For summer travel, I think you can find nothing better than brogans reaching above the ankles, and fastening by laces or buttons as you prefer, but not so tight as to bind the cords of the foot.  See that they bind nowhere except upon the instep.  The soles should be wide, and the heels wide and low (about two and three-quarter inches wide by one inch high); have soles and heels well filled with iron nails.  Be particular not to have steel nails, which slip so badly on the rocks.

Common brogans, such as are sold in every country-store, are the next best things to walk in; but it is hard to find a pair that will fit a difficult foot, and they readily let in dust and earth.

Whatever you wear, break them in well, and oil the tops thoroughly with neat’s-foot oil before you start; and see that there are no nails, either in sight or partly covered, to cut your feet.

False soles are a good thing to have if your shoes will admit them:  they help in keeping the feet dry, and in drying the shoes when they are wet.

Woollen or merino stockings are usually preferable to cotton, though for some feet cotton ones are by far the best.  Any darning should be done smoothly, since a bunch in the stocking is apt to bruise the skin.

PANTALOONS.

Be sure to have the trousers loose, and made of rather heavier cloth than is usually worn at home in summer.  They should be cut high in the waist to cover the stomach well, and thus prevent sickness.

The question of wearing “hip-pants,” or using suspenders, is worth some attention.  The yachting-shirt by custom is worn with hip-pantaloons, and often with a belt around the waist; and this tightening appears to do no mischief to the majority of people.  Some, however, find it very uncomfortable, and others are speedily attacked by pains and indigestion in consequence of having a tight waist.  If you are in the habit of wearing suspenders, do not change now.  If you do not like to wear them over the shirt, you can wear them over a light under-shirt, and have the suspender straps come through small holes in the dress-shirt.  In that case cut the holes low enough so that the dress-shirt will fold over the top of the trousers, and give the appearance of hip-pantaloons.  If you undertake to wear the suspenders next to the skin, they will gall you.  A fortnight’s tramping and camping will about ruin a pair of trousers:  therefore it is not well to have them made of any thing very expensive.

Camping offers a fine opportunity to wear out old clothes, and to throw them away when you have done with them.  You can send home by mail or express your soiled underclothes that are too good to lose or to be washed by your unskilled hands.

CHAPTER V.

Stoves and cooking-utensils.

If you have a permanent camp, or if moving you have wagon-room enough, you will find a stove to be most valuable property.  If your party is large it is almost a necessity.