lean a ridge-pole or backbone from the ground into the fork of a small tree about 5 ft. above the ground, the butt of the pole being about 4 ft. to windward of the tree. Then put up a few side poles leaning against this, and roof over in the same way as for a lean-to. Build your fire just in front of this, and you will have a very safe and cosy little house.
[Illustration: THATCHING.]
In country where there are no trees to make poles with, like parts of South Africa, where there is only a lot of small thorn bush and long grass, you can make "scherms," or loose thorn bushes piled in a heap and made into a small horse-shoe, arched over, back to wind, and covered or roughly thatched with grass.
These, with a fire in front, make very good shelter against cold wind or against sun, and, if covered with a canvas waggon-sail or tarpaulin, make a good enough protection against rain and against very hot sun. A "scherm" can be made with heather or gorse—only look out for its catching fire!
[Illustration: A SHELTER HUT.]
Remember that to make a tent or hut cool in hot sun put on more roof—put blankets over the top of your tent, and bank up the sides near the ground. But if you want to make your tent or hut warm, take care to thicken the walls at the foot to prevent draughts coming in along the floor.
Also never forget that your floor is on raised ground, not in a hollow that will become a pool in wet weather.
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CAMP FURNITURE.
Having made your tent or hut, you will find it a good comfort in a standing camp to have a table.
This you can well make in winter evenings before the camping season, and while you are at it making one for yourself; you may just as well make two or three more to sell to other people, and so add money to your camping fund.
The table should be separate from its legs, so that it can be packed easily in the cart.
If stakes can be got at camp, you would drive four of these into the ground with a "maul" (big mallet), making them exactly the same height, and lay your table top on these.
To make your table top, bits of board or old packing cases can be planed smooth, and trimmed, and screwed together by cross-battens underneath to form a tabletop of the size required; 34 in. by 40 in. is a useful and portable size.
[Illustration: TABLE WHEN FINISHED.]
A pair of folding trestle legs can then be made for the table. These are two frames, one just narrow enough to go inside the other, but both of the same length.
A CAMP STOOL can be made in much the same way, with a strip of canvas or carpet or several strings of webbing nailed across, from the top of one trestle to the other, the trestles, of course, being quite small.
[Illustration: UNDER SIDE OF TABLE TOP.]
CANDLESTICKS, Forks, Tongs, and other small articles of camp furniture are shown in Scouting for Boys, and can easily be made in the winter evenings. If neatly done they also command a good sale at bazaars.
CAMP BEDS are also described in Scouting for Boys, and straw mats for making these may very well be woven in winter evenings, and, with plenty of time for making them, can be really well made. When finished, they can be rolled up and packed away until required for camp.
The fellow who owns one of these in camp can enjoy life under canvas about four times as much as the fellow who tries to make himself comfortable on a hard, stony bit of ground. I think you never find out how full of corners you are till you try sleeping on a hard bit of ground.
Of course? every Scout knows that the worst corner in him is his hip-bone, and if you have got to sleep on hard ground the secret of comfort is to scoop out a little hole, about the size of a tea-cup, where your hip-bone will rest. It makes all the difference to your comfort at night.
Your night's rest is an important thing a fellow who does not get a good sleep at night soon knocks up, and cannot get through a day's work like the one who sleeps in comfort.
[Illustration: TRESTLE LEGS.]
So my advice is, make a good thick straw-mattress for yourself during the winter ready for camp.
Another good way of giving yourself a comfortable bed is to make a big bag of canvas or stout linen; 6 ft. long and 3 ft. wide.
This will do to roll up your kit in for travelling; and when you are in camp you can stuff it with straw, or leaves, or bracken, etc., and use it as a nice soft mattress.
A PILLOW is also a useful thing for giving you comfort in camp. For this you only want a strong pillow-case (which also you can make for yourself in the winter). This will serve as your clothes-bag by day and your pillow by night, your clothes, if neatly rolled and packed in it, serving as the stuffing.
I have often used my boots as a pillow, rolled up in a coat so that they don't slip apart, and for a long time I used a Zulu pillow, which is a little wooden stand on which you rest your neck; it sounds uncomfortable, but it is not so—when you're used to it!
A Scout has to Be Prepared to turn out at any moment in the night. He ought, therefore, to have his important clothes laid handy, so that he can get into them at once in the dark.
[Illustration: A ZULU PILLOW.]
On service, of course, a Scout sleeps with shoes on, so that he can turn out at any moment.
I remember on one occasion some of my men gave up obeying this rule, and thought it more comfortable to take their boots off.
So one night I had the alarm given that the enemy were near, and ordered the men to double out at once to a spot a short distance outside the camp.
The ground was covered with prickly grass and camel-thorn. How those fellows hopped and skipped to get to the place. But they took care not to go to bed barefooted again.
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HUT BUILDING.
In places where you can get the use of a wood for your camp, it saves the cost of a tent if you can make yourself a hut.
