Part I: Camping

Preface

The present work is based upon my Book of Camping and Woodcraft, which appeared in 1906. All of the original material here retained has been revised, and so much new matter has been added that this is...

Camping. Chapter I. Vacation Time

So priketh hem Nature in hir corages,— Thanne longen folk to goon on pilgrimages, And palmeres for to seken straunge strondes. — Canterbury Tales. To many a city man there comes a time when t...

Chapter II. Outfitting

By St. Nicholas i have a sudden passion for the wild wood—-We should be free as air in the wild wood — What say you ? Shall we go ? Your hands, your tjanrtsi * — Robin hood. In some of our larg...

Chapter III. Tents For Fixed Camps

When camp is made in a certain locality with no intention of moving it until the party is ready to go home, it usually is called a permanent camp. This is a misuse of terms; for a camp of any kind ...

Tents For Fixed Camps. Part 2

Khaki generally means simply duck or twill that has been colored to the familiar leaf brown of hunting togs. It may be had in almost any grade, the best, of course, being army tent khaki. The stren...

Tents For Fixed Camps. Part 3

Fig. 2. Extension Fly. A fly large enough to project three or four feet for shelter over the doorway is not objectionable; in fact it is a good thing, especially if made long enough to come alm...

Care Of Tents

Never except when unavoidable should a tent be rolled up when wet. Even if it be only damp from dew, an unprocessed tent will soon mildew if packed away in that state. The parts that require most dryi...

How To Mend A Thar In Canvas

Cross-stitch it flat, using a sail needle and twine, and taking a narrow hold on each side with one stitch, then a wider hold with the next one, and so on alternately. Fig. 6. Asbestos Pipe Gua...

Second-Hand Tents

Second-hand army tents that are in good, serviceable condition, having been condemned for stains or other trifling defects, may be bought cheaply from dealers who get them at government auctions. Thes...

Pitching Wall Tents

A tent should stand squared and taut and trim. This not only that one's eyes may dwell with pride upon his camp, but because a tent that is wrinkled and set askew will not shed a downpour nor stand st...

Storm Set

Better end braces are rigged with a pair of long guy ropes each of which has a loop in the middle to go over the upright spindle and a regulating lashing at each end. These may be made fast to corner ...

Wall Tent With Guy Frames

Tent stakes are troublesome things at best. Generally when you go to driving them you find stones or roots in the way. They do not hold well except in favorable soil and in dry weather. When guy ropes...

Tint On Shears

Tent poles are bothersome on the train and in a wagon, and impossible in a canoe or on a pack train unless they are jointed. Socketed poles become useless, or hard to refit, if a ferrule is stepped on...

Trenching The Tent

This should always be done if camp is not to be moved frequently. Do not dig the ditch V-shaped, but cut straight down, just outside the tent pegs and slope the trench inward toward this dam (Fig. 16)...

Tent Floors

In fixed camp, especially if it is in a sandy place, the tent should have a board floor. Lay down the requisite number of 2 x 4 scantling as floor-joists, setting them on flat rocks or posts if nece...

Tents On Rocky Or Sandy Ground

If the ground is too rocky to drive stakes in it, or is hard frozen, erect the tent on shears and guy it out to rocks or growing bushes. Tent stakes do not hold well in sand or in ground that has b...

Action Of Wind On Tents

Unless one encamps in an open country the wind will seldom strike his tent steadily in a direction parallel with the ground. Rather it goes eddying and curling like driven smoke: hence the flapping an...

Chapter IV. Furniture, Tools, And Utensils For Fixed Camps

When you go a-Camping, make yourself as comfortable as you can. It is neither heroic nor sensible to put peas in your boots to mortify the flesh. There is no comfort in toting a lot of baggage over ba...

Camp Chairs

Folding stools without backs are by no means comfortable. Far better is a chair in which you can recline and rest the whole body. The pattern shown in Fig. 24 folds as easily as an umbrella, to a size...

Camp Tables

A small table in the tent is another convenience that pays for its transportation. The model shown in Fig. 26, with roll top, comes in two sizes, 36 x 27 and 36 x 36 inches. It folds into a package ab...

Shelves And Wall Pockets

To keep a tent from being littered with small articles that are always in the way except when you want them and can't find them, shelves or wall pockets, or both, are well-nigh indispensable. These ma...

Medical Kit For Camping

About the best thing of this sort, for average campers who do not have to go very light, is the Household (B) first aid box fitted up by the American National Red Cross, Washington, D. C. The case i...

Tools Carried In For Camping

An axe and a hatchet are indispensable (see Chapters VII and X). If much wood is to be cut, and there are poor axemen in the party, a crosscut saw is the tool for them. The long pattern for two men is...

Camp Stoves

If there is a separate commissary tent, the cooking can be done on a common blue-flame oil or gasolene stove, set up on a perfectly level stand. Such a stove is useless out of doors unless fitted with...

Camp Grates And Fire Irons

A stove is merely a convenience and an economizer of fuel. Quite as good meals can be cooked over an open fire. Even when it rains, a bonfire can be built to one side and hard coals shoveled from it t...

Fireless Cookers

A great deal of the bother of cooking can be saved by using a fireless cooker, in which all of the slow processes are performed (roasting, baking, stewing, boiling, and making porridge).' In this case...

Chapter V. Tents For Shifting Camps

Tents were devised long before the dawn of history, and they still are used as portable dwellings by men of all races and in all climes. Every year sees countless campers busy with new contrivances in...

Tents For Shifting Camps. Continued

Featherweight Tent Materials Pedestrian and cycle campers sometimes go in for the utmost possible lightness and compactness of outfit that will serve their purposes. For tents they use the most fin...

Chapter VI. Types Of Light Tents

Local conditions, means of transportation, and sizo of party, are to be considered in choosing among the many tent models that have been designed for campers who travel light. All depends on where you...

Types Of Light Tents. Part 2

No. 8 holds the hood ring on the center pin, and superintends from that position. No. 1 stretches the hood rope over the right (facing the tent) wall pin and No. 2 drives the first guy pin at the midd...

Types Of Light Tents. Part 3

Some canoeists in civilized waters prefer the marquee (Fig. 42), because it has more head-room than a pyramidal tent. It has spreaders attached to the center pole, like ribs of an umbrella, to ext...

Types Of Light Tents. Part 4

Fig. 49. One Wing Partly Extended Royce Tent. The peculiar feature of this design is in the extra size and the form of the flaps, which make possible the triangular extension of the front for 2 1/2...

Types Of Light Tents. Part 5

If sod- cloth is desired, a breadth of cloth 7 1/2 feet long split in three strips will make about a 10-inch sod cloth if attached to lower edge of sides and back before putting on a heavy tape which ...

Types Of Light Tents. Part 6

Fig. 58. Ross Alpine Tent. Separable Shelter Tents When men travel in pairs, going light, it is a good plan for each to carry a shelter-half, adequate to protect him if he should become separ...

Types Of Light Tents. Part 7

One advantage of the baker or camp-fire type is that, in rainy weather, one has a dry, open space to move around in, and he can cook under shelter by building a small fire under the awning and feeding...

Chapter VII. Light Camp Equipment

The problem of what to take on a trip resolves itself chiefly into a question of transportation. If the party can travel by wagon, and intends to go into fixed camp, then almost anything can be carrie...

Uses Of An Axe

A full-sized axe should be carried, in cold weather, if means of transportation permit. Its head need not weigh over 3 or 3^ pounds, but let the handle be of standard 36-inch length for a full-arm swe...

Other Tools Reqired In Camping

A small spade, or an army entrenching tool, is a handy implement about camp. One outfitter has produced a good thing in this line which he calls a trekking spade. The handle is detachable. In shovelin...

Other Tools Reqired In Camping. Continued

On light marching trips no support for the utensils will be carried. Rocks or logs will take their place. There may be a little more spilling and swearing, but less tired backs. It is commonly agre...

Chapter VIII. Camp Bedding

One's health and comfort in camp depend very much upon what kind of bed he has. In nothing does a tenderfoot show off more discreditably than in his disregard of the essentials of a good night's rest....

