Woodcraft | Page 7

"Its bite is
not severe, nor is it ordinarily poisonous. There may be an occasional
exception to this rule; but beside the bite of the mosquito, it is
comparatively mild and harmless." And again: "Gnats...in my way of
thinking, are much worse than the black fly or mosquito." So says
Murray. Our observations differ. A thousand mosquitoes and as many
gnats can bite me without leaving a mark, or having any effect save the
pain of the bite while they are at work. But each bite of the black fly
makes a separate and distinct boil, that will not heal and be well in two
months.
While fishing for brook trout in July last, I ran into a swarm of them on
Moose River and got badly bitten. I had carelessly left my medicine

behind. On the first of October the bites had not ceased to be painful,
and it was three months before they disappeared entirely. Frank
Forester says, in his Fish and Fishing, page 371, that he has never
fished for the red-fleshed trout of Hamilton county, "being deterred
therefrom by dread of that curse of the summer angler, the black fly,
which is to me especially venomous."
"Adirondack Murray" gives extended directions for beating these little
pests by the use of buckskin gloves with chamois gauntlets, Swiss mull,
fine muslin, etc. Then he advises a mixture of sweet oil and tar, which
is to be applied to face and hands; and he adds that it is easily washed
off, leaving the skin soft and smooth as an infant's; all of which is true.
But, more than forty years' experience in the woods has taught me that
the following recipe is infallible anywhere that sancudos, moquims, or
our own poisonous insects do most abound.
It was published in Forest and Stream in the summer of 1880 and again
in '83. It has been pretty widely quoted and adopted and I have never
known it to fail: Three ounces pine tar, two ounces castor oil, one
ounce pennyroyal oil. Simmer all together over a slow fire and bottle
for use. You will hardly need more than a two-ounce vial full in a
season. One ounce has lasted me six weeks in the woods. Rub it in
thoroughly and liberally at first, and after you have established a good
glaze, a little replenishing from day to day will be sufficient. And don't
fool with soap and towels where insects are plenty. A good safe coat of
this varnish grows better the longer it is kept on--and it is cleanly and
wholesome. If you get your face and hands crocky or smutty about the
campfire, wet the corner of your handkerchief and rub it off, not
forgetting to apply the varnish at once, wherever you have cleaned it
off. Last summer I carried a cake of soap and a towel in my knapsack
through the North Woods for a seven weeks' tour and never used either
a single time. When I had established a good glaze on the skin, it was
too valuable to be sacrificed for any weak whim connected with soap
and water. When I struck a woodland hotel, I found soap and towels
plenty enough. I found the mixture gave one's face the ruddy tanned
look supposed to be indicative of health and hard muscle. A thorough
ablution in the public wash basin reduced the color, but left the skin

very soft and smooth; in fact, as a lotion for the skin it is excellent. It is
a soothing and healing application for poisonous bites already received.
I have given some space to the insect question, but no more than it
deserves or requires. The venomous little wretches are quite important
enough to spoil many a well planned trip to the woods and it is best to
beat them from the start. You will find that immunity from insects and
a comfortable camp are the two first and most indispensable requisites
of an outing in the woods.
And just here I will briefly tell how a young friend of mine went to the
woods, some twenty-five years ago. He was a bank clerk and a good
fellow withal, with a leaning toward camp-life.
For months, whenever we met, he would introduce his favorite topics,
fishing, camping out, etc. At last in the hottest of the hot months, the
time came. He put in an appearance with a fighting cut on his hair, a
little stiff straw hat and a soft skin, bleached by long confinement in a
close office. I thought he looked a little tender; but he was sanguine. He
could rough it, could sleep on the bare ground with the root of a tree for
a pillow; as for mosquitoes and punkies, he never minded them.
We went