The important point in making a hut is to thatch it so closely and well with heather, straw, or twigs of fir, etc., that it is watertight.
The double lean-to, already described, makes the simplest form of hut—and if you like to make it more roomy, you can dig out the floor a couple of feet. But this is always a messy proceeding, and unhealthy, as upturned earth is very liable to give fever.
In addition to the articles of camp equipment which are mentioned in Scouting for Boys as being easily made by the Scout himself, there are several others which can be made during the long winter evenings, and these will be of great use to you when you go into camp in the summer, or they can be sold to other fellows wanting such things.
The following is taken, from Mr. H. Kephart's Book of Camping:
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HORN DRINKING CUPS.
"Get a cow's horn from a friendly butcher, a little over a foot long. Measure with a stick how far up it is hollow. Then, saw off the tip just below where it becomes solid, except a strip of the solid part, which should be left attached to the hollow part, about an inch wide and five inches long, quarter of an inch thick; this strip will form the handle of the cup."
[Illustration: A HORN DRINKING CUP]
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THE AXE.
Of course a backwoodsman has to be pretty useful with his axe; and to become a good axeman a fellow must know, firstly, how the thing ought to be done, and, secondly, he must then have lots of practice in doing it before he can be considered any good.
Bad workmen complain of their tools, but before starting to work be sure that your tool is a good one.
Your axe should be a "felling" axe, of which the head will weigh nearly three pounds. See that the handle or "helve" is perfectly straight and true in line with the head and the edge. To do this look along the helve with the edge of the head turned upwards. If the edge is not true to the bevel, your cuts will go all astray.
Then see that your axe is sharp—really sharp, not merely with a good edge on it. A slightly blunt axe is no more good for cutting down a tree than a very blunt knife is for cutting a pencil. You should know how to sharpen it on a grindstone, learn this now, while you are in civilisation, where grindstones can be found and there are men to show you.
When out in camp in India, for "pig sticking" (that is hunting wild boar with spears) we found how very necessary it was to keep our spears as sharp as a razor, and every time we killed a boar we would sharpen up our spear-heads again ready for the next fight.
We could not carry grindstones about with us, but we carried a small fine file, with which we were able to touch up the edge; and that is what many an old backwoodsman does for his axe, he carries a small file with him.
There is a saying with these men that "you may lend your last dollar to a friend, but never lend him your axe—unless you know that he is a good axeman and will not blunt it."
The tenderfoot will go banging about with an axe, chopping at roots and branches on the ground, and blunting the axe at every stroke on earth and stones; and when his arms tire, if he has not meanwhile chopped his own foot, he will throw the axe down, leaving it lying all anyhow on the ground, probably where it will catch and cut the toe of someone moving about after dark.
When you want to leave your axe, strike straight down with it into a tree stump, and leave it sticking there till required again,
* * * * *
USING THE AXE.
In using an axe, the tenderfoot generally tries to cover his bad aim by the extra strength of his blows. If an old hand is looking on he is smiling to himself and thinking how blown and what a backache he got himself the first time that he did it.
Don't try to put force into the blow; merely be careful about aiming it so that it falls exactly where you want it, the swing and weight of the axe itself do the rest.
A good axeman uses his axe equally well left-handed or right. It is all a matter of practice, and most valuable.
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FELLING A TREE.
The way to cut down a tree is to cut first a big chunk out of the side to which you want the tree to fall, and then to cut into the opposite side to fell it.
Begin your Notch 1, or the "kerf," as it is called, by chopping two marks, the upper one, A, at a distance above the other, B, equal to half the thickness of the tree.
[Illustration: THE KERF.]
Then cut alternately, first a horizontal cut at B, then a sideways, downward cut at A, and jerk out the chunk between the two; go on doing this till you get to the centre of the tree. The reason for making A and B so far apart is that if you begin with too narrow a kerf your axe gets wedged in the cut more easily.
* * * * *
CUTTING THE KERF.
When you have cut your kerf half through the tree, you then fell the tree by cutting in on the opposite side, only about three inches above the level of B,
* * * * *
THINGS TO LOOK OUT FOR.
Before starting to fell your tree, first clear away all small branches and bushes which might interfere with the swing of your axe, and therefore spoil your aim.
Also clear away any brambles or undergrowth that might trip you at the critical moment.
Cut out chunks when you are at it, not a lot of little chips, which are signs to anyone coming there later that a tenderfoot has been at work. It is all a matter of aiming your stroke well.
Aim your kerf so that the tree will fall clear of other trees, and not get hung up in their branches.
[Illustration: THE TREE READY TO FALL]
Then, when your tree falls, look out for the butt. This often jumps back from the stump; never stand directly behind it; many a tenderfoot has been killed that way. When the stem cracks and the tree begins to topple over, move forward in the direction of the fall, and, at the same time outwards, away from the butt.
* * * * *
FIRE-LIGHTING.
