150 RIVER LIFE. 



nature ; every thing seems strangely imbued with power to please, 

 to raise a joke, or excite a laugh. 



Whatever of value there may be about the premises not nec- 

 essary for the driving operation, is loaded upon the long sled ; 

 the oxen being attached, the procession moves slowly from the 

 scene of winter exploits, "homeward bound," leaving, however, 

 a portion of the crew to make the necessary preparations for 

 river-driving. 



After several days' travel, the neighborhood of home is reached ; 

 but, before the arrival in town, some little preparations are made 

 by the hands for a triumphant entree. Accordingly, colors are 

 displayed from tall poles fastened to the sled, and sometimes, also, 

 to the yoke of the oxen, made of handkerchiefs, with streaming 

 pennants floating on the wind, or of strips of red flannel, the re- 

 mains of a shirt of the same material, while the hats are decorated 

 with liberal strips of ribbon of the same material, and waists 

 sashed with red comforters ; their beards being such as a Moham- 

 medan might swear by. Thus attired, they parade the town with 

 all the pomp of a modern caravan. The arrival of a company of 

 these teams, ten or a dozen in number, sometimes amounting to 

 forty or fifty oxen, and nearly as many men, creates no little in- 

 terest in those thriving towns on the river which owe their exist- 

 ence, growth, and prosperity to the toils and hardships of these 

 same hardy loggers. Each team is an object of special interest 

 and criticism; and, according to the " condition" of flesh they are 

 found in, so is the praise or discredit of the teamster in command, 

 always making the amount of labor performed and the quality 

 of the keeping furnished an accompanying criterion of judgment. 

 This voluntary review, to the knight of the goad, is fraught with 

 interest, as by the decisions of this review he either maintains, 

 advances, or recedes from his former standing in the profession, 

 and thus it affects not only his pride, but also his purse, as a 

 teamster of repute commands the highest rate of wages. 



