Camping and woodcraft - Scoutmastercg.com

14 CAMPING AND WOODCRAFTlike shadows through the forest, killing small gamewith cane blow-guns, much longer than themselves,and small arrows with thistle-down wrapped roundthe butts so as to fitthe bore.To one coming from cities, it was a strange environment,almost as though he had been carriedback, asleep, upon the wings of time, and hadawakened in the eighteenth century, to meet DanielBoone in flesh and blood.*In such a situation it was natural, nay imperative,that one should pick up and practice certain,arts long lost and forgotten by civilized communitiesbut quite essential in our backwoods way of living.I began, to be sure, with the advantage of experiencegained on many hunting and camping tripsin otherlands; but in this new field I had to make shift in adifferent way, and fashion many appliances frommaterials found on the spot. The forest itself wasnot only my hunting-ground but my workshop andmy garden.Into this novel and fascinating game I enteredwith keenest zest,and soon was going even "fartherback" than the native woodsmen themselves. Igathered, cooked, and ate (with certain qualms, beitconfessed, but never with serious mishap) a greatvariety of wild plants that country folk in generaldo not know to be edible. I learned better ways ofdressing and keeping game and fish, and worked outodd makeshifts in cooking with rude utensils, orwith none at all. I tested the fuel values and otherqualities of a great many kinds of wood and bark,made leather and rawhide from game that fell tomy rifle, and became more or less adept in otherbackwoods handicrafts, seeking not novelties butpracticalresults.To what degree I was reverting to the primitivecame home to me one day when a white dame, find-*For an account of this experience, with_ descriptions of thesouthern mountains and their primitive inhabitants, seeOur Southern Highlanders, by Horace Kephart (Outing Publishing-Co.. New York},