The square carried by the French soldier
measures 5 feet 4 1/2 inches in the side, reckoning along the buttons; of
these there are nine along each edge, including the corner ones. Each
soldier has also to carry a tent-staff, or else a proportion of the pegs
and cord. When six men club together they proceed as follows:--Three
tent-sticks are fixed into the ground, whose tops are notched; a light
cord is then passed round their tops, and fastened into the ground with a
peg at each eng (fig. 2). Two sheets, A and B, are buttoned together and
thrown over the cord, and then two other sheets, C and D; and C is
buttoned to A, and D to B (fig. 3). Lastly another sheet is thrown over
each of the slanting cords, the one buttoned to A and B, and the other to
C and D; and thus a sort of dog-kennel is formed, in which six men--the
bearers of the six pieces of canvas--sleep. The sides of the tent are of
course pegged to the ground. There are many modifications in the way of
pitching these tents. Should the sticks be wanting, faggots or muskets
can be used in their place.
Tent of Mosquito-netting.--I have been informed of a sportsman in Ceylon,
who took with him into the woods a cot with mosquito-curtains, as a
protection not only against insects, but against malaria. He also had a
blanket rolled at his feet: at 3 in the morning, when the chill arose in
the woods, he pulled his blanket over him.
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