In these few pages I have tried to prepare something about camping and walking, such as I should have enjoyed reading when I was a boy; and, with this thought in my mind, I some years ago began to collect the subject-matter for a book of this kind, by jotting down all questions about camping, &c., that my young friends asked me. I have also taken pains, when I have been off on a walk, or have been camping, to notice the parties of campers and trampers that I have chanced to meet, and have made a note of their failures or success. The experiences of the pleasant days when, in my teens, I climbed the mountains of Oxford County, or sailed through Casco Bay, have added largely to the stock of notes; and finally the diaries of "the war," and the recollections of "the field," have contributed generously; so that, with quotations, and some help from other sources, a sizable volume is ready.
Although it is prepared for young men—for students more especially—it contains much, I trust, that will prove valuable to campers-out in general.
I am under obligations to Dr. Elliott Coues, of the United States Army, for the valuable advice contained in Chapter XIII.; and I esteem it a piece of good fortune that his excellent work ("Field Ornithology") should have been published before this effort of mine, for I hardly know where else I could have found the information with authority so unquestionable.
Prof. Edward S. Morse has increased the debt of gratitude I already owe him, by taking his precious time to draw my illustrations, and prepare them for the engraver.
Mr. J. Edward Fickett of Portland, a sailmaker, and formerly of the navy, has assisted in the chapter upon tents; and there are numbers of my young friends who will recognize the results of their experience, as they read these pages, and will please to receive my thanks for making them known to me.
Portland, Me., January, 1877.
The hope of camping out that comes over one in early spring, the laying of plans and arranging of details, is, I sometimes think, even more enjoyable than reality itself. As there is pleasure in this, let me advise you to give a practical turn to your anticipations.
Think over and decide whether you will walk, go horseback, sail, camp out in one place, or what you will do; then learn what you can of the route you propose to go over, or the ground where you intend to camp for the season. If you think of moving through or camping in places unknown to you, it is important to learn whether you can buy provisions and get lodgings along your route. See some one, if you can, who has been where you think of going, and put down in a note-book all he tells you that is important.
Have your clothes made or mended as soon as you decide what you will need: the earlier you begin, the less you will be hurried at the last.
You will find it is a good plan, as fast as you think of a thing that you want to take, to note it on your memorandum; and, in order to avoid delay or haste, to cast your eyes over the list occasionally to see that the work of preparation is going on properly. It is a good plan to collect all of your baggage into one place as fast as it is ready; for if it is scattered you are apt to lose sight of some of it, and start without it.
As fast as you get your things ready, mark your name on them: mark every thing. You can easily cut a stencil-plate out of an old postal card, and mark with a common shoe-blacking brush such articles as tents, poles, boxes, firkins, barrels, coverings, and bags.
Some railroads will not check barrels, bags, or bundles, nor take them on passenger trains. Inquire beforehand, and send your baggage ahead if the road will not take it on your train.
Estimate the expenses of your trip, and take more money than your estimate. Carry also an abundance of small change.
Do not be in a hurry to spend money on new inventions. Every year there is put upon the market some patent knapsack, folding stove, cooking-utensil, or camp trunk and cot combined; and there are always for sale patent knives, forks, and spoons all in one, drinking-cups, folding portfolios, and marvels of tools. Let them all alone: carry your pocket-knife, and if you can take more let it be a sheath or butcher knife and a common case-knife.
Take iron or cheap metal spoons.
Do not attempt to carry crockery or glassware upon a march.
A common tin cup is as good as any thing you can take to drink from; and you will find it best to carry it so that it can be used easily.[1]
Take nothing nice into camp, expecting to keep it so: it is almost impossible to keep things out of the dirt, dew, rain, dust, or sweat, and from being broken or bruised.
Many young men, before starting on their summer vacation, think that the barber must give their hair a "fighting-cut;" but it is not best to shave the head so closely, as it is then too much exposed to the sun, flies, and mosquitoes. A moderately short cut to the hair, however, is advisable for comfort and cleanliness.
If you are going to travel where you have never been before, begin early to study your map. It is of great importance, you will find, to learn all you can of the neighborhood where you are going, and to fix it in your mind.
So many things must be done at the last moment, that it is best to do what you can beforehand; but try to do nothing that may have to be undone.
Wear what you please if it be comfortable and durable: do not mind what people say. When you are camping you have a right to be independent.
If you are going on a walking-party, one of the best things you can do is to "train" a week or more before starting, by taking long walks in the open air.
Finally, leave your business in such shape that it will not call you back; and do not carry off keys, &c., which others must have; nor neglect to see the dentist about the tooth that usually aches when you most want it to keep quiet.
For convenience the following list is inserted here. It is condensed from a number of notes made for trips of all sorts, except boating and horseback-riding. It is by no means exhaustive, yet there are very many more things named than you can possibly use to advantage upon any one tour. Be careful not to be led astray by it into overloading yourself, or filling your camp with useless luggage. Be sure to remember this.
