Scouting for Boys

by Robert Baden-Powell

  An old camper always has with him in camp three or four little linen bags for carrying his provisions. Of course, he makes these for himself before going out into camp.

  The ration bag need not be bigger than 6 inches deep by 3 inches wide, and should have a tape run through the hem of the neck with which to draw it tight.

  While you are about it, it is also useful to make yourself some bigger bags to keep odds and ends

  in, in camp—such as string, spare buttons, needle case, scissors, and so on.

  I have linen bags, too, for putting my boots into when packing up. It prevents them from dirtying the clothes among which they are packed.

  Food

  If fresh meat is used, be sure that it is fresh, and remember that eggs, rice, and porridge keep better. Fruit is easy to stew and good to eat. Chocolate is very useful in camp and on the march.

  A good kind of bread for camp is what the Boers and most South African hunters use, and that is “rusks”. Rusks are easily made. You buy a stale loaf at the baker’s at half-price, cut it up into thick slices or square junks, and then bake these in an oven or toast them before a hot fire till they are quite hard. They do very well instead of bread. Soft bread easily gets damp and sour and stale in camp.

  Making Camp

  In Scout camps the tents are not pitched in lines and streets as in military camps, but are dotted about in Patrol units, fifty or a hundred yards apart or more, in a big circle round the Scoutmaster’s tent, which, with the flag and camp fire, is generally in the centre.

  Pitching Tents

  When you have chosen the spot for your camp, pitch your tent with the door away from the wind.

  If heavy rain comes on, dig a small trench about three inches deep all round the tent to prevent it from getting flooded.

  You can smile at the rain if you have pitched your tent properly.

  This trench should lead the water away downhill. Dig a small hole the size of a teacup alongside the foot of the pole into which to shift it if rain comes on. This enables you to slack up all ropes at once to allow for their shrinking when they get wet.

  Water Supply

  If there is a spring or stream, the best part of it must be kept strictly clear and clean for drinking water. Farther downstream, a place may be appointed for bathing, washing clothes, and so on.

  The greatest care is always taken by Scouts to keep their drinking water supply very clean, otherwise they may get sickness among them.

  All water has a large number of germs in it, too small to be seen without the help of a microscope. Some of them are dangerous, some are not. You can’t tell whether the dangerous ones are there, so if you are in doubt about the water, it is safest to kill all the germs by boiling the water. Then let it cool again before drinking it. In boiling the water, don’t let it merely come to a boil, and then take it off, but let it boil fully for a quarter of an hour, as germs are very tough customers, and take a lot of boiling before they get killed.

  Kitchens

  The cooking fire is made to leeward, or down- wind of the camp, so that the smoke and sparks

  from the fire don’t blow into the tents. Cooking fires are described on pages 124-127.

  Old Scouts always take special care to keep the kitchen particularly clean, as, if scraps are left lying about, flies collect and are very likely to poison the food, and this may bring sickness to the Scouts.

  TOMMY THE TENDERFOOT No. 4 - TOMMY GOES CAMPING

  Arriving in camp brimming over with hopes

  He finds out that tents are supported by ropes.

  Note to Parents

  Camping is the great point in Scouting which appeals to the boy, and the opportunity for teaching him self-reliance and resourcefulness, besides giving him health.

  Some parents who have never had experience of camp life themselves, look upon camping with misgivings as possibly likely to be too rough and risky for their boys. But when they see their lads return full of health and happiness outwardly, and morally improved in the points of practical manliness and comradeship, they cannot fail to appreciate the good which comes from such an outing.

  I sincerely hope, therefore, that no obstacle may be placed in the way of the boys taking their holiday on the lines suggested.

  So keep the camp kitchen and the ground around it very clean at all times.

  To do this you will want a wet and a dry pit. These are holes about eighteen inches square and at least two feet deep. The top of the wet one is covered with a layer of straw or grass, and all greasy water is poured through this into the pit. The covering collects the grease in the water and prevents it from clogging up the ground. The straw or grass should be burnt every day and renewed.

  Into the dry pit is put everything else that will not burn. Tin cans should be burnt first and then hammered out flat before being put in the dry pit. Burn everything you can or your pit will very soon be full. The rubbish should be covered with a layer of earth every evening.

  Latrines

  Another very important point for the health of the Scouts is to dig a trench to serve as a latrine. On reaching the camping ground the latrine is the very first thing to attend to—and all Scouts bear this in mind.

  Before pitching tents or lighting the fire the latrine is dug and screens erected around it. The trench should be two feet deep, three feet long, and one foot wide, so that the user can squat astride of it, one foot on each side. A thick sprinkling of earth should be thrown in after use, and the whole trench carefully filled in with earth after a few days’ use.

  There should also be a wet latrine made by digging a hole and half-filling it with stones for drainage.

