Woodcutters. 



217 



as if in mutual affection. No sooner in the shade of 

 these beautiful woods has the traveller finished his mid 

 day repast, than he perceives small parties of men, lightly 

 accoutred, and each bearing an axe, approaching towards 

 his resting-place. They exchange the usual civilities, and 

 immediately commence their labors, for they too have just 

 /inished their meal. I think I see them proceeding to 

 their work. Here two have stationed themselves on the 

 opposite sides of the trunk of a noble and venerable live 

 oak. Their keen-edged and well-tempered axes seem to 

 make no impression on it, so small are the chips that drop 

 at each blow around the mossy and wide-spreading roots. 

 There one is ascending the stem of another, the arms of 

 which in its fall, have stuck among the tangled tops of 

 the neighboring trees. See how cautiously he proceeds, 

 barefooted, and with a handkerchief around his head ; 

 now he has climbed to the height of about forty feet from 

 the ground ; he stops, and squaring himself with the trunk 

 on which he so boldly stands, he wields with sinewy arms 

 his trusty blade, the repeated blows of which, — although 

 the tree be as tough as it is large, — will soon sever it in 

 two. He has changed sides, and his back is turned to 

 you. The trunk now remains connected by only a thin 

 strip of wood. He places his feet on the part which is 

 lodged, and shakes it with all his might. Now swings 

 the huge log under his leaps, now it suddenly gives way, 

 and as it strikes upon the ground, its echoes are repeated 

 through the hummock, and every wild turkey within hear- 

 ing utters his gobble of recognition. The woodcutter, 

 however, remains * collected and composed,' but the next 

 moment he throws his axe to the ground, and assisted by 

 the nearest grape-vine, slides down, and reaches the earth 

 in an instant. Several men approach and examine the pros- 

 trate trunk. They cut at both extremities, and sound the 

 whole of the bark, to enable them to judge if the tree 

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