From MAIBNov 2009

A Canoe Cruise in Ireland by E.T. Holding, from the Boys Own Paper 1892.

" In the morning, after a good swim, I cook breakfast, while Frank "washes-up" the supper things of the night before, for we can never summon up energy enough to "wash-up" supper things at night, but content ourselves by laying them to soak out under the stars. It is neither an easy nor pleasant job washing greasy plates and knives with cold water, grass, and mud. But it has to be done, and it is got over all the quicker by slipping into it with a will and not minding the grease. A good substantial root of grass with the earth and sand attached well soaked in the water is a grand thing for cleaning plates (we use small metal dishes) and for the rest plenty of river water and a thorough drying on a dish cloth answers admirably."

I do use the dishcloth after camp soap and hot water, but no mud and grass. Little or no grease for our modern no fat crew, just veggies, grains, and soup (Well, coffee too.) so the dishes clean up easier. Once when I tried to use river water to rinse, the tugboat wake just jumped right up and washed me. These 1892 guys lived long enough to write and publish their story, so they maybe just ate their pound of dirt sooner than we who live in the twenty first century, but theirs was likely not polluted by heavy metals and radioactive isotopes.