July, 1907 



AMERICAN HOMES AND GARDENS 



253 



Exploring the River In the Indian Canoe 



in this it was possible to 

 steam the potatoes in their 

 jackets while the meat was 

 boiling in the pot beneath. 

 These, with the kettles and 

 coffee pot, completed the 

 supply of utensils, which 

 filled every emergency with- 

 out being expensive or 

 bulky for transportation. 



After the rent of the 

 camp site and the furnish- 

 ings have been decided 

 upon, the food supply is the 

 only extra expense. By the 

 way, the camp site can fre- 

 quently be secured rent free 

 if some responsible person 

 — preferably the father of 

 one of the boys — holds himself liable for any damage that 

 may be done by the boys. The profit to be derived by the 

 farmer or the owner of the woodland in furnishing supplies 

 of vegetables, eggs, but- 

 ter, milk, etc., is fre- 

 quently considered suf- 

 ficient recompense for 

 camp site rental, and it 

 should be clearly desig- 

 nated at the start as to 

 what underbrush or what 

 certain tree or trees may 

 be used by the boys for 

 firewood. 



It should be remem- 

 bered that a good ax is an 

 indispensable implement 

 in a camp, not only dur- 

 ing the first few days, 

 when there are a hundred 

 uses for it, in erecting 

 ridge-poles, driving tent- 

 pegs, etc., but in chop- 

 ping the daily firewood, 

 and in supplying numer- 

 ous camp comforts. 



After a few sugges- 



Waiting for a Bite 



tions from one of the 

 practical mothers, the 

 boys soon mastered the 

 art of rapid camp fire 

 cooking. They learned 

 that, although the rabbits 

 secured on gunning expe- 

 ditions and the one 

 chicken dinner each week 

 — supplied by a near-by 

 farmer — made tempting 

 feasts, they were trouble- 

 some to prepare, because 

 of the long cooking re- 

 quired and the difficulty 

 in "tending camp fire" 

 throughout the stewing 

 process. 7'hey learned 

 that many of the most ap- 

 petizing dishes could be 

 prepared during the first 

 hot glow of the camp 

 fire; and on coming home 

 from a long tramp in the 

 woods or a gunning or fish- 

 ing expedition, the food was 

 preferred that could be pre- 

 pared in a few moments to 

 satisfy ravenous appetites. 

 With ham, bacon and eggs, 

 and a quantity of white po- 

 tatoes and tomatoes always 

 on hand, the art of quick 

 preparation was soon mas- 

 tered. When fresh fish 

 were brought home from 

 the morning's outing, the 

 big frying pan was placed 

 on the rack over the camp 

 fire as soon as the wood was 

 lighted; in this thin slices of 

 bacon were placed, and 

 when smoking hot in went 

 the fish — fish that had been quickly cleaned by some of the 

 boys while the fire was started by the others. A generous 

 quantity of potatoes was prepared, and all was ready. 



Paddling the Corsair Down Stream 