Camp Bedding. Part 2

Camp blankets should be all-wool. A cotton or part-cotton one is much more prone to absorb moisture from the damp woods air and to hold that which exudes from the body of the sleeper, hence it is clam...

Camp Bedding. Part 3

Fig. 80. D. T. Abercrombie Sleeping Bag. It is from lack of attention to these simple and obvious requirements that most designers of sleeping bags have failed. They have turned out contrivances th...

Camp Bedding. Part 4

As for the roof overhead, what I meant was that gun and duffel need protection, and so do you when you crawl out on a rainy morning. The weight of a sleeping-bag cover put into a little waterproof ten...

Chapter IX. Clothing

In a wild country one soon learns that the difference between comfort and misery, if not health and illness, may depend upon whether he is properly clad. Proper, in this case, does not mean modish, bu...

Clothing. Part 2

I conclude that for cold weather, for work in high altitudes where changes of temperature are sudden and severe, and for deep forests where the night air is chilly, woolen underclothes should be worn....

Clothing. Part 3

Trousers should not be lined; it makes them stiff and hard to dry. To wear with leggings the foot breeches of our infantry, which lace or button in front below the knee, fit better than trouser...

Clothing. Part 4

Genuine buckskin shirts are still listed in the catalogues of certain dealers in the Northwest. Be sure the skins are smoke-tanned, so that they will dry soft and not shrink so badly as those dress...

Clothing. Part 5

Shoes It is not enough that the shoes be roomy. The lasts over which they are made should be anatomically correct. In 1911 a board of officers of our army was appointed to select a soldier's shoe. ...

Clothing. Part 6

To Waterproof Leather A rather thick dubbing melted and rubbed into warmed leather is better than an oil, as it stays put and does not mix so much with water. Have the leather perfectly dry and...

Clothing. Part 7

Pacs without soles are fine in a canoe. In trout fishing they can be worn with a pair of hemp sandals to prevent slipping. In extremely cold weather the oil-tanned leather freezes as stiff as horn, an...

Clothing. Part 8

Waterproofs Rubber tears easily. Oilskins are superior, regular weight for the saddle and the duck blind, feather-weight for fishing and the like. A slicker should be quite roomy, to admit a? mu...

Chapter X. Personal Kits

When one is going into fixed camp, the best carrier for his personal belongings is a common steamer trunk — a light one, but long enough to take in the fishing rods. For canoe, pack train, or automobi...

Personal Kits. Part 2

Cutlery should be of the best steel obtainable. Knicks and dull edges are abominations, so use knives and hatchets for nothing but what they were made for, and whet them a little every day that they a...

Personal Kits. Part 3

These maps vary in merit. For some of the wilder and rougher regions they are only reconuoissance maps and full of minor inaccuracies; but they are revised from time to time. A good part of the contin...

Personal Kits. Part 4

A triangular bandage is made by dividing a piece of muslin a yard square into halves by a diagonal cut joining two opposite corners, and thoroughly sterilizing it. Cuts are printed on it showing how t...

Chapter XI. Provisions

When a party camps where fresh meat and farm products can be procured as they are wanted, its provisioning is chiefly a matter of taste, and calls for no special comment here. But to have good meals i...

Provisions. Part 2

According to the latest data supplied me by the U. S. Department of Agriculture (February, 1916) the fuel value of protein is about 1,815 calories per pound, that of carbohydrates is the same, and tha...

Provisions. Part 3

Salt Pork (Alias Middlings, Sides, Bellies, Old Ned, Et Al) Commendable or accursed, according to how it is used. Nothing quite equals it in baking beans. Savory in some boiled dishes. When fried, ...

Provisions. Part 4

Milk, either evaporated or powdered, is a very important ingredient in camp cookery. Look again at the cook's time-table previously mentioned. Years ago I used to get an excellent powdered milk fro...

Provisions. Part 5

Macaroni, Etc The various paste (pas-tay), as the Italians call them, take the place of bread, may be cooked in many ways to lend variety, and are especially good in soups, which otherwise would ha...

Provisions. Part 6

Among canned fruits, those that go farthest are pineapples and blackberries. Excellent jelly can be made in camp from dried apples (see recipe in Chapter XXII). There is much nourishment in date...

Provisions. Part 7

When one is not going into a game country, it is worth while to carry Worcestershire sauce and pure tomato catchup, to relieve the monotony of cured and canned meats or of too much fish. Mustard is...

Provisions. Part 8

Butter, lard, ground coffee, tea, sugar, jam, matches, go in pry-up tin cans, sold by outfitters (small quantities in mailing tubes), or in common capped tins with tops secured by surgeon's plaster. G...

Chapter XII. Camp Making

As a rule, good camp sites are not found along the beaten road. Of course, water is the prime essential, and in a country where water is scarce, you will stop at an old Camping ground; otherwise it is...

Camp Making. Part 2

Stagnant Water A traveler may be reduced to the extremity of using stagnant or even putrid water; but this should never be done without first boiling it. Some charred wood from the camp fire should...

Camp Making. Part 3

Neighborhood Of Trees It is a common blunder to pitch the tent directly under the natural shelter of a big tree. This is pleasant enough at midday, but makes the tent catch drip from dew and ke...

Camp Making. Part 4

When Camping with a pack-train, pile the packs neatly together and cover them writh canvas, and similarly pile and protect the saddles, making especially sure that the lash ropes cannot get wet, and t...

Camp Making. Part 5

Fig. 112. Spring Box. Caches for provisions and other articles will be described in Volume II. Tent Furnishings If staying more than a night in one place, fit up the tent with hangers from wh...

Chapter XIII. The Camp Fire

'T am a woodland fellow, sir, that always loved a great fire.— All's Well that Ends Well. Cold night weighs down the forest bough, Strange shapes go flitting through the gloom. But see — a spar...

The Camp Fire. Part 2

Set up two forked stakes about five feet apart and four feet to the crotches. Across them lay a green stick (lug-pole) somewhat thicker than a broomstick. Now cut three or four green crotches from bra...

The Camp Fire. Part 3

We first felled a thrifty butternut tree ten inches in diameter, cut off three lengths of five feet each, and carried them to camp. These were the back-logs. Two stout stages were driven at the back...

The Camp Fire. Part 4

Tinder, and methods of getting fire without matches, will be considered in Volume II. Making Fire In The Wet It is a good test of one's resourcefulness to make a fire out-of-doors in rainy weath...

The Camp Fire. Part 5

Spitfire Woods Arbor-vitae (northern ' white cedar) and chestnut burn to dead coals that do not communicate flame. They, as well as box elder, red cedar, hemlock, sassafras, tulip, balsam, tamarac...

Chapter XIV. Pests Of The Woods

Summer twilight brings the mosquito. In fact, when we go far north or far south, we have him with us both by day and night. Rather I should say that we have her; for the male mosquito is a gentleman, ...

Pests Of The Woods. Part 2

Aside from my personal tests of many dopes, I have had some interesting correspondence on this topic with sportsmen in various parts of the world. I quote from one letter received from Norman Fletcher...

Pests Of The Woods. Part 3

We depended upon the mixture of one part of carbolic acid and nine parts of sweet oil to keep off various things that sought our acquaintance. A very little of this mixture on the face and hands was ...

Pests Of The Woods. Part 4

Blow-Flies Worst of all flies, though fortunately rare in the North (it has been known to reach Canada), is the screw-worm fly (Compsomyia macel-laria), a bright metallic-green insect with golden r...

Pests Of The Woods. Part 5

If one takes a bath in salt water every night before retiring, he can keep fairly rid of these unwelcome guests. A surer preventive is to rub kerosene on the wrists, neck, ankles, and abdominal region...

Pests Of The Woods. Part 6

If ants are troublesome about camp, try to find the nest by following the workers; then pour kerosene or boiling water into it. Red pepper or oil of sassafras sprinkled about may discourage them, but ...

Pests Of The Woods. Part 7

The porcupine is not found south of the Canadian faunal zone, which extends well down into pur northern States. Skunks Another notoriously fearless pest is the skunk. It will turn tail quickly e...

