128 THE BOOK OF FORESTRY 



across the stream, leaping from log to log which may 

 partially sink under their weight. Their skill in 

 balancing upon these floating logs is marvelous, and 

 to see two expert river drivers "birling" is a sight 

 never to be forgotten. 1 



In swift water the logs travel rapidly and unless 

 there are bowlders or other obstructions in the river 

 the chief duty is to pry the logs from the shore and 

 push them out into the swift running water in the 

 center of the stream. When, however, an obstruction 

 is met, trouble is in store for the entire driving crew. 

 One heavy log may catch upon a rock or sandbar, a 

 few more immediately behind it pile into it and a 

 "jam" is formed a pile of logs pointing in every 

 direction like jackstraws. The size of this jam in- 

 creases every minute as the swollen stream brings down 

 logs continuously. Soon the pile actually fills the 

 stream and in some cases the water may be backed 

 up by the obstructing logs. Now is the time to rush 

 out on the pile and pull away furiously at the front 

 of the jam, log by log, working like beavers, with cant- 

 hook and pike-pole, until the unruly member, the "key 

 log" is found. When this is removed the jam starts 

 slowly at first but rapidly increases in speed, while 

 the expert drivers who have broken the jam rush madly 

 to safety, peavy in hand, jumping from one bobbing 

 log to another amid the encouraging shouts of the less 

 experienced rivermen who have been watching them 

 from the shore. In extreme cases it may be necessary 

 to start the jam by means of dynamite. 



iBirling rotating a floating log by treading it. When two 

 experts indulge in a billing match the best balancer wins; a sud- 

 den stop of the spinning log throws the unwary or slow moving 

 driver into the river. 



