On
one instance, I selected a hilltop in Switzerland, on the way from
Chambery to the Dent du Midi, during a violent and long-continued
thunderstorm. The storm began above my head, then slowly sank to my
level, and finally subsided below me. Many Alpine travellers, notably Mr.
Packe and Mr. Tuckett, have adopted these bags, and used them
continually. Macintosh is certainly oppressive to sleep in, though less
so than might have been expected, as the half-unconscious fidgeting of
the sleeper changes the air. A man in travelling "condition" would
probably find a drugget-bag more healthy than macintosh, even though he
became somewhat wet inside it. Beds used to be almost unknown in some
parts of the Pyrenees. Sheepskin sleeping-bags were employed instead.
Thus, I am assured that at the beginning of this century, there was
hardly a bed in the whole of the little republic of Andorre. The way of
arranging them as knapsacks is, as I have said, a recent invention.
In fig. 1 the wide opening to the mouth of the bag is shown; also the
ends of the buckles and straps that are sewn (on patches of leather, for
additional strength) to the lower side of the bag, as seen in fig. 2.
[Fig 1 and 2].
It must be understood that the woolly sides of the skins are inwards. The
straps that hold the knapsack to the shoulders are secured by a simple
fastening, shown in figs.
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