Bedding.
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least scrape a hollow in the ground, just where the hip-bone would otherwise press.
The annexed sketch (fig. 1) represents a man sleeping in a natural attitude. It will be observed that he fits into a con
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Fig. 1.
Fig. 2.
cavity of about 6 inches in greatest depth. (The scale on which he is drawn is 6 feet long and 1 foot high.)
Hammocks.-See section on " Furniture."
Coverlets.-General Remarks.-For an upper cover, it is of importance to an otherwise unsheltered person, that its texture should be such as to prevent the wind blowing through. If it does so, no thickness is of any avail in keeping out the cold ; hence the advantage of skin caresses, buffalo robes, leather sheets, and macintosh rugs. All cloths lose much of their closeness of texture in a hot, dry climate; the fibres shrink extremely, and the wind blows through the tissue as through network. It is in order to make their coverings wind-proof, that shepherd-lads on the hills in Scotland, when the nights are cold, dip their plaids in water, before sitting or lying down in them. The wet swells up the fibres of the plaid, and makes the-texture of it perfectly dense and close. It is also of importance that the outer covering should have a certain weight, so as not to be too easily displaced, either by the person fidgeting in his sleep or by the
