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 wooden pins. This makes some defense against the weather, and was the only shelter enjoyed by the mass of the French army in the Crimea up to October, 1855. For a permanent camp it is usual to excavate a shallow basement under the tent, and to bank up the earth on the outside in cold weather. It is designed that upon marches the _tente d'abri_ shall be taken to pieces and carried by the soldiers. A tent has recently been prepared by Mr. John Rider, 165 Broadway, New York, which is called the "_tent knapsack_." It has been examined by a board of army officers, and recommended for adoption in our military service. [Illustration: TENT KNAPSACK.] This tent is somewhat similar to the _tente d'abri_, and is pitched in the same manner, but it has this advantage, that each separate piece may be converted into a water-proof knapsack. The following extracts from the Report of the Board go to show that this tent knapsack will be useful to parties traveling on the prairies with pack trains: