CAMPING OUT. 103 



but good heavy " drilling " will be found full as 

 warm and impervious to rain, besides being much 

 lighter for transportation, and, with proper care, it 

 will last two or three years. A new tent should 

 be well wet before using, or the first heavy shower ' 

 may beat through, causing, perhaps, some incon- 

 venience. As a further precaution against rain, a 

 fly, as it is called, should be provided. This is 

 simply a sheet of light cloth sufliciently large to 

 completely cover the roof of the tent, which, how- 

 ever, it should not touch, excepting at the ridge- 

 pole, but should be draw^n high enough at the 

 eaves to leave a space of three or four inches 

 between it and the tent. This breaks the force 

 of the storm. Be careful not to touch the in- 

 side of the roof during a heavy rain-storm, espe- 

 cially if the tent has no fly, for the water will 

 gather and run through wherever the tent may 

 be touched, when otherwise it would run down 

 outside. 



Always pitch your tent on as high ground as con- 

 venient, on a little knoll, if possible, w^ith the ground 

 slanting slightly on all sides, so that water may 

 not run into it. Without this precaution it is 

 often necessary to dig a little ditch around the 

 tent to conduct the water ofl"; but, if the tent is 



