The first thing to parties bent on roughing it is the selection of a tent, which can be hired of any of the sail-makers, for any length of time, and at a reasonable price. For a party of seven or eight, an eight-foot wall-tent, is the best. Dig a trench around the outside to avoid nocturnal baptism the first time it rains. The beds can be comfortably arranged in the rear of the tent, by laying rubber blankets on the ground; on which lay boards slightly raised for the head, and sloping to the ground at the foot. These beds should be placed so that the persons[6] will lie with their heads at the sides of the tent and feet toward the center. On the boards spread straw, hay, or dry seaweed, then the blankets. Every thing used about the bed should be laid in the sun every day. Some prefer sleeping on the ground rolled up in a blanket; but this is imprudent, except in very dry localities.
The next important thing is the stove. The top of a common cooking-stove with covers and stove-pipe to fit, which can be bought at any junk-shop for a trifle, serves very well in dry weather. Dig out a place in the side of a bank the size and shape of the stove-top, about two feet deep, and line three sides with brick or stones, with the front open. Regulate the draught by placing something in front for a blower.
“The Lexington Camping-Stove,” (which is the neatest, the most compact and convenient thing of the kind I ever saw), gotten up by the “Lexington Botanical Club”[7] for their own use is just the article for camp. It is a box-stove, made of sheet iron, light, and quickly set up or taken down. It fits into a wooden chest which is thirty inches long, sixteen and a half deep, and fifteen broad. Into the stove fits a large water-tank; and, into the tank and one end of the stove, fit all the utensils for cooking and serving. When the stove is set up, the chest answers for a closet for stores, and also for a seat.
