a pin (with a splinter like a skewer, if you are using bark). In the same way fold the corners, d and b, and pin them. The creases no, pq, np, oq,

now are folded inward, instead of outward as they were originally. Here you have an open-top box 5 inches square and 31⁄2 inches deep, with perfectly tight joints, which will hold water so long as it does not seep through the pores of the paper (would hold it till it evaporated, if you had used, bark).

Now, if you are skeptical about boiling water in a bark kettle, suppose you try your paper one. Arrange a stand that will support it over a gas jet. Put the paper kettle on the stand and pour some water into it. Light the gas, raising the jet just high enough for it to play on the bottom of the vessel but not up the sides; for, mark you, if the flame touches the paper anywhere above the waterline, it will set the thing afire. Observing this precaution, you can boil water in the paper kettle quicker than you could in tin.

The reason that the paper is not even scorched is that the water inside instantly attracts the heat of the flame and absorbs it to itself. My partner, Bob, once told me he could take a boiling tea-kettle from the stove, put his naked hand on the bottom, and hold the thing out at arm's length. I smiled. He led the way to the kitchen, where an oldfashioned black kettle of cast-iron was steaming at a hard boil, did as he had offered, and sustained no injury whatever. Then I did it myself. The bottom of the kettle merely feels warm to the naked hand. But the water must be boiling, not just simmering. If one touches the vessel above the water-line, he will get a severe burn.

In making a bark kettle, the material must, of course, be quite free from holes or cracks. In the case of birch, select a sheet free from "eyes" and surface "curls." Supple it by roasting gently over the fire.

I have boiled water in such a vessel by setting it directly on the coals, and covering all around its bottom with ashes, so no flame could reach the sides. For your first trial it will be better to build a little circular fireplace of stones, with a draught hole at the bottom, and cover the top with flat rocks, leaving an opening of about three inches diameter for the bottom of your kettle. Fill this with live coals, and chink with mud, so that no flame can get out.

It might seem impossible to melt snow in such a bark utensil, but the thing can be done when you know how. Place the kettle in the snow before the fire, so it will not warp from the heat. In front of it set a number of little forked sticks, slanting backward over the kettle, and on each fork place a snowball. Thus let the snowballs melt into the kettle until the vessel is filled as nearly as you want it. Then set the kettle on the coals, cover around it with ashes to keep flame from the sides, and the water will boil in a few minutes.

BARK UTENSILS.-Vessels to hold water or other liquids can be made, as above, of any size, square or

rectangular. You soon will learn the trick of folding the corners without preliminary folding an creasing. Since the top of a cubical bark ves...

of this sort readily adapts itself to a circular shape, when softened by heating, one can make a water bucket, for example, by sewing a hoop or splint (like a basket splint) around the inside of the top edge, and adding another vertically for bail, like a basket handle, going clear around the bottom to take up

the strain (Fig. 89). Punch the holes with a sharpened twig for awl, and use rootlets or bast fiber, soaked in water, for thread, or lace the loop in place with narrow strips of pliable bark.

Fig. 93.-Pocket cup (folding)

Wash basins and the like are made in the same way, shallow without bails. A trough or tub, of any size, to hold liquids, is quickly made by rossing off the thick outer bark from the ends of a sheet of elm, basswood, poplar, cottonwood, or other suitable

material, but leaving it on the middle part to stiffen the vessel; the rossed ends are then folded over in several overlaying laps, gathered in somewhat the shape of a canoe's bow and stern, and tied with bark straps (Fig. 90). The Indians used to make such troughs for collecting maple sap. They also made elm barrels (Fig. 91) that would last for years. Their bark buckets often were made with lapped seams, sewed together with bark or root twine (Fig. 92). The seams were closed with a mixture of pine resin or spruce "gum" and grease or oil, laid on while hot, and the upper edges were stiffened with hoops or splints of pliable wood.

To make a folding bark cup for the pocket: take a sheet of thin bark about 7 inches square and fold it diagonally (a to b, Fig. 93). Now fold the corner cover to the left so that its upper edge coincides with the dotted line that extends horizontally from d. Then fold, over this, the corner e straight to d. This leaves two triangular flaps standing out at the top, a and b. Slip the inner one, a into the outer pocket formed by e, and fold the flap b backward over the outside. You now have a flat cup that holds about a quarter of a pint. To open it, press against the outer edges with the thumb and finger. When carrying it in your pocket, slip the flap b in along with a, and the cup is closed against dirt.

A bark dipper is easily made. Take a sheet about 8 x 10 inches, trim it to spade shape (Fig. 94), fold it lengthwise from A to B, open it out, place the second finger behind A, and make the fold upward as shown at F. Cut a stick for handle, with stub of a fork at one end to hang it up by. Split the other end of the stick, insert F in the cleft, and bind it fast with a narrow strap of bark.

A strong and durable tray, dish pan, or similar utensil, is made like Fig 90, with the addition of a hickory or other rim like that of Fig. 92, sewed on

the outside. Leave the thick bark on the sides to stiffen them, but shave it off of the bottom, so that the vessel will stand upright.

D

E

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B

Fig. 94.-Bark dipper

BARK FISH BUCKETS AND CORSEAUX.-Every trout fisherman knows how bothersome a willow creel is when he is fishing the brushy head waters of a stream. And a creel is a nuisance not to be thought of when one is off on a hiking trip. A canvas bag, with or without rubber lining, is compact enough, but it is mussy and does not keep the fish in good order. To carry trout on a stringer is

a.

Fig. 95. Fold for fish bucket

barbarism. So, look for a young basswood, or poplar, or other smooth-barked tree that will peel. It need not be more than 9 or 10 inches thick. Strip from it a rectangular sheet about 12 x 22 inches,