118 THE PINE-TREE, OR 



on all mornings. Breakfast over, each, individual disposes of 

 himself as best accords with inclination or interest. There are a 

 few general duties which come round every Sabhath, which some, 

 by turns, feel the responsibility of performing. For instance, 

 every Sabbath it is customary to replenish the bed with a fresh 

 coat of boughs from the neighboring evergreens. Of the health- 

 ful and invigorating influence of this practice there i^ no doubt. 

 Then follow the various little duties of a personal character. 

 Our red flannel shirts are to.be washed and mended, pants to be 

 patched, mittens and socks to be repaired, boots to be tapped and 

 greased, &c. Our clumsy fingers, especially if unused to the 

 needle, make most ludicrous and unwoman-like business of patch- 

 ing up our torn garments. Letter-writing receives attention on 

 this day, if at all, with no other than the deacon seat, perhaps, 

 for a writing-desk, a sheet of soiled paper, ink dried and thick, 

 or pale from freezing, and a pen made with a jack-knife ; letters 

 are dedicated to a wife, it may be, of to a mother by some dutiful 

 son, or to his lady-love by some young swamper. There are some 

 recreations to relieve the monotony of a Sabbath in the wilder- 

 ness. Sometimes a short excursion in search of spruce gum ; for 

 many a yoimg urchin at home has had the promise of a good 

 supply of this article, to be furnished on the return of the camp- 

 ers. Others go in pursuit of timber for ax-helves. As neither the 

 White Oak nor Walnut grow in the latitude of Pine forests in the 

 eastern section of Maine, the White Ash, Eock Maple, Beech and 

 Elm, and sometimes the Hornbeam, are in general- use. Others 

 spend, it may be, a portion of the day in short timber-hunting 

 excursions. Where the contiguity of encampments allow it, visits 

 are exchanged among the denizens of the camps. 



Formerly, when sable were more plenty, some one or more pro- 

 prietors of a line of sable-traps would take the opportunity on the 

 Sabbath to visit them, as time from the weekly employment could 

 not be spared for this purpose. Such traps are very simple in 



