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.