THE REDISCOVERED COUNTRY 289 



forests are almost hopelessly without the facilities our 

 own woods offer for such a purpose. There is no 

 dry wood, no tinder, no green wood carrying pitch. 

 Every dead twig is sodden through; the under sides of 

 down or slanting trees have become wet by capillary 

 attraction. A pinch of powdered bark is a treasure to 

 be gained only by long searching. At the end of the 

 full half hour our united efforts gained us a sort of dull 

 smoulder, without flame. Some one had to blow on it 

 continually to keep it from going out. Only late in 

 the evening did it spring into a flame that had value for 

 drying; and even then a relaxation of vigilance would 

 drop it back to a sullen smoking mockery. As we were 

 soaked through, and our tent was wet, and we had 

 only cold mutton, bread, and peanuts to eat, this was 

 not the most comfortable camp in the world. How- 

 ever, we smoked our pipes. 



