308 WILD LIFE AND THE CAMERA 



It is difficult to answer the question with mere 

 words. To describe the dehghts of tramping 

 through the snow-bound woods, equipped with well 

 fitting snow-shoes, is not easy. Almost ghostly is 

 the scarcely audible swish-swish of the snow-shoes 

 as they pass over the firm dry snow. The keen air 

 is bracing, so that your strength seems equal to any 

 task. Where is the awful cold you have heard 

 about ? Surely the temperature is scarcely below 

 freezing ; and you remove your heavy woollen jacket. 

 Then your woollen gloves feel over warm, and they 

 too nmst come off. Wait just a minute and see 

 what the thermometer has to show : 20° below 

 zero. Why, surely it must be wrong? But no, your 

 fingers have frozen to the metal case, the perspira- 

 tion changes to ice as it falls on your arm. Perhaps, 

 after all, the mercury is right, for now that you 

 have stopped exercising you really do feel that the 

 cold is intense. When the air is so dry it is very 

 deceptive, and not until your fingers freeze do you 

 appreciate the cold. 



The first thing necessary for comfort when on 

 a camp trip in the snow is proper clothing for day 

 and night. IVlen accustomed to the cold will sleep 

 before a large open fire and have no blanket over 

 them. It is not advisable for the man accustomed to 

 steam-heated rooms to attempt this. A good sleep- 

 ing bag made of four thicknesses of light-weight pure 

 wool blanket with an inner bag of natural wool 

 bating covered with thin flannel is all that is needed, 

 but on no account use any bag that laces at the 

 lower end. These laced bags are good enough for 

 temperate weather, and they haYQ the advantage of 



