xii INTRODUCTION 



grace, no calamity (leaving me my eyes) — which Nature cannot 

 repair. Standing on the bare ground — my head bathed by the 

 blithe air and uplifted into infinite space — all mean egoism 

 vanishes. ... I am the lover of uncontained and im- 

 mortal beauty." 



So, to make my life-dream come true, to contemplate in all 

 its thrilling action and undying splendour the drama of the 

 forests, I travelled twenty-three times through various parts of 

 the vast northern woods, between Maine and Alaska, and 

 covered thousands upon thousands of miles by canoe, pack- 

 train, snowshoes, bateau, dog-train, buck-board, timber-raft, 

 prairie-schooner, lumber-wagon, and "alligator." No one 

 trip ever satisfied me, or afforded me the knowledge or the 

 experience I sought, for traversing a single section of the 

 forest was not unlike making one's way along a single street of a 

 metropolis and then trying to persuade oneself that one knew 

 all about the city's life. So back again I went at all seasons of 

 the year to encamp in that great timber-land that sweeps from 

 the Atlantic to the Pacific. Thus it has taken me thirty-three 

 years to gather the information this volume contains, and my 

 only hope in writing it is that perhaps others may have had the 

 same day-dream, and that in this book they may find a reliable 

 and satisfactory answer to all their wonderings. But making 

 my dream come true — what delight it gave me! What sport 

 and travel it afforded me ! What toil and sweat it caused me ! 

 What food and rest it brought me ! What charming places it 

 led me through! What interesting people it ranged beside me! 

 What romance it unfolded before me! and into what thrill- 

 ing adventures it plunged me! 



But before we paddle down the winding wilderness aisle 

 toward the great stage upon which Diana and all her attendant 

 huntsmen and forest creatures may appear, I wish to explain 

 that in compliance with the wishes of the leading actors — 

 who actually lived their parts of this story — fictitious names 



