Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1878-06-01
CAMPING OUT.
Charles Dudley Warner Describes
Its Delig htful DiscOmfOrfs.
from the Atlantic for June

mentS of civilization. And it remains OlIy to
those Who are most highly civilized. It is Won
derful 10 see how easily the restraints of So
ciety fall off. Many good habits are easily got
rid OF in the woods Doubt sometimes seems
to be felt whether Sunday is a legal holiday
there. ltbecOmes question of casuiStry with
a clergyman whether he may shoot at mark
on Sunday, If none. of his congregation are
present. He intends no harm he only graft
hes curiosity to see if he can hit the mark
Where shall he draw the line? Doubtless he
might throw stone at a chipmunk, or shout
at loon Might he fire at a mark with an
air gun that makes no noise? He will not iSh
or hunt on Sunday-althOugh he is no more
likely to catch anything that day than any
Other-but may he eat trout that the guide has
caught on Sunday, If the guide swearS he
caught them Saturday night? Is there such a
thing as vacation in religion? How much of
our vir lie do We owe to inherited habits?
The Adirondack wilderness is essentially
unbroken; few bad roads that penetrate it,
few J0itlng wagons that traverse them, a
few barn-llke boarding houses on the edge of
the forest, where the boarders are sOothed by
| patent coffee, and stimulated to unnatural
gayety by Japan tea. and experimental on by
unique cookery, do little to destroy the savage
fascination of the region. In half an hour. at
any point. one can put himself into solitude
and every desirable discomfort. The party
that covets the experience of the camp comes
down to primitive conditions OF dress and
equipment. There are guides and porterS to
carry the blankets for beds, the raw provis-
Ions and the camp equipage: and the ml;ley
u
the wood and begins, perhaps on trail, its
eXhilirating and weary march. The eXhiira-
ton arises partly from the casting aside OF re
stralnt, partly from the adventure OF eXplQra-
tOn and the WEAKNESS from the lntermin-
able toll of bad walking, heavy puck, and
the grim m0nOtOny of trees and bushes that
smut out all prospect except an occasional
climbed streams forded, lonesome lakes pai-
died over, long and muddy carries ira
yersed: Fancy this party the victim of poIti-
cal exile, banished by the law. and more
sOrrowful march could not be imagined But
the voluntary hardship becomes pleasure amt
1t Is undeniable thai the spirits of the party
rise as the difficulties increase.
The spot for a ShanJy selected: this side
shall be its opening, toward the lake, and in
front of it the fire, SO that the smoke shall
drift into the hut and discourage the IN IS
qultOeS; yOnder shall be the cooks fire and
the pain to the spring. The site is cleared of
underbruSh; fOrked stakes are driven into the
ground, cross pieces are laid on them, and
poles SlOplng back to the ground. In an in
credible space OF time there is the skeleton of
house, which is entirely open in front The
roof and sides must be covered. For this pur-
pose the trunks OF great SpruceS are skinned
The WOOdman rims the bark near the foot of
the tree, and again six feet above, and SlaSheS
IL perpendlcuiarly: then with a blunt stick.
he crowds of this tn ok hide, exactly as
an OK is skinned. 1t neeus but a few of these
skins to cover the roof, and they make a per
fectly water-tight roof, except when ii rains.
Meantime busy hands have gathered boughs
shingled the grouni underneath the shanty
for bed. 1t is an aromatic bed in theory it
is elastic and c0nsOling. Upon it are spread
The Blankets. The sleepers, of all sexes and
ages, are to lie there in row, their feet to the
fire ana their heads under the edge of the
SOping roof. Nothing could be better con
triVed; The fire is in front; it IS not fire, but
a cOntiagration, a vast hpap of green logs, set
OIL hre of pitch and split dead wood and
cracking balsams, raging and roaring. By Che
time twilight falls the cook mas prepared sup
HOP hnS h1a nkn1 in
and Skllet-pOtatOeS tea, pork, mutton, slap
jacks. You wonder how everything could
have been prepared in so few utensils. When
you eat the wonder ceases; every hing might
have been cooked in one pail. 1t is a nOOle
meal, and nObly is it disposed of by these anna
teur SavageS sitting about upon logs and Roots
OF trees. Never We're there such potatoes:
never beans that seemed to have more of the
bean In them; never such curly pork never
trout with more Indian meal on them; never
mutton more distinctly sleepy: and the tea
drunk out of a tin cup, with lump of maple
sugar dissolved in tit is the sort of tea that
takes hold. lifts the hdir, and diSpOSeS the
drinkef 10 anecdote and hlltrlou5nesS; There
is no deception about it: il tastes of tannin
and spruce and creOSOte. Everything, in short.
