CAMPING OUT. 307 



mitive conveyances; two hundredweight is nothing out 

 of the way for a trabogen load. Four or five miles of a 

 tramp along a lumber road generally brings the sportsmen 

 to their camping ground. 



Camping out in the snow, in a climate where the mer- 

 cury frequently falls ten or twenty degrees below zero, 

 seems, at first sight, to be a terrible matter. But it is not 

 really a very great hardship. It must be borne in mind, 

 as I have before observed, that into the depths of the 

 forest no wind can penetrate, and when well sheltered, 

 no matter how low the temperature, a man walking or 

 taking any sort of exercise never suffers from the cold. 



The proper time to build a camp is in the summer or 

 " fall." The bark then peels off the white birch and white 

 spruce trees in large sheets, 4 or 5 feet square, and with 

 it a roof can be constructed in a very short time capable 

 of resisting any weather. In winter, when the sap is 

 frozen, it is hard to get this bark, and it is necessary 

 to adopt the more tedious operation of splitting cedar 

 into boards. When time presses, canvas, tarpaulin, or 

 blankets form the roof. Often, when the night looks fine, 

 the hunter sleeps under the stars. 



I once went out hunting with a friend who had never 

 before passed a night in the open. After a hard day's 

 walking on snow shoes, in the course of which he had 

 often and often anxiously inquired how far we were from 

 camp, we arrived weary and jaded at our proposed camping 

 place, and found nothing but a few bare poles. The bark 

 wigwam had been burnt, and 4 feet of snow covered the 

 ashes. My friend's face was a picture of misery when he 

 saw where he had to pass the night. He had been looking 



