[at-l] Ernest Hemingway On Camping (Part I)

[RoksnRoots at aol.com]

           An article from one of Ernest Hemingway's early career writings in 
the early 1920's for the Toronto Star newspaper:


          CAMPING OUT 


        Thousands of people will go into the bush this summer to cut the high 
cost of living. A man who gets his two weeks' salary while he is on vacation 
should be able to put those two weeks in fishing and camping and be able to 
save one week's salary clear. He ought to be able to sleep comfortably every 
night, to eat well every day and to return to the city rested and in good 
condition. 
     
           But if he goes into the woods with a frying pan, an ignorance of 
black flies and mosquitoes, and a great and abiding lack of knowledge about 
cookery the chances are that his return will be very different. He will come back 
with enough mosquito bites to make the back of his neck look like a relief 
map of the Caucasus. His digestion will be wrecked after a valiant battle to 
assimilate half-cooked or charred grub. And he won't have had a decent night's 
sleep while he has been gone.

          He will solemnly raise his right hand and inform you that he has 
joined the grand army of never-agains. The call of the wild may be all right, 
but it's a dog's life. He's heard the call of the tame with both ears. Waiter, 
bring him an order of milk toast.

        In the first place he overlooked the insects. Black flies, 
no-see-ums, deer flies, gnats, and mosquitoes were instituted by the devil to force 
people to live in cities where he could get at them better. If it weren't for them 
everyone would live in the bush and he would be out of work. It was a rather 
successful invention.

        But there are lots of dopes that will counteract the pests. The 
simplest perhaps is oil of citronella. Two bits' worth of this purchased at any 
pharmacist's will be enough to last for two weeks in the worst fly and 
mosquito-ridden country.

       Rub a little on the back of your neck, your forehead and your wrists 
before you start fishing, and the blacks and skeeters will shun you. The odor 
of citronella is not offensive to people. It smells like gun oil. But the bugs 
do hate it. 

       Oil of Pennyroyal and eucalyptol are also much hated by mosquitoes, 
and with citronella they form the basis for many proprietary preparations. But 
it is cheaper and better to buy the straight citronella. Put a little on the 
mosquito netting that covers the front of your pup tent or canoe at night, and 
you won't be bothered. 

            To really be rested and get any benefit out of a vacation a man 
must get a good night's sleep every night. The first requisite for this is to 
have plenty of cover. It is twice as cold as you expect it will be in the bush 
four nights out of five, and a good plan is to take just double the bedding 
that you think you will need. An old quilt that you can wrap up in is as warm as 
two blankets.

       Nearly all outdoor writers rhapsodize over the browse bed. It is all 
right for the man who knows how to make one and has plenty of time. But in a 
succession of one-night camps on a canoe trip all you need is level ground for 
your tent floor and you will sleep all right if you have plenty of covers under 
you. Take twice as much cover as you think that you will need, and then put 
two-thirds of it under you. You will sleep warm and get your rest.