11 
other, one of them has to go off into the deep soft snow at the side of 
the beaten track. The track consists of a level surface on each side 
worn smooth by the sleigh runners, and as we previously stated all 
the sleighs used in the province have the runners the same distance 
apart; if not they would be unserviceable for long journeys, from the 
heaviness of the draught. The draught of the New Brunswick sleighs 
is almost always double; hence the snow in the centre of the road 
gets worn into two channels with a ridge of snow between them (see 
Fig. 8), which is an imaginary section of a New Brunswick road. The 
consequence of this is, that when single draught is used, the shafts 
must be attached not in the centre of the sleigh, but to one side, in 
order to allow the horse to run in one of these channels. 
The principal obstacles or faults in these roads in winter, are two; 
viz. “ cahots ” or pitches, and “ slews/' The former are deep holes 
running across the road, generally at the foot of a steep descent, 
and they become enlarged by every sleigh which passes over them. 
“ Slews ” are portions of the road, which shelve down on one side, and 
on which a sled sways down sideways, each one making the slew 
worse. Both these are dangerous for heavily loaded sleighs, the 
latter especially. A sleigh pitches into a cahot with a heavy blow 
which shakes every timber in it; and*when passing a slew, sways 
down sideways, being brought up at the bottom by a bank of frozen 
snow or ice, which is very likely to break- the pins or split the runners 
as previously explained. (See page 188.) 
The “ cahots ” are mended by putting in alternate layers of young 
spruce boughs and well-rammed snow. Snow by itself would be of 
no use, for being softer than the beaten track, and having nothing to 
hold it, it would soon be hollowed out again. 
The bridges in New Brunswick are of inferior quality, as there are 
so many required, that no great amount of engineering seems to have 
been bestowed on any of them. The same want of supervision, 
visible in the state of the roads, is also to be seen in the case of the 
bridges. If one is carried away by a flood, unless the legislature is 
sitting at the time, it cannot be repaired till the next session. Many 
remains of broken bridges are seen along the road; but it must be 
remembered that there are such large quantities of timber, always at 
hand, that in the event of a bridge breaking down or being carried 
away, another could be constructed, in an emergency, in a very short 
space of time. Most of the bridges, indeed, are made of logs cut and 
squared on the spot; they are all constructed on the strut and tie 
principle. 
Faults in 
the roads. 
The roads, 
&c., “ca¬ 
hots” and 
“ slews.” 
Mode of 
mending 
cahots. 
Bridges 
in New 
Brunswick. 
