TRANSPORT AND EXPORT TIMBER TRAD& 19? 



course, go on, sometimes head foremost, and sometimes 

 making first a complete somersault or revolution. In 

 general also a workman, or it may be two, or even three, 

 are stationed at these points with long poles to aid at the 

 time the movement of any trees which might otherwise 

 be in danger of sticking fast and blocking the way. The 

 slides in general lead to pools of considerable depth in a 

 lake or river. Into these the trees ofttimes descend more 

 than their entire length, starting up again vertically before 

 setting off anew on their course. 



Much debris is found all about such spots ; but it is 

 comparatively seldom that logs are seriously damaged. 

 The quantity of splinters may be, to a great extent, com- 

 posed of the lesser branches left on the tree when placed 

 in the slide. 



Brands or marks may be seen upon some logs. These 

 are, I presume, the marks of the woodcutter or the con- 

 tractor, made to enable each one to claim his own property 

 should logs belonging to different proprietors get mixed 

 together. 



The logs are carried down by the river, and if the 

 river falls into a lake, they are at the embouchure of the 

 river collected and formed into a raft ; and such rafts 

 are sometimes towed by a little steamer across the lake 

 to its outlet. If the stream flowing thence be smooth, 

 they may be floated further as a raft ; if it proceed over 

 waterfalls in its course, the logs are unchained and allowed 

 to float down apart, to be reformed into a raft below these, 

 if circumstances allow of this. Notwithstanding the care 

 which may be taken, many logs are stranded on the banks 

 of the lakes and rivers. The logs are cut into size and 

 shape for the foreign market by saw-mills near the coast, 

 which are driven by water-power. 



Saw-mills of the simplest structure, consisting only of 

 a water-wheel and a circular saw, fixed apparently on the 

 same axle, are common appendages to farmhouses in the 

 country. They are employed in cutting up the firewood 

 required for the family and their retainers. 



