Now the party make their fireplaces
close together, in two or more parallel lines, and sleep in between them;
the stones prevent the embers from flying about and doing mischief, and
also, after the fires have quite burnt out, they continue to radiate
heat.
Charcoal.--If charcoal be carried, a small chafing-dish, or other
substitute for a fireplace, ought also be taken, together with a set of
tin cooking-utensils.
Fireplaces in Boats.--In boating excursions, daub a lump of clay on the
bottom of the boat, beneath the fireplace--it will secure the timbers
from fire. "Our primitive kitchen was a square wooden box, lined with
clay and filled with sand, upon which three or four large stones were
placed to form a hearth." (Burton's 'Medinah.')
Fireplaces on Snow.--On very deep snow, a hearth has to be made of a
number of green logs, upon which the fire may be made. (See "Esquimaux
Cooking Lamp.")
Cooking-fires.--See chapter on "Cooking."
Fires in the early Morning.--Should your stock of fuel consist of large
logs and but little brushwood, keep all you can spare of the latter to
make a blaze, when you get up to catch and pack the cattle in the dark
and early morning. As you travel on, if it be bitter cold, carry a
firebrand in your hand, near your mouth, as a respirator--it is very
comforting; then, when the fire of it burns dull, thrust the brand for a
few moments in any tuft of dry grass you may happen to pass by, which
will blaze up and give a new life to the brand.
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