HARVESTING THE FOREST CROP 127 
phantom canoe, and many other tales are told common 
to the north country. After an hour or so of yarn 
spinning and an evening pipe, the crowd turns in to a 
dreamless sleep upon their balsam beds. 
“Driving” the River—Throughout a large part of 
the spruce country, lakes and rivers are found which 
make transportation of any timber that floats compara- 
tively easy. Spruce and pine in any condition and 
poplar and hemlock after barking will float, hence these 
species are capable of water transportation. During 
the hauling season while the snow is on the ground, the 
logs are hauled to the edge of streams or piled upon 
the ice of the lake; when the ice melts in the spring 
the logs sink into the water, or if upon the river bank 
are rolled in, each log, however, being first measured 
and stamped with a distinguishing mark. The logs then 
float upon the spring freshets down through the brook, 
past the rapids on their way to the sorting boom at the 
mill. 
The most skillful rivermen are selected from the 
entire logging crew, and upon these men in charge of 
the driving boss falls the duty of getting the winter’s 
cut to the mill town far down the river. Driving the 
river is hard work under high pressure, as the water 
may subside any day and consequently long hours of 
labor are the rule. A crew of river drivers equipped 
for the job, attired in rough clothes, their trousers 
‘‘stagged,’’ or cut off below the knee, feet encased in 
heavy woolen socks, stuck into boots, the soles of which 
are spiked or “‘calked,’’ make a picturesque and strik- 
ing sight. Their duty is to keep the logs forever on 
the move. When the current carries the logs ashore, 
with cant-hook and pike-pole they will force them back 
into the stream again, and time and again will rush 
