CHAPTER VI.

Hints on the Construction of Tents and on Camp Sanitation.

In many hot countries Europeans of all classes pass a considerable portion of their time under canvas, and though it is not proposed to refer in any way to military operations, some reference to the management of small private camps is desirable.

In pioneering life in the colonies, permanent encampments necessarily have to serve in place of houses, often for long periods, and in such colonies as South Africa whole families are often “on the trek” for months together; whilst in India most officials must pass much of the cold season under canvas as a part of their routine duty, and it is quite common for an official to be accompanied on these long tours by his family and entire establishment.

Now in spite of its apparent inconveniences, tent-life is, if fairly well managed, extremely healthy, and there can be no doubt that in India these cold weather tours under canvas form the saving clause in the description of an official’s life; so that it is extremely desirable that, wherever practicable, the ladies and children of a family should share in its advantages. In a well-ordered Indian cold weather tour in tents, the hardships are indeed so purely nominal that there is no difficulty whatever in taking even the youngest children, not only without any increase in the risks of life, but with enormous advantage to health.

Tents should, as a rule, be obtained on the spot, as those manufactured in any given country will generally be better planned to meet special local exigencies than those obtainable elsewhere, and in any case it is a mistake to obtain an outfit of this description in Europe, as tent-life is so foreign to the habits of settled countries, that our manufacturers are utterly ignorant of the proper plan of construction, or of the most suitable materials to choose. The English service bell-tent, for example, seems contrived to combine all possible disadvantages that a tent can possess, every other consideration being sacrificed to the idea of supporting it by means of a single pole; though the advantages of this are more than neutralised by the employment of a spar, better suited to serve as the mizen-mast of a small cruiser than for the purpose for which it is intended. In India, on the other hand, the manufacture of tents has been an extensive industry for centuries, and the intending explorer or colonist who is likely to have to pass prolonged periods under canvas cannot do better than obtain what he requires from some of the large manufacturers in Cawnpore or Lahore.

In the first place, it may be laid down as an absolute rule, that tents with single “flies” or roofs, are quite unsuitable to any climate, and should never be used except under the absolute compulsion of restricted transport. Such tents are insufferably hot in warm climates, bitterly cold in chilly ones, and damp and unwholesome in rainy weather in either. On the other hand, the use of waterproofed material is, as a rule, a mistake, and should at any rate never be adopted for the inner fly, as to do so would make any tent of moderate dimensions intolerably “stuffy.” In very rainy climates, there might be no harm in selecting light milrained canvas as the material for the outer fly; but there is no real necessity for this, as a tent should be so planned as to throw off the water by virtue of the slope of the roof, and not by the character of its materials.

A second point to be remembered, is that two or more layers of comparatively light material will afford far greater protection against either heat or cold than the same weight of material woven as a single heavy cloth, and on this account the canvas universally used in Europe for work of this sort is absolutely unsuited for the purpose.

Each fly of an Indian tent is usually formed of two or three layers of cloth, the outer layer being formed of what is generally known as “American” cotton drill, though it is usually of local manufacture; and it would be hard to find a material better suited for the purpose. Where only two layers of cloth are used, the inner layer should be a deep red, as this colour cuts off the largest proportion of the chemical rays of the sun, which exercise such a powerful effect on the human economy. With three layers the middle one should be red, and the undermost deep indigo. In the case of the inner fly, for the middle layer of cloth, where there is one, a deep red should also be selected, but the inner lining should be a pale yellow chintz, as a sombre cloth makes a tent uncomfortably dark. The poles should be so constructed that a space of free air, of not less than a foot, should intervene between the two flies, even in the smallest tents, and if the outer fly be properly planned, it should be impossible for rain to reach the inner fly, even under the worst conditions of weather; though this proviso need not extend to verandahs and bath-rooms, which are not intended for prolonged occupation, and so may be formed by the outer fly only. When weight is a serious consideration, as in the case of exploring parties, it would be difficult to find a better form than that known as the “Kabul tent,” which, with poles, mallet and pegs, weighs but 80 lbs., while the somewhat larger “Field Officer’s Kabul,” weighing, with verandah and bath-room complete, 120 lbs., forms about as comfortable a little residence as can be desired for such purposes. For Indian family use, and for permanent encampments, where a tent has to serve in place of a house, the best form is probably that known as the “Swiss Cottage Tent,” which, however, weighs, according to size, from 4 to 6 cwt., and is therefore only useful for a moving camp, where ample wheeled transport is available.

