Young Knights of the Empire Part 36

TENTS.

The first thing to consider is what kind of subst.i.tute for a house you are going to have to protect you from bad weather. This depends a good deal on what kind of country you are in. In a forest you can, of course, get plenty of timber out of which to build huts, but it is not much use being able to build a log-hut and then to find yourself in the open desert of the Sahara.

The best all-round kind of camp-house is, of course, a tent. I had what is called a "Cabul" tent--a small square erection, seven feet long by seven feet wide, which can be opened or closed at either end, and has a double roof. I lived in this through the winter in Afghanistan, through snow and blizzard, in the greatest comfort. At one end I built a brick fireplace and chimney; and I built a low wall, two feet high, round the outside; this kept out all draughts and prevented snow from melting into the tent. And I lived there as cosily and comfortably as in a house.

In that same tent I afterwards lived in the blazing heat of the plains of India. Instead of the fireplace at the end to keep it hot, I had a great mat of Khuskhu's fibre stretched on a frame and kept always wet to keep it cool; the hot wind blowing through this was at once cooled, and kept the tent delightfully cold and fresh inside, and the double roof prevented the sun from baking it. And I had a punkah, or swinging fan, slung from the ridge-pole, and worked by a native from outside.

It was a st.u.r.dy little tent, too, and no gale could ever manage to blow it down. So you see it did equally well for every kind of climate and weather.

Another form of tent which I used in Mafeking and South Africa, and still use for sleeping out in, in England, is one which you would hardly call a tent. It is really a slungcot, with a movable canvas roof to it. It is called the "Ashanti Hammock."

[Ill.u.s.tration: A BIVOUAC SHELTER.]

It packs up quite small, and is put up in a few minutes. Requires no pegs. Keeps you off the wet ground. And when the gale comes and all the tents in camp blow down, you lie there swinging gently in the breeze, the envy of all the rest. It also forms an excellent stretcher if you are ill and have to be carried; and if you die it also makes a very satisfactory coffin, being laced over you as you lie in it. Very complete, isn't it?

[Ill.u.s.tration: THE ASHANTI HAMMOCK.]

There are tents of every sort and kind to be got, from a single-man tent up to a hospital tent for thirty beds. And there are also many kinds of camps there is a "standing" camp, where you remain in the same spot for weeks at a time, or a "tramping" camp, where you move on every day to a new place, and "boating" camp, where also you move but can carry your tent in your boat. But it is rather necessary to know which kind of camp you are making before you can tell which kind of tent you need.

As I have said in _Scouting for Boys_: "For a standing camp 'bell' tents are useful, or huts can be made. Bell tents can be hired in almost any town for a few s.h.i.+llings per week, or you can buy a second-hand one in good condition for about 2 Pounds.

"You could probably let it out on hire to other patrols when not using it yourself, and so get back your money on it. A bell tent, just holds a patrol nicely.

"Scouts' 'patrol' tents also do very well for camp, but you need a second set of staves or poles for rigging them if you want to leave the camp standing while you are out scouting.

"You can make your own tents during the winter months--and this, perhaps; is the best way of all, as it comes cheapest in the end. And if, while you are about it, you make one or two extra ones, you may be able to sell them at a good profit."

A "lean-to" tent is used by many backwoodsmen. It can be made with the Scouts' patrol tent on the same principle as the lean-to shelter described in _Scouting for Boys_.

If pitched with its back to the wind, with a good fire in front, it can be made a most luxurious bedroom on cold night. The roof catches all the warmth and glow of the fire, and you lie there warm in your blankets, yet breathing the fresh air of the forest or veldt and gazing at the stars. There is nothing better on earth.

THE "TRAMP" TENT.

We will begin with the simplest and cheapest. Here is a one-man "tramp" tent, which is used by a certain cla.s.s of gipsy in Scotland.

[Ill.u.s.tration: CONSTRUCTION OF TRAMP-TENT.] You want six hazel sticks, all exactly alike, about 3 ft. 6 in. long, just sufficiently pliant to bend over near the top, but not so thin as to be wobbly.

Each should be sharpened at the b.u.t.t, and marked with a nick ten inches from the point to show how far to drive it into the ground. The points should be slightly charred in the fire to harden them.

Then you want a sheet of light canvas, or waterproofed linen, to form your tent, six feet square, with eyelets or loops along the sides.

[Ill.u.s.tration: ONE-MAN TRAMP-TENT COMPLETE.]

Plant your sticks firmly in the ground, in two rows, two feet apart from each other. Bend the tops inwards to form an archway. Over these arches spread your canvas to form a kind of tunnel tent, and peg down the loops to the ground.

THE "BIVOUAC" TENT.

This is, perhaps, an equally simple tent. The roof, or "fly," can be 6 ft. by 6 ft. Two poles, 3 ft. 6 in., should be planted firmly-at least six inches in the ground.

A stout ridge-rope should be stretched tightly between them, and tied at the top of each, and then securely fixed to a tent peg well driven into the ground in front of each end of the tent.

[Ill.u.s.tration: "BIVOUAC" TENT.]

The edges of the "fly" all round should have large metal eyelets, by which the sides of the tent can be pegged to the ground, and flaps can be laced on at the ends to give protection against wind and rain, etc.

Instead of using pegs at the sides, it is equally good to lace the edge along a stout log, or to a rope stretched tight, or a pole, and well anch.o.r.ed in the ground.

Then you have the "patrol" tent of canvas, as described in _Scouting for Boys_, which is carried in pieces, which lace together, and, with the staves of the patrol as supports, form the tent for six or eight boys. These are very easy to make in a couple of evenings.

THE "CABUL" TENT.

The "Cabul" tent, mentioned previously, was the kind that we used in the war in Afghanistan.

Cabul is the chief town of that country.

These tents are equally comfortable in snow and rain, or in the baking heat of the plains of India.

[Ill.u.s.tration: CABUL TENT COMPLETE] It has an extra roof to keep out the sun or heavy rain. A tent like this, with two roofs, is called a "double-fly" tent. It is, of course, heavier and more expensive than a "single-fly," but it is also more comfortable.

"CABUL" TENT POLES.

The horizontal "ridge-pole," 5 ft. 9 in. long, has an iron eyelet at each end The outer fly rests on this. The loops of the inner fly also hang from it to hold up the inner roof.

[Ill.u.s.tration: INNER "FLY" OF "CABUL" TENT]

[Ill.u.s.tration: OUTER "FLY" OF "CABUL" TENT]

[Ill.u.s.tration: CABUL TENT-POLES.]

The upright poles are six feet high; each of these is fitted with an iron cap and spike at the top to fit the eyelets of the ridge-pole.

Each is also fitted with a circular wooden disc at one foot from the top; this supports the inner fly, the upper part of each pole having been pa.s.sed through the hole at either end of the inner fly-roof.

TENT MAKING.

Before starting to make your tent, you should, in the first place, have a good look at ready-made tents, and see exactly how they are made-especially at the edges.

[Ill.u.s.tration: TREES INSTEAD OF TENT POLES.]

You should always make a model of the tent you propose to construct, first with paper, to scale, so as to get the proper dimensions, and then with linen, with string and poles complete, to see how to cut it out in the right sizes. Afterwards, you can proceed to make the real, article.