760 



TOBOGGANING. 



transportation of burdens over the deep north- 

 ern snows, and when so used was drawn by 

 men or by dogs. The invention of the tobog- 

 gan was just such a one as would naturally be 

 evolved by a people with such environment as 

 is found in Canada and other parts of the 

 North American Continent. Long winters, 

 with no roads or passable trails except over 

 the trackless wastes of snow, necessitated just 

 such a contrivance as we find in the light, 

 strong sled that skims over the surface of the 

 deep snow, even when heavily laden, and is 

 admirably adapted to this end. The original 

 toboggan was put together with deer-thongs 

 only, no metal fastenings being used until very 

 recently, and most of the Canadian toboggans 

 to-day are so constructed; but in the United 

 States copper burs and rivets are preferred to 

 rawhide for fastenings. The elasticity, dura- 

 bility, and cheapness of the rawhide are more 

 than offset by the superior durability and 

 strength attained by the use of the copper fast- 

 enings. As originally constructed, toboggans 

 were built of basswood or of birch ; but the 

 best are now made of white-oak, hickory, or 

 iron-wood, and some for racing are even built 

 of steel. A fine-grained, tough, and elastic 

 wood, with long fiber, is the best for this pur- 

 pose. Perhaps well-seasoned white-oak has 

 been found most satisfactory, for this species 

 of oak admits of a glassy polish, which it re- 

 tains after hard usage, and it is sufficiently 

 elastic, though not so elastic as hickory. It is 

 not so simple a matter as it seems to construct 

 a fast toboggan : the makers have their trade- 

 secrets, and some are much more successful 

 than others. American makers have equaled 

 their Canadian rivals in points of speed, 

 strength, and gracefulness of contour-lines. 



In all the early campaignings by European 

 troops in Canada and the northern portions of 

 the United States, we read of the soldiers trans- 

 porting their kits and the other lighter impedi- 

 menta of camp-life by means of these Indian 

 sleds, which were dragged by dogs, or by men 

 on snow-shoes, over the crust of the deep 

 snows. We read of their employment by the 

 troops of Courceles, of Tracy, of Montcalm, 

 and also by the Brunswickers under Baron 

 Eiedesel during the winter they passed in Can- 

 ada awaiting Burgoyne and the British army 

 under his command. The French military 

 writers of that period speak of them as train 

 sauvage, and they still bear this name in France. 



The toboggan has been used from time im- 

 memorial in the chase, for transporting to camp 

 the spoils of the hunt, thus supplementing the 

 snow-shoe and enabling the sportsman to move 

 the carcasses of the heavier animals, as the 

 moose, the caribou, the bear, and the deer. 

 The toboggan was utilized by the squaws in 

 winter as the means for hauling their papooses 

 through the woods in journeying. 



The use of the toboggan as a vehicle of pleas- 

 ure is modern, dating back only a few decades. 

 At first it was used for coasting over natural 



slopes. But the artificial slide* has taken the 

 place of the natural for various reasons, prin- 

 cipally because the cahots, or jouncing-places, 

 can thus be avoided, and ' slides " can be erect- 

 ed almost anywhere. The artificial slide is of 

 Kussian origin, and has been in vogue in Rus- 

 sia for coasting with sleds for more than a 

 century. The "slides" are there called ''ice*- 

 mountains," and may be single or double. When 

 double, they are placed opposite one another, 

 the two tracks parallel, and a few feet removed 

 from each other laterally. The impetus ac- 

 quired on one " ice-mountain " carries the rider 

 abreast of the other, and he has only to ascend 

 the steps in order to ride back to the foot of 

 the tower whence he started. The ice-mount- 

 ain or slide is built of heavy timbers strongly 

 braced, and of varying height. The Tuque 

 Bleue Slide of Montreal, and the Woodlawn 

 Park Slide of Saratoga, are forty feet high by 

 about one hundred and twenty feet long. 

 Some of the Canadian slides are higher ; usually 

 these slides are built on side-hills, thus getting 

 the added advantage of the natural grade. The 

 toboggan starts from a horizontal bed at the 

 top of the slide, and runs in a trough, techni- 

 cally known as a chute, which is usually two 

 feet wider than the toboggan itself, and is 

 guarded by flaring boards at each side, so that 

 it is impossible for it to get out of the chute 

 laterally. The chute, and indeed the entire 

 track for a third of a mile, is carefully graded, 

 and packed with snow, ridged up at each side, 

 and then sprinkled with water until it becomes 

 a glare of ice throughout its entire length. 

 There may be several parallel chutes on the 

 structure, and each chute with a track of its 

 own. The double towers so much in vogue in 

 Russia have not been popular on this side the 

 Atlantic, although in the season of 1884-'85 

 they were used at the carnival in Montreal. 

 The speed attained has been as great as a mile 

 a minute. Tobogganing is not so dangerous 

 as coasting. One is already as near as he can 

 get to the earth, and in case of accident he is 

 only rolled out in the snow. 



The costumes worn by both sexes are made 

 of soft, warm woolen blankets, usually of scar- 

 let or blue, or some other bright color, and the 

 effect at night is strikingly picturesque, as they 

 are lighted up by the torches that line the 

 tracks and chutes. The head is covered by a 

 warm woolen tuque of some bright color, and 

 the sash, of the same color, girts in the cloth- 

 ing as one goes flying through the air. The 

 feet are incased in moccasins. Usually one 

 gentleman and two or three ladies form the 

 load of the toboggan. The steerer gets on 

 last, and steers from the rear end of the tobog- 

 gan. The old-fashioned mode of steering was 

 by means of short pieces of hard wood held in 

 each hand, which were applied to the track 

 from time to time in steering the craft. But 

 these are ruled off the well-kept slide of to- 

 day, only the moccasined foot being permitted. 

 Either foot may be used in steering ; it is usual 