Chapter XV. Dressing And Keeping Game And Fish

Butchering is the most distasteful part of a hunter's work—a job to be sublet when you can; but sometimes you can't. When an animal is shot, the first thing to do is to bleed it, unless the bullet ...

Dragging A Deer

If the ground is not too rough, nor the distance too great, a deer may be dragged to camp over the snow or leaves; but drag it head-foremost; if pulled the other way every hair will act as a barb agai...

Packing Deer On A Saddle

To pack a deei on horseback: first, if your horse is green in the business, let him smell the deer, pet him, and, if necessary, blindfold him until you get the carcass lashed in place. Even then you m...

Carrying On A Litter

Two men can carry a deer on a pole Ny tying its legs together in pairs, slipping the pole through, and tying the head to the nnle. Unless the carcass is tied snugly fo the pole such a burden will swin...

Carrying Single-Handed

One man can carry a small deer entire by dragging it to a fallen tree, boosting it up on the log, lengthwise and back down, then grasping one or both hind legs with one hand and the fore legs with the...

The Indian Pack

When one has a long way to go, and can only carry the hide and the choicei parts of the meat, the best way is to make up an Indian pack, as shown in Fig. 114. Skin the deer, place a stick athwart the ...

Hanging To Butcher

It is not necessary to hang a deer up to skin and butcher it; but that is the more cleanly way. One man, unassisted, can hang a pretty heavy animal in the following way: Drag it headforemost to a sapl...

Butchering Deer

Now let us suppose that you have killed a deer far away from camp, and that you wish to skin and butcher it on the spot, saving all parts of it that are good for anything. You are alone. You wish to m...

Skinning

This is your first buck, and you wish to save the head for mounting. For this the skin of the whole neck must be preserved, clear back to the shoulders. Cleanse away any blood that may have is...

Gralloching

Now take up your big knife, insert its point alongside the breastbone, and cut through the false ribs to the point of the sternum. In a young animal this is easy; but in an old one the ribs have ossif...

Butchering On The Ground

If one is in a hurry, and is not particular about the hide, he can do his butchering on the ground. In that case, lay the animal on sloping ground, with its head uphill; or bend its back over a log or...

Elk And Moose

Such large animals are generally butchered on the ground. If the beast has antlers, first remote the head. Then turn the body on its back and prop it in position with a couple of three-foot stakes sha...

Bears

These beasts, too, are generally butch' ered on the ground. In skinning, begin the incisions at the feet, and leave at least the scalp, if not the skin of the whole head, attached. It i? quite a task ...

Preserving Skins

If a hide is to be preserved for some time in a green state, use nothing on it but salt. Spread it out flat, hair side down, stretch the legs, flanks, etc., and rub all parts thoroughly with salt, par...

Care Of Meat

When a deer has merely been eviscerated and is hung up to be skinned, and cut up at a more convenient season, prop open the abdominal cavity with a stick, so that it may dry out quickly. If the weathe...

Curing Venison

Venison keeps a long time without curing, if the climate is cool and dry. To cure a deer's ham, hang it up by the shank, divide the muscles just above the hock, and insert a handful of dry salt. The m...

Jerked Venison

jerky or jerked meat has nothing to do with our common word jerk. It is an anglicized form of the Spanish charqui, which is itself derived from the Quichua (Peruvian) ccharqui, meaning flesh cu...

Computing Weight

Hornaday gives the following rule, in his Natural History, for computing the live weight of deer from the dressed weight: Add five ciphers to the dressed weight in pounds, and divide by 78,612; the qu...

Small Mammals

Now for what Shakespeare calls small deer. The easiest way for a novice to skin a squirrel is the one described by Nessmuk. — Chop off head, tail, and feet with the hatchet; cut the skin on...

Dressing Birds

Turkeys, geese, ducks, and grouse are usually dry picked. If this could be done while the bodies were still warm, it would be no job at all; but after they are cold it generally results in a good deal...

Keeping Small Game

To ship rabbits, squirrels, etc.: do not skin them, but remove the entrails, wipe the insides perfectly dry, wrap in paper, and pack them back dcvn. Never pack birds in straw or grass without i...

Cleaning Trout

Brook trout have no no-:iceable scales, but they should be scraped free of slime. Rainbow trout need scaling. Remove the vent, cut the gills free from the lower jaw and back of head, and slit open ...

Cleaning Scaly Fish

To scale a fish: grasp it by the head (or lay it on a board and drive a fork through its tail), and, using a knife that is not over-keen, scale first one side and then the other, with swift, steady sw...

Skinning Fish

Grasp the fish firmly, belly down. Cut across the nape of the neck, run the ooint of the knife along the back to the tail, and on each side of the back fin. Remove the fin by catching lower end betwee...

How To Keep Fish

It is very bad practice to string fish together through the gills and keep them in water till you start for home. It makes them lose blood and torments them till they die of suffocation. Why sicken yo...

Chapter XVI. Camp Cookery Of Meats

The main secrets of good meals in camp are to have a proper fire, good materials, and then to imprison in each dish, at the outset, its natural juice and characteristic flavor. To season fresh camp di...

Frying Meat

Do not try to fry over a flaming fin or a deep bed of coals; the grease would likely burn and catch aflame. Rake a thin layer of coals out in front of the fire; or, for a quick meal, make your fire of...

Broilling Meat

Fresh met that is tender enough to escape the boiling pot or the braising oven should either be broiled or roasted before a bed of clear, hard coals. Both of these processes preserve the characteristi...

Roasting Meat

To roast is to cook by the direcr heat of the fire, as on a spit or before a high bed of coals. Baking is performed in an oven, pit, or closed vessel. No kitchen range can compete with an open fire fo...

Kabobs

When in a hurry, cut a iy2 or 2 inch portion from the saddle or other tender part, break up the fiber by pounding, unless the animal was young, and divide the meat into several small fragments. Impale...

Barbecueing Meat

To barbecue is to roast an animal whole, and baste it frequently with a special dressing, for which the following recipe is borrowed from Frank Bates: One pint of vinegar, half a can of tomatoes,...

Baking Meat. Baking In A Hole

This is a modification of braising. Dig a hole in the ground, say 18x18x12 inches. Place kindling in it, and over the hole build a cob house by laying split hardwood sticks across, not touching each o...

Baking Meat In Clay

This hermetically seals the meat while cooking, and is better than baking in a kettle, but requires experience. Draw the animal, but leave the skin and hair on. If it be a large bird, as a duck or goo...

Baking Meat In The Embers

To bake a fish, clean it — if it is large enough to be emptied through a hole in the neck, do not slit the belly — season with salt and pepper, and, if liked, stuff with Indian meal. Have ready a good...

Boiling Meat

The broader the pot, and the blacker It is, the quicker it boils. Fresh meats should be started in boiling water; salt or corned meats, and those intended for stews or soups, in cold water. The meat (...

Stewing Meat

This process is slow, and should be reserved for tough meats. Use lean meat only. First brown it with some hot fat in a frying-pan; or put a couple of ounces of chopped pork in a kettle and get it tho...

Steaming Meat

To steam meat or vegetables* build a large fire and throw on it a number of smooth stones, not of the bomb-shell kind. Dig a hole in the ground near the fire. When the stones are red hot, fork them in...

Meat Gravies And Sauces

A gravy is seasoned with nothing but salt and pepper, the object being to preserve the flavor of the meat. A sauce is highly seasoned to disguise poor meat, or made-over dishes, or whatever has been s...

Chapter XVII. Camp Cookery Of Game

The following additional details are supplementary to what has gone before, and presuppose a careful reading of the preceding pages. Game and all other kinds of fresh meat should be hung up till th...

Camp Cookery Of Game. Part 2

Bear, Braised See page 296. Small Game. Jambolaya This is a delicious Creole dish, easily prepared. Cut up any kind of small game into joints, and stew them. When half done, add some minced h...

Camp Cookery Of Game. Part 3

Stick him, and hang him up to bleed until morm ing. A tub is half filled with hot water (not quite scalding) into which drop the possum and hold him by the tail until the hair will strip. Take him out...

