254 
pairs of blankets. The canvas will not 
become so wet, however, if the tent is 
pitched under a spreading tree, as this 
prevents the formation of dew. But again, 
trees sometimes become conductors for 
lightning or are blown down in a storm. 
If you are traveling by canoe you should 
try to choose a landing place where you 
can bring your craft broadside on to the 
shore, as it does not pay to run a canoe 
end on against the gravel. If you are care- 
ful your birchbark will not leak very badly, 
even after several days’ use, while if you 
are careless and treat her as you would a 
ship’s jolly boat, she will leak like a sieve, 
and great will be your discomfort. The 
correct way to make a landing is to run your 
canoe in broadside and step out without 
actually letting her ground. Then remove 
the load and lift the canoe out; if you are 
alone, by catching hold of the center bar; 
carry it a few feet above high water mark, 
and place it gently, bottom up, seeing that 
it is secure from damage by wind or water. 
There is generally little danger of anything 
happening after doing this here in the East, 
but once on the Alaskan coast we had a 
30-foot dugout, made from a single trunk 
of the giant cedar, smashed into match- 
wood under rather peculiar circumstances. 
Our small party was camped by the shore, 
our tent being fifty yards or so from the 
canoe, which was so large and heavy that 
it required six stout fellows to carry it up 
from the water. Without any warning a 
sudden squall came down from the Coast 
Range, churned up the waters of the little 
bay, caught our canoe up in its wild em- 
brace as if it were a thing of no weight, 
rolled it over two or three times, and 
finally slammed it down on a couple of 
granite boulders placed there by dear old 
Dame Nature doubtless for that very 
purpose. 
If you have to leave a bark canoe for any 
time exposed to the frost, just loosen the 
ribs, otherwise she will most assuredly 
crack. | 
A birchbark canoe should always be 
sheltered from the sun when not in use. 
And if you are a fisherman and intend 
to camp for a day or two in some place 
where there is good fishing, cut a few forked 
sticks and drive their points into the ground, 
RECREATION 
aligning the forks carefully; in these you 
can lay your rods with an assurance that 
they will not warp, though if they are split 
bamboos you had better cover them with 
some strips of bark, either birch or spruce, 
to keep off the rain and dew. Salmon 
fishermen never take down their long, 
heavy rods while they are in camp, as they 
do not often move their headquarters, and 
such a rod support as I have described will 
keep them in excellent condition. 
V.—Camp FIRES AND COOKING FIRES 
Making a fire may seem a simple mat- 
ter to one whose experience has been 
limited to watching the hired girl set the 
blaze agoing in the parlor grate, but there 
are occasions, and they come quite fre- 
quently when one is leading the simple 
life, when making a fire is by no means 
an easy trick. When there is nothing in sight 
but green wood, and everything is wet and 
sodden with rain or snow, it takes a pretty 
good hand in the woods to get a fire started 
without loss of time. Let me give an 
instance : 
One late November afternoon several 
years ago I found myself on a hardwood 
ridge in central New Brunswick, in com- 
pany with “Billy” Griffin, who has sinee 
become well known as a woodsman and 
guide, but who was then living in com- 
parative obscurity, although I had some- 
time before found out his excellent knowl- 
edge of woodcraft. Daylight was fast 
fading away; it was bitterly cold, for there 
was a foot of snow on the ground, and the 
northwest wind was howling through the 
leafless hardwoods. Look where we would 
we could not see a stick of dry wood; in 
fact, it was about as clear growth of rock 
maple as I have ever seen. Suddenly Billy 
stopped, saying: “I think this will do.” 
To me it seemed that it would not do at 
all, for I could not imagine that he could 
make a comfortable camp in such a dreary 
place. | 
But Billy knew his business. 
Throwing down our packs we lost no 
time in pitching camp. I cut a few young 
maples and put up our lean-to with its 
back to the wind; cleared away the snow 
from beneath it and from the spot where 
the fire was to be built, banking it up at the 