has the flavor of the wilderness and free life.
IL is idyllic. And yet, with all our sentimen-
tally, there IS no hing feeble about the cook
ing. The Slapjacks are solid job OF work
made to last. and not go 10 pieces in persons
stomach like trivial bun: we might record
Them in cuneifOrm characters, our incipient
civilizations, and future generations would
doubtless them up as Arcadian bricks. g )od ,
robust ylctualS are what the primitive man
wants.
Darkness falls suddenly. Outside the ring
OF light from our cOnfiagratiOn, the woods are
black. There is tremendous impression of
ISOLATION and lOneSOmeness in our situation
We are the prisoners of the night. The woods
never seemed so vast and mysterious. The
trees are gigantic. There are noises that we
do not understand, mysterious winds passing
overhead and rambling in the great galleries.
tree trunks grinding against each other, un
defnable stirs and uneaSineSSes. The shapes
OF those who pass into the dimness are out
lined in mOnStrOuS proportions. The Specters,
seated about in the glare of the fire, talk
about appearances and preSentimentS and re
igiOn; the guides cheer the night with ,ar
fights, and eatamOunt encounters, and frozen
to-death experiences, and simple tales of great
lucidity. We hear catamounts and the
Stealthy tread OF things in the leaves, and the
hOOting of owls and when the moon rises the
laughter of the loon. Everything is strange,
spectral, fascinating.
BY and by we get our positions in the shanty
for the night, and arrange the row of Sleepers.
The Shanty has become a smoke. house by this
time; waves OF smoke roll into it from the fire :;
we'll under the caves that one can breathe No
one can find her things nobody has pill
low. At length the row is laid out, with the
solemn prOtestation of intention to sleep The
wind shifting drives away the smoke; good
night is said hundred times; positions are
Teadjusted; more last words new shifting
dUOut; Hndl remarks; IL Is all so comfortable
and romantic, and then silence Silence con-
tinueS for minute. The fire flashes up: all
the row Of heads is lifted up simultaneously to
watch it; showers of sparks sail alOft into the
blue night; the vast vault of greenery is
fairy spectacle. How the sparks mount, and
twinkle, and disappear like tropical fire flies
and all the leaves murmur and clap their
hands. Some of the sparks do not go out; We
see them flaming in the sky, when the flame
OF the fire has died down Well good night
good night more folding of the arms to sleep ::
more grumbling about the hardness of ha I'D
bag or the lnsutficiency of a pocket handker-
chief for pill0w-goOd night. Was that
Notwithstanding about a root, a stub in
the ground sticking into the back.
Ii needs but moment for the conversation
TO become general-abOut roots under the
shoulder, stubs in the back ridge on which
II Is impossible for the sleeper to balance
The nOn-elaStlclty OF bOughS the hardness of
the ground, the heat, the smoke, the chilly air ;
subjects OF remark multiply. The whole camp
is awake and chattering like an aviary. The
owl Is also awake, but the guides who are
asleep outside make make more noise than
the owls. Water Is wanted, and is handed about
In Upper. Everybody Is yawning; every
body Is now determined to 60 to sleep in good
earnest. A last good night. There is an ap.
palllng silence. 1t Is interrupted in the most
natural way in the world. Somebody has got
the start and gone to sleep. He prOcafmS
the fact. How Indignantly he snOrts, and
breaks on short, and at once begins again in
another Key! One head is raised after another
"WhO is that?n
Somebody punch him."
h r,,D