amping plays an important part in Scouting. It offers adventure and freedom,
it teaches self reliance - how to take care of oneself and to cope with
emergencies - and it toughens one's body to withstand wind and rain, heat
or cold. This is an account of a Senior Scout camp undertaken by the First
K.L. Seniors near Kuala Kubu Bahru.
The campsite was situated on the banks of the Sungai Selangor near its source. At this point, the river was extremely swift flowing, though not very deep, and was full of boulders of every shape and size. On both sides of the river was jungle which grew right up to the water's edge, and it was here that we set up camp. As a variation from normal camping we decided to build our own natural shelters instead of sleeping under canvas. This seemed easy enough as there was plenty of bamboo available in that part of the jungle. One of the first things we did on arrival was to span the river with a bamboo crossing so that we could transport our equipment to the far side without having to wade across, and risk getting wet. In spite of this, a haversack dropped into the water but it was rescued with a butterfly net. We carried our equipment to campsites allotted to the respective patrols and immediately began the construction of a natural shelter.
In the late afternoon, the sky clouded over and rain began to fall. We covered our equipment with a semi-waterproof fly sheet and carried on with our work regardless of the rain. However, after an hour of continuous soaking, our spirits were considerably dampened and we huddled together in a group trying to derive what warmth and comfort there was from each other. I can hardly describe the feeling of utter helplessness which we experienced. We were at nature's mercy and miles away from the nearest town. There was absolutely no shelter at all from the cold and the merciless raindrops which splashed on our bodies, running into our eyes, our ears and our noses.
In a town, there is always shelter from the most violent storm for anyone unlucky enough to be caught in it. Besides that the person is also sustained by the thought of home, warmth, dry clothes and food. Warm dry clothes? We were not even sure of that and as for food we had to cook it ourselves - no easy matter in that sort of predicament. However, we knew that the sun was behind the clouds and sooner or later it would stop raining. Sure enough the rain stopped in the evening and we immediately began preparing our dinner. The river was terribly muddy but we had the foresight to fill a container with clear water before the rain started so we were able to cook rice. As soon as we had eaten and washed up, we began erecting a temporary roof to shelter for the night. That night we all slept soundly in spite of the cold and damp.
The next day after a hearty breakfast of pancakes, we rolled up our sleeves and began the construction of a kitchen, a table and benches, besides improving our shelter. In the afternoon it began raining again. As our shelter was not fully waterproof yet, we had a most miserable time. Sometime in the evening just as dusk was approaching, we noticed that most of the smaller rocks in the river were below the water level. Attributing this to the normal rise of the river, we were not alarmed.
A few seconds later, more rocks had disappeared beneath the brown, murky waters and the river seemed to be flowing ever faster, flinging sprays of droplets high into the air. The noise of the river had changed into a thunderous roar and it became increasingly clear to us that we were now witnessing the vanguard of a flash flood. In the space of a few minutes the hungry waters rose about five feet and swept angrily into the jungle on either side, tearing away bushes and plants, bringing huge trees down with a crash.
The Scouters had built their hut on the far side of the river, jutting over the water’s edge. They had allowed for the normal rise of the river but not for such a flood as this. After the first shock of the flash flood, their hut reeled drunkenly and was swept away by the powerful current in three minutes, together with most of the stores and equipment. They were now cut off from us as our bridge had similarly been washed away during the early stages of the flood. Our huts and kitchens were built precariously near the water's edge so the Patrol Leaders took the initiative and decided to evacuate us to higher ground.
In spite of the darkness, the rain and the confusion caused by the roaring of the river, there was no panic at all as we calmly packed our things together. By the light of our torches we could see the waters glinting evilly as they crept remorselessly towards us. When all our equipment had been placed in a safe place, we assembled down at the water’s edge to witness the flood with more excitement than fright. We sat in silence, our eyes trying to pierce the blanket of darkness which enveloped us. Now and again there was loud but muffled rumbling as some great boulder was sent rolling along the river bed by the powerful current. This was accompanied by a slight trembling of the ground upon which we sat.
To find out whether the river was still rising or falling, we planted a stick at the water's edge. After a few minutes, we found, to our joy, that the flood waters were receding. After that we sang songs to keep our spirits up until about eight-thirty when we reckoned it safe to return to our huts.
We found that during our unexpected shift to higher ground all our blankets and most (in some cases all) of our clothes were wet. This was the time when our Scouting Spirit came in. We shared what dry clothes we could spare with those unfortunate enough to have no dry clothes. In spite of this, however, some boys still had to sleep in their swimming trunks. For dinner, we opened several tins of food and ate their contents ravenously straight from the tins. We did not have much sleep that night because of the cold and excitement.
Early next morning, the Scouters returned. The level of the river had nearly returned to normal but our programme for the day had been spoilt for we had to clear up the debris of the floods. The rest of the day passed uneventfully. At night, the duty patrol was ordered to keep a strict check on the water level.
On the next day we were really able to enjoy ourselves. Our shelter, kitchen and table were complete so we had no fear of the weather or the lack of food. In the morning, we had inter-patrol games and in the afternoon we had a fishing competition. More than twenty boys were seen lining the river with home made rod and lines. Some were expertly casting their lines, trying to hook the largest fish but most of the boys were fishing just for the fun of it. In the evening, the boys returned, either singly or in small groups. Some had large smiles on their faced as they proudly held up their catches for all to admire while those who had caught nothing walked disconsolately back to their campsites. The weather had been kind to us that day; in fact it only drizzled once in the afternoon and we all had a good time.
On the last day, an inter-patrol cooking competition was held. It was no ordinary cooking competition - we were not allowed to use pots and pans, only natural materials like bamboo. This was a real test and we came out with many ingenious ideas for cooking our food. Rice was cooked in bamboo. A thick length of bamboo with thin walls was cut just below the nodes, thus forming a long, waterproof container into which rice and water was put and cooked over a fire. Vegetables were wrapped in leaves, covered over with mud and placed in red, hot embers until cooked. Another method of cooking vegetable was to make vegetable soup in a bamboo container. One of the things that we had to cook was eggs. This was cooked by wrapping the egg in mud and burying it in embers. An alternative was placing the egg in sand and heating the sand until the egg was cooked. We were also told to bake a cake. For this we were to use cooking utensils. After mixing the cake mixture in a billy can, it was covered and buried in a pot filled with sand. The pot was then placed over a fire until the cake was ready. One of the patrols even managed to have icing on their double-layered cake.
Early next morning we left for home. Although we were glad to be homeward bound, our minds still lingered over the stretch of the jungle along the river which had been our home for what seemed ages. The camp had been a tough one, a real challenge to our scouting abilities, and our only regret was that no campfire was held because of the unpredictable weather.
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