Home › M › Messrs (Edgington provide comfortable)

Messrs (Edgington provide comfortable)

Edgington provide comfortable camp-bedsteads fitted with hair mattresses and mosquito curtains, which pack into a very small compass in waterproof covers, at a cost of £3 IOS.

A strong folding-table should be taken, and, most important, each member of the party should have a folding deck-chair with detachable canvas seat. It is when the long day's march or hunt is over, and the party sit around the camp fire, that the man with the best chair experiences the greatest amount of comfort. For him who has neglected to provide himself with this hunter's luxury, there are only the alternatives of going to bed away from the jovial chat around the fire, or of laying his aching bones upon the ground, with a very good chance of a sting from one of the numerous scorpions which have had notice to quit from the burning logs.

Stores. The writer strongly recommends the Army and Navy Stores as a place where everything may be obtained.

Write out a list of what is required, and ask the manager of the Export Department to appoint a clerk to go through it with you.

Have the stores packed in half-inch deal boxes with lock, iron hinges, and rope handle at each end, each to weigh 60 to 70 lb. when filled. Each box should be numbered in large figures, and packed with a small amount of the several articles required for daily use, so as to necessitate the opening of as few boxes as possible each day. A list should be carried showing the contents of each box. By this means any article required can be found immediately.

No vegetables being obtainable in the wilds, it is essential to take plenty of desiccated vegetables, dried fruits, figs, and raisins. Lard for cooking is most important, the game in some districts being devoid of fat. Danish butter in tins (the smaller the better) keeps well, and is a great luxury.

Cheese should be encased in bladders in order to keep well. Bacon should be packed in salt. Tea, coffee, Swiss milk (unsweetened), in tins; jams, golden syrup, soap, spices, salt, candles, and lime-juice should be included, and a bag of oatmeal and another of lentil beans will be found useful. Macaroni, arrowroot, and essence of beef should be taken as food for fever patients. Flour should be packed in 14-lb. tins, and care should be taken that the supply of baking powder is ample. Saccharine should be taken in preference to sugar. The best and safest mode of carrying whisky or other spirits is in stoneware jars encased in wickerwork, with a metal [CAMPING OUT cover over the bung, which locks with a padlock.

In addition to plates, cups, knives, forks, saucepans, &c., a mincing machine should be provided, also a large iron three-legged pot with lid, for baking bread.