It is advisable that Patrols or Companies should have some place of their own at which to camp. Some small plot of woodland is easily secured near most any of our cities. At the beaches it is frequently impossible to secure the privacy desirable. The seaside is not easily fenced in. If you own your camping ground all desirable sanitary conditions can be looked after and buildings of a more or less permanent nature erected. Even a "brush house" in a spot which you are allowed to use exclusively is better than having to hunt a place every time you want to camp out. "Gypsying" from place to place is unadvisable.
When you have your own camp, too, much better chances for study will be found possible. You will have your own trees, flowers, and birds to notice and care for, and a record of them is valuable even in a very limited space. Think of the beautiful work of White—The Natural History of Selborne.
Name your camp by all means. Long ago we formed the habit of naming all our camps using by preference the name of the first bird seen there. Now we use the Seminole name. So we have our "Ostata" and "Tashkoka." Some of the names are too hard, though, for civilized tongues. "Mooganaga" for instance, might hurt somebody's mouth when she tries to pronounce it.
When going into camp never forget matches. When leaving camp I used to put all my spare matches into a dry empty bottle, cork it tight, and hide it. After many years I have found my matches as good as "new" where I had hidden them. By rubbing two sticks together one can make a fire without matches.
Camping out is one of my hobbies. Walks and picnics are all very well as far as they go, but to get the full benefit of actual contact with Nature it is absolutely necessary to camp out. That does not mean sleeping on wet bare ground but just living comfortably out of doors, where every breath of heaven can reach you and all wild things are in easy reach. A camp can be easily planned within daily reach of many of our large cities but should be far enough to escape city sounds and smells. It is not a camp, however, if it is where a stream of strangers can pass by at any time of the day or night within sight and hearing.
Water is a supreme requisite at any camp. Water to swim in may be dispensed with in extreme cases, but you can't carry your water with you and have a comfortable time. I have been where I had to do it so I know how it is. Also I have had to dig water out of the ground. That is not an easy operation so be sure and camp near a well or spring. Wood, too, you will want and it must be dry. Don't try to cook with fat pine. It's all right to kindle with but not for cooking. Your bacon fried over it will be as fine eating as a porous plaster. Fry your potatoes. If you must roast them dig a hole in the ashes and cover them deep. Then go away and forget them. Let some one else come along and cook all sorts of things on top of them. When you come back rake them out of the ashes and astonish every one.
Be sure your cooking fire is not too big. You must be able to get up to it comfortably close without scorching your face. Start a small fire and feed it as required with small dry twigs. Cooking over an outdoor fire is a fine art and has to be studied carefully. It should be called almost a post-graduate course in the camp studies. Of course the regular camp-fire can be made as big and smoky as you like. Smoke is fine to watch but not to breathe. Even the mosquitoes dislike it.
Roughing it is all very fine to talk about, but it is best to make your camp as comfortable as possible. The ground is good to sleep upon but not stones and sticks. It's really astonishing how big a stick, no longer than your finger, can grow in one night. Take my word for it and don't try it. It won't pay. A hammock is my preference but a cot is about as good. On a pinch twigs and grass are not to be despised. Moss is apt to be moist but there is no possible objection to clean dry sand.