CLOTHING.
If your means allow it, have a suit especially for the summer tour, and
sufficiently in fashion to indicate that you are a traveller or camper.
SHIRTS.
Loose woollen shirts, of dark colors and with flowing collars, will
probably always be the proper thing. Avoid gaudiness and too much
trimming. Large pockets, one over each breast, are "handy;" but they
spoil the fit of the shirt, and are always wet from perspiration. I
advise you to have the collar-binding of silesia, and fitted the same as
on a cotton shirt, only looser; then have a number of woollen collars
(of different styles if you choose), to button on in the same manner as
a linen collar. You can thus keep your neck cool or warm, and can wash
the collars, which soil so easily, without washing the whole shirt. The
shirt should reach nearly to the knees, to prevent disorders in the
stomach and bowels. There are many who will prefer cotton-and-wool
goods to all-wool for shirts. The former do not shrink as much, nor are
they as expensive, as the latter.
DRAWERS.
If you wear drawers, better turn them inside out, so that the seams may
not chafe you. They _must_ be loose.
SHOES.
You need to exercise more care in the selection of shoes than of any
other article of your outfit. Tight boots put an end to all pleasure, if
worn on the march; heavy boots or shoes, with enormously thick soles,
will weary you; thin boots will not protect the feet sufficiently, and
are liable to burst or wear out; Congress boots are apt to bind the
cords of the leg, and thus make one lame; short-toed boots or shoes hurt
the toes; loose ones do the same by allowing the foot to slide into the
toe of the boot or shoe; low-cut shoes continually fill with dust, sand,
or mud.
For summer travel, I think you can find nothing better than brogans
reaching above the ankles, and fastening by laces or buttons as you
prefer, but not so tight as to bind the cords of the foot. See that they
bind nowhere except upon the instep. The soles should be wide, and the
heels wide and low (about two and three-quarter inches wide by one inch
high); have soles and heels well filled with iron nails. Be particular
not to have steel nails, which slip so badly on the rocks.
Common brogans, such as are sold in every country-store, are the next
best things to walk in; but it is hard to find a pair that will fit a
difficult foot, and they readily let in dust and earth.
Whatever you wear, break them in well, and oil the tops thoroughly with
neat's-foot oil before you start; and see that there are no nails,
either in sight or partly covered, to cut your feet.
False soles are a good thing to have if your shoes will admit them: they
help in keeping the feet dry, and in drying the shoes when they are wet.
Woollen or merino stockings are usually preferable to cotton, though for
some feet cotton ones are by far the best. Any darning should be done
smoothly, since a bunch in the stocking is apt to bruise the skin.
PANTALOONS.
Be sure to have the trousers loose, and made of rather heavier cloth
than is usually worn at home in summer. They should be cut high in the
waist to cover the stomach well, and thus prevent sickness.
The question of wearing "hip-pants," or using suspenders, is worth some
attention. The yachting-shirt by custom is worn with hip-pantaloons, and
often with a belt around the waist; and this tightening appears to do no
mischief to the majority of people. Some, however, find it very
uncomfortable, and others are speedily attacked by pains and indigestion
in consequence of having a tight waist. If you are in the habit of
wearing suspenders, do not change now. If you do not like to wear them
over the shirt, you can wear them over a light under-shirt, and have the
suspender straps come through small holes in the dress-shirt. In that
case cut the holes low enough so that the dress-shirt will fold over the
top of the trousers, and give the appearance of hip-pantaloons. If you
undertake to wear the suspenders next to the skin, they will gall you. A
fortnight's tramping and camping will about ruin a pair of trousers:
therefore it is not well to have them made of any thing very expensive.
Camping offers a fine opportunity to wear out old clothes, and to throw
them away when you have done with them. You can send home by mail or
express your soiled underclothes that are too good to lose or to be
washed by your unskilled hands.