IMAGE EVALUATION TEST TARGET (MT-3) k^O O C V\%^ .** 1.0 I.I 11.25 lA^lM |2.5 ■50 *^™ HHl Ui liii 12.2 ^ m '™^ li£ 12.0 lit LU. 1.4 11.6 m 0*% /a ^>' / Photographic Sciences Corporation 33 WIST MAIN STtllT WHSTIR.N.Y. UStO (716)t73-4S03 CIHM/ICMH Microfiche Series. CIHM/ICMH Collection de microfiches. Canadian Institute for Historical Microreproductions / Institut Canadian de microreproductions historiques ;V Technical and Bibliographic Notes/Notes techniques et bibliographiques The c to l:h< The Institute has attempted to obtain the best original copy available for filming. Features of this copy which may be bibliographically unique, which may alter any of the images in the reproduction, or which may significantly change the usual method of filming, are checked below. L'Institut a microfilm^ le meilleur exemplaire qu'il lui a 6t6 possible de se procurer. Les d^t&ils de cet exemplaire qui sont peut-dtre uniques du point de vue bibliographique, qui peuvent modifier une image raproduite, ou qui peuvent exiger una modification dans la mdthode normale de filmage sont indiquds ci-dessous. Thai possi of th filmli □ Coloured covers/ Couverture de couleur □ Coloured pages/ Pages de couleur D D D n n D Covers damaged/ Couverture endommagde Covers restored and/or laminated/ Couverture restaurde et/ou pellicul6e Cover title missing/ Le titre de couverture manque Coloured maps/ Cartes giographiques en couleur Coloured ink (i.e. other than blue o*- bipck)/ Encre de couleur (i.e. autre que bleue ou noire) Coloured plates and/or illustrations/ Planches et/ou illustrations en couleur Bound with other material/ Relid avec d'autres documents Tight binding may cause shadows or distortion along interior margin/ La reliure serr6e peut causer de I'ombre ou de la distortion le long de la marge intirieure Blank leaves added during restoration may appear within the text. Whenever possible, these have been omitted from filming/ II se peut que certaines pages blaivches ajoutAes lors d'une restauration apparaissent dans le texte, •nais, lorsque cela 6tait possible, ces pages n'ont pas 6t6 film^as. Additional comments:/ Commentaires suppl^mentaires; D D D D D D □ D Pages damaged/ Pages endommagdes Pages restored and/or laminated/ Pages restaurdes et/ou pellicul6es Pages discoloured, stained or foxed/ Pages d6color6es, tachetdes ou piqu^es Pages detached/ Pages d6tach6es Showthrough/ Transparence Quality of print varies/ Quality indgale de I'impression Includes supplementary material/ Comprend du materiel supplementaiie Only edition available/ Seule Edition disponible Pages wholly or partially obscured by errata slips, tissues, etc., have been refilmed to ensure the best possible image/ Les pages totalement ou partiellement obscurcies par un feuillet d'errata, une pelure, etc., ont 6ti film^es A nouveau de faqon & obtenir la meilleure image possible. Origi beglr the li sion, othei first sion, or ill( The I shall TINl whic Mapi diffe entir begi! right requ mett This item is filmed at the reduction ratio checked below/ Ce document est filmA au taux de reduction indiqu* ci-dessous. 10X 14X 18X 22X 26X 3GX / 12X 16X 20X 24X 28X 32X The copy filmed here has been reproduced thanks to i:he generosity of: Metropoiitan Toronto Library History Department L'exempiaira film* fut reproduit grAce A la gAn6rosit6 de: l\Aetropolitan Toronto Library History Department The images appearing here are the best quality possible considering the condition and legibility of the original copy and in keeping with the filming contract specifications. Les images suivantes ont 6t6 reproduites avec le plus grand soin, compte tenu de la condition et de la nettet6 de I'exemplaire film6, et en conformity avec les conditions du contrat de filmage. Original copies in printed paper covers are filmed beginning with the front cover and ending on the last page with a printed or illustrated impres- sion, or the back cover when appropriate. All other original copies are filmed beginning on the first page with a printed or illustrated impres- sion, and ending on the last page with a printed