Camp Cookery Of Game. Part 4

The liver, broiled on a stick and seasoned with butter, salt, and pepper, is the best part of the animal. Birds If game birds are not hung a few days after killing they are likely to be tough; b...

Camp Cookery Of Game. Part 5

This is the way to bring out the distinctive flavor of a canvasback. Seasoning and stuffing destroy all that. A canvasback should not be washed either inside or outside, but wiped clean with a dry clo...

Chapter XVIII. Camp Cookery Of Fish

Fish of the same species vary a great deal in quality according to the water in which they are caught. A black bass taken from one of the overflow lakes of the Mississippi bears no comparison with its...

Camp Cookery Of Fish. Continued

Doctor Breck says of this dish: I am so fond of steamed trout that I never fail to take with me a dozen sheets of parchment paper (the kind in which butter is sold) in which to wrap my fish. . . ...

How To Cook Shellfish

Shellfish. Oysters, Stewed Oysters should not be pierced with a fork, but removed from the liquor with a spoon. Thoroughly drain the juice from a quart of shelled oysters. Add to the juice enough w...

Chapter XIX. Camp Cookery. Cured Meats, Etc. Eggs

Bacon, Fried Slice quite thin. Remove the rind, as it not only is unsightly but makes the slices curl up in the pan. Put pan half full of water on fire; when water is warm, drop the bacon in, and s...

Camp Cookery. Cured Meats, Etc. Eggs. Continued

Lobscouse Boil corned beef as above (if very salty, parboil first, and then change the water), about thirty minutes before it is done add sliced potatoes and hardtack. Slumgullion When the co...

Chapter XX. Camp Cookery. Breadstuffs And Cereals

When men must bake for themselves they generally make biscuit, biscuit-loaf, flap-jacks, or corn bread. Bread leavened with yeast is either beyond their skill or too troublesome to make out of doors; ...

Camp Cookery. Breadstuffs And Cereals. Part 2

Clay Oven In fixed camp, if you have no oven, a good substitute can soon be made in a clay bank or steep knoll near by. Dig down the bank to a vertical front. Back from this front, about 4 feet, dr...

Camp Cookery. Breadstuffs And Cereals. Part 3

For variety, substitute for the sugar two or thre-tablespoonfuls of molasses, and add one to two tea' spoonfuls of ginger. Breakfast Rolls 1 quart flour, 2 level tablespoonfuls butter,...

Camp Cookery. Breadstuffs And Cereals. Part 4

A teaspoonful of lard worked in with the flour improves the taste, but the bread will not keep forever, as it would without the lard. If lard is used, you may as well make a good imitation of Maryland...

Camp Cookery. Breadstuffs And Cereals. Part 5

Egg Pancakes Made same as above excepting that you add two eggs, or their equivalent in desiccated egg. Snow Pancakes Instead of eggs, in the above recipe, use four tablespoonfuls of freshly ...

Camp Cookery. Breadstuffs And Cereals. Part 6

Macaroni. Boiled Macaroni For one-half pound macaroni have not less than three quarts of salted water boiling rapidly. Break the macaroni into short pieces, and boil thirty-five minutes for the sma...

Chapter XXI. Camp Cookery. Vegetables. Soups

Fresh Vegetables Do not wash them until just before they are to be cooked or eaten. They lose flavor quickly after being washed. This is true even of potatoes. Fresh vegetables go into plenty of...

Camp Cookery. Vegetables. Soups. Part 2

Potatoes, Creamed Cut I pint cold potatoes in cubes or thin slices; put in pan and cover with milk; cook gradually until milk is absorbed. Then add I tablespoon butter, l/2 teaspoonful salt, some p...

Camp Cookery. Vegetables. Soups. Part 3

To bake in the ashes: remove one outer husk, stripping off the silk, break off about an inch of the silk end, and twist end of husks tightly dowm over the broken end. Then bake in the ashes and embers...

Camp Cookery. Vegetables. Soups. Part 4

Hypholoma appendiculatum. deliciosus. Tricholoma personatum. Russula alutacea. Boletus subaureus. virescens. bovinus. Cantharellus cibarius. sub sanguineous. Marasmius oreades....

Chapter XXII. Beverages

Coffee To have coffee in perfection the berry must be freshly roasted and freshly ground. This can be done with frying-pan and pistol-butt; yet few but old-timers take the trouble. There are two...

How To Make Desserts

Dried Fruit Evaporated or dried apples, apricots, peaches, prunes, etc., are misprized, under-rated, by most people from not knowing how to prepare them. The common way is to put the fruit on to st...

Chapter XXIII. Cook's Miscellany

Dish Washing Gilbert Hamerton, in his Painter's Camp, dwells lovingly upon all the little details of camp life, excepting this: 5 p. m. Cease painting for the day. Dine. . . . After dinner the ...

A Table For Ready Reference In Choosing What To Cook

All recipes in this book are here grouped under Quick, Medium, or Slow, according to the time they take. Everything under Quick can be prepared in less than 25 minutes, and so is specially suitable fo...

Part II: Woodcraft

Chapter I. Woodcraft

From the autumn of 1904 to the winter of 1906 I lived, most of the time, alone in a little cabin on the Carolina side of the Great Smoky Mountains, surrounded by one of the finest primeval forests in ...

Chapter II. Getting Lost. Bivouacs

When a man fixes up his pack and strikes out alone into strange woods, just for a little adventure, not caring where he may come out, he may be lost all the time, in one sense, but in a better sense h...

Getting Lost. Bivouacs. Part 2

Those who scout the idea of their ever losing bearings are such as have traveled little in strange lands, or have never ventured far without a native guide. Personally, I would rather get lost now and...

Getting Lost. Bivouacs. Part 3

How long has it been since you were where you were certain of your location? Probably not a long time. Suppose you have traveled half an hour after leaving a known landmark. What is half an hour in th...

Getting Lost. Bivouacs. Part 4

So think back along your recent route and recall the best place where all four of those things you need are to be found—that is, the raw materials— and go to it. I am assuming that the night is lik...

Getting Lost. Bivouacs. Part 5

Among my most valued possessions is a tiny Col-clesser tomahawk, of 8-ounce head and 2 1/2 inch bitt, which, with hickory handle and home-made sheath, weighs only three-quarters of a pound. I seldom g...

Chapter III. Pathfinding

I never knew a native of the wilderness who used a compass to guide him. The born backwoodsman relies upon the sun and stars, the direction of the wind, the courses of streams, prominent landmarks, an...

Pathfinding. Part 2

Trail Making Various kinds of blazed trails will be described in the next chapter. There is a way that I consider better for a man or a party venturing into strange woods where there are few if any...

Pathfinding. Part 3

An old lumber works, where the trees have been chopped out, leaving nothing but stumps, tree-tops, and other debris, grows up with the same rank tenants as a burnt-wood, and is as mean to flounder t...

Chapter IV. Nature's Guide. Posts. Sameness Of The Forest

All dense woods look much alike. Trees of most species grow very tall in a forest that has never been cut over, their trunks being commonly straight and slender, with no branches within, say, forty fe...

Nature's Guide. Posts

There are two questions that woodsmen will argue, I suppose, until doomsday. Having given my views on one of them, I may as well tackle the other, and then have done with controversy. Are there any na...

Moss On Trees As Lankdmarks

First, as to the time-honored subject of moss—not confusing real moss with the parasitic lichens that incrust rocks and trees. Moss favors that part of a tree that holds the most moisture; not necessa...

Bark And Annual Rings

The bark of old trees is generally thicker on the north and northeast sides than on the other sides. A more reliable indicator of direction, though one that a traveler seldom has opportunity to test, ...

Chapter V. Blazes Survey Lines. Use Of The Compass

The chief difficulty in forest travel, especially in flat lands that are heavily timbered, is the lack of natural outlooks from which one could get a view of distant landmarks. Although there are plen...

Blazes Survey Lines. Use Of The Compass. Part 2

It is difficult to follow a line of blazes when snow is falling, because the wind drives the damp flakes against the tree, where they adhere, and must be brushed away to find the blaze. Now, it is ...

