TIMBER TRANSPORT. 51 



angle as to admit of its being breast-high behind. 

 One or two men stand by this, and, by pressing 

 it downwards, keep the nose from diving to the 

 bottom after a sharp fall in the river. The prin- 

 cipal attention is devoted to the fore part of the 

 raft, for if this is kept clear and in mid-stream, 

 which is effected by men armed with poles to guide 

 it, the after joints require little attention. Even in 

 sharp curves, if the fore part is kept clear, the after 

 part will follow, although it may at times rise 

 over the bank. The construction of the raft gives 

 a flexibility which admits of this. Still it will 

 sometimes happen that a raft is suddenly brought 

 up, and if no provision were made for this, the 

 after joints are in danger of snapping their bands, 

 and rushing over the fore part. This is guarded 

 against by men stationed on the penultimate joint, 

 in which the centre log is a couple of feet shorter 

 than the others. Lashed to the end of this log, 

 and to the log on either side, is an upright beam, 

 which ordinarily inclines forward at top, in 

 which position it just grazes the bottom, but on a 

 shock being felt forwards, or the word being 

 passed, the beam is drawn into a more upright 

 position, when its lower end strikes into the bottom 

 and anchors the raft. On the passage from rapid to 

 stiller water, too (id est), where the after part of the 

 raft is in a stronger current than the fore part, the 



