228 THE GREAT NORTH-WEST 



He is always armed, and though he may not draw his 

 six-shooter at his first demand, a refusal is sure to make 

 that weapon fly from its case. His demands are out- 

 rageous. At outlying farms he not only frequently 

 demands food and drink of the best that the house 

 contains, but a night's lodgings as well. I have even 

 met with an instance where he compelled his involuntary 

 host to supply him with a suit of clothes, and rejected 

 the neckcloth because it was not bright enough in colour 

 to suit his taste. Of course this sort of thing is only 

 tried on at isolated homesteads, where the tramp's 

 instinct informs him the boss is not made of fighting 

 stuff. He is really as paltry a wretch here as elsewhere, 

 and when he thinks his bounce will not frighten, he 

 whines like a young puppy. His " firing-iron " is intended 

 to intimidate, more than for really bloody work, even in 

 self-defence ; for your thoroughgoing tramp has a most 

 wholesome dread of that fictitious legal gentleman, Mr. 

 Lynch. 



The farm where I had the little adventure with the 

 two tramps happened to be the property of an English- 

 man, and I was so warmly received by him that I could 

 not resist his pressing invitation to remain several days 

 in his house. Part of his land was still covered with 

 unbroken forest, and while I was with him he " burned 

 off" a patch some eighty acres in extent. It was the 

 height of summer, and the timber burnt with great fury. 

 All the trees had previously been felled and cleared of 

 their great limbs, and sawn into sections about twelve 

 feet long. This had been done the previous year, and 

 the work must have been laborious and taken much 

 time. I was surprised that the wood had not been 

 burned as it stood, not being experienced then ; but if 

 this is done the charred standing trunks become so hard 

 that an axe makes scarcely any impression on them, and 

 it becomes almost impossible to clear the ground of the 

 debris. Hence, when the ground is wanted for agricul- 



