CAMPING OUT.
[TO THE EDITOR OF THE "SPECTATOR."]
SIR,—I have been much interested in your article in the Spectator of September 2nd on this subject. I have just returned from a three weeks' "camping out" holiday on the shore of a small mountain-lake in Carnarvonshire; and in the hope that a short note concerning our experiences may be of interest, I append a few particulars. We were a party of five,—two ladies and three men. We had three ordinary army bell-tents, one of which we used as a dining-drawing. room and two as bedrooms. We had the ruins of an old roofless cottage for a kitchen. There being no timber or wood of any kind, we did all our cooking on an oil-stove, a splendid machine which cost 12s. 6d. We had five camp- beds, and these, with three blankets and a pillow each, were most comfortable. We had with us an ample supply of soups, tinned meats,' milk, and ordinary pro- visions. Milk, butter, eggs, bread, and vegetables were brought to us daily by a farmer ; fish we caught our- selves. The only road was on the opposite shore of the lake, but we kept up communication with the civilised world and the General Post Office by means of a boat which we had moored by our camp. With trout-fishing, swimming, and mountaineering (not omitting cooking and washing up), our holiday passed only too quickly, and we could think of nothing which could have possibly made it pleasanter. We had had previous experience of camping, but assuming that the list of necessaries is carefully considered beforehand, I do not see why any one should not cheerfully undertake what seems to be generally regarded as a somewhat daring experiment for ordinary house-dwellers. I should add that all our crockery which we took with us was enamelled metal.
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