50 SALMOXID^. 



ill my life. One who knows liow 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 i)ractice 

 and careful observation, a certain craft in reading signs which 

 is almost infiillible. 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 vdnd, 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 



