As it burnt we gradually
added more small sticks till it was a good strong little fire, then we
added more and more sticks, the object being to get the space between
the stones gradually full of glowing red-hot bits of wood to give heat
to the cooking pots, which we then stood on the two stones so as to
bridge over the fire.
The great art is to begin with a very _small_ fire and a
_very_ dry one. You can then add to its size as you please later
on, and when it is going strong you can add damper wood if dry wood is
scarce. Birch-bark cannot be found everywhere, but it is the best of
lighting tinder when you have it.
The channel between the stones is much better if laid so as to face
the breeze. The fire can then be kept going at the mouth of it, and
the heat will blow through; a bigger kind of log can be put in from
the other end to catch fire and add to the heat in the channel.
Of course, there are plenty of other ways of making fires, which you
can read about in _Scouting for Boys_, but this is the particular
kind of cooking fire that we used in my Norwegian camp.
Pages:
132
133
134
135
136
137
138
139
140
141
142
143
144
145
146
147
148
149
150
151
152
153
154
155
156