LOG DRIVING. 13 



heard a shout below me. Passing down, I soon came 

 to a steep bank, at the base of which several men 

 were tumbling logs into the stream. I watched them 

 for some time, and was struck with the coolness with 

 which one would stand half under a perfect embank- 

 ment of logs, and hew away to loosen the whole, 

 while another with a handspike kept them back. 

 Once, after a blow, I saw the whole mass start, when 

 '' Take care! take care !" burst in such startling tones 

 from my lips, that the cool chopper sprung as if stung 

 by an adder; then, with a laugh at his own foolish 

 fright, stepped back to his place again. The man 

 with the handspike never even turned his head, but 

 with a half grunt, as much as to say '' Green horn 

 from the city," held on. It was a really exciting 

 scene — the mad leaping away of those huge logs, and 

 their rapid, arrowy-like movement down the stream. 

 At length I off with my coat, and, laying my gun 

 aside, seized a handspike, and was soon behind a 

 huge log, tugging and lifting away. I was on the 

 top of a high bank, and when the immense timber 

 gave way, and bounded with a dull sound from rock 

 to rock, till it struck with a splash into the very cen- 

 tre of the current, my sudden shout followed it. As 

 that log struck the water, it buried itself out of sight, 

 and then, as it rose to the surface for a single 

 moment, it stood perfectly still in its place except that 

 it rolled rapidly on its axis — the next moment it 

 yielded to the impetuosity of the current, and darted 

 away as if inherent with life, and moved straight 

 towards a precipice that frowned over the water be- 



