sitting or standing. If the roof has a pitch of 2 feet in the middle, the
depth of the hole need not exceed 4 1/2 feet. In the Crimea, the holes
were rectangular, and were roofed like huts.

Where there is a steep hillside, a a', fig. 2, an underground hut, b, is
easily contrived; because branches laid over its top, along the surface
of the ground, have sufficient pitch to throw off the rain. Of course the
earth must be removed from a', at the place intended for the doorway.

Reed Huts.--The reed huts of the Affej Arabs, and other inhabitants of
the Chaldean marshes, are shaped like wagon-roofs, and are constructed of
semicircular ribs of reeds, planted in the ground, one behind the other,
at equal distances apart; each rib being a faggot of reeds of 2 feet in
diameter. For strength, they are bound round every yard with twisted
bands of reeds. When this framework has been erected, it is covered with
two or three sheets of fine reed matting (see "Matting"), which forms a
dwelling impervious to rain. Some of the chiefs' huts are as much as 40
feet long, and 12 high; the other huts are considerably smaller. Many of
these reed dwellings are contained in compounds enclosed by lofty reed
fences; the reeds being planted upright, and simply strung together by a
thread run through them, as they stand side by side. (See "Straw and Reed
Walls.")

Snow-houses.--Few travellers have habitually made snow-houses, except Sir
J. Franklin's party and that of Dr. Rae. Great praises are bestowed on
their comfort by all travellers, but skill and practice are required in
building them. The mode of erection of these dome-shaped buildings is as
follows:--It is to be understood that compact, underlying snow is
necessary for the floor of the hut; and that the looser textured, upper
layer of snow, is used to build the house. First, select and mark out the
circular plot on which the hut is to be raised. Then, cut out of that
plot, with knives, deep slices of snow, 6 inches wide, 3 feet long, and
of a depth equal to that of the layer of loose snow, say one or two feet.
These slices are to be of a curved shape, so as to form a circular ring
when placed on their edges, and of a suitable radius for the first row of
snow-bricks. Other slices are cut on the same principle for the
succeeding rows; but when the domed roof has to be made, the snow-bricks
must be cut with the necessary double curvature. A conical plug fills up
the centre of the dome. Loose snow is next heaped over the house, to fill
up crevices. Lastly a doorway is cut out with knives; also a window,
which is glazed with a sheet of the purest ice at hand. For inside
accommodation there should be a pillar or two of snow to support the
lamps.

Snow Walls with Tenting for their Roofs.--Sir L. McClintock says:--"We
travelled each day until dusk, and then were occupied for a couple of
hours in building our snow-hut. The four walls were run up until 5 1/2
feet high, inclining inwards as much as possible, over these our tent was
laid to form a roof. We could not afford the time necessary to construct
a dome of snow. Our equipment consisted of a very small brown-holland
tent, macintosh floor-cloth and felt robes; besides this, each man had a
bag of double blanketing, and a pair of fur boots, to sleep in. We wore
mocassins over the pieces of blanketing in which our feet were wrapped
up, and, with the exception of a change of this foot-gear, carried no
spare clothes.

"When we halted for the night, Thompson and I usually sawed out the
blocks of compact snow, and carried them to Petersen, who acted as the
master-mason in building the hut. The hour-and-a-half or two hours
usually employed in erecting the edifice was the most disagreeable part
of the day's labour; for, in addition to being already well tired and
desiring repose, we became thoroughly chilled while standing about. The
dogs were then fed, then the sledge unpacked, and everything carried into
it. The door was now blocked up with snow, the cooking-lamp lighted,
foot-gear changed, diary writing up, watches wound, sleeping-bags
wriggled into, pipes lighted, and the merits of the various dogs
discussed, until supper was ready; the supper swallowed, the upper robe
or coverlet pulled over, and then to sleep. Next morning came breakfast,
a struggle to get into frozen mocassins, after which the sledges were
packed, and another day's march commenced. In these little huts we
usually slept warm enough, although latterly, when our blankets and
clothes became loaded with ice, we felt the cold severely. When our low
doorway was carefully blocked up with snow, and the cooking-lamp alight,
the temperature quickly rose, so that the walls became glazed and our
bedding thawed; but the cooking over, or the doorway partially opened, it
as quickly fell again, so that it was impossible to sleep, or even to
hold one's pannikin of tea without putting mits on, so intense was the
cold."--Sir L. McClintock is here speaking of a temperature of -39
degrees Fahr.

