their being damaged by moisture. For
further safety in this regard the matches may be rendered perfectly
water-proof by dipping their ends in thin mastic or shellac varnish.
If not at hand, this varnish can be easily made by dissolving a
small quantity of either sort of gum in three or four times its
bulk of alcohol. It is well to dip the whole stick in the solution,
thereby rendering the entire match impervious to moisture. Lucifer
matches are the best, and, when thus prepared, they may lay in
water for hours without any injury. It is a fearful thing to find
oneself in the wilderness, cold and hungry, and without the means
of lighting a fire, and to prepare for such an emergency it is
always advisable to be provided with a pocket sun glass. So long as
the sun shines a fire is thus always to be had, either by igniting
a small quantity of powder (which the trapper is always supposed
to carry) or using powdered "touch wood" or "punk tinder" in its
place. Fine scrapings from dry wood will easily ignite by the sun
glass, and by fanning the fire and adding additional fuel it will
soon burst into flame. In cloudy weather, and in the absence of
matches, a fire may easily be kindled by sprinkling a small quantity
of powder on a large flat stone, setting a percussion cap in its
midst, and covering the whole with dry leaves. A smart strike on
the cap with a hammer will have the desired result, and by heaping
additional fuel on the blazing leaves the fire soon reaches large
proportions. If the young trapper should ever be so unfortunate
as to find himself in the wild woods, chilled and hungry, minus
matches, powder, caps, and sun glass, he may as a last resort try
the following: Scrape some lint or cotton from some portion of
the garment, or some tinder from a dry stick, and lay it on the
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surface of some rough rock, white quartz rock if it can be found.
Next procure a fragment of the same stone, or a piece of steel from
some one of the traps, and strike its edge sharply, and with a
skipping stroke into the further side of the tinder, the direction
being such as will send the sparks thus produced into the inflammable
material. Continue this operation until the tinder ignites. By now
gently fanning the smoking mass it may easily be coaxed into flame.
At least so our Adirondack guide told us last summer. The author has
never had occasion to test the merits of the plan for himself, and
has no special desire of being so pl