560 AMERICAN GAME FISHES. 



trip: Take a piece of eight-ounce duck-canvas, about six 

 inches longer than yourself and forty inches wide. Run a 

 hem on each side six inches wide — double-seaming it, on a 

 machine, with the heaviest thread it will carry. Then when 

 you get into camp take two poles, about three inches in 

 diameter and a foot longer than your canvas, and run them 

 through the hems; lay the ends in four good strong forks 

 driven in the ground, or lay them on two logs and brace the 

 ends of the poles apart with two sticks cut to the proper 

 length to stretch your canvas tightly. You now have a good 

 springy cot, on which you can spread your blankets or sleep- 

 ing-bag, and sleep more comfortably, after a hard day's 

 tramp, than you would on your woven-wire or spring-and- 

 hair mattress at home, after being shut up in your office 

 all day. 



If you have plenty of transportation and don't take a can- 

 vas-cot, take a cotton or wool mattress. It need not be 

 more than two feet wide and three inches thick. The weight 

 is insignificant. The only question is that of bulk, and if 

 you can take it along it will go a long way toward shortening 

 the nights. As a substitute for this and the cot, carry an 

 empty bed-tick. It weighs only a couple of pounds, and you 

 will often find chances to fill it with straw, hay, or even with 

 green grass, weeds or browse, any of which are better than 

 nothing. 



One way to provide for a comfortable night's rest, in 

 extremely cold weather, is to build a big log-fire, let it burn 

 several hours, then move it away and make your bed where 

 the fire was. The earth is thoroughly heated, and by cover- 

 ing up the site and preventing — in a measure, at least — the 

 escape of the heat, the ground will keep warm all night, and 

 you may sleep as comfortably as it in a feather-bed at home. 



A good soft pillow is also essential to a good night's rest. 

 It costs but a trifle, weighs about the same, and takes up 

 but little room. It may be loaded with corn-shucks or goose- 



