To warm Tents.—­“When living in a tent in Otago (New Zealand) during a severe winter, we were perfectly numb with cold at nights, until we adopted the Maori plan, which is to dig a hole about a foot square in the clear, to cover the bottom with a stone or stones, and to fill it at night with red-hot cinders from the camp fire, and lastly, to close the tent excepting a small opening near the top.  The cinders are not nearly burnt out by morning.  They diffused a pleasant warmth through the tent, and rendered us comfortable all night.  There is no danger of suffocation, unless the tent be closed up very tight indeed.”—­(W.  M. Cooper.)

Permanent Camp.—­The accompanying sketch shows a tent pitched for a lengthened habitation.  It has a deep drain, a seat and table dug out, and a fireplace. (See the following paragraphs.)

Lost Articles.—­Small articles are constantly mislaid and trampled in the sand of the floor of the tent.  In searching for them, the ground should be disturbed as little as possible:  it is a usual plan to score its surface in parallel lines, with a thin wand.  It would be well worth while to make a small light rake to use for this purpose.

Precautions against Thieves.—­Natives are apt to creep up to tents, and, putting their hands under the bottom of them, to steal whatever they can:  a hedge of thorn-bushes is a protection against this kind of thieving.  In some countries a net, with three or four bells attached to it, is thrown over the packages inside a tent.  Strings tied horizontally, a foot above the ground, from package to package, are found effective in tripping intruders, See also “Guns set as Spring-guns.”

FURNITURE.

Furniture.—­The luxuries and elegances practicable in tent-life, are only limited by the means of transport.  Julius Caesar, who was a great campaigner, carried parquets of wooden mosaic for his floors!  The articles that make the most show for their weight, are handsome rugs, and skins, and pillows; canteens of dinner and coffee services; and candles, with screens of glass, or other arrangements to prevent them from flickering.  The art of luxurious tenting is better understood in Persia than in any other country, even than in India.

Bedsteads.—­A portable bedstead, with mosquito-curtains, is a very great luxury, raising the sleeper above the damp soil, and the attacks of most creatures that creep on it; in tours where a few luxuries can be carried, it is a very proper article of baggage.  It is essential where white ants are numerous.  A very luxurious bed is made on the principle of a tennis-player’s raquet; being a framework of wood, with strips of raw hide lashed across it from side to side and from end to end.  It is the “angareb” of Upper Egypt.

Hammocks and Cots.—­I stated in previous editions of this book, that hammocks and cots had few advocates, owing to the difficulty of suspending them; but Captain M’Gwire’s recent ingenious invention quite alters the case.  His method will be easily understood by the annexed sketch.  The apparatus is adapted for use on the wooden floors of houses, or ships, by the employment of eyelet-bolts or screw rings instead of pegs, and by putting wooden shoes below the staves to prevent their slipping inwards:  the shoes are tied to the eyelet-bolts by a cord.