THE ANGLER'S CAMP 257 



must guard against cold from underneath that's 

 where the chill principally comes from. Banking 

 up around the sides with earth and sod, and even a 

 thin layer of balsam, hemlock, or pine fans placed 

 between the canvas of the bed and the blanket will 

 materially help here. 



Of course these stretcher-beds are bound to sag 

 some, but to insure comfortable results you hollow 

 out the ground under the middle of each bed, a little 

 distance each way from where your hips come, and 

 for a space about eighteen inches wide by three feet 

 long. The old army intrenching-tool does this work 

 handily and serves well the purpose of camp shovel, 

 in ditching tents, etc. 



A tent invariably should be well ditched, and its 

 site should be selected with special reference to 

 water draining away from it in the event of heavy 

 rains; also with due regard to convenience of drink- 

 ing water and firewood. And don't pitch your tent 

 directly under large trees, particularly dead ones, 

 or ones with dead limbs that might be blown down 

 by the wind and endanger your life. Nearby trees 

 are all right, to serve as a windbreak in the protec- 

 tion of which your camp is pitched, but the site 

 should be well exposed to the sun for a part of the 

 day. The ditch generally should extend around 

 all four sides of your tent, should be nearly a foot 

 deep, and a leader ditch should connect with the low 

 corner. A more effective ditch-digger than the in- 