Materials for building Huts.--The materials whence the walls and roofs of
huts may be constructed are very numerous: there is hardly any place
which does not furnish one or other of them. Those principally in use are
as follows:--

Wattle-and-daub, to be executed neatly, required well-shaped and flexible
sticks; but a hut may be constructed much like the sketch (see p. 120) of
the way of "Drying Clothes." It is made by planting in the ground a
number of bare sticks, 4 feet long, and 1 foot apart, bending their tops
together, lashing them fast with string or strips of bark, and wattling
them judiciously here and there, by means of other boughs, laid
horizontally. Then, by heaping leaves--and especially broad pieces of
bark, if you can get them--over all, and banking up the earth on either
side, pretty high, an excellent kennel is made. If daubed over with mud,
clay, or cattle-dung, the hut becomes more secure against the weather. To
proceed a step further:--as many poles may be planted in the ground as
sticks have been employed in making the roof; and then the roof may be
lifted bodily in the air, and lashed to the top of the poles, each stick
to its corresponding pole. This sort of structure is very common among
savages.

For methods of digging holes in which to plant the hut-poles, see the
chapter on "Wells." The holes made in the way I have there explained are
far better than those dug with spades; for they disturb no more of the
hardened ground than is necessary for the insertion of the palisades. To
jam a pole tightly in its place, wedges of wood should be driven in at
its side, and earth rammed down between the wedges.

Palisades are excellent as walls or as enclosures. They are erected of
vast lengths, by savages wholly destitute of tools, both for the purposes
of fortification and also for completing lines of pitfalls across wide
valleys. the pitfalls occupy gaps left in the palisading. The savages
burn down the trees in the following manner:--a party of men go to the
forest, and light small fires round the roots of the trees they propose
to fell. the fires are prevented from flaming upwards by the judicious
application of leaves, etc. When the fire has eaten a little way into the
tree, the man who watches it scrapes the fire aside and knocks away the
charred wood, exposing a fresh surface for fire to act upon, and then
replaces the burning embers. A single man may easily attend to a dozen
trees, and, indeed, to many more, if the night be calm. Some hours elapse
before the trees actually fall. Their tops and branches are burnt off as
they lie on the ground. The poles being thus procured for the palisading,
they are carried to the required place, where holes are dug for their
reception, on the principle described in "Wells," to which I have just
alluded.

Straw or Reed Walls of the following kind are very effective, and they
have the advantage of requiring a minimum of string (or substitute for
string) in their manufacture. The straw, reeds, or herbage, of almost any
description, is simply nipped between two pairs of long sticks, which are
respectively tied together at their ends, and at a sufficient number of
intermediate places. The whole is neatly squared and trimmed.

[Sketch of straw walls].

A few of these would give good help in finishing the roof or walls of a
house. They can be made moveable, so as to suit the wind, shade, and
aspect. Even the hut door can be made on this principle. In reedy
countries where there are no sticks, thin faggots of reeds are used in
their place.

Bark.--Bark is universally used in Australia for roofs of huts and
temporary buildings; the colonists learnt the use of it from the natives,
and some trees, at least, in every forest-country might very probably be
found as well fitted for that purpose as those in Australia. The bark may
be easily removed, only when the sap is well up in the tree, but a
skilful person will manage to procure bark at all seasons of the year,
except in the coldest winter months; and even then he will light on some
tree, from the sunny side of which he can strip broad pieces. The process
of bark-stripping is simply to cut two rings right round the tree
(usually from 6 to 9 feet apart), and one vertical slit to join them;
starting from the slit, and chipping away step by step on either side,
the whole cylinder of bark is removed. The larger the tree, the better;
for if the tree is less than 18 inches, or so, in diameter, the bark is
apt to break when flattened out. When stripped for huts, it is laid on
the ground for some days to dry, being flattened out on its face, and a
few stones or logs put on it. the ordinary bark of gum-trees is about
half an inch to three-eighths thick, so that a large sheet is very heavy.
Most exploring expeditions are accompanied by a black, whose dexterity in
stripping bark for a wet night is invaluable, as if the bark will "come
off" well, he can procure enough of it in an hour's time to make a
shelter for a large party.

Mats can be woven with ease when there is abundance of string, or some
equivalent for it (see "String"), in the following manner:--

[Sketch of loom].

