50 



in my life. One who knows how can always make himself 

 comfortable in the woods even in mid-winter. 



In traveling through unfamiliar districts, it is important 

 to turn frequently and survey the ground behind, especially 

 if one expects to retrace his steps. A locality looks entire- 

 ly different according to the direction traveled. It is also 

 prudent to " blaze" the route by occasionally scoring a tree 

 or breaking a bush or twig. In following a blind trail, the 

 eye should always run casually in advance. If it is cast down 

 directly in front, the sign is lost ; if raised, the trail becomes 

 as plain as the milky-way in the heavens. There is scarcely 

 anything visible in the woods until one learns to see. Stand 

 still for* a moment in the silence and apparent solitude, and 

 presently a chipmunk will start up from almost every 

 leaf,, and woodpeckers peer cautiously from behind each 

 tree. 



One never should be without a compass. In some per- 

 sons, animal magnetism is so strong that they determine the 

 cardinal points instinctively. Indeed there are individuals 

 who cannot sleep with their heads to the south, but instantly 

 detect a bed so situated. Backwoodsmen acquire by practice 

 and careful observation, a certain craft in reading signs which 

 is almost infallible. As a rule, but not always, moss grows 

 more densely on the north side of trees, nature providing 

 against the cold that comes from that quarter. But a more 

 reliable sign is the limbs of trees, which grow longest on 

 the south side, those on the north side being exposed to the 

 wintry blasts which twist and scathe and stunt them. A 

 laurel swamp is the worst conceivable place in which to get 

 lost, and having once got into a scrape the surest method of 

 escape is immediately to follow the back-track out. In all 

 cases, when a man discovers himself lost, he should stop 

 short, and carefully consider the situation the position of 

 the sun, direction of the wind, character of adjacent promi- 

 nent objects, &c., and then retrace his steps as nearly as pos- 

 sible. As a general thing, he has never gone far before he 



