TROPICAL FORESTS 
65 
stem is strong enough to be used as the timbers for the frame- 
work of the structure. Several pairs of these stems lashed in 
the V-shape with another for the ridge pole make an ideal 
support for a covering of untrimmed leaves. A shelter of this 
type large enough to hold 6 men can be built in half an hour. 
Do not sleep on the bare ground ; it will be cold and damp and 
you will be more susceptible to visits from various crawling bugs. 
Make a mat or bed of leaves on which to lie. If you are going 
to be in the same place for several nights and want to get com- 
pletely off the ground, make a framework of sticks supported on 
forked uprights embedded in the ground and pile your leaves 
on top of it. 
FIREMAKING 
A fire is advisable and should be built in front of the open side 
of your shelter. Starting a fire may be a problem ; it will prove 
doubly so if you have no matches, and to avoid such a con- 
tingency you should always 'keep some matches about your per- 
son in a waterproof container. It is even better if the heads 
have been dipped in paraffin. The old-fashioned nonsafety 
matches are the best, but safety matches will serve the purpose 
if kept carefully wrapped in an oilskin tobacco pouch, or in 
the cellophane from a cigarette package so that the striking 
surface, as well as the matches, is kept dry. Remember to 
wrap your matches again as soon as you have used one, as the 
jungle dampness or perspiration acts on them very quickly. As 
a matter of fact, a lighter that works and that is kept filled 
with fluid is much better in moist climates than matches. To 
find something dry enough to burn in wet weather it will be 
necessary for you to strip the bark from dead trees or to cut 
