r with buckskin strings tied to the lower border of the cloth and to
pegs driven firmly into the earth. This forms a shelter for three or
four men, and is a good defense against winds and rains. If a fire be
then made in front, the smoke will be carried away, so as not to
incommode the occupants of the bivouac.

This is called a "half-faced" camp.

[Illustration: HALF-FACED CAMP.]

Another method practiced a great deal among mountain men and Indians
consists in placing several rough poles equidistant around in a half
circle, and bringing the small ends together at the top, where they are
bound with a thong. This forms the conical frame-work of the bivouac,
which, when covered with a cloth stretched around it, makes a very good
shelter, and is preferable to the half-faced camp, because the sides
are covered.

[Illustration: CONICAL BIVOUAC.]

When no cloths, blankets, or hides are at hand to be placed over the
poles of the lodge, it may be covered with green boughs laid on
compactly, so as to shed a good deal of rain, and keep out the wind in
cold weather. We adopted this description of shelter in crossing the
Rocky Mountains during the winter of 1857-8, and thus formed a very
effectual protection against the bleak winds which sweep with great
violence over those lofty and inhospitable _sierras_. We always
selected a dense thicket for our encampment, and covered the lodges
with a heavy coating of pine boughs, wattling them together as
compactly as possible, and piling snow upon the outside in such a
manner as to make them quite impervious to the wind. The fires were
then kindled at the mouths of the lodges, and our heads and bodies were
completely sheltered, while our feet were kept warm by the fires.

The French troops, while serving in the Crimea, used what they call the
_tente d'abri_, or shelter tent, which seems to have been received with
great favor in Europe. It is composed of two, four, or six square
pieces of cloth, with buttons and buttonholes adjusted upon the edges,
and is pitched by planting two upright stakes in the ground at a
distance corresponding with the length of the canvas when buttoned
together. The two sticks are connected by a cord passed around the top
of each, drawn tight, and the ends made fast to pins driven firmly into
the ground. The canvas is then laid over the rope between the sticks,
spread out at an angle of about forty-five degrees, and the lower edges
secured to the earth with w