Camping and camp cooking — Reading Companion

CAMPING AND CAMP COOKING

FRANK A. BATES (MATASISO)

AUTHOR OF “GAME BIRDS OF NORTH AMERICA,” “STORIES OF LAKE, FIELD AND FOREST,” “HOW TO MAKE OLD ORCHARDS PROFITABLE,” ETC.

New and Revised Edition

BOSTON THE BALL PUBLISHING CO. 1914

Copyright, 1909, By The Ball Publishing Co.

A portion of this first appeared in a different form in the columns of “The Amateur Sportsman & Sportsman’s Magazine,” and thanks are due the publisher of that magazine for permission to republish.

The chapter on cleaning fish was written specially for this volume by Mr. Leslie F. Bosworth. It needs no eulogy.

FRANK W. BRETT, M.D.,

THE COMPANION OF MANY CAMPS, AND THE FRIEND OF MANY DAYS, THIS LITTLE BOOK IS AFFECTIONATELY DEDICATED BY THE AUTHOR

INTRODUCTION TO SECOND EDITION

In laying this new edition of “Camping and Camp-Cooking” before the reading public, it becomes my duty--the most pleasant that falls to the lot of a writer--to express my thanks for the kind reception of the little book. That it has been a success is proven by the kind words of practical people. Hence, but little change has been made in the body of the book; but an appendix has been added on the care of the health, the reason for which will be found therein expressed.

Vacation time brings to many the desire for out-door life, as a refreshment for mind and body. There seems to be a strain of wild blood in the most of us, that impels us to leave the haunts of man, occasionally, and getting out into the wildwood, to live close to nature for awhile. The expense of summer hotels and camps deters many, and the cost of hiring professional guides for those who wish to get rid of the formalities of such resorts and do not know how to care for themselves, prevents others.

There are many who like to leave their work for a few weeks and go to the woods or lakeside. They have neither the time nor the inclination to adopt the life of the professional trapper who lives by the chase and sleeps on the soft side of a slab. They want rest; they wish for pleasure; they require three square meals a day, and they want the food well cooked, not too full of ashes, and not too different from that to which they have been accustomed for the other forty-nine or fifty weeks of the year. To this class, the business man, the clerk, the mechanic, to every one who wishes to camp out and does not know how to do it and still keep his self-respect, this book is addressed.

It is the result of an experience of over twenty years, during which the writer has spent many months in the woods, and fitted out many other parties for their summer vacations. Over the camp fire, while discussing methods with other campers, or instructing the learner “how to do it,” he has been asked many times to put his ideas into shape for publication. Here they are, and it is his hope that everyone who takes this little book with him to camp, may enjoy himself to the limit.

A camping outfit should be light and compact with all unnecessary articles eliminated and all needful ones included. That reads a little funny, but it is the gist of the whole question and the biggest question that was ever presented to a man. That is, you will think so when you are trying to get a 100-pound outfit over a swampy carry on a rainy day and while laying up over a spell of wet weather afterward. In the first place, you wonder why you brought so much truck, and in the second place, why you did not bring many other things. So it seems needless to say that the composition of an outfit depends, to some extent, on the individual taste of the camper, and more upon the character of the trip.

No sane man would carry the same amount of “duffle” on a walking trip that he would if he went with a team, or if he was to be in a permanent camp during the whole of his trip. Hence, I propose to classify them into two sorts--walking trips and permanent camps. But before I set down the list of _impedimenta_ I want to moralize a little.