or illustrated impression. The last recorded frame on each microfiche shall contain the symbol -^> (meaning "CON- TINUED"), or the symbol V Imeaninj, "END"), whichever applies. Maps, plates, charts, etc., may be filmed at different reduction ratios. Those too large to be entirely included in one exposure are filmed beginning in the upper left hand corner, left to right and top to bottom, as many frames as required. The following diagrams illustrate the method: Les exemplaires originaux dont la couverture en papier est imprimie sont film6s en commengant par le premier plat et en terminant soit par la dernidre page qui comporte une empreinte d'impression ou d'illustration, soit par le second plat, salon le cas. Tous les autres exemplaires originaux sont film6s en commenpant par la premiere page qui comporte une empreinte d'impression ou d'illustration et en terminant par la dernlAre page qui comporte une telle empreinte. Un des symboles suivants apparaftra sur la dernidre image de cheque microfiche, selon le cas: le symbols —^ signifie "A SUIVRE", le symbols V signifie "FIN ". Les cartes, planches, tableaux, etc., peuvent 6tre filmis A des taux de reduction diff^rents. Lorsque le document est trop grand pour dtre reproduit en un seul clichA, 11 est f iimi A partir de Tangle suptrieur gauche, de gauche h droite, et de haut en bas, en prenant le nombre d'images nicessaire. Les diagrammes suivants illustrent la mdthode. 1 2 3 1 2 3 4 8 6 A- \ t' IL t /! I ^. < r AT HOJM V, IN ^\\ THE WILDERNESS V • v?i I,OSI)OS ruiNTKI) UY S.-OTTISWOODE ANT. CO. >B\V-S1'UKET SQUAIIB 1 i .'. V. WZ^ a If i s i • -i Tln'InnHfiifii l.nS DON ; HOHERT llAUinVICKK, H):>, IMCCADl Ll.Y IHIIT, i AT E i AT HOME IN THE WILDERNESS : WHAT TO DO THERE AND HOW TO DO IT. A HANDBOOK for TRAVELLERS and EMIGRANTS. BY JOHN KEAST LORD, AUTHOR OF 'THE NATURALIST IN VAXCOUVER ISLAND' ETC. Cljirb 6bili0«. LONDON : HARDWICKE & BOGUE, 192 PICCADILLY 1876. ' i S I- -\- L-'O^') ^ C:> AUG 1 ^ 1921 10 H. R. H. THE DUKE OF CAMBKIDGE FTRLD MARSHAL IN THE ARMY AXI> GENERAT, COMA[ANDINa IN CHIEP, K.O., K.r., O.C.B., &c. &c. (J^ljis Xxiih S(!Iork IS, BY rRRMlSSION, MOST EESPKCTFUl.l Y DEDICATKI) HY HIS liOYAI. IIIGHNKSS'S MOST HUMHI.K sr, IJVANT, JOTIN KEAST LORD, INTRODUCTION. -♦<>•— I Where and when to camp ; how to equip and manage a train of pack-mules; break, gear, and saddle wild horses; cross streams, build log shanties, trenail a raft, dig out a canoe or build it with bark or hide, manage dog-sleighs, and tramp on snow- slioes ; what to carry and what to leave at home ; or, to sum up in a few words, the way to get through a wild country as one ought, by adopting the better means of doing that wliich has to be done, are matters of no trhhng value to travellers of all denominations. Tliere are details tliat a novice cannot possibly acquire, save it be from the past experiences of other travellers, or, faihug assistance such as this, he must learn his lessons in the field and forest by finding them out for himself, always a tedious, unsatisfactory, and very oxpCw3ive process. Believe me, in travelhng, as in Tw ^ VUl INTRODUCTION. everything else, there is a right way and a wrong way of going to work, and, for some inexpHcable reason, 'young beginners' are strangely predisposed to follow the latter course. The experience of twenty years passed as a rambler in various parts of the world, though principally as trapper, hunter, and naturalist, East and West of the Rocky Mountains, enables me to state from actual c>bservation, that a ' g] een hand,' to use a slang term, on his first visit to a wild country, in nine cases out of ten arrives from the land of civilisation completely hampered, entangled, and weighed doAvn, so to speak, with a medley of utterly useless things, which lie never would have purchased had he been guided or directed by any person who knew how to travel. ! ai in to d( ah su Again and again, friends and strangers have sought my gnidance, when fitting out to travel, either in the pursiut of spoi-t and pleasure or to seek a fortune in far-olT lands as