Blazes Survey Lines. Use Of The Compass. Part 3

The public lands of the United States are divided into townships, usually of six miles square (23,040 acres), as nearly as convergence of meridians allows. A township is sub-divided into thirty-six se...

Blazes Survey Lines. Use Of The Compass. Part 4

You may have a pocket compass of surveyor's pattern, such as the common military compass in a square wooden box, used in our army. Observe that on a surveyor's compass the E and W marks are transposed...

Blazes Survey Lines. Use Of The Compass. Part 5

For instance, at New York City the compass now points 1oW; at Eastport, Me., 20W; at Lincoln, Neb., 1oE; at Helena, Mont., 20E. This declination or variation of the compass mus...

Chapter VI. Route Sketching. Mapping. Measuring

Among the pleasures of life in a wild country 1 count first the thrill of exploring new ground. Something hidden: go and find it! He who does not respond to that mainspring is out of order— his ...

Route Sketching. Mapping. Measuring. Continued

One's stride on the march, after he has settled down to it, is likely to be longer than it is in town. In my own case, on a hike over fair road, I find that my pace is about 33 inches (three inches lo...

Mapping

Observe that a mere route sketch is only intended to show the way from one point to another, and tell the user where he is at any stage of the journey. Hence it need not be mathematically accurate, an...

Extemporary Measurements

A 3-foot pocket steel tape weighs only a couple of ounces and takes up no more room than a watch. It is a good thing for a woodsman to carry, as he often has occasion to take measurements. Where the t...

Chapter VII. Trips Afoot

Quand na pas clioual, monte bourique; Quand na pas bourique, monte cabri; Quand na pas cabri, monte jambc. (When you have no horse, you ride a donkey; When you have no donkey, you ride a goat; When...

Trips Afoot. Part 2

Carry a change of underwear. When on a hike, take your bath or rub-down at close of day, instead of in the morning; then change to fresh underwear and socks, and put on your sweater and trousers to sl...

Trips Afoot. Part 3

A seamless tin cup is carried wherever convenient, generally outside the pack, where it can be got at when one is thirsty. Aluminum is much too hot for cup and spoon. The complete kit weighs just 2 lb...

Trips Afoot. Part 4

Tin cup, seamless (1 pt.)................... 3 Nails and tacks ............................. 3 Cheesecloth, 1 yd........................... 1 Fly dope, in pocket oiler.................... 2 ...

Trips Afoot. Part 5

For me it was an eye-opener to find the lightest camp equipments of the world in England, a nation 1 had always associated with one-ton caravans'* at home and five-ton safaris abroad. Verily here w...

Trips Afoot. Part 6

Another one-man outfit was designed and is (or was—I know not what the war may have done there) manufactured by that veteran camper and outdoor writer, T. H. Holding, of 7 Maddox St., London, W. It in...

Chapter VIII. Packs For Pedestrians

The simplest way to carry a light marching kit is in a blanket roll. It is made up as follows: Spread the shelter cloth or tent on the ground, fold the blanket once, end for end, and place it on top, ...

Packs For Pedestrians. Part 2

The tump or head-band is a good addition not only to a pack harness but to almost any other kind of pack used for carrying heavy weights. Generally it will not be used until the shoulders tire; then i...

Packs For Pedestrians. Part 3

Fig. 26. Plain Rucksack (after Payne-Gallwey). But the rucksack is a poor device for carrying such a kit as is required by one who sleeps out and totes his bed and shelter with him. Its content...

Packs For Pedestrians. Part 4

For regular packing, when one sleeps out, the best pack sack at a moderate price that I know of is what is known as the Duluth, or, from its inventor, the Poirier pattern (Fig 32). Originally made for...

Packs For Pedestrians. Part 5

Fig. 34. Pack Basket (covered). Fig. 35. Abercrombie Pack Frame. To my notion, the best that can be said of the pack basket is that it is a bully thing in which to carry canned and bottl...

Chapter IX. How To Walk. A Hunter's Pack. Going Alone

In walking through a primitive forest, an Indian or a white woodsman can wear out a town-bred athlete, although the latter may be the stronger man. This is because a man who is used to the woods has a...

How To Walk. A Hunter's Pack. Going Alone. Part 2

Care Of The Feet An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. I have already said a good deal about the choice of shoes and stockings (Vol. I., Chapter IX). Let me add another reason for wear...

How To Walk. A Hunter's Pack. Going Alone. Part 3

If you slip on a loose stone, do not try to recover your lost ground quickly, but slip away until your foot is checked a few inches below. Thus keep up the rhythm of your footfall. On an average mo...

How To Walk. A Hunter's Pack. Going Alone. Part 4

The following outfit is complete, save for gun, ammunition and cleaning implements. For a longer trip than one week, a reserve of provisions can be cached at some central point in the hunting district...

Chapter X. Concentrated Foods

The first European settlers in this country were ignorant of the ways of the wilderness. Some of them had been old campaigners in civilized lands, but they did not know the resources of American fores...

Concentrated Foods. Part 2

In some parts of the South and West the pulverized parched corn is called coal flour. The Indians of Louisiana gave it the name of gofio. In Mexico it is known as pinole. (Spanish pronunciation, pee...

Concentrated Foods. Part 3

Pemmican nowadays is made from beef. Bleas-dell Cameron gives the following details: A beef dressing 698 pounds yields 47 pounds of first-class pemmican, 47 pounds of second-class pemmican and 23 poun...

Concentrated Foods. Part 4

So it is quite worth while to review the best that has been done along this line, show wherein the most promising experiments have failed, and restate the problem anew—then let fresh inventive genius ...

Concentrated Foods. Part 5

Again, an emergency ration should contain some component that digests rather slowly, or it soon will leave a feeling of emptiness in the stomach—it will not stick to the ribs like one that takes sev...

Concentrated Foods. Part 6

Fats In speaking of erbswurst I remarked on its deficiency in fat, which is an important component of field rations, especially in cold weather, since it is fuel for the body. Pemmican owes much of...

Concentrated Foods. Part 7

The hard-working lumbermen of Canada and Maine eat a very large quantity of sugar in the form, of molasses. I have seen them add it to tea and to almost everything they cook. Sugar has also been foun...

Concentrated Foods. Part 8

Light Traveling Rations Many correspondents have asked me to suggest a grub list for men traveling light—one that should be complete in itself, without helping out by game or fish or articles pur...

Chapter XI. Marksmanship In The Woods

Never shall I forget the remark that a backwoodsman once made when I was trying to entertain him at a rifle match near St. Louis. I had shown him the shooting-house, the target-house, and their appurt...

Marksmanship In The Woods. Part 2

Why a bullet rises above the line of aim and stays above it until it reaches a point for which the sights were set, and then falls below it, if not stopped; how much it does so, at various ranges and ...

Marksmanship In The Woods. Part 3

The old-fashioned practice of drawing coarse for a long shot is guesswork. A novice is almost sure to overdo it. An experienced hunter may do very well that way, so long as he uses rifle and ammunit...

Marksmanship In The Woods. Part 4

Now a deer on the jump is hard to hit. The points to be observed are: To be as alert at all times as though you were hunting grouse without a dog; to get your gun in position the instant that you see ...

Chapter XII. Axemanship. Qualities And Utilization Of Wood

Next to the rifle, a backwoodsman's main reliance is on his axe. With these two instruments, and little else, our pioneers attacked the forest wilderness that once covered all eastern America, and won...

Axemanship. Qualities And Utilization Of Wood. Part 2

Fig. 36. Felling Tree. Fig. 37. Boggled Notch. Fig. 38. True Notch. Now, suppose you decide to throw the tree to the south. First cut a notch (kerf) on the south side of the tree,...

Axemanship. Qualities And Utilization Of Wood. Part 3

Sawing If there is a sharp and well set crosscut saw in the outfit, it makes the work of felling and logging a great deal easier. The veriest tvro can soon learn to saw tolerably well. Observe that...

Axemanship. Qualities And Utilization Of Wood. Part 4

Fig. 41. Maul. Fig. 42. Gluts (edge and face). In splitting timber, one must observe the grain and structure of the wood. Naturally, he would se lect stuff that is straight-grained; but ...