A, B, are two pegs driven into the ground and standing about a foot out
of it. A stake, A B, is lashed across them; a row of pegs, E, are driven
into the ground, parallel to A, B, and about 6 inches apart. Two sets of
strings are then tied to A B; one set are fastened by their loose ends
into clefts, in the pegs E, and the other set are fastened to the stick,
C D. If there be ten strings in all, then 1, 3, 5, 7, 9, are tied to C D,
and 2, 4, 6, 8, 10, to A B. By alternately raising and depressing C D,
and by pushing in a handful of rushes between the two sets of strings
after each of its movements, and, finally, by patting them home with a
flat stick, this rough sort of weaving is carried on very successfully.
Mats are also plaited in breadths, and the breadths are stitched
together, side by side. Or a thicker kind of mat may be made by taking a
wisp of straw and working it in the same way in which straw beehives are
constructed. Straw is worked more easily after being damped and beaten
with a mallet.

Malay hitch.--I know no better name for the wonderfully simple way (shown
in the figure) of attaching together wisps of straw, rods, laths, reeds,
planks, poles, or anything of the kind, into a secure and flexible mat;
the sails used in the far East are made in this way, and the moveable
decks of vessels are made of bamboos, joined together with a similar but
rather more complicated stitch.

[Sketch of fastening].

I may remark that soldiers might be trained to a great deal of hutting
practice in a very inexpensive way, if they were drilled at putting
together huts, whose roofs and walls were made of planks lashed together
by this simple hitch, and whose supports were short scaffolding poles
planted in deep holes, dug, as explained in the chapter on "Wells," with
the hand and a small stick. The poles, planks, and cords might be used
over and over again for an indefinite time. Further, bedsteads could be
made in a similar way, by short cross-planks lashed together, and resting
on a framework of horizontal poles, lashed to uprights planted in the
ground. The soldier's bedding would not be injured by being used on these
bedsteads, as much as if it were laid on the bare ground. Kinds of
designs and experiments in hutting could be practised without expense in
this simple way.

Tarpaulings are very suitable for roofs. Those made after the method used
by sailors are much superior to others in softness and durability. The
plan is as follows:--As soon as the canvas has been sewn together, it is
thoroughly wetted with sea-water; and, while still wet, it is smeared
over on one of its sides with tar and grease, boiled together--about two
parts tar and one of grease. After being hung up till it is dry, it is
turned; and the other side, being a second time well wetted, is at once
painted over with the tar and grease, just as the first side had been
before. The sailors say that "the tar dries in, as the water dries out;"
a saying which I confess I cannot understand.

Other Materials.--I will merely mention these by name, for they require
no explanation. They are fascines or faggots; bricks, sun-dried or baked
in the oven; turf; stones; and bags or mats, filled with sand or shingle.

Whitewash is lime and water. Lime is made by burning limestone, chalk,
shells, or coral in a simple furnace.

Roofs.--Thatching.--After the framework of the roof has been made, the
thatcher begins at the bottom, and ties a row of bundles of straw, side
by side, on to the framework. Then he begins a second row, allowing the
ends of the bundles composing it to overlap the heads of those in the
first row.

Wood-shingles are tile-shaped slices of wood, easily cut from fir-trees.
They are used for roofing, on the same principle as tiles or slates.

Floors.--Concrete for floors, is made of eight parts large pebbles, four
parts river-sand, and one part lime (to make lime, see "Whitewash").
Cow-dung and ashes make a hard, dry, and clean floor; such as is used for
a threshing-floor. Ox blood and fine clay kneaded together are excellent.
Both these latter compositions are in use in all hot dry countries.

Windows.--A window, or rather a hole in the wall, may be rudely shuttered
by a stick run through loops made out of wisps of grass. In hot weather,
the windows of the hutmay be loosely stuffed with grass, which, when
watered, makes the hut cooler.

Glass, to cut.--Glass cannot be cut with any certainty, without a
diamond; but it may be shaped and reduced to any size by gradually
chipping, or rather biting, away at its edges with a key, if the slit
between the wards of the key be just large enough to admit the pane of
glass easily.

[Sketch].

Substitutes for glass.--These are waxed or oiled paper or cloth, bladder,
fish-membranes, talc, and horn. (See "Horn.")



SLEEPING-BAGS.


Sleeping-bags.--Knapsack Bags.--These have been used for the last
twenty-five years by the French 'douaniers', who watch the
mountain-passes of the Pyrenean frontier. The bags are made of sheepskin,
with the wool inside. When not in use they are folded up and buckled with
five buckles into the shape of a somewhat bulky knapsack (p. 152), which
the recent occupant may shoulder and walk away with.

