IN A FISHING COUNTRY 



undress, at one and the same time — in wet 

 weather without touching the canvas and 

 starting a drip. Given a choice, you will 

 pitch such a tent back to wind ; it is no great 

 matter however, for the overhang, and the 

 dead air inside, hinder even a driving fron- 

 tal rain from falling on the sleeping-place. 

 In ten days of wind and wet from every 

 quarter, we never found it worth while to 

 shift. The fire can be lit almost beneath 

 the overhang. A current of warm and 

 smoky air, passing continually along the 

 ridge-pole, drives the flies from their fa- 

 vourite lodgment; indeed they seldom 

 enter. In the wettest night, clothes, and 

 even boots, will dry up aloft, with no risk of 

 being scorched (hung conveniently on the 

 ridge-pole sleeve by safety-pins). The 

 heat is reverberated from the sloping roof; 

 coatless, you sit at comfort after supper, in 

 that shivery hour when the blood is drawn 

 to digestive tasks, and the evening chill 

 steals down from the hills. There is ven- 

 tilation at all times, with coolness by day 

 and warmth at night. A fire quickly dries 

 the canvas, lessening its weight by many a 

 welcome pound. The tent described is 

 half a man's load, but pocket and purpose 

 will govern size and material. Needless 

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