Axemanship. Qualities And Utilization Of Wood. Part 5

But there is more than this in picking a boardtree: the wood should be not only separable but springy. The woodsman will tell you that he senses this; and he does, to the extent that his choice is g...

Axemanship. Qualities And Utilization Of Wood. Part 6

This will make your split run back again into the thicker section. Having quartered the bolt, now carefully rive each quarter into two clapboards or shingles (Fig. 51). You may have to turn the pie...

Axemanship. Qualities And Utilization Of Wood. Part 7

One time when some of us were bivouacing in the mountains, Bob announced that he was going to catch a mess of trout in the morning. He had a line and some flies, but I wondered how he would extemporiz...

Chapter XIII. Tomahawk Shelters. Axemen's Camps. Caches. Masked Camps

The simplest and most primitive of all camps is the 'Indian camp/ It is easily and quickly made, is warm and comfortable, and stands a pretty heavy rain when properly put up. This is how it is made: ...

Tomahawk Shelters. Axemen's Camps. Caches. Masked Camps. Part 2

This is what I call a straddle-bug frame (see dotted lines in Fig. 56). It is economical of time and material, as it takes but five sticks. It is a particularly good frame to use if one has a poncho...

Tomahawk Shelters. Axemen's Camps. Caches. Masked Camps. Part 3

For neater and more permanent jobs the bark must be flattened, and the rough outer bark must b removed (except birch, which is always smooth). tonly the tough, fibrous, soft inner bark being us...

Tomahawk Shelters. Axemen's Camps. Caches. Masked Camps. Part 4

A slab camp may be made a very comfortable re* treat by taking a little more pains, and it will last unimpaired for years, providing ready-made quarters for future trips. Instead of plain slabs, which...

Tomahawk Shelters. Axemen's Camps. Caches. Masked Camps. Part 5

A good place for a cache is on an islet in a river or lake, so small that there are not likely to be any predatory animals living on it. In the North, where wolves and wolverenes must be guarded ag...

Tomahawk Shelters. Axemen's Camps. Caches. Masked Camps. Part 6

It should be invisible from trails, and from opposite ridges. It should be screened by tall trees, preferably evergreens, so that the smoke of a properly fed fire will not betray it by day, nor its...

Chapter XIV. Cabin Building And Fitting Up

Nobody knows what solid comfort means until he finds himself, snug and well fed, in a bit of a cabin, far away in the big sticks, while icy blasts rebound from his stanch roof and walls, to go howi-in...

Cabin Building And Fitting Up. Part 2

The features of good and bad sites are discussed in Vol. I., pp. 208-214. Do not dig a cellar under the house. A cellar not cemented is a trap for water, especially when the snow begins to melt. A ...

Cabin Building And Fitting Up. Part 3

Fig. 74. Fitting joists. Now go ahead with the walls. Lay the logs with butts and small ends alternating, so the walls may go up of even height. To raise the logs, as the work advances, lean two po...

Cabin Building And Fitting Up. Part 4

Wherever there is limestone, enough lime for mortar can be made without much trouble, by a process similar to that of burning charcoal. Enclose a circular space of 5 feet diameter by a rude stone ...

Cabin Building And Fitting Up. Part 5

Fig. 78. Pole bunk (for four men). The bunk (Fig. 78), for four men, is made by running a pair of straight poles about 4^2 feet apart, from side to side of cabin, fitting the ends in the joints...

Chapter XV. Bark Utensils. Bast Ropes And Twine. Root And Vine Cordage. Withes And Splits

Among the many interesting woodsmen that I have known was one who, years agone, had lived a long time alone in the forest, not far from where Daniel Boone's last cabin was built, in what is now St. Ch...

Boiling Water In A Bark Kettle

A competent woodsman can cook good meals without any utensils except what he makes on the spot from materials that lie around him, and he will waste no time at it. In the chapters on Camp Cookery* I h...

Bark Utensils

Vessels to hold water or other liquids can be made, as above, of any size, square or rectangular. You soon will learn the trick of folding the corners without preliminary folding and creasing. Since t...

Bark Fish Buckets And Corseaux

Every trout fisherman knows how bothersome a willow cieel is when he is fishing the brushy head waters of a stream. And a creel is a nuisance not to be thought of wThen one is off on a hiking trip. A ...

Bast Ropes And Twine

Straps, %h-stringers, ?tc. are made from the whole bark of pawpaw. leatherwood (remarkably strong), and hickory shoots. Very good ropes and twine can be made from the fibers of the inner bark of the s...

Root And Vine Cordage

The remarkably tough and pliable rootlets of white spruce, about the size of a quill, when barked, split, and suppled in water, are used by Indians to stitch together the bark plates of their birch ca...

Withes

A favorite basket plant of the Apaches and Navajos is the ill-scented sumac or skunk-bush (Rhus trilobata), which is common from Illinois westward. The twigs are soaked in water, scraped, and then spl...

Hoops And Splits

The best hoops are made from hickory, white or black ash, birch, alder, arbor-vitae or other cedar, dogwood, and various oaks. Take sprouts or seedlings and split down the middle, leaving the outer si...

Chapter XVI. Knots, Hitches, And Lashings

Much depends on knowing how to tie just the right knot or other fastening for a certain job. In learning to tie knots, do not use small twine, but rope or cord at least an eight of an inch thick. Take...

Knots, Hitches, And Lashings. Part 2

By passing the ends twice through the loop, as in Fig. 100, a very strong but bulky knot is formed. Water Knot (Fig. 109) Or Fisherman's Knot A favorite knot for uniting strands of gut, in makin...

Knots, Hitches, And Lashings. Part 3

For dragging logs over the ground, or towing them through the water, the timber hitch has even greater gripping power than any of those hitherto mentioned. It cannot be made while there is a strain on...

Knots, Hitches, And Lashings. Part 4

Slip Knots A plain slip knot or running knot is made by first forming a bight and then tying a common overhand knot with the end around the standing part (Fig. 135). It is a common knot for forming...

Knots, Hitches, And Lashings. Part 5

This hitch is used in another way to attach an article to a line that has both ends fastened, for example, a sinker to a fishing line. Gather a loop in the line and bend it back on itself, Fig. i$ib, ...

Knots, Hitches, And Lashings. Part 6

Necklace Tie (Fig. 163) Or Portuguese Knot Used to hold two timbers or hawsers side by side, and for lashing shear legs. The lashing is passed round and round the two objects to be joined (a), only...

Chapter XVII. Trophies. Pelts, Buckskin And Rawhide

The preparation of game heads, or of entire skins, for subsequent mounting or tanning is not very difficult, even for an amateur, if one goes about it in the right way. A few simple rules may be given...

Trophies. Pelts, Buckskin And Rawhide. Part 2

Then pare away all the cartilage and flesh from the nose and lips, splitting them open for the purpose. If the head is that of a moose, the cartilage of its bell is to be removed. Go over the ent...

Trophies. Pelts, Buckskin And Rawhide. Part 3

In skinning a small animal cased it may be convenient to hang it up by the hind legs on a wooden gambrel thrust through the heel tendons, or on wire gambrel hooks, suspended by a short cord so that ...

Trophies. Pelts, Buckskin And Rawhide. Part 4

Press wings forward strongly to loosen joint muscles, and detach them at shoulder joints. Peel skin off the head. Then gently stretch and push the skin over the swell of skull, inverting it entirely t...

Trophies. Pelts, Buckskin And Rawhide. Part 5

The skin is placed on the graining log with the neck drawn over the upper end of the log about six or eight inches; the operator places a flat stick between the neck and his body, to prevent slipping,...

Trophies. Pelts, Buckskin And Rawhide. Part 6

A convenient way of making a stretching frame in the woods is to go where two trees grow at the right distance apart; notch them at the proper height to receive a strong, stiff sapling that has been c...

Trophies. Pelts, Buckskin And Rawhide. Part 7

Membranes Bladders only need cleaning, inflation with air and drying to preserve them. They may then be made pliable by oiling. The paunches of animals, after cleaning, can be expanded with grass u...

