126 HUNTING CAMPS. 



hurried on and on, deeper and deeper into the bush, 

 using up his strength and finally dying of starvation, 

 when the knowledge of a simple rule or two would have 

 saved his life. Of course, as all with experience know, 

 the one and only thing to do is to light a fire on the 

 spot and to sit down and keep warm beside it until 

 daylight, when a man's comrades, who have missed him 

 and are on the look-out, can see the smoke and walk 

 him up. It will be understood that to an excitable 

 nature the moment of panic is hard to conquer and a 

 masterly inactivity is difficult. 



Even an expert woodsman may be lost, for instance, 

 under conditions of thick weather, whether of mist or 

 falling snow, but such a one will know how to retrieve 

 his mistake in one way or another. Perhaps I may be 

 pardoned for repeating the old story of the Indian and 

 his white employer who were lost. After wandering 

 for a long time and failing to find the camp they had 

 left in the morning, the Indian threw down his grub- 

 bag and gave up the search. " Indian lost," taunted 

 the white man. " Oh, no," replied the Indian ; " Indian 

 not lost, camp lost." The inference is plain. 



As I have said, the subject of being lost is one often 

 talked of round a camp fire, because the contingency is 

 never too remote. A company of woodsmen and 

 trappers, when discussing the essentials of life in such a 

 case, chose them in the following order : 



1. A rifle and cartridges. 



2. Matches. 



3. An axe. 



After that, opinions were divided between a cooking- 

 pot, tea, salt, tobacco, and a blanket, but these latter 

 articles were generally acknowledged to be luxuries, 