The accompanying sketches are drawn to scale. They were made from the
sleeping-bag belonging to a man 5 feet 6 inches in height; the scale
should therefore be lengthened for a taller person, but the breadth seems
ample. Its weight was exactly seven pounds. The douaniers post themselves
on watch more or less immersed in these bags. They lie out in wet and
snow, and find them impervious to both. When they sleep, they get quite
inside them, stuff their cloaks between their throats and the bag, and
let its flap cover their faces. It is easy enough for them to extricate
themselves; they can do so almost with a bound. The Spanish Custom-house
officers who watch the same frontier, use their cloaks and other wraps,
which are far more weighty, and far inferior in warmth and protection to
the bags. I described these knapsack bags in 'Vacation Tourists for
1860,' p. 449, and I subsequently had a macintosh bag lined with drugget,
made on the same principle. I had a hood to it, and also the means of
buttoning it loosely under my chin, to make myself watertight during
heavy rain. In that bag I passed many nights of very trying weather. On
one instance, I selected a hilltop in Switzerland, on the way from
Chambery to the Dent du Midi, during a violent and long-continued
thunderstorm. The storm began above my head, then slowly sank to my
level, and finally subsided below me. Many Alpine travellers, notably Mr.
Packe and Mr. Tuckett, have adopted these bags, and used them
continually. Macintosh is certainly oppressive to sleep in, though less
so than might have been expected, as the half-unconscious fidgeting of
the sleeper changes the air. A man in travelling "condition" would
probably find a drugget-bag more healthy than macintosh, even though he
became somewhat wet inside it. Beds used to be almost unknown in some
parts of the Pyrenees. Sheepskin sleeping-bags were employed instead.
Thus, I am assured that at the beginning of this century, there was
hardly a bed in the whole of the little republic of Andorre. The way of
arranging them as knapsacks is, as I have said, a recent invention.

In fig. 1 the wide opening to the mouth of the bag is shown; also the
ends of the buckles and straps that are sewn (on patches of leather, for
additional strength) to the lower side of the bag, as seen in fig. 2.

[Fig 1 and 2].

It must be understood that the woolly sides of the skins are inwards. The
straps that hold the knapsack to the shoulders are secured by a simple
fastening, shown in figs. 2 and 3. But the ordinary knapsack hooks and
rings, if procurable, would answer the purpose better. The straight lines
in fig. 1 show the way in which the bag is to be folded into the shape of
fig. 3. Fig. 4 shows the sleeper inside his bag, in which he fits very
like a grub in its cocoon. There is no waste of space. For the sake of
warmth, the bag is made double from the knees downwards, and also
opposite to the small of the back.

[Figs 3 and 4].

During the daytime, when the weather is wet or cold, the bags are of much
use, for the douaniers sit with them pulled up to their waist. When
carried in the manner of a knapsack the bag sits perfectly well against
the shoulders; but, owing to the yielding nature of its substance, it
lies too close to the back, and is decidedly oppressive. A wicker frame
might well be interposed.

Arctic Sleeping-bags.--Arctic travellers use coarse drugget bags, covered
with brown holland to make them less pervious to the wind, and having a
long flap at the upper end to fold down over the face. I have already
extracted passages from travellers' accounts relating to them, in
speaking of "Encamping on Snow," p. 140, and another, when speaking of
"Snow-walls with Tenting for their Roofs," p. 143.

Macintosh Sack.--Mr. Falconer writes to me as follows:--"I travelled in
1841 from Austin in Texas to Mexico through New Mexico. I left Austin in
June, and reached Zacateras on Christmas Day. During nearly the whole
period we travelled from Austin to New Mexico, I camped without any
covering at night for myself, except a large macintosh, made up as a
sack, with a piece so laid as a continuation of one side, as to be used
as a coverlet, sufficient in length to be brought from the back, over the
head, and down on the breast. Inside I placed my blankets. I slept under
this covering during many a heavy storm at night, and got out of my
soft-coated shell dry in the morning. My opinion is, that every traveller
who works his way with a horse should fix on his own saddle the said
macintosh sack, two blankets, a tin cup, and a frying-pan. It is amazing,
when you get into real working order, how few things are sufficient."

Peasants' Sack.--The peasants in the northern parts of Germany use a
strong linen sack, made to draw at one end. This they stuff with straw,
hay, dry leaves, etc.; and, putting their feet into it, pull its mouth up
to their armpits. They use them when driving their wagons in winter, and
when lodging at their wretched roadside inns. (See a letter in the Times,
February 125.)

Bag, combined with Tent.--I should think that a combination of a sleeping
bag with a very small tent, just large enough to enclose the man's head
and shoulders, so as to permit him to eat or write when lying in his bag
without fear of the wet would be the smallest and lightest arrangement,
compatible with efficiency, in a stormy climate.



TENTS.


