WATER.
Good drinking water is one of the most important of all things in campaigning, in order to make sure of your being healthy.
All water has a large number of tiny animals floating about in it, too small to be seen without the help of a microscope. Some of them are poisonous, some are not; you can't tell whether the poisonous ones are there, so the safest way is to kill them all before you drink any water; and the way to kill them is to boil the water, and let it cool again before drinking it. In boiling the water don't let it merely come to a boil and then take it off, but let it boil fully for a quarter of an hour, as these little beasts, or microbes as they are called, are very tough customers, and take a lot of boiling before they get killed.
For the same reason it is very dangerous to drink out of streams, and especially out of ponds, when you feel thirsty, for you may suck down any amount of poison in doing so. If a pond is your only water-supply, it is best to dig a small well, three feet deep, about ten feet away from the pond, and the water will ooze through into it, and will be much more healthy to drink.
We did this in Mafeking, when the Boers cut off our regular water-supply, and so had no sickness from bad water.
HINTS TO INSTRUCTORS.
Practise in mixing dough and baking; it is useful. If possible, get a baker to give a lesson. But let each scout mix his own dough with the amount of water he thinks right. Let him make his mistakes at first to get experience.
A visit to a slaughter-house and butcher's shop to see the cutting up is useful for boys.
Get scouts to make their own linen ration bags.
Issue raw rations, and let each scout make his own fire and cook his own meal.