1886.] now LUMBERING IS CARRIED OS. 763 



and by the slightest touch the stick is brought down on the sleigh 

 and chained, and away goes the teamster with his load to the river 

 without any trouble in loading. In the middle of December pre- 

 parations are made for the reception of the teams, consisting of the 

 Ijuilding of stables and granaries. Teams are hired at so much per 

 day for self (teamster) and horses, free of all expeuse.s — that is, food 

 for the driver and grain for the horses ; price var}ing from 1 dol. to 

 2 dols., like all other commodities, regulated b}' supply and demand. 

 These teams are loaded with provisions, produce and other necessary 

 supplies for the use of the trade at the shanty, and are started off 

 generally at the beginning of January to their destination. Arrived 

 there, their loads thrown off, their sleighs are arranged for drawing 

 timber by making and fixing on a " bunk," that is, a piece of hard- 

 wood some ten inches square and three feet long, fixing it on the 

 middle beam of the sleigh, to allow the end of the stick of timber 

 to rest on it some four feet from the end, the other trailing on the 

 road, and hauled in that way. As to the nimiber of teams rec[uired 

 in a shanty, that depends on the distance the timber has to be 

 drawn, some roads being only a mile from the river, whilst others, 

 again, may be eight miles and sometimes longer. If, instead of 

 square timber, saw logs are being cut, they are hauled over cliffs 

 and down ravines to the banks of the various tributaries of the 

 principal rivers, where, before the thaw sets in, millions of cubic 

 feet of timber are collected. "When the ice-bound streams are free 

 in spring the arduous and dangerous work begins, for then a new 

 feature of lumbering comes into operation. Loosely joined together 

 in rough rafts, the logs are set adrift in the rivers, swollen fiercely 

 with waters from the melting snow. In Xew Brunsv/ick some of 

 these rafts of logs cover a space of ten acres, and if by accident the 

 raft breaks up on a rapid, the logs may get wedged and bound 

 together on a ledge or shallow, stopping all the miles of logs 

 following, and causing a "jam." The obstructing logs which cause 

 this must be cut away or extricated. Only the bravest, coolest, and 

 most experienced of the lumberers can attempt the cutting out of a 

 log, the most dangerous of all their tasks ; for when once the log 

 which bars the passage is half cut through, the might of the press 

 behind breaks them like straws, and some ten thousand logs come 

 plunging down with a rush and confusion, requiring all the activity 

 a man possesses to escape the avalanche. Chopping away a jam is 

 only resorted to when other measures fail. The more simple way 

 of removing the obstacle is as follows : The men are brought to the 

 vicinity of the jam on the shore, and tlie foreman or man in charge 

 of the drive, with some half-dozen of the most active and experienced, 

 go out to this jam in a boat and examine it, and conclude among 



