EPISODES 383 



head and brows, his Moose-skin leggings reach the <^irdle 

 that secures them around his waist, while on broad mocca- 

 sins, or snow-shoes, he stands from the earliest dawn until 

 night, hacking away at majestic pines, that for a century 

 past have embellished the forest. The fall of these valu- 

 able trees no longer resounds on the ground ; and, as they 

 tumble here and there nothing is heard but the rustling and 

 cracking of their branches, their heavy trunks sinking into 

 the deep snows. Thousands of large pines thus cut down 

 every winter afford room for younger trees, which spring 

 up profusely to supply the wants of man. 



Weeks and weeks have elapsed ; the earth's pure white 

 covering has become thickly and firmly crusted by the in- 

 creasing intensity of the cold, the fallen trees have all been 

 sawn into measured logs, and the long repose of the oxen 

 has fitted them for hauling them to the nearest frozen 

 streams. The ice gradually becomes covered with the 

 accumulating mass of timber, and, their task completed, 

 the lumberers wait impatiently for the breaking up of 

 the winter. 



At this period they pass the time in hunting the Moose, 

 the Deer, and the Bear, for the benefit of their wives and 

 children ; and as these men are most excellent woodsmen 

 great havoc is made among the game. Many skins of 

 Sables, Martens, and Musk-Rats they have procured during 

 the intervals of their labor, or under night. The snows 

 are now giving way, as the rains descend in torrents, and 

 the lumberers collect their utensils, harness their cattle, 

 and prepare for their return. This they accomplish in 

 safety. 



From being lumberers they now become millers, and with 

 pleasure each applies the grating file to his saws. Many 

 logs have already reached the dams on the swollen waters 

 of the rushing streams, and the task commences, which is 

 carried on through the summer, of cutting them up into 

 boards. 



