Camping and woodcraft - Scoutmastercg.com

;CAMP MAKING 211add a little Jamaica ginger and sugar to the water,making a weak ginger tea.Muddy Water.— I used to clarify Mississippiwater by stirring cornmeal in it and letting it settle,or by stirring a lump of alum in it until the mudbegan to precipitate, and then decanting the clearwater. Lacking these, one can take a good handfulof grass, tie it roughly in the form of a cone sixor eight inches high, invert it, pour water slowly intothe grass, and a runnel of comparatively clear waterwill trickle down through the small end.The following simple method of purifying muddywater is recommended by H. G. Kegley:" Dip up what is needed, place it in such vessels as areavailable, and treat it to condensed milk, in the proportionof two tablespoonfuls of milk to five gallons of water. Thesediment settles in a very short time. Next morning, if youdesire to carry some of the water with you through the day,pour it from the settlings, and then boil the water and skimit. In that way the cream and any possibility of sournesswill be removed. Water thus clarified remains palatableso long as it lasts."Stagnant Water.— A traveler may be reduced tothe extremity of using stagnant or even putrid waterbut this should never be done without first boilingit. Some charred wood from the camp fire shouldbe boiled with the water; then skim off the scum,strain, and set the water aside to cool. Boilingsterilizes, and charcoal deodorizes.I quote the following incident from Johnson'sGetting Gold.—" I once rede forty-five miles with nearly beaten horsesto a native well, or rock hole, to find water, the next stagebeing nearly fifty miles further. The well was found, butthe water in it was very bad ; for in it was the body of adead kangaroo, which had apparently been there for weeks.The wretched horses, half frantic with thirst, did manageto drink a few mouthfuls, but we could not. I filled ourlargest billycan, holding about a gallon, slung it over thefire and added, as the wood burnt down, charcoal, till th«top Avas covered to a depth of two inches. With the charcoalthere was, of coursCa a little ash containing bi-car-