indispensables. By way of
ignition you will take a decided step backward from present-day
civilization in that you will pin your faith to the old sulphur
"eight-day" matches of your fathers. This for several reasons. In the
first place they come in blocks, unseparated, which are easily carried
without danger of rubbing one against the other. In the second place,
they take up about a third the room the same number of wooden matches
would require. In the third place, they are easier to light in a wind,
for they do not flash up and out, but persist. And finally, if wet, they
can be spread out and dried in the sun, which is the most important of
all. So buy you a nickel's worth of sulphur matches.

[Illustration: One of the mishaps to be expected]

[Sidenote: Match Safes]

The main supply you will pack in some sort of waterproof receptacle. I
read a story recently in which a man was recognized as a true woodsman
because he carried his matches in a bottle. He must have had good luck.
The cardinal principle of packing is never to carry any glassware.
Ninety and nine days it may pass safely, but the hundredth will smash it
as sure as some people's shooting. And then you have jam, or chili
powder, or syrup, or whiskey, all over the place--or else no matches.
Any good screw top can--or better still, two telescoping tubes--is
infinitely better.

The day's supply you will put in your pocket. A portion can go in a
small waterproof match safe; but as it is a tremendous nuisance to be
opening such a contrivance every time you want a smoke, I should advise
you to stick a block in your waistcoat pocket, where you can get at them
easily. If you are going a-wading, and pockets are precarious, you will
find your hat band handy.

The waterproof pocket safe is numerous on the market. A ten-gauge brass
shell will just chamber a twelve-gauge. Put your matches in the
twelve-gauge, and telescope the ten over it. Abercrombie & Fitch, of New
York, make a screw top safe of rubber, which has the great advantage of
floating if dropped, but it is too bulky and the edges are too sharp.
The Marble safe, made by the Marble Axe Company, is ingenious and
certainly waterproof; but if it gets bent in the slightest degree, it
jams, and you can no longer screw it shut. Therefore I consider it
useless for this reason. A very convenient and cheap emergency
contrivance is the flint and steel pocket cigar lighter to be had at
most cigar stores. With it as a