72 SPORTSMAN'S HAND BOOK. 



the front of the tent under the awning should be opened, 

 from bottom to top, like curtains, so that it could be 

 opened out wide, like opening curtains; at the same time, 

 there should be lap enough to close tight when necessary. 

 With this kind of a tent a camp stove is wholly unneces- 

 sary, as a fire properly built under the edge of the awning 

 in front of the center, will keep the tent warm and dry in 

 almost any kind of weather. Arrange the tent and fire as 

 follows: Pitch the tent with the opening to the leeward of 

 the prevailing winds; directly in front of the opening, build 

 a backwall of logs, or poles, six or eight feet long, which is 

 easily done by driving stout stakes in the ground, slanting 

 them back a little from the tent; pile up the logs or poles 

 against the stake, one on top of the other, (with the largest 

 in the bottom) two or three feet high, or higher the higher 

 the better. By having it quite slanting it can be chinked 

 and a heavy coat of dirt or mud put on, when 'the backwall 

 will last almost indefinitely. If boulders or stone are plen- 

 tiful, a better backwall can be made of them. For fire 

 dogs use short, good-sized green sticks, or stones, to hold up 

 a good fore-stick, which will make a fire quite con- 

 venient for cooking; but little wood will be required to 

 keep the tent dry and warm. A small fire properly built 

 is better to warm by than a large one, to say nothing about 

 the comfort of cooking. Don't make the mistake that most 

 campers do, by building the fire so big that you can't warm 

 by it. After the tent is pitched and back-wall built, cut a 

 ditch around the whole business to prevent water from the 

 rains from running into the tent or fire. The center of the 

 fire-place should be excavated about a foot deep at least, 

 and allowed to fill up with ashes and coals; this will be the 

 bake-oven of the camp. Don't forget to cut a good stout 

 poker of a green limb, five or six feet long; also cut a stake 

 from a sapling well provided with limbs, cut off the limbs, 



