Egg-time 57 



and strains the muscles ; but the common * great 

 axe ' has the advantage that it is also used for split- 

 ting logs and gnarled * butts.' An American axe is 

 too beautiful a tool for that rude work. The Ameri- 

 can was designed to strike at the trunk of the tree 

 several feet from the ground, the English axe is 

 always directed to the great roots at the base. 



A dexterous woodman can swing his tool alter- 

 nately left hand or right hand uppermost. The 

 difference looks trifling ; but try it, and you will be 

 astonished at the difficulty. The blows echo and the 

 chips fly, till the base of the tree, that naturally is 

 much larger, is reduced to the size of the trunk or 

 less. Now a pause, while one swarms up to ' line ' it 

 — i.e. to attach a rope as high as possible to guide the 

 ' stick ' in its fall. 



It is commonly said that in climbing it is best to 

 look up — a maxim that has been used for moral 

 illustrations ; but it is a mistake. In ascending a 

 tree you should never look higher than the brim of 

 your hat, unless when quite still and resting on a 

 branch ; temporary blindness would be the penalty 

 in this case. Particles of decayed bark, the borings 

 of insects in dead wood, dust, and fragments of twigs, 

 rush down in little streams and fill the eyes. The 

 quantity of woody powder that adheres to a tree is 



