150 NATURE-STUDY REVIEW [15:4— Apr., 1919 



study, but who had not done much camping or tramping. The 

 number joining the excursions varied from eight to forty. For 

 over-night trips a party of twelve to eighteen is amply large. If 

 there are too many the problems of camping are likely to be 

 increased. Smaller groups, of from four to ten, can have very 

 profitable trips, and do more along certain lines, (for example bird 

 study, and insect collecting), than can the large groups. 



We found the best time for starting to be either nine or ten in 

 the morning or three or four o'clock in the afternoon, preferably 

 the latter. The morning start gives a longer time for tramping 

 before making camp, but in turn involves carrying blanket-rolls 

 and other luggage a longer distance. The afternoon start avoids 

 the heat of midday, and give's relatively a shorter trip before 

 making camp. Here the luggage is deposited, leaving everyone 

 free to make short excursions in various directions, unburdened 

 from cumbersome luggage. Tramping during the midday period 

 in summer is particularly fatiguing, especially to beginners, and 

 will be avoided by the wise leader. If a morning start is made, a 

 prolonged rest period should be planned for midday. 



One distinctive advantage of the over-night trip in summer, over 

 the all-day trip, is that the all-day trip misses early morning and 

 late evening (the choicest parts of a summer day), and enforces 

 walking during the hot, glaring hours of midday. The over-night 

 trip avoids this arid, sultry period, and gives opportunity for 

 maximum enjoyment of the cool, lovely hours of sunrise and sunset. 

 For midsummer bird study these are the only good hours of the 

 day. 



Moreover, the over-night trip permits the visiting of more 

 distant regions and with a greater amount of leisure, than one 

 would ordinarily plan for a day trip. Most people, too, enjoy the 

 primitive element of the camp. It gives a maximum amount of 

 himian "reversion" to wild life in the minimum amount of time. 

 It takes people away from fretful humdrum, from deadly routine, 

 out of their old selves, and gives them a new, fresh, revitalized self 

 of the woodlands, the campfire, and the starry night. 



Perhaps the outstanding feature of these trips is that they give 

 the nature lover unusual opportunities for the observation of 

 nature at twilight, at night, and at dawn. The average woman 

 teacher, especially if she be urban, rarely has been in the woods at 

 these times. She has not slept out-of-doors, under the open sky. 



