CHAPTER VI. Hints on the Construction of Tents and on Camp Sanitation. In many hot countries Europeans of all classes pass a considerable portion of their time under canvas, and though it is not proposed to refer in any way to military operations, some reference to the management of small private camps is desirable. In pioneering life in the colonies, permanent encampments necessarily have to serve in place of houses, often for long periods, and in such colonies as South Africa whole families are often “on the trek” for months together; whilst in India most officials must pass much of the cold season under canvas as a part of their routine duty, and it is quite common for an official to be accompanied on these long tours by his family and entire establishment. Now in spite of its apparent inconveniences, tent-life is, if fairly well managed, extremely healthy, and there can be no doubt that in India these cold weather tours under canvas form the saving clause in the description of an official’s life; so that it is extremely desirable that, wherever practicable, the ladies and children of a family should share in its advantages. In a well-ordered Indian cold weather tour in tents, the hardships are indeed so purely nominal that there is no difficulty whatever in taking even the youngest children, not only without any increase in the risks of life, but with enormous advantage to health. Tents should, as a rule, be obtained on the spot, as those manufactured in any given country will generally be better planned to meet special local exigencies than those obtainable elsewhere, and in any case it is a mistake to obtain an outfit of this description in Europe, as tent-life is so foreign to the habits of settled countries, that our manufacturers are utterly ignorant of the proper plan of construction, or of the most suitable materials to choose. The English service bell-tent, for example, seems contrived to combine all possible disadvantages that a tent can possess, every other consideration being sacrificed to the idea of supporting it by means of a single pole; though the advantages of this are more than neutralised by the employment of a spar, better suited to serve as the mizen-mast of a small cruiser than for the purpose for which it is intended. In India, on the other hand, the manufacture of tents has been an extensive industry for centuries, and the intending explorer or colonist who is likely to have to pass prolonged periods under canvas cannot do better than obtain what he requires from some of the large manufacturers in Cawnpore or Lahore.