24 SPORTING ADVENTURES IN THE EAR WEST. 



It is necessary that persons should make themselves as 

 comfortable as they can in camp, if hunting would not be- 

 come a toilsome labor, instead of a buoyant, virile pleasure. 

 I would, therefore, intimate to sportsmen to take as much 

 variety of condensed food with them as they think neces- 

 sary for the trip, for it is not only palatable, but it is al- 

 most necessary to health, and is, besides, exceedingly port- 

 able. Condensed milk and coffee, pressed tea, sugar, self- 

 leavening flour, dessicated eggs, some canned fruits, crack- 

 ers, pepper, salt, and onions, pickles, ham, pork, beans, and 

 potatoes, should form the larger portion of commissariat 

 of all expeditions; and when to these are added edible wild 

 roots and herbs, and succulent fresh meat and delicious 

 trout, a party may live as happily in the wilderness, and 

 thrive better than if they were quartered in the best hos- 

 telry in the world. 



The cooking utensils should include a kettle, a frying- 

 pan, a pot, a broiler, and a teapot ; and the table appendages 

 should embrace tin plates, tin or plated cups, knives and 

 forks, spoons, a pepper and salt box, and a sirup caddy ; 

 and the whole, when not in use, should fit into a compact 

 kit made of tin or wood. 



If an open fire is used for cooking, it should always be 

 built to the leeward of the tent, to avoid accidents ; and if 

 the wind is baffling, and blows the smoke and sparks in 

 every direction, it ought to be made in a hole dug in the 

 ground. Two pieces of wood having a crotch at one end, 

 and placed at opposite ends of the fire, with a cross-stick 

 connecting them, make an excellent crane on which to sus- 

 pend a pot for boiling ; and if one is hungry, and wishes to 

 satisfy the craving of the appetite at once, he may do it by 

 thrusting a sharp-pointed bit of wood through a piece of 

 meat, and holding it in the blaze for a few moments. A 

 slice of venison cooked in this manner, and sprinkled over 

 with pepper and salt, makes a delicious tidbit, as the juices 

 are retained in it. 



In camping out, one should carry four heavy blankets 

 for bedding, as the nights in the region adjoining the Pa- 



