218 IN THE LUMBER WOODS 



cultivation of some rugged patch, by courtesy called a 'farm', 

 where a few acres of clearing fall apart from the dark shadows 

 of the coniferous woods. Winter finds them deep in the heart 

 of the forest primeval, in a log camp crowded with their mates. 

 Here they go on all winter long in spite of cold and snows, and 

 the ravings of wild winds among the tops of the pines and hem- 

 locks, cutting down the giants of the forest, and piling up the 

 trunks on the frozen river. Should the traveller during the weeks 

 of early autumn go canoeing up any Canadian forest stream, in 

 order to hunt moose, bear or caribou, or merely to steep his being 

 in the strange beauty of the northern wilds at this season, he will 

 be sure to encounter groups of ' axemen ' passing ' up river ' to 

 their winter exile. Long ago in some summer excursion the 

 timber ' locators ' had explored the most promising belts of pine, 

 spruce or hemlock, far up among the sources of the river and the 

 head-waters of the tributary streams, and set the seal of destruction 

 on the tallest of the trees. 



The great lumber firm which owns the steam-mill at the river's 

 mouth, during the previous winter, when that great roadmaker 

 the snow had rendered the construction of a sledge-track possible, 

 had sent up supplies. A ' bear house ', so-called because it has 

 to be made proof by strong barricades against the assaults of 

 marauding bears, had been built to receive the salt pork, flour, 

 beans, corn, meal and spices, which form the staple of the lum- 

 berman's diet. 



Imagine the solitary sledge-track, beaten smooth and slippery 

 over snow three or four feet deep, running for scores of miles up 

 into the snowy wilderness ; at times hemmed in by dark pine 

 forest, at times crossing the white surface of frozen lakes, to end 

 at last in a clearing and a rude dwelling separated by so many 

 square miles of forest, lake, and morass from the rest of mankind. 



In the summer the firm sends up a couple of men to build the 

 log camp and the stables. All is ready by the time the first cool 

 and fitful winds of October give warning of the approach of winter. 

 Then the loggers go 'up river', by boat or canoe, and establish 

 themselves in their winter quarters. Though of rough exterior 

 the buildings answer their purpose and are fairly comfortable. 

 Give a Canadian woodsman an axe and an auger and he can make 

 you anything from a house itself to the smallest article of furniture. 

 The cabin has been constructed out of spruce logs with their rough 

 reddish bark left on. The projecting ends of the logs overlapping 

 each other at the corners, lend a touch of the picturesque. The 

 chinks between the logs have been well stuffed with moss and 

 clay. Here is a most natural and suitable forest-home wherein 