General Remarks.--Although tents are not worth the trouble of pitching,
on dry nights, in a healthy climate, they are invaluable protectors to a
well-equipped traveller against rain, dew, and malaria. But a man who is
not so equipped, who has no change of clothes, and no bedstead to sleep
on, will do better to sleep in the open air, in front of a good camp
fire. Napoleon I., speaking of soldiers, says ('Maximes de
Guerre'):--"Tents are not healthy; it is better for the soldier to
bivouac, because he sleeps with his feet to the fire, whose neighbourhood
quickly dries the ground on which he lies; some planks or a little straw
shelter him from the wind. Nevertheless a tent is necessary for superior
officers, who have need to write and to consult a map." To a party
encamped for a few days, tents are of great use as storehouses for
property, which otherwise becomes scattered about, at the risk of being
lost or pilfered.

Materials for Tenting.--Light canvas is usually employed, and is, to all
intents and purposes, waterproof. Silk, of equal strength with the
canvas, is very far lighter: its only disadvantage is its expense.
Calico, or cotton canvas, is very generally used for small tents. Leather
and felt are warm, but exceedingly heavy; and would only be used in very
inclement climates, or where canvas could not be met with. Light matting
is not to be despised: it is warm and pretty durable, and makes excellent
awning or covering to a frame-work.

Diagonal Bracing.--A worn-out tent may be strengthened by sewing bands of
canvas, which cross each other, and make a kind of net-work: old sails
are strengthened in this way.

Tent Pegs should be of galvanized iron; they are well worth the weight of
carriage, for not only do wooden ones often fail on an emergency, but
cooks habitually purloin them when firewood is scarce.

Tents.--Large Tents.--The art of tent-making has greatly advanced since
the days of the old-fashioned bell-tent, which is so peculiarly
objectionable, as to make it a matter of surprise that it was ever
invented and used. It is difficult to pitch; it requires many tent-pegs;
it has ropes radiating all round it, over which men and horses stumble;
and it is incommodious and ugly.

In choosing a tent, select one that will stand in some sort of shape with
only four pegs, or with six at the very utmost; it should admit of being
pegged close to the ground without any intervening 'fly;' it is no
objection that it should require more than one pole; and, when
considering how much weight it will be possible to carry, it must be
borne in mind that the tent will become far heavier than it is found to
be in the peculiarly dry atmosphere of a tent-maker's show-room. It is
very convenient that a tent should admit of being pitched in more than
one form: for instance, that one side should open and form an awning in
hot weather; also, that it should be easy to attach flys or awning to the
tent to increase its available size during the daytime. All tents should
be provided with strong covers, for pack-ropes are sure to fray whatever
they press against; and it is better that the cover should suffer than
the tent itself.

Comparative Size of Tents.--The annexed diagram will show the points on
which the roominess of a tent mainly depends.

[Sketch of tent and occupants].

A man wants space to sit at a table, and also to get at his luggage in
order either to pack it or to unpack it; lastly, he wants a reasonable
amount of standing room. A fair-sized tent ought to include the figures
drawn in the diagram; and I have indicated, by lines and shaded spaces,
the section of various descriptions of tents that would be just
sufficient to embrace them.

One side of the ordinary conical tents (fig. 1), of a front view of fig.
5, and of pyramidal tents (fig. 6), are represented by the line ABC.
Those that have a "fall" (fig. 2), by the lines CDLF. Gipsy-tents, as
described p. 161, umbrella-tents (fig. 4), and Jourts, p. 157, by the
lines GHBK. Marquees (fig. 3), and a side view of fig. 5, by GLBM.

[Fig 1-4--sketches of tents].

Notwithstanding the great height and width of conical tents, compared to
the others, we see by the diagram that they afford scanty space at the
level of the head of a seated person. There is a recent contrivance by
Major Rhodes, to be seen at Silver and Co.'s, that is a modification of
the gipsy-tent. Among ordinary, well-known tents, I believe none will
satisfy the varied wants of a traveller so well as Edington's three-poled
tents (fig. 5). After these I should choose a small marquee (fig. 3); but
it is less secure in wind, and the pitch of its roof is bad for rain, and
the numerous straggling tent-ropes are objectionable.

[Fig 5-7--sketches of tents].

A pyramidal tent (fig. 6), of seven or nine feet in the side, is
remarkable for its sturdiness: it will stand any weather, will hold two
people and a fair quantity of luggage besides; it weighs from 25 to 40
lbs. It is not a good tent for hot weather, for it is far too stuffy,
though by taking an additional joint to the tent-pole, and using
tent-ropes (as may also be done with any other kind of tent), it may be
made more airy by being raised up, and by having walls added to it (fig.
7). In default of canvas, the walls may be constructed of other
materials. (See "Materials for Huts.")