  Even in a one-night camp, Scouts should dig a latrine trench. And when rearing away from camp a Scout will always dig a small pit a few inches deep, which he will fill in again after use. Neglect of this not only makes a place unhealthy, but also makes farmers and landowners disinclined to give the use of their ground for Scouts to camp on. So don’t forget it, Scouts!

  Camp Routine

  Here are two suggested time-tables for the day:

  #1

  7:00 a.m. Turn out, air bed, wash, etc.

  8:00 a.m. Hoist the flag; prayers: (It may be found better to have this directly after inspection.)

  8:15 a.m. Breakfast.

  9:45 a.m. Inspection

  10:00 a.m. Scouting practice. Swimming

  1:00 p.m. Lunch

  1:30-2:30 p.m. Rest (compulsory)

  2:30-5:30 p.m. Scouting games in neighbourhood. Swimming

  6:30 p.m. Dinner, followed by free time

  8:30-9:30 p.m. Camp fire

  (Or 9:00-11:00 p.m. Night practices.)

  9:30 p.m. Turn in

  10:00 p.m. Lights out. Silence in camp

  #2

  7:00 a.m. Turn out, air bed, wash, etc.

  8:00 a.m. Flag break; prayers

  8:15 a.m. Breakfast

  10:00 a.m. Inspection

  10:15 a.m. -12 noon. Scouting activities

  1:00 p.m. Dinner.

  1:30-2:30 p.m. Quiet hour

  2:30-5:00 p.m. Wide games

  5:00 p.m. Tea and biscuits

  5:30-8:00 p.m. Recreation and camp games

  8:00 p.m. Cocoa

  8:30-9:30 p.m. Camp fire

  10:00 p.m. Lights out

  Bathing and Swimming

  When in camp, bathing will be one of your joys and one of your duties—a joy because it is such fun, a duty because no Scout can consider himself a full-blown Scout until he is able to swim and to save life in the water. But there are dangers about bathing for which every sensible Scout will be prepared.

  First, there is the danger of cramp. If you bathe within an hour and a half after taking a meal, that is, before your food is digested, you are very likely to get cramp. Cramp doubles you up in extreme pain so that you cannot move your arms or legs—and down you go. You may drown—and it will be your own fault.

  There should always be a bathing guard posted, w
hile bathing is going on, of two good swimmers, who will not bathe themselves but will be ready, undressed, prepared to jump in at any moment and help a bather if he is in difficulties. The guards should not bathe until the others have left the water, and a life line must be available.

  A bulletin board may be put up for “Standing Orders”

  and “Camp Routine”. Notice the Patrol dining room in the background.

  Many lives are lost every summer through foolishness on the part of boys bathing, because they don t think of these things. Bathing must only be permitted in safe places and under strict supervision.

  Trespassing

  Be careful to get permission from the owners of land before you go on to it. You have no right to go anywhere off the roads without leave, but most owners will give you this if you go and tell them who you are and what you want to do.

  When going over their land remember above all things:

  1. Leave all gates as you found them.

  2. Disturb animals and game as little as you possibly can.

  3. Do no damage to fences, crops, or trees.

  Any firewood that you require you must ask for before taking it. And be careful not to take out of hedges dead wood which is being used to fill up a gap.

  Loafers in Camp

  A camp is a roomy place. But there is no room in it for one chap, and that is the fellow who does not want to take his share in the many little odd jobs that have to be done. There is no room for the shirker or the grouser—well, there is no room for them in the Boy Scouts at all, but least of all in camp.

  Every fellow must help, and help cheerily in making it comfortable for all. In this way comradeship grows.

  Camp Beds

  There are many ways of making a comfortable bed in camp, but always have a waterproof sheet over the ground between your body and the earth. Cut grass or straw or bracken is good to lay down thickly where you

  are going to lie.

  I think you never find out how full of corners you are till you have to sleep on a hard bit of ground where you cannot get straw or grass.

  TOMMY THE TENDERFOOT No. 5 - TOMMY SLEEPS OUT

  Plenty of blankets below—he’d been told. But Tommy knew better—and so he got cold.

  Of course, every Scout knows that the worst corner in him is his hip-bone, and if you have to sleep on hard ground the secret of comfort is to scoop out a little hole, about the size of a tea-cup, where your hip-bone will rest. It makes all the difference to your sleeping.

  Your night’s rest is an important thing; a fellow who does not get a good sleep at night soon knocks up, and cannot get through a day’s work like the one who sleeps in comfort. So my best advice is: Make a good thick straw mattress for yourself.

  Making a Mattress

  To make a mattress, set up a camp loom and weave it out of bracken, ferns, heather, straw, or grass, six feet long, and two feet nine inches across. With this same loom you can make straw mats, with which to form tents, or shelters, or walls (page 133).

