28 SPORTING ADVENTURES IN THE FAR WEST. 



Good heavy boots or shoes are indispensable for long 

 walking or heavy climbing, and they also should be free to 

 the feet, so that they may not blister them, or produce 

 heart-aching corns, which always pinch most when most 

 inconvenient. Should the shoes get wet, the soles and up- 

 pers ought to be oiled well with castor- oil before being 

 dried ; and should they blister the feet, the inside of the 

 stockings should be coated with common yellow soap ; and 

 this, when repeated a few times, will both harden the pedal 

 extremities and prevent them from blistering for many 

 weeks at least. An extra pair of boots or shoes should 

 always be carried, also slippers or moccasins. The latter, 

 if smoke-tanned, are, in my estimation, the best, as they are 

 easy and pliable to the feet, do not harden and shrink after 

 a wetting, and may be used even for travelling over a coun- 

 try where rocks and briers are not common. An overcoat, 

 •a rubber cape and leggings, and a rubber blanket or two 

 should form a portion of every Nimrod's wardrobe when 

 out in the wilds; for the former is often useful even on 

 summer nights, and the latter are necessities during the 

 prevalence of a rain-storm, or to act as preventives against 

 the dampness of the ground or the atmosphere, if one is 

 compelled to sleep in the open air ; and he often is, or he 

 sometimes wishes to do it. Warm under-clothing is a ne- 

 cessity, even if the outer is light, and should be made of 

 flannel, to prevent the too rapid cooling of the body after 

 great or severe exertion ; and in order that it might be al- 

 ways fit to wear, that and all other materials of the ward- 

 robe should be carried in a water-proof bag. 



As the majority of people, no matter how robust they 

 may be, are sometimes liable to light attacks of illness, it 

 is fair to infer that those who cross the Rocky Mountains 

 in search of fur, fin, or feather may at one time or other 

 become indisposed, owing to a change of climate, water, or 

 some other cause ; it might, therefore, be well to suggest 

 to them to take some simple medicines with them, so that 

 they might be used promptly in case of need. These may 

 be confined to a few cathartic pills, a diarrhoea mixture, a 



