This section is from the book "American Game Fishes", by W. A. Perry. Also available from Amazon: American Game Fishes: Their Habits, Habitat, and Peculiarities; How, When, and Where to Angle for Them.
A fire maybe made in the center of this tent when needed. Thus it proves a great advantage over a wall-tent, or any other style which will not admit of fire being made inside without a stove. A large, roaring, log camp-fire is one of the important elements of comfort in a camp, when the weather will admit of its being maintained and enjoyed; but there are times when it cannot be, on account of rain or severe cold, and in such cases it is a great luxury to be able to build a small fire inside of the tent, crawl in, close the door and defy the elements. Mr. Orin Belknap, an old-time hunter and ranchman, of Thetis, Washington Territory, and well known to all readers of sportsmen's literature as "Uncle Fuller," devised a plan for feeding a fire inside a tent of this description, which he called by the name of a certain well-known cooking-range in the market, but which I have thought proper to rechristen the "Belknap Range." The plan is this: two trenches, six inches wide and deep, are cut from the outer sides of the tent running at right-angles to each other and crossing in the center of the tent. These are covered with bark or boards or flat rocks, except at their intersection. Here two green sticks, about two feet long and four inches thick, are laid at a distance of two feet apart; a piece of heavy sheet-iron or a large flat rock is laid on them and the fire built on this. The purpose of these trenches is to supply fresh air for the fire and thus create a draft to carry off the smoke, through the opening in the top of the tent. This arrangement has been found effective, and has afforded a great deal of comfort in many a bitter cold night, to "Uncle Fuller" and his companions, while hunting in the mountains.
If a wall-tent be used, then a sheet-iron stove should be carried along. There are several of these in the market-one at least intended solely for heating purposes, and others for both heating and cooking. Any tinner can make a good camp heating-stove. The best pattern is simply a cone with the pipe collar on the smaller end. This is placed with the larger opening on the ground; and near the lower part of it is a door about six inches wide by eight inches high. Four joints of pipe should be carried, each about twenty-two inches long, and made to telescope .so that when packed they are but little longer than one joint would be. The stove may be made in any desired size, but one of about eighteen inches in diameter at the mouth and eighteen inches high, will, if well fed with good dry wood, roast you out of a tent twenty feet in diameter when the mercury stands forty degrees below zero.
Camp cooking-stoves are made either solid or to fold up, but the former pattern is on the whole most desirable. The size of this would also be regulated by the number of hungry men to be fed from it; but by economical use a stove twelve inches high, sixteen inches wide and twenty-six inches long, with four holes and an oven, will furnish cooking capacity for six men. Little space need be occupied by the stove, for in packing for transit you can fill both the oven and fire-box with tin-ware and cooking utensils. The stove should be packed in a strong box or trunk, made for the purpose, with metal corner-pieces, handles and lock. It can then be checked on railroad trains as other baggage, and may be placed on a pack-animal or hauled in a wagon over any kind of road without injury.
Another important item in almost any camp outfit is a boat. If the chief object of the expedition be fishing or duck-shooting, or if for any reason a large portion of the outing is to be on water, where boats are not kept for rent, then this item will be one of the first to be considered, and substantial lap-streak or other wooden boats would be provided. But if the trip is in search of large game there is scarcely any section of the country likely to be visited in which a boat of this character could be carried conveniently, and yet a boat is sure to be frequently needed. Lakes or streams are likely to be encountered where some kind of a craft would be a welcome accessory for fishing, exploring or for reaching desirable hunting grounds, that would otherwise be inaccessible. Canvas folding boats are now made that are so serviceable and seaworthy that I should never start on a hunting trip, in any country where I expected to find much water, without one in my outfit. One of the best of these, so far as I know, is made by N. A. Osgood, of Battle Creek, Mich.
His No. 2 boat, which is twelve feet long;, three feet wide, and weighs when light-rigged but twenty-eight pounds, folds into a package sixteen inches in diameter, three feet long, and is capable of carrying 600 pounds.
A photograph camera is another essential element of the pleasure of almost every party in search of either fish or game. In the selection of this instrument of course you must consider your bank account and the question of transportation. A tripod camera, that will make a five-by-eight picture, fitted with a twenty-five dollar lens, is desirable, but is both bulky and expensive. A good detective camera, carrying a four-by-five plate, is sufficient for recording all the choice bits of scenery, views of camp, fish, and game, and for making portraits of the party, of a satisfactory quality. These vary in price from ten or twelve dollars up to one-hundred dollars. The little Kodak, and the Waterbury, are good for the prices at which they are sold; but if one's means will admit of a larger outlay, then it is better to have an Anthony instrument, costing, when fitted up with roll-holder, about eighty dollars. Glass negatives should no longer be thought of for outdoor work. Celluloid is now prepared for this purpose, and works so successfully as to effectually displace glass for all time to come. No chemical outfit need be carried for developing plates in camp. This part of the work should be deferred until your return to civilization. Photography has been so simplified of late years by the introduction of the dry-plate process, and by various other improvements, that by careful study of the little book entitled "How to Make Photographs," which is furnished with each camera, and a few days devoted to making experiments, any person of ordinary intelligence may learn to make fair pictures. Of course it requires years of careful study and practice to become an expert photographer; but such is not the aim of most persons who take up the subject simply as an adjunct to hunting and fishing, and to make such pictures as would be satisfactory to most people under these circumstances, I repeat, but little study and practice are needed. A strong, solid trunk should be made for the camera, into which it should fit snugly, and be protected from concussion by pads of cotton or wool. Apartments should be made at one end of the trunk to hold the celluloid rolls and such other items as may be provided to carry with the camera The trunk should be thoroughly ironed and provided with handles. It may then be checked as other baggage, without fear of injury to its contents. A rubber bag should also be provided, into which the camera can be inserted for carrying it short distances, as a protection against rain.
 
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