A few leafy boughs, cut and stuck into the
ground, with their tops leaning over the bed, and secured in that
position by other boughs, wattled-in horizontally, give great protection.
Long grass, etc., should be plucked and strewn against them to make them
as wind-tight as possible.
Walls.--A pile of saddle-bags and other travelling gear may be made into
a good screen against the wind; and travellers usually arrange them with
that intention. Walls of stone may be built as a support to cloths, whose
office it is to render the walls wind-tight, and also by lapping over
their top, to form a partial roof. We have already spoken of a broad sod
of turf propped up on edge.
"The Thibetan traveller cares for no roof overhead if he can shelter
himself from the wind behind a three-foot wall. Hence the numerous little
enclosures clustered together like cells of a honeycomb at every
halting-place, with one side always raised against the prevailing wind.
(Shaw.) These walls are built round shallow pits, each with its rough
fireplace in the middle.
Cloths.--Any cloth may be made to give shelter by an arrangement like
that in the sketch.
[Sketch of cloth shelter].
The corners of the cloth should be secured by simple hitches in the rope,
and never by knots. The former are sufficient for all purposes of
security, but the latter will jam, and you may have to injure both cloth
and string to get them loose again.
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