Substitutes for Pots and Kettles.—­It is possible to boil water over a slow fire in many kinds of vessels that would be destroyed by a greater degree of heat.  In bark, wooden, skin, and even paper vessels, it is quite possible to boil water.  The ruder tribes of the Indian Archipelago use a bamboo to boil their rice:  “The green cane resisting the fire sufficiently long for the cooking of one mass of rice.” (Crawfurd.) If, however, you have no vessel that you choose to expose to the risk of burning, you must heat stones and drop them into the water it contains; but sandstones, especially are apt to shiver and make grit.  The Dacota Indians, and very probably other tribes also, used to boil animals in their own hide.  The description runs thus:  “They stuck four stakes in the ground, and tied the four corners of the hide up to them, leaving a hollow in the middle; three or four gallons of water, and the meat cut up very fine, were then put in; three or four hot stones, each the size of a 6-lb. cannon-shot, cooked the whole into a good soup.”  To a fastidious palate, the soot, dirt, and ashes that are usually mixed up with the soup, are objectionable; but these may be avoided by a careful cook, who dusts and wipes the stones before dropping them in.  The specific heat of stone is much less than that of water, so that the heating power of a measure of stone is only about one-half of that of an equal measure of equally hot water.

Graters are wanted to grate jerked meat.  A piece of tin, punched through with holes, then bent a little, and nailed to a piece of wood, makes a good one.

Sieves.—­Stretch parchment (which see) on a wooden hoop, exactly as on a drum-head; let it dry, and prick it with a red-hot iron, else punch it full of small holes.

Plates, to carry.—­I have travelled much with plates, knives, forks, etc., for three persons, carried in a flat leather case like a portfolio, which hung from the side of the cook’s saddle, and I found it very convenient.  It was simply a square piece of leather, with a large pocket for the metal plates, and other smaller ones for the rest of the things; it had a flap to tie over it, which was kept down with a button.

Cups.—­Each of the men, on a riding expedition, should carry his own tin mug, either tied to his waist or to his saddle.  A wooden bowl is the best vessel for tea, and even for soup, if you have means of frequently washing it:  tin mugs burn the lips too much.  Wooden bowls are always used in Thibet; they are cut out of the knots that are found in timber.

Spoons.—­It is easy to replace a lost spoon by cutting a new one out of hard wood, or by making one of horn. (See “Horn.”)