The Book of Camp-Lore and Woodcraft

it takes but one whiff of the smoke of an open fire, or one whiff of the aroma of frying bacon, to send him back again to the lone trail. In imagination he will once more be hovering over hi

on his desk, his papers and his office furniture, but also all the artificialities of life. Even the clicking of the typewriter wil

here is witchcraft in the smell of the open fire, and all the mysteri

y found themselves on a lonely wilderness lake surrounded by picture mountains, and dotted with tall rocky islands covered with Christmas trees, giving the whole landscape the appearance of the scenery one some

with smoking tobacco, and that was all! There was no salt, no butter, no pepper, no sugar, no meat, no knives, no forks, no spoons, no cups, no plates, no saucers and no cooking utensils; the party had nothing but a few stone-like lumps o

sy ground. Near this they built a fire while Mr. Rice fashioned a little box of birch bark, filled it with water and placed it over the hot e

so that the charcoal or burnt skins might give a flavor to the fish, and in a measure compensate for the lack of salt. The hunks of bread were burned until they were

the nearest living human being, was more delicious and more satisfying than any

bject of cooking fire and camp k

mitive of Co

gly into the ground in front of the fire, or perhaps a saster-pole on which to suspend or from which to dangle, in front of the fire, a hunk of moo

Pot

the big open fire-places of the old homesteads, neither are they the hated S shaped marks with

e old-fashioned school-master, upon the devoted head of the offending pupil. For these pot-hooks are not regular in form and the shape and designs largely

allow

re to cut it below a good sturdy fork. Fig. 61 shows the bit of sapling trimmed down to the proper length and with two forks, one at each end. On the upper fork you will note that one prong is a slender elastic switch. Fig. 62 shows how this switch

r kettle, pail or bucket, is hooked on to the lower fork. You will note that the lower fork is upon the opposite side of the main stick from that from which the switch p

Pot-

, 65, and 66), which show its evolution or gradual growth. B

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the stick on the side opposite to the fork and near the lower end of the pot-claw. This is a real honest-to-goodness Buckskin or Sourdough pot-hook; it is one tha

e

he nail (Figs. 67 and 68). The hake possesses the disadvantage of making it necessary for the camper to carry a supply of nails in his kit. No Sourdough on a long and perilous trip loads hi

e

ion the preceding pot-hook. It is a useful hook for stationary camps where one has time to develop more or less intricate cooking equipment. Fig. 69A shows how the two forked

cted to use them all, but because there are times when any one of them may be just the thing require

opposite side of the forked branch, and at the other end of the cl

ever yet been decided to whom the credit belongs-because of the innate modesty of the men no one claims the honor. This misshapen pot-claw was responsible for spilling the stew on several occasions, not to speak of losing the boiled rice. Luckily one o

s evil spirit dissolved in smoke, the Indian made a new pot-claw, a respectable pot-claw with a straight character, and a more secure notch. This one by its benign

where the heat is more intense; short ones to keep the vessels further from the fire so that t

Spey

eld down by a stone in such a manner that the fork at the upper end offers a place to hang things over, or in front of the fire, sometimes a notched stick is used in the same manner as Fig. 73. Where the ground

Sa

t is suspended from it in front of the fire to roast (Figs. 74? and 75)

ire Cooking

over the fire; there were also rakens made of bands of iron with holes punched in them for the attachment of short iron pot-hooks (Fig. 76). With these ancient implements in their minds, some ingenious campers manufacture themselves rakens and short pot-hooks from telegraph wire (Fig

rsion of this image

; not only that but one may (Fig. 79) put a small pail inside the larger one, where lat

rsion of this image

are sure to be lost sooner or later, whereupon the camper must resort to things "with the bark on

6

acon, game or fish that it may be thus toasted over the hot embers (Fig. 80). We do not put meat over the

spinning the meat with one's hands (Fig. 75). Such a cord will unwind and wind more or less slowly for considerable time, thus causing the meat to expose all sides of its surface to the heat of the roasting fire in front of which it hangs. You will note we say in front; again let us impress upon the reader's mind that he must not hang his meat over the flame. In Fig. 75 the meat is so drawn th

Grid

roilers such as are used in our kitchens. Consequently they compromise by packing a handful of telegraph wires of even length with their duffel (Fig. 81), each wire having its ends carefully b

may pack the wires, otherwise the camper will sooner or later throw them away rather tha

on Cam

ay readily be slipped through the loops in the upright wires, B and C (Fig. 87), and thus form a take-a-part skeleton stove (Fig. 86). The young fellow from whom this device was obtained was at

ying a lamp. The stove is made so that it may be taken apart and packed easily and the

outfitter's folding wire camp broilers for a trifle, made on the same principle and with legs which may be thrust into the ground surrounding the fire, as in Figs. 88 and 89, and, after the broiler is folded in t

Cooki

re easily will the cooking be accomplished. The first t

e-d

p, while it would be the height of absurdity to think of taking andirons on a real hunting or exploring expedition. Therefore, we use green logs, sods or stones for fire-dogs in the wilderness. Frequently we have a back-log against which the fire-dog rests; this ba

of a Roa

the fire is built by sticks being laid up like those in Fig. 91. The logs on all three sides radiate the heat and when

Camp

is to so construct it that it may last a long time. When one builds a camp-fire one wants to be able to

g. 95), the top ends of which rest in notches cut in C stick at E (Fig. 95), and the bottom ends of which are thrust into the ground. Against the upright sticks C, and the logs F are heaped to form the back of the fire. The fire is then built

mor

-dogs over which the fire is built and after it has fallen in, a mass of red hot embers, between the fire-dogs, two logs are laid across the

rsion of this image

e fuel logs, a waugan-stick is placed,

, and after the bread has been baked over the coals on the bottom, it is browned nicely on its top by tilting the pans in front of the fire and resting their handles against the waugan-stick (Fig. 97). I have seen the

ying

-lay (Fig. 100), so that the sticks themselves make a fire-dog and allow, for a time, a draught until the fire is burning briskly, after which it settles down to hot embers and is in the proper con

Baking

pans being used as reflector ovens are propped up b

AU

the stub, A (Fig. 102), forming a loop, C (Fig. 103), which is lashed with green bark to the main stick and slipped over the upright, D (Fig. 104). The fork at E braces the crane and holds it in a horizontal position, resting on a stub left on D for that purpose. How practicable this thing may be depends altogether upon the time and skill one has at one's disposal.

ding chapter on how to build a fire; all you have to remember now is that in certain particula

fire eats and it must be digestible, a fire with indigestion is a fire fed with punky, damp wood carelessly thrown together in place of

rsion of this image

jack-straws. Such a fire may start all right, but when the supporting sticks have burned away it will fall in a heap and precipita

soiled one's clothes may be, no matter how grimy one's face may look, the ground around the camp-fire must be clean, and the cooking utensils and fire

and "sized up" as the real thing or as chumps, duffers, tenderfeet and

TNO

ce better if the notche