As a backwoodsman you must, of course, be able to cook your own food—you can't lug your mother about with you to do it!
But you cannot cook food straight off without ever having learnt how; and so I advise every Scout to set to work and learn this during the winter months, before the camping season comes on.
You can do a good deal by helping in the kitchen, and seeing how the food is got ready. Also get a baker to show you how to mix dough and to bake bread.
But it is no use merely to be shown how it should be done; the thing is to do it yourself. You will make a few mistakes at first. Your dough will come out like custard, and your porridge will be burnt, and milk smoked, but after one or two trials you will soon find yourself able to cook quite well.
The first thing that is necessary for cooking, even if it is only to boil a billy of tea, is to have a fire, and tenderfoot makes a pretty hash of lighting a fire until he knows how.
[Illustration: FIRE READY FOR LIGHTING.]
Begin in a small way by putting first some dry "kindling" or small splinters and shavings, dry grass, or a little paper, anything that will easily take fire, and over that stack a lot of small dry sticks, standing on end and leaning together, or leaning against a log on the windward side of it.
Remember, dry sticks are very different from sticks when it comes to lighting a fire.
Dry sticks are seldom found on the ground, they are generally best got from a tree. Find a tree with a dead branch or two, break these off, and you will have dry sticks. For "kindling," a number of sticks partly split or splintered with your knife are useful.
Do you know what "punk" is?
Well, "punk," or "tinder," is what a good many backwoodsmen carry about with them for lighting their fires.
It can be a small bit of cotton waste soaked in petrol or spirits, or very dry, baked fungus, or bark fibre, or anything that will catch fire from the slightest spark.
Then, if you have no matches, you can strike a spark with a flint and steel (the back of your knife on a stone will do it), and so set light to your punk.
Or you can do it with a magnifying glass if there is a good sun shining, by making the sunlight pass through the glass on to a small amount of punk, and in a few seconds it will set it smouldering; and you must then gently blow it up into a glow, and finally into a flame, with which you can light the "kindling."
Indians and savages, who have neither matches nor burning-glasses, get fire by rubbing wood together.
The easiest way is by putting a slat of dry wood on the ground and boring a hole through it with a stick of dry wood, twirling the stick by means of a bow string.
The friction of the two woods causes the kind of sawdust which comes from the hole to get red-hot, and if a little punk is then placed on it and blown into, it brings a flame.
So soon as you have got your small kindling fire alight, add bigger dry sticks, upright and leaning together, until you can get a really strong fire going, when logs can be added.
But for a cooking fire, use plenty of sticks at first, as they make the hot ashes and embers which are most necessary for cooking.
* * * * *
TIPS FOR THE CAMPING SEASON.
If you make your own sleeping bag out of canvas or sacking, remember two points: first, to have its flaps about a yard longer than yourself, so that you can get well into it in case of rain, and secondly: that to keep warm and dry you want more thickness underneath than above you.
[Illustration: A COMFORTABLE SLEEPING BAG.]
The best way is to have a double sheet under you, or, in other words, make your sleeping bag a double one; you can then fill the lower part with straw, and sleep yourself in the upper compartment.
The object of having long flaps is seen in the illustration. The lower one can be rolled with your spare clothes inside it to form your pillow, while the upper one can be supported by a crossbar to form a little roof over your head. In a sleeping bag of this kind, if waterproof, you can sleep out without a tent at all.
* * * * *
HOW TO MAKE A CAMP BED.
A very simple and comfortable form of camp bed-and one which you can easily rig up and use in your home, or at an inn, if a bedstead is not available-is this: Make a "hasty stretcher" with two staves and a sack, and lay the ends of the staves on a couple of logs, stones, or boxes.
[Illustration: READY FOR USE.]
Keep the staves apart by crossbars, and you have a most comfortable bed. But don't forget to put plenty of blankets, and some thick paper, if you are short of blankets underneath you.
This bed is the best possible one to use when you have to camp on damp ground.
* * * * *
HOW A TENDERFOOT SITS DOWN.
In camp you can generally tell a tenderfoot from an old scout from the way in which he sits down.
[Illustration: THE WRONG WAY.]
A tenderfoot sits right down on the ground, but the old hand, knowing that this is very likely to give you chill and bring on fever, rheumatism, or other ailments, either squats on his heel, or on both heels—which comes all the more easy if you put a stone under each heel as a support, or if you have your back against a tree.
[Illustration: THE RIGHT WAY.]
When an old scout sits on the ground, he always takes care either to sit on his hat, or on a bundle of dry heather, or something that will keep him off the actual ground.
[Illustration: HOW AN OLD HAND SITS DOWN.]
Two ex-Boy Scouts, now officers in the Army, sent me a contribution to our funds lately, as a thanks offering for all the campaigning dodges which they had learnt as Scouts and which had been most helpful to them on active service.
So practise all you can of these tips which I have given: you never know when they may not come in useful to you.