FLOATING. 105 



The wood is now carried down by the flood from the reservoir, 

 and the best, smoothest, well-dried wood keeps at the head of 

 the sweep, whilst inferior knotty wood and heavy butts gradually 

 lag behind to form its tail. However well the floating- channel 

 may be regulated, hindrances will arise whenever the wood 

 enters a difficult place and blocks the way for the rest of the 

 sweep, and may thus block the channel and drive the flooding 

 water over its banks, or in the most favourable case allow it to 

 run away uselessly. In order to prevent such a mischance, the 

 sweep is accompanied by some men of the floating-gang, and 

 men are also placed beforehand at any places along the channel 

 where a block is to be feared, so that with their hooked poles 

 they may push ofl" all pieces which are jammed. It is necessary 

 for overseers to supervise these men, and hence, a fairly good 

 pathway must be provided all along close to the side of the 

 channel (vide p. 384). 



Although in the case of floating split firewood billets in well- 

 regulated channels the work may be very light and easy, it 

 involves extremely hard labour and danger to life in the case of 

 saw-mill butts coming down from high mountain-regions. 



Wessely thus writes in his excellent work about the Austrian 

 Alps : — " The mere releasing a jammed mass of logs is a formidable 

 undertaking. In order to save labour, it must be set free from 

 below ; a single crossed log often detains the whole pile of timber ; 

 this is at once recognized by the woodman, who drags it out, but 

 he has hardly done so before all the logs come crashing down on 

 him and roll thundering down the flood. If he does not succeed by 

 skill and good luck in jumping aside, it is all over with him. There 

 is much jodelinr/ over the break-up of a jam, but only too often does 

 the mass of timber fall on the daring man who ventures upon it, and 

 but rarely is he fished seriously injured from the flood by the helj) 

 of a hooked pole. In gorges, and there are such 50 fathoms deep, 

 a man is let-down by a rope into the foaming torrent, and must 

 actually stand on the heajj of wood. If his comrades do not draw 

 him back at the very moment when the logs are set in motion, he 

 will be hopelessly carried down with them." 



In the Bavarian gorges, as has been already stated, this 

 dangerous work is assisted by means of galleries let into the 

 rocks. 



