In the pine-forests of the North, at winter time, it is usual to fell a large tree, and, cutting a piece six or eight feet long off the large end, to lay the thick short piece upon the long one, which is left lying on the ground; having previously cut flat with the axe the sides that come in contact, and notched them so as to make the upper log lie steady.  The chips are then heaped in between the logs, and are set fire to; the flame runs in between them, and the heat of each log helps the other to burn.  It is the work of nearly an hour to prepare such a fire; but when made, it lasts throughout the night.  In all cases, one or two great logs are far better than many small ones, as these burn fast away and require constant looking after.  Many serious accidents occur from a large log burning away and toppling over with a crash, sending a volley of blazing cinders among the sleeping party.  Savages are always getting burnt, and we should take warning from their carelessness:  sometimes they find a single scathed tree without branches, which they have no means of felling; this they set fire to as it stands, and when all have fallen off to sleep, the tree tumbles down upon them.  Indeed, savages are seldom free from scars or severe burns; they are so cold during the night that they cannot endure to be an inch further from the fire than necessary, and consequently, as they turn about in their sleep, often roll into it.

[Diagram as described following].

Logs to cut up, with a small axe or knife.

Let A O be the log.  Cut two notches (1), (2), on opposite sides.  Hold the log by the end A, and strike the end violently against the ground; the piece O, 1, 2, will fly off.  Then make the cut (3) on the side opposite to (2), and again strike, and the piece 1, 2, 3, will fly off.  So again with cut (4), etc. (Peal.)

Brushwood.—­If in a country where any a number of small sticks and no large logs can be collected as firewood, the best plan is to encamp after the manner of the Ovampos.  These, as they travel, collect sticks, each man his own faggot, and when they stop, each takes eight or nine stones as large as bricks, or larger, and sets them in a circle; and within these he lights up his little fire.  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.’)