308 WINTEB. 



forward for many weary hours to a snug log hut, built 

 entirely in his imagination. However, we worked hard to 

 put things to rights, and after he had had his supper he 

 passed from one extreme to the other, and said he never 

 felt so jolly in his life. 



The first step towards making a winter camp is to shovel 

 out the snow from a space of about 20 feet square ; using 

 the snow shoes as shovels. On two opposite sides of the 

 square space of ground thus cleared of snow, walls 2 or 3 

 feet in height are made of logs, and slanting poles over 

 these are stuck into the snow to support the roof. The 

 fire is made in the centre, and on each side of it a thick 

 coating of young fir boughs is laid down for seats and 

 beds. But the great institution is the fire : when it burns 

 brightly, the camp is warm and comfortable ; when it gets 

 low, Jack Frost comes in despite every shelter. 



Nature, in this cold country, has given a bountiful 

 supply of fuel, which is used unsparingly, prodigally. 

 The Indians are woodsmen of the highest order ; no trick 

 in woodcraft but they are up to as well they may be. 

 They use small two-and-a-half pound axes, with straight 

 handles. Dry spruce and pine are chopped for kindling ; 

 but the mainstay is green hardwood. Eock or bird's-eye 

 maple is the best ; beech and black birch rank next. 

 Great logs, 8 or 10 feet in length, and a foot in diameter, 

 redden and glow in the camp fire, which consumes fuel 

 enough in one night to keep an ordinary fireplace going 

 for a month. The kettle, suspended at the end of a pole, 

 is soon boiling, ready for tea ; the frying-pan sends forth 

 an odour grateful to the nose of the hungry hunter, and 

 he eats his supper of pork, tea, and bread in the woods with 



