78 ECONOMICAL GEOLOGY. 



out the matted roots and earth from over it, and saws it 

 off at the ends. This latter operation is easily performed, 

 as the mud is very soft, and without any grit. By means 

 of levers he then loosens it, when it at once rises and floats 

 in the water, which is always very near the level of the 

 swamp. The log is then cut into shingle lengths, and split 

 into shingles. The logs are sometimes, though rarely, 

 worked for thirty feet. The process, as carried on in the 

 swamp, is shown in the cut. 



It is very interesting to see one of these logs raised. It 

 comes up with as much buoyancy as a freshly fallen cedar; 

 not being water-logged at all. The bark on the under side 

 looks fresh, as if it had lain but a few days ; and what is 

 remarkable, the under side of the log is always the 

 lightest; the workmen observe that when the log floats 

 in the water it always turns over, the side which was 

 down coming uppermost. The drawing was taken in a 

 swamp which has been worked, for its buried logs, for fifty 

 years past ; and the scattering trees which are seen are 

 only such as have escaped the workman's axe. The levers, 

 spade, and other tools of the shingler are seen, and he is 

 in the act of cutting up the floated log. Several holts, or 

 blocks in form for splitting into shingles, are lying on the 

 ground in front of him. In the background, a man is 

 seen shaving the shingles. The workmen go over the 

 same ground again and again, and find new logs each time. 

 The buoyancy of the timber remaining, it is probable the 

 lower logs rise in the mud when the roots over them are 

 cut loose, and the logs which laid upon them are removed. 



These logs are found not only in the swamp, but also 



