CAMPING OUT. 103 



but good heavy " drilling " will be found full as 

 warm and impervious to rain, besides being much 

 lighter for transportation, and, with proper care, it 

 will last two or three years. A new tent should 

 be well wet before using, or the first heavy shower 

 may beat through, causing, perhaps, some incon- 

 venience. As a further precaution against rain, a 

 fly, as it is called, should be provided. This is 

 simply a sheet of light cloth sufficiently large to 

 completely cover the roof of the tent, which, how- 

 ever, it should not touch, excepting at the ridge- 

 pole, but should be drawn high enough at the 

 eaves to leave a space of three or four inches 

 between it and. the tent. This breaks the force 

 of the storm. Be careful not to touch the in- 

 side of the roof during a heavy rain-storm, espe- 

 cially if the tent has no fly, for the water will 

 gather and run through wherever the tent may 

 be touched, when otherwise it would run down 

 outside.- 



Always pitch your tent on as high ground as con- 

 venient, on a little knoll, if possible, with the ground 

 slanting slightly on all sides, so that water may 

 not run into it. Without this precaution it is 

 often necessary to dig a little ditch around the 

 tent to conduct the water off; but, if the tent is 