Chapter XVIII. Tanning Skins. Other Animal Products

The methods used by regular tanners in making leather are complicated and beyond the resources of men in the woods. Vegetable tanning, with extracts or infusions of bark, etc., requires weeks or even ...

Tanning Skins. Other Animal Products. Part 2

The method is similar to that of making buckskin, already described, except that the hide is fleshed without soaking enough to make the fur slip. Then the skin is stretched, the brain water rubbed int...

Tanning Skins. Other Animal Products. Part 3

1. Waterproof Glue Soak the glue in water until swollen; then dissolve it by heating in four-fifths its weight of linseed oil. 2. Add some rosin to hot glue, and afterward dilute with turpentine...

Tanning Skins. Other Animal Products. Part 4

Gun Oil It is easy to make excellent gun oil from the fat of almost any animal. Never use a vegetable oil on a firearm—it is sure to gum. Rattlesnake oil has more body than almost any other animal ...

Tanning Skins. Other Animal Products. Part 5

Candle Lanterns A very good lantern can be extemporized with a candle and a large tin can, or, better, a 5-lb. lard pail, the latter having the advantage that its flaring sides help to reflect the ...

Chapter XIX. Cave Exploration

To those who love the tang of adventure in strange and untrodden places there is no experience, nowadays, that compares with opening up and exploring caverns. To find a mountain that has never been as...

Cave Exploration. Part 2

The cave district of the Shenandoah Valley, in Virginia, differs from those hitherto mentioned in that the rock, instead of lying in horizontal strata, is folded and uptilted. This peculiarity limits ...

Cave Exploration. Part 3

Eldon Hole ... is a famous Dit in the Peak of Derbyshire, about which Hobbes wrote in Latin and Cotton in English. The latter thus testifies in verse: 'I myself, with half the Peak surrounded, E...

Cave Exploration. Part 4

How To Explore Before trying to explore a cavern it is advisable to study the topography of the surrounding country. Note where the main stream of the district lies. Its level determines how deep t...

Cave Exploration. Part 5

In the game pocket of your coat stow a lunch and an emergency ration, along with the small canteen of water. Somebody should carry a cup, as you may have to catch drip-water. Let another man bear a co...

Chapter XX. Bee Hunting

The craft of the bee hunter, although based upon some curious woods lore, is not hard to acquire under proper tutelage. The theory is simple enough. First capture a few wild bees and let them fill up ...

Bee Hunting. Part 2

Nectar Early sweets are gathered by bees from the bloom of all kinds of fruit-bearing trees and plants, from violets, hepaticas, and other flowers. In May the busy insects forage on the clematis, d...

Bee Hunting. Part 3

After two or three trips, your first bee probably will bring some companions with him from the home hive. Capture several more bees, say half a dozen, mark them, and let them go as before. If they all...

Bee Hunting. Part 4

Having found the honey, cut through the trunk both above and below it, split out the slab, and thus expose the hoard, being careful not to bleed the comb. The bees will now stop fighting and will be...

Chapter XXI. Edible Plants Of The Wilderness

There is a popular notion that our Indians in olden times varied their meat diet with nothing but wild roots and herbs. This, in fact, was the case only among those tribes that pursued a roving life a...

Edible Plants Of The Wilderness. Part 2

I have been much amused, by way of variety, at the attitude of a few skeptics who seem to doubt that the writer knows what he is talking about. One of my correspondents even wrote to inquire whether I...

Edible Acorns

The eastern oaks that yield sweet mast are the basket, black jack, bur, chestnut, overcup, post, rock chestnut, scrub chestnut, swamp white, and white oaks, the acorns of chestnut and post oaks being ...

Edible Nuts

Among the Cherokees, and also in Italy and in Tyrol, I have eaten bread made from chestnuts. The Cherokee method, when they have corn also, is to use the chestnuts whole, mixing them with enough corn-...

A List Of Edible Plants Of The Wilderness

All nuts are more digestible when roasted than when eaten raw. Arrowhead Broad-leaved. Swan or Swamp Potato. Sagittaria latifolia (S. variabilis). In shallow water; ditches. Throughout North Ame...

Arum, Water

Wild Calla. Calla pallustris. Cold bogs. Nova Scotia to Minn., south to Va., Wis., Iowa. May-June. Missen bread is made in Lapland from roots of this plant, which are acrid when raw. They are take...

Edible Plants Of The Wilderness. Part 4

Ground-Nut Wild Bean. Indian Potato. Aptos Apios (A. tuberosa). Moist ground. New Bruns. to Fla., west to Minn, and Kan., south to La. July-Sep. This is the famous hopniss of New Jersey Indians,...

Edible Plants Of The Wilderness. Part 5

Before cooking, it should have several washings in cold water to remove the smoky taste. It is cooked with game, or as gruel (boil 35 minutes), or made into bread, or merely eaten dry. Its food value ...

Edible Plants Of The Wilderness. Part 6

The seeds are edible. Cow Pepper A plant resembling toothwort (Dentaria diphylla) but bearing a yellow instead of a white flower, and developing a bur. Tops used in the southern Appalachians for...

Edible Plants Of The Wilderness. Part 7

Lettuce, Spanish Indian or Miner's Lettuce-Claytonia perfoliata. Native of Pacific coast, but spreading eastward. Apr.-May. The whole plant is eaten by western Indians and by whites. In a raw st...

Edible Plants Of The Wilderness. Part 8

The root is poisonous (this is destroyed by heat), and the raw juice of the old plant is an acrid purgative. The berries are harmless. Prickly Pear Opuntia. Several species. Dry, sandy soil. Alo...

Edible Plants Of The Wilderness. Part 9

Hydrophyllum Virginicum. Woods. Quebec to Alaska, south to S. C, Kan., Wash. May-Aug. Furnishes good greens. Reappears after being picked off, and does not become woody for a long time. It wou...

Edible Plants Of The Wilderness. Part 10

Black Thorn Pear Haw. Crataegus tomentosa. Oct. Large-Fruited Thorn C. punctata. Sep.-Ort. Scarlet Thorn. C. coccinea. Sep.-Oct. Maple Sugar And Sirup Anyone who has access to maple tre...

Edible Plants Of The Wilderness. Part 11

Agreeable summer drinks can be made by infusing the sour fruit of the mountain ash (Pyrus Americana), from sumac berries (dwarf and stag-hcrn), and from the fruit of the red mulberry. The sweet sap o...

Chapter XXII. Living Off The Country. In Extremis

As I said at the beginning, the supreme test of woodcraft comes when the equipment has been destroyed by some disaster. Such misfortunes are not uncommon; if we seldom hear of them it is because they ...

Snaring

It is not worth while here to describe deadfalls, pitfalls, coop traps, and the like; for our adventurer probably has no tool to make them, nor anything to bait them with. Anyway, a snare will serve j...

Fishing For The Pot

Trout, perch, pickerel, and various other fishes, may be taken with hook and line any month in the year—when they are in the humor. In cold weather, fish the deep still water, through holes in the ice...

Bait For Fishing

The commonest of all baits, earthworms, are not common in a wilderness. Generally they are creatures of the barnyard and garden. Out in the big woods they are too scarce to consider, except as acciden...

Night Lilies

If one has enough stout line and hooks, he can set out a trot-line overnight, and stand good chance of fresh fish for breakfast. Methods vary, according to circumstances. Suppose you are on the bank o...

Frogs

Hitherto we have considered frogs only as bait. Let my revered and oft-quoted mentor Nessmuk tell how to get them for the pan. A man without equipment can easily extemporize all that is needed. ...

"Small Deer"

It goes without saying that men traveling through a barren region cannot be fastidious in their definition of game. All's meat that comes to a hungry man's pot. A few words here may not be amiss as ...

In Extremis

The Far North is Famine Land, the world over, and to it we must look for examples of what men can subsist on when driven to the last extremity. In all northern countries, within the tree limit, it ...

Chapter XXIII. Accidents And Emergencies: Their Backwoods Treatment

The present chapter is boiled down for the use of men of little or no surgical experience, who may suddenly find themselves wounded, or with an injured companion on their hands, when far away from any...

