Camping and woodcraft - Scoutmastercg.com

232 CAMPING AND WOODCRAFTtime. But then I was camping just for the fun oiIt. It Is quite a different matter to come In at nightfall,dog-tired, and have to get In night-wood witha mere hatchet. Don't try that sort of campingwithout a full-size axe.If there is a big, flat-faced rock or ledge on thecamp site, take advantage of it by building your fireagainst it, with the tent In front. Or build a wallof rocks for a fire-back, with stone " andirons."Wooden ones must be renewed every day or so.But if logs must be used, and you have an axe, cutthe back-logs from a green tree at least a foot thick,choosing wood that Is slow to burn. Plaster mudin the crevices between the logs, around the bottom''of stakes, and around the rear end of handjunks" or billets used as andirons; otherwise thefire will soon attack these places. The fire-backreflects the heat forward Into the tent, conductsthe smoke upward, and serves as a windbreak infront of camp; so the higher It is, within reason, thebetter.Novices generally erect the fire-back too far fromthe tent. Conditions vary, but ordinarily the faceof the back-logs should not be more than five feetfrom the tent front; with a small fire, well tended,it need not be over four feet.The Indian's Fire.— Best where fuel Is scarce,or when one has only a small hatchet with which tocut night-wood. Fell and trim a lot of hardwoodsaplings. Lay three or four of them, on the ground,butts on top of each other, tips radiating from thiscenter like the spokes of a wheel. On and aroundthis center build a small, hot fire. Place butts ofother saplings on this, radiating like the others. Asthe wood burns away, shove the sticks In toward thecenter, butts on top of each other, as before. Thissaves much chopping, and economizes fuel. Builda little v/indbreak behind you, and lie close to thefire. Doubtless you have heard the Indian's dictum(southern Indians express It just as the northern