Throughout The Greek War, As There Were No Horses To Be Had For Love
Or Money, We Walked, And I
Learned then that when one has to carry
his own kit the number of things he can do without is
Extraordinary.
While I marched with the army, offering my kingdom for a horse, I
carried my outfit in saddle-bags thrown over my shoulder. And I
think it must have been a good outfit, for I never bought anything to
add to it or threw anything away. I submit that as a fair test of a
kit.
Further on, should any reader care to know how for several months one
may keep going with an outfit he can pack in two saddle-bags, I will
give a list of the articles which in three campaigns I carried in
mine.
Personally, I am for travelling "light," but at the very start one is
confronted with the fact that what one man calls light to another
savors of luxury. I call fifty pounds light; in Japan we each were
allowed the officer's allowance of sixty-six pounds. Lord Wolseley,
in his "Pocketbook," cuts down the officer's kit to forty pounds,
while "Nessmut," of the Forest and Stream, claims that for a hunting
trip, all one wants does not weigh over twenty-six pounds. It is
very largely a question of compromise. You cannot eat your cake and
have it. You cannot, under a tropical sun, throw away your blanket
and when the night dew falls wrap it around you.
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