| Ammon'd opodeldoc. | Fishing-tackle. | Paper. |
| Axe (in cover). | Flour (prepared). | " collars. |
| Axle-grease. | Frying-pan. | Pens. |
| Bacon. | Guide-book. | Pepper. |
| Barometer (pocket). | Half-barrel. | Pickles. |
| Bean-pot. | Halter. | Pins. |
| Beans (in bag). | Hammer. | Portfolio. |
| Beef (dried). | Hard-bread. | Postage stamps. |
| Beeswax. | Harness (examine!). | Postal cards. |
| Bible. | Hatchet. | Rope. |
| Blacking and brush. | Haversack. | Rubber blanket. |
| Blankets. | Ink (portable bottle). | " coat. |
| Boxes. | Knives (sheath, table, | " boots. |
| Bread for lunch. | pocket and butcher.) | Sail-needle. |
| Brogans (oiled). | Lemons. | Salt. |
| Broom. | Liniment. | " fish. |
| Butter-dish and cover. | Lunch for day or two. | " pork. |
| Canned goods. | Maps. | Salve. |
| Chalk. | Matches and safe. | Saw. |
| Cheese. | Marline. | Shingles (for plates). |
| Clothes-brush. | Meal (in bag). | Shirts. |
| Cod-line. | Meal-bag (see p. 32). | Shoes and strings. |
| Coffee and pot. | Medicines. | Slippers. |
| Comb. | Milk-can. | Soap. |
| Compass. | Molasses. | Song-book. |
| Condensed milk. | Money ("change"). | Spade. |
| Cups. | Monkey-wrench. | Spoons. |
| Currycomb. | Mosquito-bar. | Stove (utensils in bags). |
| Dates. | Mustard and pot. | Sugar. |
| Dippers. | Nails. | Tea. |
| Dishes. | Neat's-foot oil. | Tents. |
| Dish-towels. | Night-shirt. | " poles. |
| Drawers. | Oatmeal. | " pins. |
| Dried fruits. | Oil-can. | Tooth-brush. |
| Dutch oven. | Opera-glass. | Towels. |
| Envelopes. | Overcoat. | Twine. |
| Figs. | Padlock and key. | Vinegar. |
| Firkin (see p. 48). | Pails | Watch and key. |
We will consider separately the many ways in which a party can spend a summer vacation; and first we will start into wild and uninhabited regions, afoot, carrying on our backs blankets, a tent, frying-pan, food, and even a shot-gun and fishing-tackle. This is very hard work for a young man to follow daily for any length of time; and, although it sounds romantic, yet let no party of young people think they can find pleasure in it many days; for if they meet with a reverse, have much rainy weather, or lose their way, some one will almost surely be taken sick, and all sport will end.
If you have a mountain to climb, or a short trip of only a day or two, I would not discourage you from going in this way; but for any extended tour it is too severe a strain upon the physical powers of one not accustomed to similar hard work.
A second and more rational way, especially for small parties, is that of travelling afoot in the roads of a settled country, carrying a blanket, tent, food, and cooking-utensils; cooking your meals, and doing all the work yourselves. If you do not care to travel fast, to go far, or to spend much money, this is a fine way. But let me caution you first of all about overloading, for this is the most natural thing to do. It is the tendency of human nature to accumulate, and you will continually pick up things on your route that you will wish to take along; and it will require your best judgment to start with the least amount of luggage, and to keep from adding to it.
You have probably read that a soldier carries a musket, cartridges, blanket, overcoat, rations, and other things, weighing forty or fifty pounds. You will therefore say to yourself, "I can carry twenty." Take twenty pounds, then, and carry it around for an hour, and see how you like it. Very few young men who read this book will find it possible to enjoy themselves, and carry more than twenty pounds a greater distance than ten miles a day, for a week. To carry even the twenty pounds ten miles a day is hard work to many, although every summer there are parties who do their fifteen, twenty, and more miles daily, with big knapsacks on their backs; but it is neither wise, pleasant, nor healthful, to the average young man, to do this.
Let us cut down our burden to the minimum, and see how much it will be. First of all, you must take a rubber blanket or a light rubber coat—something that will surely shed water, and keep out the dampness of the earth when slept on. You must have something of this sort, whether afoot, horseback, with a wagon, or in permanent camp.[2]
For carrying your baggage you will perhaps prefer a knapsack, though many old soldiers are not partial to that article. There are also for sale broad straps and other devices as substitutes for the knapsack. Whatever you take, be sure it has broad straps to go over your shoulders: otherwise you will be constantly annoyed from their cutting and chafing you.
You can dispense with the knapsack altogether in the same way that soldiers do—by rolling up in your blanket whatever you have to carry. You will need to take some pains in this, and perhaps call a comrade to assist you. Lay out the blanket flat, and roll it as tightly as possible without folding it, enclosing the other baggage[3] as you roll; then tie it in a number of places to prevent unrolling, and the shifting about of things inside; and finally tie or strap together the two ends, and throw the ring thus made over the shoulder, and wear it as you do the strap of the haversack—diagonally across the body.
The advantages of the roll over the knapsack are important. You save the two and a half pounds weight; the roll is very much easier to the shoulder, and is easier shifted from one shoulder to the other, or taken off; and you can ease the burden a little with your hands. It feels bulky at first, but you soon become used to it. On the whole, you will probably prefer the roll to the knapsack; but if you carry much weight you will very soon condemn whatever way you carry it, and wish for a change.
A haversack is almost indispensable in all pedestrian tours. Even if you have your baggage in a wagon, it is best to wear one, or some sort of a small bag furnished with shoulder straps, so that you can carry a lunch, writing materials, guide-book, and such other small articles as you constantly need. You can buy a haversack at the stores where sportsmen's outfits are sold; or you can make one of enamel-cloth or rubber drilling, say eleven inches deep by nine wide, with a strap of the same material neatly doubled and sewed together, forty to forty-five inches long, and one and three-quarters inches wide. Cut the back piece about nineteen inches long, so as to allow for a flap eight inches long to fold over the top and down the front. Sew the strap on the upper corners of the back piece, having first sewed a facing inside, to prevent its tearing out the back.
Next in the order of necessities is a woollen blanket—a good stout one, rather than the