A WILDERNESS LABORATORY 143 



lization. In New York I had possessed beds 

 and baths and tables, dishes and cooks and 

 towels, in a spirit of subconsciousness which 

 made one think of them only if they were not 

 there. Now I had suddenly to think about 

 all these and other things particularly hard. If 

 it had been the usual camping duffle of ham- 

 mock, net, tarpaulin, and frying-pan, that would 

 have been simple. But when the sugar-bowl is 

 empty, one becomes at once acutely conscious of 

 it; if it is not, while the hand unbidden manipu- 

 lates the tongs, the brain distils or listens to 

 thoughts of opera, science, or war. Optical 

 eclipse, impelled by familiarity, is often total. 

 However, we found the Georgetown stores well 

 stocked, and whenever we purchased a useless 

 thing we found that it could be used for some- 

 thing else. And sooner or later, everything we 

 possessed was used for something else, thereby 

 moving one of us to suggest a society for reduc- 

 ing household articles by half. 



But while it was well enough to make a lark 

 of such things when one had to, we begrudged 

 every minute taken from the new field outspread 

 before us in every direction. For Kalacoon was 

 on a hilltop and looked out on the northern third 