  Another good way of giving yourself a comfortable bed is to make a big bag of canvas or stout linen, 6 ft. long and 3 ft. wide. This will do to roll up your kit in for travelling. When you are in camp you can stuff it with straw, or leaves, or bracken etc., and use it as a nice soft mattress.

  A pillow is also a useful thing for comfort in camp. For this you only need a strong pillow-case about two feet long by one foot wide. This you can also make for yourself. It will serve as your clothes-bag by day and your pillow by night with your clothes, neatly rolled and packed in it, serving as the stuffing.

  I have often used my boots as a pillow, rolled up in a coat so that they don’t slip apart.

  Camp Dodges

  Camp candlesticks can be made by bending a bit of wire into a small spiral spring; or by using a cleft stick stuck in the wall; or by sticking the candle upright in a lump of clay or in a hole bored in a big potato. A glass candle shade can be made by cutting the bottom off a bottle and sticking it upside down in the ground with a candle in the neck. The bottom of the battle may be cut off

  by putting about an inch or an inch and a half of water into the bottle, and then standing it in the embers of the fire till it gets hot and cracks at the water-level. Or it can be done by passing a piece of string round the body of the bottle, and drawing it rapidly to and fro till it makes a hot line round the bottle, which then breaks neatly off with a blow, or on being immersed in cold water. But remember that cut glass is a dangerous thing in camp.

  You can make a camp candlestick in a number of different ways.

  How to Squat

  It is something to know how to sit down in a wet camp. You “squat" instead of sitting. Natives in India squat on their heels, but this is a tiring way if you have not done it as a child. It comes easy if you put a sloping stone or chock of wood under your heels.

  South African Boers and other camp men squat on one heel. It is a little tiring at first.

  The old camper has his own way of squatting, to keep off the ground.

  Fire Building

  Indians were always clever with their fires. Four kinds of fires were used. The Council Fire inside the teepee was a formal kind of thing. The Friendly Fire—somewhat larger than the Council Fire—was to warm everybody in the village. The Signal Fire, was built for sending up smoke signals. The Cooking Fire was a very small fire of glowing red-hot embers. Scouts use the same kinds of fires.

  Clearing the Ground

  Before lighting your fire, remember always to do as every backwoodsman does, and that is to remove all grass, dry leaves, bracken, heather, round the spot, to prevent the fire from spreading to the surrounding grass or bush. Many bad bush fires have been caused by young tenderfoots fooling about with blazes which they imagined to be camp fires. Where there is danger of a grass fire, have branches or old sacks ready with which you can beat it out.

  Scouts should always be on the look-out to beat out a bush fire that had been accidentally started at any time, as a Good Turn to the owner of the land or to people who may have herds and crops in danger.

  Laying the Fire

  It is no use to learn how to light a fire by hearsay. The only way is to pay attention to the instructions given you, and then practise laying and lighting a fire yourself.

  In the book called Two Little Savages, instructions for laying a fire are given in the following rhyme:—

  “First a curl of birch bark as dry as it can be, Then some twigs of soft wood dead from off a tree, Last of all some pine knots to make a kettle foam, And there’s a fire to make you think you’re sitting right at home.”

  With a fire built this way, one match may be all you will need.

  Remember the usual fault of a beginner is to try to make too big a fire. You will never see a backwoodsman do that— he uses the smallest possible amount of wood for his fire.

  First collect your firewood. Green, fresh-cut wood is no good, nor is dead wood that has lain long on the ground. Get permission to break dead branches off trees for it.

  To make your fire, you put a few sticks flat on the ground, especially if the ground be damp. On this flooring lay your “punk”—that is, shavings, splinters, or any other material that will easily catch fire from your match.

  On this you pile, in pyramid fashion, thin twigs, splinters, and slithers of dry wood, leaning on the “punk” and against each other. These are called kindling.

  A good kind of kindling can easily be made by slitting a stick into several slices or shavings, as shown. This is called a firestick. If stood up, with the shavings downwards towards the ground, it quickly catches light and flares up.

  A few stouter sticks are added over the kindling to make the fire.

  Lighting the Fire

  Set light to all this, putting your match under the bottom of the “punk”.

  TOMMY THE TENDERFOOT No. 6 - TOMMY BUILDS A FIRE

  On lighting of fires he sets everyone right, But his own little bonfire refused to ignite.
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br />   When the wood has really got on fire, add more and larger sticks, and finally logs.

  “Firesticks” whittled from dr y wood make good fire starters.

  A Tenderfoot after lighting his fire will blow out his match and throw it on the ground. A backwoodsman will break the match in half before throwing it away. Why? Because if the match is not really out and is still smouldering it will tell him so—by burning his hand.