First-Aid Materials

Many of the operations hereinafter described can be performed with extemporized materials; but antiseptics and sterilized dressings, ready at all times for instant use, are so essential in the treatme...

Extemporized Dressings For First Aid

In case no regular antiseptic is at hand, there are pretty good wound dressings to be found in the woods. Balsam obtained by pricking the little blisters on the bark of balsam firs is one of them. Oth...

Heat And Cold

Direct application of heat is one of the prime resources of first-aid. A canteen will do instead of a hot-water bag, or a hot stone may be rolled in blanketing or other thick cloth; but a better exped...

Unconsciousness

If you should find a person lying in a stupor or quite unconscious, seek the cause, before treating him, or you may do more harm than good. If ft be a case of drowning or freezing, you will know at on...

Drowning

Clean any mud or water from the mouth with a handkerchief on the finger, loosen all tight clothing, and expose the chest and waist. Slip your hands under the man's waist and lift him high enough for h...

Rescue Of The Drowning

In case you must swim for the drowning person, then, if possible at the moment, take with you a float of some sort for him to cling to. It takes only a small buoyant object to support a man's head abo...

Cramp While Swimming

This may result from going into the water too soon after eating, or when overheated, or from staying in so long as to become chilled. It is not serious for a swimmer who keeps his wits, but if he gets...

Suffocation

If a person has suffocated from inhaling gas or smoke, or from chokmg or hanging, get him into the fresh air a? quietly as possible, loosen his clothing, sprinkle ccld water on face and bare chest, an...

Fainting

If attacked with vertigo, bend your head down so it is between the knees, to help the blood into it; do not keep this up if not promptly effective. Cold air, and sprinkling with cold water, often prev...

Shock

In case of collapse following an accident, operation, or fright: treat first as for fainting. Then wrap the person in blankets, apply heat, and rub his limbs toward the body, keeping him well wrapped ...

Heat Exhaustion

Generally the person is conscious, but very depressed and weak. His face is pale and covered with clammy sweat. Do not apply cold externally, but let him sip cold water. Give a little strong black cof...

Fit Or Convulsion

Kneel by the patient's head place one arm under it, and undo collar and belt. Insert in the mouth something that he cannot swallow, such as a stick, or a pocket-knife wrapped in handkerchief, to preve...

Ptomaine Poisoning

The exciting cause is eating certain varieties of food that have partly putre-fied, such as meat, sausage, fish, shellfish, cheese, and especially, in the case of campers, canned meats, etc., that hav...

How To Treat A Snake Bite

The only dangerous snakes in the United States are the rattlesnake, the copperhead, and the cottonmouth moccasin. The small coral snake (harlequin, bead snake) of the Gulf states, and the Sonoran cora...

1. Copperhead (Also Called Deaf Adder, Upland Moccasin, Pilot Snake, Chunk Head)

A small snake, 2 to 3 feet long, with moderately thick body, broad and triangular head quite distinct from the neck, tail short, dark colored, and pointed. Color of back, a bronze hazel or light reddi...

2. Cottonmouth Moccasin (Water Moccasin)

A larger snake, ordinarily about 3 ft., sometimes 4 ft. long. Stout body, head shaped like that of the copperhead and similarly distinct from the neck. Back brown, reddish, or olive, with 11 to 15 rat...

3. Rattlesnake

Of rattlers we have no less than sixteen species, but only two of them, the massasauga and the banded or timber rattlesnake, are found in the eastern and central states. The little prairie rattlesnake...

Remedies For Snake Bites

The only positive antidote for snake poison, after it has entered the circulation, is anti-venom serum. This is prepared by injecting into a horse or mule a fractional dose of the venom of a snake, or...

Snake Bite Treatment

(1). When one has been struck by a venomous snake, he should waste no time chasing the creature to kill it. Within a minute, at most, he should have a ligature bound between the \vound and his body to...

Herbal Remedies For Snake Bites

Many species of wild plants are supposed to have the property of counteracting the effects of the poison of serpents. In any backwoods community you may find some one who claims to know some sovereign...

Bites Of Other Animals

Ordinarily the bite of a non-venomous animal needs no other attention than cleansing and an antiseptic dressing, unless there is enough laceration to require surgical measures. Still, the bite of any ...

Rabies

Hydrophobia (fear or aversion for water) is only a symptom, and is shown only by man, not, as is commonly believed, by dogs. Notwithstanding that there are cranks (even a few of them in the medical pr...

Wounds From Animal Bites

There is no room in this chapter to describe and illustrate the structure and mechanics of the body, nor how to apply bandages and splints, nor to give any but general directions for the treatment of ...

Bleeding

Rather free bleeding is good for a wound, because the blood washes out many, if not all, cf the dangerous pus germs that may have entered at the time of the injury. Do not touch the wound with the fin...

Cleansing Wounds

All inflammation of wounds, suppuration, abscesses, erysipelas, blood-poisoning, gangrene, and lockjaw, are due to living germs and nothing else. These germs are not born in the wound, but enter fro...

Closing Wounds

Never cover a wound with court plaster. It prevents the free escape of suppuration, inflames the part, and makes the place difficult to cleanse thereafter. Collodion should be used only to cover small...

First Aid For Punctured Wounds

To remove a splinter: slip the point of a small knife-blade under the protruding end and catch it with the thumb-nail; or, use a needle sterilized in flame, or tweezers. Bits of glass should be cut ou...

First Aid For Gunshot Wounds

If it is only a flesh wound from a rifle or pistol, simply apply a sterilized compress and bandage it in place, being careful not to touch the bullet hole with your fingers or anything else unclean. W...

First Aid For Bruises

Severe bruises should be treated promptly by applying very cold water to the part, if it can be obtained. A cloth wrung out in very hot water will accomplish the same purpose, which is to limit swelli...

First Aid For Sprains

These, too, may be treated with either heat or cold. Perhaps the best way, before swelling has commenced, is to immerse the injured member in very cold running water, or let cold water drain on it fro...

First Aid For Hernia (Rupture)

This may result from violent exertion, over-lifting, or other cause. Have the patient lie on his back, with a pillow or pad under his hips, and thigh drawn toward the body. Tell him to breathe evenly ...

First Aid For Dislocations

If a joint is dislocated, or a bone broken, don't grasp the limb at once and pull; but first consider the anatomy of the injured part. Rough and unskilled handling is likely to do more harm than good....

First Aid For Fractures

If a bone is broken, and a surgeon can be summoned within a couple of days, do not try to reduce the fracture. Place the man in a comfortable position, the injured part resting on a pad, and keep him ...

Transportation Of Wounded

A two-horse litter is better than a travois; but if the latter must be used, then make one shaft a little shorter than the other, so that, in crossing uneven places, the shock will not all come at one...

Burns And Scalds

First exclude the air and apply cold. If you are near a running stream of water, plunge the burnt member in it. This is all that is needed in ordinary cases. A good emergency treatment is to make a th...

Frostbite, Freezing

In extreme cold, let each member of a party watch the others for the white spots that denote frostbite. These should be rubbed with a woolen mitten or glove, rather than snow. If the freezing is sever...

Ivy Poisoning (Poison Oak, Poison Sumac)

We have three species of plants that secrete an oil which poisons human beings (no other animals) by contact. Most virulent of these is the poison sumac or poison elder (Rhus vertiix), which is dist...

Foreign Body In The Eye

As I do most of my roaming alone, I usually have in my pocket a tiny mirror with which to help myself if a red pepper gnat flies into my eye, or something else of the sort happens, when I am miles f...

Snow Blindness

This is an inflammation of the eye due to the reflection of intense light from the snow. There is blindness, flowing of tears, the whites of the eyes are bloodshot, the lids swollen, Often a pus disc...

First Aid For Earache

Let the patient hold his head to one side at a right angle. Heat a spoon, pour alcohol into it, and hold close under the head so that the fumes will enter the ear Or, heat olive oil just hot enough no...

First Aid For Toothache

If there is a cavity, clean it out with cotton on the end of a toothpick; then fill it with another small bit of cotton dipped in iodine, oil of cloves, or ammonia, or dusted with baking soda. Too...