American Forestry 



VOL. XVlil 



MAY, 1J)12 



No. 



THROUGH CANADIAN WILDS 



l'.\ I ; MW< 

 '- | FORESTER'S life is not all beei 



I and skillle-- People saj SO olten, 



"( >h ! if 1 could onl\ lead the 

 free, open an hie which von lead, next 

 Io naluie. l.n .o\ .o I 10111 the confined 

 .,1 ol the cilv '" P.nl take these 

 same people and gi\e them the lou"- 

 ler's d.iib hie fortlneeoi loin weeks, 

 > \ . n uudei the best conditions, and see 

 how ipiicklv thev w ould In e ol it . This 

 is es]vciallv tine under the conditions 

 which exist in the Canadian torests to 

 dav Thcie are no loads 01 ti.uls and 

 a man's outfit must he caiiicd on his 

 back and In canoe in summer, and on 



:.:..u) which he pulls in winter. 



The loiesls are a long wav liom the 

 . .lements, fiomthiitv to one hundred 

 and liftv miles, and there is no com 

 mumcation, so that letters and news of 

 the outside world aic few and far be 

 . ^ >vn ( ^iic sU-eps in a lenl at all St ., 

 sons of the veai and travels and Wi 

 m all we. libers fhc three main div i 

 is of the vcai are winter, from first 

 Novcmhci (ill the lust of Mav , lly 

 !rom Mav fifteenth to first of 

 Ku^USt and fall l ; lv lime is the worst 

 ol all, .1- ihc flys, mosquitoes and gnats 

 .. almosi unendurable. \\ith 

 prop< r OUt d i < .isoiiahlc care the 



hardships are not great aiul after once 

 gelling broken into the life there is a 



. ination m it. 



One of the bavdesl times of the vcar 



is the latter part ol November, before 



the ice "ii ibo lakes is thick enough to 



. .; a man's weight aiul too thick to 



. ..iv a wav through loi a canine \s 



O 



\\ I I '-OX 



all travel is In wax of the lakes and 

 rivers, both in summer and winter, and 

 the portages are onlv cut through the 

 WOOds liom one walei wa\ Io another, 

 when lakes cannot be crossed it is ex 

 ccedinglv difficult to go around them. 

 One year, having a pailv in the woods 

 sin \c\ing and estimating timber, I 

 stalled about the middle of November 

 to inspect their work and to take in 

 the small sheet iron stoves which are 

 used iu the tents in winter and also 

 snow shoes and mail. \Yilh me was a 

 man who had never worked in the 

 woods in the north before but who 

 wanted to get the experience and who 

 was to remain with the part). \\ e 



started from our headquarters on a 



clear crisp dav and drove in with our 

 dnfile loaded on a huckboard to the 

 end of the road, about twenty-four 

 miles to the depot of one of the lumber 

 companies which lies at the foot of l.ac 

 Mistagance. a lake about twelve miles 

 long. Mere we put our birch bark 

 canoe in the water and loaded up, with 

 not much room to spare. \ steady un- 

 iventful paddle brought us to the end 

 of the lake and our stuff was unloaded 

 and piled on the bank while we crossed 

 the two mile portage : < next lake 

 where our Company had a depot, the 

 last outpost of civilization. Mere we 

 sent back a horse for our load, and while 

 it was being brought up we got to- 

 gether our provisions for the trip into 

 the v\ oods. 



Bright and early the next morning 

 we were off. taking with us an extra 



