The best camp bed we ever possessed was made on the stretcher principle. The side bars were of birch wood, and ferruled in the centre, so as to admit of their being taken into four lengths. The legs, also of birchwood, shut and opened like two pairs of scissors. The centre piece of the bed was of stout canvas, sewn into pipes at the sides, through which the side bars passed. The head of the bed was formed by fixing two uprights in holes made for them, and then fixing a cross bar on their ends to keep them in place. A very thin cocoa-fibre mattress, cocoa-fibre pillow, and three thoroughly good brown blankets, are conveniently packed in a painted canvas bag, with the framework of the bed. Camp beds, of endless variety, are sold by all outfitters; but we describe that mentioned above as having stood the test of no ordinary wear and tear most satisfactorily. The various modes by which beds, hammocks, and litters are extemporised by travellers will be fully dealt with when that subject comes under consideration. In this section of our work we merely point out that which is best purchased at home, leaving the multiplication of the various objects, in some measure, to the judgment of the intending traveller.
Hammock.
A hammock is a very luxurious sort of bed, but most people are alarmed by the very elaborate system of clews and rings by which it is suspended, and in very deed, even with the most scrupulous cleanliness, these are apt, in places where vermin abound, to harbour a great many; but this might be avoided by having the canvas 10ft. or 12ft. long, and gathering it at the ends so as to dispense with clews altogether. It would then have the advantage that, when it could not be suspended, it might be folded as a double sheet upon the ground to lay the rest of the bedding on. A hammock can be slung in very unpromising places. We were accustomed to keep two (washed, clews and all, every fortnight), stretched to a bamboo pole, which we slung from the beams overhead. One end may be fastened to a tree or to the waggon wheel, and the rope attached to the other may pass over forked sticks set up as shears, and lead to a tent peg driven firmly into the ground. A sheet may be thrown over the pole or ridge rope, to serve as a tent or curtain.
Wrapper.
It is a very favourite plan in South Africa to have the blanket covered on both sides with chintz or printed cotton, quilted to it. This keeps it clean for a long time, and makes it much more efficient as a coverlet.
Most countries have some peculiar wrapper of their own, as the buffalo robe of North America, the opossum rug of Australia, or the Vel Komboars or sheepskin blanket of the Cape colony. We have used as a pillow an inflated swimming belt, but in all cases when india-rubber goods are used, they must be kept from much exposure to the sun, and, above all, from contact with grease. We have had a waterproof overcoat so heated when folded away that we could not again open it; but one of these lined with calico, and covered with thin non-adhesive stuff, we should think would be useful.
The following statement will serve to show approximately the nature and quantity of stores, &c., required for an expedition such as that to which we were attached in Australia:—
The Party.—Commander, A. C. Gregory; Assistant, H. C. Gregory; Geologist, J. G. Wilson; Artist and Storekeeper, T. Baines; Surgeon and Naturalist, J. R. Elsey; Botanist, F. Müller; Collector, Natural History, &c., — Flood; Overseer, J. Phibbs; Farrier and Smith; Harness-maker; Stockmen, European (9); Shepherds, Native (2)—Total, 21.