CHAP. in. SPRUCE-BAEK TENTS. 37 



men, who did not relish the idea of being wet through in 

 consequence of sleeping at the side of a light canvass 

 tent and catching the drip, set to work and soon made a 

 waterproof half-tent of the bark of the spruce, which in 

 the spring of the year may be peeled off without diffi- 

 culty, and in large sheets. Our tents were made of light 

 sail-cloth, or ' American cotton,' and turned rain admir- 

 ably as long as the cloth was tight and not touched by 

 any object in the inside. If, however, a bag or gun 

 or a tired voyager should touch the cloth of the tent 

 during rain, the water would penetrate at the point of 

 contact and begin to drip. 



A half-tent of birch or spruce-bark is made in the 

 following way, by anyone familiar with woodcraft : A 

 stout pole about seven feet long, with a crotch at one 

 end, is driven into the earth by repeatedly plunging it 

 into the same hole ; it is made firm by driving one or 

 two short stakes into the ground close to it. Six or 

 eight other poles, about twelve feet long, are laid in the 

 crotch at an angle of 45, and about two feet apart at the 

 base. Large slabs of spruce-bark are then cut from 

 neighbouring trees, by the simple process of making a 

 longitudinal slit with the axe four feet long, and nicking 

 it round above and below the end of the slit ; a stick, 

 or the axe-handle, is then inserted into the slit, and 

 worked up and down until the whole of the bark is 

 separated from the trunk. A skillful woodsman will pre- 

 pare ten square yards of spruce-bark in as many pieces 

 within the space of half an hour. The bark is then 

 arranged, like tiles, on the poles, and the pieces are pre- 

 vented from falling down by other poles resting upon 