Tent Pitched over an Excavation.--A hole may be dug deeply beneath the
tent floor, partly for the purpose of a store-room, and partly for that
of a living-room when the weather is very inclement. This was practised
before Sebastopol in the manner shown in the fig. p. 158. The notched
pole acts as a ladder for ascending from below.

Jourts.--The Kirghis-jourt is a capacious, solid, warm, and fireproof
structure, that admits of being pitched or taken to pieces in an hour,
and withstands the cold and violent winds of the steppes of Central Asia,
in a way that no tent or combination of tents could pretend to effect. A
jourt of from 20 to 25, or even 30 feet in diameter, forms two
camel-loads, or about half a ton in weight.

[Fig. 8].

One camel carries the felt, the other the wood-work. Fig. 9 shows the
jourt half-covered; and fig. 10 gives an enlarged view of a portion of
the side. There are four separate parts in its structure:--1. The
door-way, a solid piece of ornamental carpentering, that takes to pieces
instantly. 2. The sides, which consist of lengths of wood-work, that shut
up on the principle of the contrivance known sometimes as "lazy-tongs,"
and sometimes as "easy-back scissors:" they tie together and make a
circle, beginning and ending with the doorway; a tape is wound round
them, as shown in fig. 9, about one-third from their tops. 3. The
roof-ribs. The bottom of each of these is tied to the sides of the jourt
(A, fig. 10), and its top fits into a socket in--4, the roof-ring, which
is a hoop of wood strengthened by transverse bars. Over this framework
broad sheets of felt are thrown: their own weight makes them lie
steadily, for they are quite an inch in thickness; however, in very
stormy weather, if I recollect aright, they are weighted with stones, or
they are stitched together. There is no metal in the structure: the laths
of willow-wood that form the sides are united, where they cross, by
pieces of sinew knotted at either end; these act as pivots when the sides
are shut up. I am indebted to the late Mr. Atkinson for my information on
these interesting structures. Further particulars about them, the native
way of making the felt, by continually rolling sheepskins with the wool
between them, and numerous pictures, in which jourts form a striking
feature, will be found in his beautifully illustrated work on Siberia.

[Fig 9 and 10 as referred to above and Fig. 1 for following section].

Small Tents.--For tents of the smallest size and least pretensions,
nothing can be better than the one represented in fig. 1: the ends are
slit down their middles, and are laced or buttoned together, so that, by
unfastening these, the tent spreads out to a flat sheet of the form of
fig. 2, well adapted for an awning, or else it can be simply unrolled and
used with the bedding. It is necessary that a tent should be roomy enough
to admit of a man undressing himself, when wet through, without treading
upon his bed and drenching it with mud and water; and therefore a tent of
the above description is found to be unserviceable, if less than about 7
feet long, or ending in a triangle of less than 5 1/2 feet in the side.
Peat, the saddler in Bond Street, once made them; they cost 2 l. 10s.,
and weighed 9 lbs. when dry. They are liable to bag in the side when the
wind is high: a cross-pole or two sticks, following the seams of the
canvas in the above sketch, would make them tauter.

[Fig. 2].

Alpine Tent.--Mr. Whymper contrived a tent for his alpine explorations,
which he found eminently successful. It has a waterproof floor,
continuous with the sides: it is supported by poles, that slip into hems
of the cloth--two poles at either end. These tents have been used on
various occasions by Mr. Whymper's brother in Alaska, and by Mr.
Freshfield in the Caucasus, and were highly approved of, but I do not
know whether these tents would be altogether suitable for more
comfortable travel. I myself had a tent made on this principle some years
ago, but disliked it, for I found the continuity of the floor with the
sides to act unsatisfactorily; the tent retained the damp, and the weight
of the body, acting on the floor of the tent, was apt to disturb its
walls. Mr. Whymper's tent is procurable at Carter's, Alpine Outfitter,
295, Oxford Street, London.

Boating Tent.--Further on, in the chapter on "Boats," the way is shown by
which sailors make a tent out of their lug-sail, throwing it over a
framework of oars.

Gipsy Tent.--A traveller who has only a blanket, a plaid, or broad piece
of material of any kind, with which he wishes to improvise a tent, may
make a framework of long wands, planting their ends in the ground,
bending their tops together, and lashing or wattling them securely; over
this the blanket is thrown (fig. 3). If the sticks are sufficiently long
and pliant, their ends should be bent over the roof half-way down the
opposite side, as in fig. 1. This adds considerably to the strength of
the arrangement.

