Fuel.--Firewood.--There is a knack in finding firewood. It should be
looked for under bushes; the stump of a tree that is rotted nearly to the
ground has often a magnificent root, fit to blaze throughout the night.
Dry Cattle-dung.--The dry dung of cattle and other animals, as found on
the ground, is very generally used throughout the world, in default of
better fuel, and there is nothing whatever objectionable in employing it.
The Canadians call it by the apt name of "Bois de Vache." In North and
South Africa it is frequently used; throughout a large part of Armenia
and of Thibet the natives rely entirely upon it. There is a great
convenience in this sort of fuel; because, as it is only in camps that
fuel is wanted, so it is precisely at old encamping-places that
cattle-dung is abundantly found.
Bones.--Another remarkable substitute for firewood is bones; a fact which
Mr. Darwin was, I believe, the first to mention. The bones of an animal,
when freshly killed, make good fuel; and even those of cooked meat, and
such as have been exposed to the air for some days, will greatly increase
the heat of a scanty fire. Their smell is not disagreeable: it is simply
that of roast or burnt meat. In the Falkland Islands, where firewood is
scarce, it is not unusual to cook part of the meat of a slaughtered bull
with its own bones. When the fire is once started with a few sticks, it
burns well and hotly.
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