284 FOREST LIFE IN ACADIE. 



is to be got by bringing such traps across the Atlantic. 

 To save trouble and room I have frequently purchased 

 my bunch of tins at the very last settlement where a 

 store existed, before turning into the woods. It is well 

 to remember, however, to get the handle of the frying- 

 pan " fixed '' so as to double back, and so pack with the 

 plates, mugs, &c., into the big outside tin can, which holds 

 the entire camp service ; otherwise the Indian who 

 carries it through the woods will probably grumble all the 

 way, as the stem is constantly catching in the bushes. 



Except in winter, when opportunities occur of getting 

 one's traps hauled in on a sled over some logging road, 

 everything has to be " backed " through the woods, to 

 the hunting camp, and, consequently, anything pro- 

 truding from the loads is liable to impede one's progress. 

 Hence the bundles should be as near as possible the 

 breadth of the back, all loads being thus carried, with a 

 strap (the broader the better) encircling the chest and 

 shoulders. 



The Indian, used to the work from infancy, will often 

 carry a hundred Aveight by a withy of birch or witherod 

 bush, which seems as though it would cut to the bone ; 

 but to the white man, unaccustomed to carrying a load 

 thus, a well-balanced bundle and broad carrying- strap are 

 of the first importance, particularly as long journeys are 

 often thus made, and every true sportsman likes to do a 

 fair share of the work. 



A hint may be inserted here that one of the greatest 

 drawbacks to progress under such unavoidable circum- 

 stances is to lose one's temper, and a firm determination 

 should be made at starting to avoid doing so. I grant it 

 is often hard of prevention when two or three consecutive 



