126 THE BOOK OF FORESTRY 
logging camps the sleds are loaded in the morning 
by lantern light, and the work continues so far into 
the twilight that teamsters and choppers working at a 
distance return to the bunk house after dark. The 
men are well fed with wholesome food, which disap- 
pears with astonishing rapidity. For sixty hungry 
men working for twelve hours in a zero temperature 
swinging an ax, pulling a saw or using a cant-hook 
will make short work of the evening meal. Baked 
beans, always a staple dish in a logging camp, are 
eooked in huge wash-boilers, and doughnuts or fried 
eakes are generally turned out by the tubful. How- 
ever, in spite of the hard work, there is much that is 
amusing and many jokes are played. In the past, the 
lumberjacks of New England and New York were 
largely recruited from the ranks of the French Cana- 
dians, and their songs and pranks added much to 
the color and life of the camp. A newcomer ordinarily 
has a hard time until he is initiated, for all sorts of 
tricks will be played upon him. His clothes and bed- 
ding may mysteriously disappear, only to be found in 
the top of a high tree near camp, and when he climbs 
the tree to collect his belongings, two of the best 
choppers in camp will station themselves at the foot 
of the tree and chop it down before he can descend. 
The unlucky novice clinging to the limbs comes down 
with a crash, and may disappear entirely in a deep 
snow drift. The life is rough, the men are good- 
hearted but reckless, and unfortunately some of their 
jokes may have disastrous results. 
After a hearty supper at the end of the day, the 
men collect in the bunk house for their evening 
recreation. Songs are sung and yarns are told about 
the fearsome animals of the woods and legends of the 