People unaccustomed to living in tents are apt to think that they are necessarily draughty and uncomfortable, but this is so far from being the case that it is quite as necessary to attend to their ventilation as that of a house; and this is especially true of large tents, the gable part of which is rarely sufficiently ventilated to allow of the escape of foul and heated air. All that is provided for this purpose by manufacturers are a few brass eyelet boles, the total area of which is far too small to have any appreciable effect whatever. Those who possess large tents will do well, therefore, to have made in the uppermost part of the gable of the inner fly of a Swiss Cottage, or near the apex of the pyramidal single pole tent, a small window measuring some 8 in. or 10 in. square. It is easy to arrange a curtain for this, capable of being closed with strings from below, but in practice it will be found that it is never necessary to close the opening, which may merely, therefore, be filled in with strong twine netting, so as to maintain the strength of the tent. The gain in coolness effected by this little modification will be astonishing to those who have not tried it, and it is equally necessary where a stove is used for heating a tent.

Having mentioned this point of the warming of tents, it may be well to point out that on no account should the common native plan of using an open charcoal brazier be adopted, as it is quite a mistake to imagine that a tent is not quite capable of sufficiently retaining the poisonous charcoal fumes to cause harmful, and even serious, effects.

The writer has met with attempts to copy the Indian patterns in tents manufactured in England; but the inveterate attachment of our tent-makers to flies formed of a single heavy waterproof cloth has rendered the best of them next door to useless, and though very pretty, none were fit to be put up anywhere outside a colonial outfitter’s show-room; so that unless the necessary delay of a couple of months be an absolute bar to doing so, novices fitting themselves out for camp life will do well to get what they require from India, or some other country where camp life is a practical everyday contingency.

When used for a living room during the day a tent can not well be too lofty, but for sleeping purposes, tents with the ridge of the inner fly not more than 8 ft. or 10 ft. high present many advantages over larger ones, as not only are they warmer and snugger, but it is far easier to keep them free from flies, which if once they gain admission, render rest during the day impossible.

It is wonderful how free a small tent of this sort can be kept from these pests, provided the chicks or blinds formed of split bamboo be kept always closed. Every night when the flies have become sluggish and sleepy as many as possible should be killed by striking at them with a towel or duster; and then the lamp should be put outside the tent door and the chicks and flies raised, while the flies are kept from settling by flecking and shaking the interior. Attracted by the light, in a very short time, all insects will be coaxed out of the tent, and the chicks and curtains being then replaced, one starts the next day with the tent free from these intruders. The same plan may be also used with large tents, but cannot so effectually be carried out, as it is difficult to reach insects that have settled in the uppermost part of the tent, but vigorous shaking will usually suffice to dislodge most of them.

Mosquito-nets for camp use should be shaped like a miniature tent, with a ridge and gable-shaped ends, so that they can be easily and quickly suspended from the tent poles by means of strings fitted to each end of the ridge, which should be strengthened with a stout piece of tape.

In selecting a site for camp, it is well to keep as far as possible from native villages, but as a rule one is obliged to pitch tolerably near them, on account of the difficulty of bringing supplies to a greater distance. In any case, however, the site chosen should be to the windward of the village, and sufficiently removed to be clear of the results of its primitive notions on the subject of conservancy. Conservancy, indeed, is always a difficulty in camp, and renders the prolonged occupation of any one camp extremely undesirable. In private marching camps and even in the tolerably large caravans of exploring parties, it may be taken for granted that any attempt at the establishment of regular latrines is doomed to failure; so that the utmost that can be done is to fix a limit of distance, within which cleanliness is enforced by punishing any detected infraction of the rule as sharply as may be practicable. Where, however, tents are pitched in standing camp, as a temporary substitute for a permanent habitation, trenches should always be established, and their use insisted upon, as otherwise it will be absolutely necessary to periodically shift the camp to a clean site.

In the matter of water supply, it should be needless to point out that its sources are always necessarily of doubtful purity, and that more than common care is therefore essential to secure that it is properly sterilised by boiling. As already remarked, it is a good plan, where possible, to send on and get the wells in advance disinfected by treatment with permanganate of potash, and this precaution is, of course, especially important in the presence of cholera.

In the sort of camp life under consideration, regular camp beds are assumed to be carried, so that there is no need to burden oneself with heavy ground sheets, ordinary cotton carpets being, for our purposes, far more comfortable and sightly; but it is nevertheless well, wherever the material is available, to lay down, beneath the floorcloth, a good layer of hay or straw, as this not only serves as a sop to the white ants, but serves the further sanitary purpose of taking up the damp that is always arising from the soil even in apparently very dry localities. As the litter is in no way damaged by its use for this purpose it is rarely necessary to buy it outright, the owners being usually satisfied with a trifle for the loan of it, sufficient to remunerate them for the trouble of bringing the straw and fetching it back. In standing camps however, litter used for this purpose should always be cleared out and dried in the sun at frequent intervals, as without this precaution it is sure to get mildewed and offensive.

There is, of course, no real difference between the rules of personal hygiene suitable to camp life, and those of dwellers in more settled habitations, and with due attention to a few special points such as those that have been touched upon in the present article, camp life, on account of the constant enjoyment of fresh air which it affords, will always be found far healthier than that passed within houses.