parties who do their fifteen, twenty, and more miles daily, with big
knapsacks on their backs; but it is neither wise, pleasant, nor
healthful, to the average young man, to do this.

Let us cut down our burden to the minimum, and see how much it will be.
First of all, you must take a rubber blanket or a light rubber
coat,--something that will surely shed water, and keep out the dampness
of the earth when slept on. You must have something of this sort,
whether afoot, horseback, with a wagon, or in permanent camp.[2]

For carrying your baggage you will perhaps prefer a knapsack, though
many old soldiers are not partial to that article. There are also for
sale broad straps and other devices as substitutes for the knapsack.
Whatever you take, be sure it has broad straps to go over your
shoulders: otherwise you will be constantly annoyed from their cutting
and chafing you.

You can dispense with the knapsack altogether in the same way that
soldiers do,--by rolling up in your blanket whatever you have to carry.
You will need to take some pains in this, and perhaps call a comrade to
assist you. Lay out the blanket flat, and roll it as tightly as possible
without folding it, enclosing the other baggage[3] as you roll; then tie
it in a number of places to prevent unrolling, and the shifting about of
things inside; and finally tie or strap together the two ends, and throw
the ring thus made over the shoulder, and wear it as you do the strap of
the haversack,--diagonally across the body.

[Illustration]

The advantages of the roll over the knapsack are important. You save the