For many reasons it is sometimes necessary or advisable to have one's camp on stilts, so to speak. Especially is this true in the more tropical countries where noxious serpents and insects abound. A simple form of stilted shack is shown by [Fig. 63.] To build this shack we must first erect an elevated platform ([Fig. 64]). This is made by setting four forked sticks of equal height in the ground and any height from the ground to suit the ideas of the camp builder. If, for some reason, the uprights are "wabbly" the frame may be stiffened by lashing diagonal cross sticks to the frame. After you have erected the four uprights, lay two poles through the crotches, as in [Fig. 64], and make a platform by placing other poles across these, after which a shelter may be made in the form of an open Adirondack camp or any of the forms previously described. [Fig. 65] shows the framework for the open camp of Adirondack style with the uprights lashed to the side bars; if you have nails, of course, you can nail these together, but these plans are made on the assumption that you have no nails for that purpose, which will probably be true if you have been long in the woods.
[Fig. 63.] [Fig. 64.] [Fig. 65.]
A simple stilt camp.
XIII
THE BOG KEN
Ken is a name now almost obsolete but the bog ken is a house built on stilts where the ground is marshy, damp, and unfit to sleep upon. As you will see by the diagram ([Fig. 66]), the house is built upon a platform similar to the one last described; in this instance, however, the shelter itself is formed by a series of arches similar to the Iroquois ([Fig. 41]). The uprights on the two sides have their ends bent over and lashed together, forming arches for the roof. Over the arches are lashed horizontal poles the same as those described in the construction of the Iroquois lodge. [Fig. 67] shows one way to prevent "varmints" of any kind from scaling the supporting poles and creeping into your camp.
The protection consists of a tin pan with a hole in the bottom slid over the supporting poles. [Fig. 66] shows how to lash the thatching on to the poles and [Fig. 68] shows how to spring the sticks in place for a railing around your front porch or balcony.