[Fig 1-3 as described in text].

The gipsies in England use the following excellent contrivance to save
the trouble of tying the sticks together. They carry a light bar of wood,
2 1/2 feet long, bound with string here and there to keep it from
splitting; through this, six holes, each big enough to admit the tip of
the little finger, are bored or burnt; they also carry eight hazel rods
with them, each six feet long, and arrange their framework as in fig. 2.
It will be observed that the two rods which are planted behind give
additional roominess and stability to the affair. The rug and pillow show
the position in which the occupants sleep. Blankets, not sheeting, pinned
together with wooden pegs, are thrown over the whole, as in fig. 3.

[Fig 1 and 2 as described in the text].

Tente d'abri.--The French, "tente d'abri" has not, so far as I know, been
adopted by travellers: it seems hardly suitable, except for soldiers.
Each man carried a square of canvas (fig. 1), with buttons and
button-holes all round it, by which it can be doubly attached to other
similar squares of canvas, and thus, from several separate pieces, one
large cloth can be made. The square carried by the French soldier
measures 5 feet 4 1/2 inches in the side, reckoning along the buttons; of
these there are nine along each edge, including the corner ones. Each
soldier has also to carry a tent-staff, or else a proportion of the pegs
and cord. When six men club together they proceed as follows:--Three
tent-sticks are fixed into the ground, whose tops are notched; a light
cord is then passed round their tops, and fastened into the ground with a
peg at each eng (fig. 2). Two sheets, A and B, are buttoned together and
thrown over the cord, and then two other sheets, C and D; and C is
buttoned to A, and D to B (fig. 3). Lastly another sheet is thrown over
each of the slanting cords, the one buttoned to A and B, and the other to
C and D; and thus a sort of dog-kennel is formed, in which six men--the
bearers of the six pieces of canvas--sleep. The sides of the tent are of
course pegged to the ground. There are many modifications in the way of
pitching these tents. Should the sticks be wanting, faggots or muskets
can be used in their place.


Tent of Mosquito-netting.--I have been informed of a sportsman in Ceylon,
who took with him into the woods a cot with mosquito-curtains, as a
protection not only against insects, but against malaria. He also had a
blanket rolled at his feet: at 3 in the morning, when the chill arose in
the woods, he pulled his blanket over him.

Pitching a Tent.--It is quite an art, so to pitch a tent as to let in or
exclude the air, to take advantage of sun and shade, etc. etc. Every
available cloth or sheet may be pressed into service, to make awnings and
screens, as we see among the gipsies. There is a great deal of character
shown in each different person's encampment. A tent should never be
pitched in a slovenly way: it is so far more roomy, secure and pretty,
when tightly stretched out, that no pains should be spared in drilling
the men to do it well. I like to use a piece of string, marked with
knots, by which I can measure the exact places in which the tent-pegs
should be struck, for the eye is a deceitful guide in estimating
squareness. (See "Squaring.") It is wonderful how men will bungle with a
tent, when they are not properly drilled to pitch it.

To secure Tent-ropes.--When the soil is loose, scrape away the surface
sand, before driving the tent-pegs. Loose mould is made more tenacious by
pouring water upon it. When one peg is insufficient, it may be backed by
another. (See fig.) The outermost peg must be altogether buried in the
earth. Heavy saddle-bags are often of use to secure the tent-ropes; and,
in rocky ground, heavy piles of stones may be made to answer the same
purpose. The tent-ropes may also be knotted to a cloth, on which stones
are afterwards piled.


