12 PREFACE

long distances, come to the surface and start a disastrous fire days after the camper has left the spot. Cigarette butts and pipe dottle are especially apt to start fires of this sort. Hikers are warned not to render themselves liable for the destruction caused by fires on the property over which The Long Trail passes. It is private land.

No one person or party should travel The Long Trail without axe, compass and matches.

CAMP RULES

Rules are supposed to be crystalized public opinion, and their transgression is usually due to ignorance. Many who read this book need no guide to camp etiquette, but there may be a few who are venturing for the first time into a world where everything seems to be different, and where the sins of omission are serious. Camp rules might be summed up: "Use the camp as if it was your own, and as if the next comer was your dearest friend."

The first rule has to do with hygiene. Burn or bury all refuse. Tin cans should be burned out in the fire and stamped flat; then they cannot smell bad, nor hold water to breed mosquitoes. Food that is left around will smell bad and attract flies and four-footed pests; eggshells and paper on the trail are sure signs of the Trail Hog. The wilderness is lovely because it is free from signs of man; leave none.

Always leave at least one day's supply of GOOD fuel in every camp. Maybe you came in during a rain; maybe the next fellow will. Wood lying on the ground is usually rotten and makes very poor fuel. Down-wood that breaks with a loud snap is

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good, but generally an axe (not a hatchet) is required to obtain fuel.

Extinguish all fires before leaving, even in stoves. Be careful of lunch fires. Never build against a log, nor on the leaves (brush a four-foot circle clear first), nor on humus, especially in pine woods (make a foundation of stones after digging away dry humus), for the very ground will burn in the woods when dry, smouldering in under and coming up a hundred yards away, days later. Be very careful of cigarette stubs and pipe dottle. Do not waste wood by building bonfires. Others are coming and will need wood near the lodges. Do not deface trees, especially white birch. You would not want your own front yard despoiled. Do not deface camps, for the same reason. You do not care to see your guests' names written on your parlor walls. Register in the book provided and leave it hanging up.

STUDY TO TRAVEL LIGHT

If, on breaking camp, you desire to leave surplus food behind, put it in suitable containers and avoid leaving anything perishable. Leave ALL dishes in camp clean and hung up. You may not find them that way, for we still have some Trail Hogs and some hedgehogs: both are pests to whom no mercy should be shown. Kill hedgehogs on sight and remove their bodies so they do not create a nuisance. The law forbids the killing of Trail Hogs, but encourages us to slay hedgehogs, which do great damage to the trees. Carefully avoid pollution of water, especially in disposing of garbage and dishwater. The old-timer is neat and the greenhorn is messy;