RIVER LIFE. 159 



of three hundred feet. In some places it falls twenty-five feet 

 perpendicularly. Down this wild pass logs are run, rolling, dash- 

 ing, and plunging, end over end, making the astonished forest 

 echo with their rebounding concussion. 



It would be a match for " Dame Nature" to locate a handsome 

 Pine-tree beyond the grasp of the logmen. Where the Eastern 

 hunter pursues the mountain goat, the logger would pursue the 

 stately Pine. We have seen them in the deep ravine, on the ab- 

 rupt hill-top, and far up the rugged mountain side, or peering 

 down from some lofty cliff upon the insignificant animal at its 

 base who is contemplating its sacrifice ; a few minutes, and the 

 crash of its giddy plunge is heard, " and swells along the echoing 

 crag," causing the earth to tremble under the stroke of its mass- 

 ive trunk ; and if it does not break in pieces, as is sometimes the 

 case, in falHng, it will in time find its way to the slip of the saw- 

 mill. The resolution, daring, skill, and physical force of the mea 

 engaged in this business can find no rival, to say the least, in 

 any body or class of men whatever. 



In many cases logs are hauled on to the ice of the lakes, streams, 

 and rivers, instead of being left upon the banks or landing-places. 

 When hauled on to the lakes, they are laid together as compact- 

 ly as possible, and inclosed in a " boom," which is made by fast- 

 ening the ends of the trunks of long trees, so as to prevent them 

 from scattering over the lake on the breaking up of the ice. A 

 strong bulk-head or raft is constructed of the logs, with a cap- 

 stan or windlass for the purpose of warping the whole forward 

 in a calm, or when the wind is ahead. In this operation, two 

 or three men take an anchor into the boat, to which, of course, 

 the warp is attached, when they row out to the extent of the 

 rope, let go the anchor, and haul up by working the windlass. 

 Sometimes a tempest breaks up the boom, and the logs are scat- 

 tered, which gives much trouble, and not unfrequently causes a 

 delay of one year before they reach the mills. 