"Dateram" is, as the late Dr. Barth, informed me, the Bornu name for a
most excellent African contrivance, used in some parts of the Sahara
desert, by means of which tent-ropes may be secured, or horses picketed
in sand of the driest description, as in that of a sand dune, whence a
tent-peg would be drawn out by a strain so slight as to be almost
imperceptible. I have made many experiments upon it, and find its
efficiency to be truly wonderful. The plan is to tie to the end of the
tent-rope, a small object of any description, by its middle, as a short
stick, a stone, a bundle of twigs, or a bag of sand; and to bury it from
1 to 2 feet in the loose sand. It will be found, if it has been buried 1
foot deep, that a strain equal to about 50 lbs. weight, is necessary to
draw it up; if 1 1/2 feet deep, that a much more considerable strain is
necessary; and that, if 2 feet deep, it is quite impossible for a single
man to pull it up. In the following theoretical case, the resistance
would be as the cube of the depth; but in sand or shingle, the increase
is less rapid. It varies under different circumstances; but it is no
exaggeration to estimate its increase as seldom less than as the square
of the depth. The theoretical case of which I spoke, is this:--Let x be
part of a layer of shingle of wide extent: the shingle is supposed to
consist of smooth hard spherical balls, all of the same size. Let s be a
dateram buried in x; and T the string to which it is tied. Now, on
considering fig. 2, where a series of balls are drawn on a larger scale
and on a plane surface, it is clear that the ball A cannot move in any
degree to the right or the left without disturbing the entire layer of
balls on the same plane as itself: its only possible movement is
vertically upwards. In this case, it disturbs B1 and B2. These, for the
same reason as A, can only move vertically upwards, and, in doing so,
they must disturb the three balls above them, and so on. Consequently,
the uplifting of a single ball in fig. 2, necessitates the uplifting of
the triangle of balls of which it forms the apex; and it obviously
follows from the same principle, that the uplifting of S, in the depth of
X, in fig. 1, necessitates the uplifting of a cone of balls whose apex is
at S. But the weight of a cone is as the cube of its height and,
therefore, the resistance to the uplifting of the dateram, is as the cube
of the depth at which it has been buried. In practice, the grains of sand
are capable of a small but variable amount of lateral displacement, which
gives relief to the movement of sand caused by the dateram, for we may
observe the surface of the ground to work very irregularly, although
extensively, when the dateram begins to stir. On the other hand, the
friction of the grains of sand tends to increase the difficulty of
movement. The arrangement shown in the diagram, of a spring
weighing-machine tied to the end of a lever, is that which I have used in
testing the strain the dateram will resist, under different
circumstances. The size of the dateram is not of much importance, it
would be of still less importance in the theoretical case. Anything that
is more than 4 inches long seems to answer. The plan succeeds in a dry
soil of any description, whether it be shingly beach or sand.

Bushing a Tent means the burying of bushes in the soil so far as to leave
only their cut ends above the ground, to which a corresponding number of
tent-ropes are tied.

Tent-poles.--When a tent is pitched for an encampment of some duration,
it is well to lay aside the jointed tent-pole, and to cut a stout young
tree to replace it: this will be found far more trustworthy in stormy
weather. If the shape of the tent admits of the change, it is still
better to do away with the centre pole altogether; and, in the place of
it, to erect a substantial framework of poles, which are to be planted
just within the rim of the tent, and to converge to a point, under its
peak. A tent-pole can be lengthened temporarily, by lashing it to a log,
with the help of a Toggle and strop (which see). A broken tent-pole can
be mended permanently by placing a splint of wood on either side of the
fracture, and by whipping the whole together, with soft cord or with the
untwisted strand of a piece of rope.

To prevent Tent-poles from slipping.--When the tent is pitched in the
ordinary way on a smooth rocky surface, there is considerable danger that
the foot of the pole may slip whenever a gust of wind or other sudden
impulse sways the tent. This danger is to be obviated on precisely the
same principle as that by which builders secure their scaffolding-poles
upon the smooth footways of a street: they put the foot of each pole into
a bucket, filled with sand. As the base of the bucket is broad, the
scaffolding is much less liable to slip, than if the narrow bases of the
poles had rested directly upon the pavement.

To tie Things to Tent-poles.--To hang clothes, or anything else, upon a
smooth tent-pole, see "Clove-hitch." A strap with hooks attached to it,
buckled round the pole, is very convenient. The method shown in the
sketch suffices, if the pole be notched, or jointed, or in any way
slightly uneven. Bags, etc., are supposed to be hung upon the bit of wood
that is secured to the free end. Convenient pegs, made of bits of wood
roughly sharpened, may be driven into the tree, if any, when the
encampment is made.


Preparations for a Storm.--Before a storm, dig a ditch as deep as you can
round the outside of the tent, to divert the coming sheet of
surface-water, and see that the ditch has a good out-fall. The ditch will
also drain the floor of the tent, if the rain should soak in. Even a
furrow scratched with a tent-peg, is better than no ditch at all. Fasten
guy-ropes to the spike of the tent-pole; and be careful that the tent is
not too much on the strain, else the further shrinking of the materials,
under the influence of the wet, will certainly tear up the pegs. Earth,
banked up round the bottom of the tent, will prevent gusts of wind from
finding their way beneath. It is also a good plan to prepare a small hole
near the foot of the tent-pole, with a stone firmly rammed into the
bottom, into which the tent-pole may be shifted, as soon as the strain of
the tent, under the influence of the wet, becomes dangerous to its
safety.

To warm Tents.--"When living in a tent in Otago (New Zealand) during a