Camping and woodcraft - Scoutmastercg.com

BIVOUACS 25shortest possible course. I asked one of them howthey managed to crawl through the thicket. "Wecouldn't crawl," he replied, "we swum," meaningthat they sprawled and floundered over the top.These men were not lost at all. In a "bad laurel"(heavily timbered), not very far from this, an oldhunter and trapper who was born and bred in thesemountains, was lost for three days, although themaze was not more than a mile square. His accountof it gave it the name that it bears today, "Muggins'shell."I could give many such instances, but these willsuffice to show that there still is virgin ground insome of our oldest States. The far West and thefar North present problems of their own. Extensiveswamps are the worst places of all, aboveground. As for caves, and how not to get lost inthem, I will have something to say in another chapterẆhat to Do.—No matter where, or in whatcircumstances, you may be,the moment you realizethat you have lost your bearings, there is just onething for you to do: STOPl Then sit down.Now any man can remember that. It is a bit of"book learning" that no man can afford to despise.It is the one and only way to clear your wits, todrive off the demon of panic, and it is sure to helpget you out of your predicament.Then, if you are a smoker, light your pipe ; if not,chew a twig. It won't take long for you to recoversense enough to know that if you stay right whereyou are until morning your companions, by thattime, will be searching for you. They will be scouringthe woods, hallooing, firing guns, scouting foryour trail. Suppose you do have to stay out allnight, alone in the woods; nothing will hurt you.The stories of bears or panthers pouncing on sleepingmen are all tommyrot. So keep your shirt on.How long has it been since you were where youzuere certain of your location? Probably not a long