266 THE FOEESTS OF CANADA. 



eters, and stand to lose or win various stakes, from a gallon 

 of rum to a month's wages on the event. So far, though 

 the course is a singular one, we have only the common 

 features of all horse-racing. Now we come to the special 

 peculiarity. The rival steeds, instead of standing neck and 

 neck eager for the start, stand tail to tail in the narrow 

 wood road ; i. e. Tom, the favourite of " Salmon brook," 

 looks towards the north, whilst Bob, the champion of 

 " Trout crik," apathetically faces the south ; and, stranger 

 still, they are harnessed together with chain traces. One, 

 two, three, and they are off! well, no, not quite off, but 

 they are hanging on the traces. The forest rings with the 

 whoops of the excited partisans, with the cracking of the 

 teamsters' whips, and numerous quaint oaths and ejacula- 

 tions. For a few exciting moments the horses tug and 

 strain, when Bob, getting a good purchase in the well- 

 beaten snow with his hind legs forges a length ahead, and 

 the champion of " Salmon brook " goes stern foremost into 

 the snow bank and is almost lost to sight. He of " Trout 

 crik " is the heavier animal, bets are lost and paid, and no 

 indignant British householder writes to the ' Times ' to com- 

 plain of the " demoralization " attendant upon horse-racing. 

 The " freshet-time " is the most critical period of the 

 year to the lumberman. If the snow thaws very rapidly, 

 and the freshet rises to an unusual height, his logs are 

 scattered over the meadows and intervales, and collecting 

 them is a great labour. Each log and stick of timber is 

 marked with the private mark of the owner. They all 

 float down the stream together, but are claimed and sorted 

 out at the rafting grounds. Here booms are stretched 

 across the river to collect the lumber, which is made into 



