Sintamaskin 



tramp. The journey we had planned was a 

 rather long one, and offered a considerable 

 variety of snow-shoeing, but we were in good 

 trim for it, and had no fear of rough climbing 

 or tangled windfalls. 



The use of snow-shoes is not a difficult 

 matter, even for the beginner. Like every 

 other form of athletic pursuit, it requires some 

 practice to overcome the awkwardness of first 

 attempts, and to acquire familiarity in dealing 

 with the little complications of woodland 

 travel, such as windfalls, thick bush, and steep 

 places. But the same is true to some extent 

 of all walking, and there is no reason why any 

 one who likes wholesome exercise, and can 

 ride a horse or a bicycle, row a boat or paddle 

 a canoe, should hesitate about making a win- 

 ter hunt through fear of the much exagger- 

 ated difficulties of snow-shoeing. 



The first time that I ever put on snow-shoes 

 I started out with the usual stiff-legged, strad- 

 dling gait of the beginner, and his conviction 

 that the huge and cumbersome things were 

 skillfully designed to impede my progress. 

 The first advice of my Indian instructor was 

 to " limber up " my joints, and walk as though 

 I had no snow-shoes on. Acting upon this, I 



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