emigrants. Hence I am induced to o^l^er a few practical hints on the general details of travelling, trusting the rough suggestions I shall offer may prove of use to those who are dis])osed to wnture into a distant country wherein wheels, steam, iron ^ INTRODUCTION. IX and macadamised roads, are unknown luxmies; and in which, as a Yankee once said to me, in reference to Southern Oregon : ' Stranger, you bet your bottom dollar a man has to keep his eyes skinned, his knife sharp, and his powder diy, or he'll hav' his har ris'd, sure as beaver medicine, if he travels thim parts.' John Keast Loed, F.Z.S. Late Naturalist to the British North American Boundary Commission ; Author of the 'Naturahst in Vancouver Island and British Columbia. 1] ! CONTENTS. -»o»- CHAPTER I. Home in the Wilderness and Elsewhere — An Imaginary Journey — AVhat the word racking means — Fitting out for a Journey — Rules to be observed in the choice of Pack Animals — Geldings preferable to Mares — Mules killed by Magpie: and Blowing-flies — Beware of Crupper Cuts — What a Hoof oiight not to be, and what it ought to be — Shooing advisable, if possible — How to examine the Eyes — Mules with Defective Vision dangerous to a degree — Prevalence of ' Cataract ' — The way to examine the Teeth — Parrot-Mouthed Mules always lose condition — Never work Pack Animals thin — ' Points ' of a good Pack Mule .... pack 1 CHAPTER II. Average worth of Pack Mules — Mortality in Cold Regions — Poisonous effects of the Horse-tail Rush (cquisctum) — Advantages of Sheds and Dryth — The Bell-mare — Value of a Horse's Tail — Branding . IG CHAPTER III. Fur-Traders' System of Packing — Journey from Fort Colville to Fort Hope — Disadvantages of the Cross-tree Pack-saddle — Crimean Pack Saddles radically bad — Desirability of the ' Aparejo ' — How to mak(> an Apart jo — Its Weight — Evidences of Suffering — In search of Pack Saddles— The ' Rigging ' . . . . . .63 Xll CONTENTS. CIIAPTEU IV. RidiiiR Siiddlcs— Stirrups— 'Cabrosto' preferable to an ordinary bridle- - Tethering . • • • • Wagons and Teaming CHAPTER V 97 CHAPTER VI. The more desirable form of Tent— The Lodge of the Savage— The Sibley Tout— TIh' Bell Tent— The Guble-ended Tent— The Miner s Tent— Half- f^helter Tent— Poles and Pegs— How to pitch a Tent and make it . It 1 secure . • • • • CHAPTER VII. A Hunter's Bedding— Bedding for Tents or Log-houses— Bedstead, how to make-Systems of Packing up Bedding— Tools necessary for a Wand.'rer— The way to fell your first Tree— How to split a Log— Traps to be avoided .••■•■■ CHAPTER VIII. Cooking Utensils— A Fryingpan equal to any emergency— Tea and CoflFeo versus Rum and Water— Canteens more ornamental than useful— The Plan for making your o.vn Camp Baskets— Iron Ovens— Camp Kettles- Flour better than Bisciiit- Yeast Powder. How to bake a Loaf— Fixed t\ , . , 131 Ovens . . • • • CHAPTER IX. What to wear— Avoid Leather— Woollen Fabrics preferable to all others- Boots— INlocassins— How to manage with Snow-shoes— Hat— Mosqnito- bag— Fishing Gear— A good day's Sport . . • .139 I CHAPTER X. Firearms— Muzzle-loaders— Breech-loaders — Riflos- vcrsus Pouch— The better Plan for cleaning Guns Revolvers — Shot-bolt . 149 CONTENTS. Xlll CHAPTER XI. I'acking tlio Train for a start — Driving in— Haltering — Putting on tlio Aparojos and 'Saddling up'— Synching — -Packing on the Load— The way to pack Barrels— Slinging — Roping and Covering — Throwing the Riata and fastening it — Our March — The abandoned Camp — Entering the Timber — 'Stringing out' and Counting — Mules apt to lie down if halted ....... page 158 CHAPTER XII. Narrow Trails — Packmaster goes ahead of the Bell-mare — Mountain Passes — Bridge-making — Crossing Swamps— Dangerous Corners . 173 CHAPTER XIII. Ifow to cross Rivers — Swim Mules — Make Rafts, Canoes, and a Bull-Boat — The way to cross a River with your Horse, and to Raft your Gun, and Ammunition, without wetting them — Camping — Unsaddling — End of the March . . . . . . .181 CHAPTER XIV. .Mustangs: their first appearance in Mexico — Foimd in Texas, California, Oregon, British Columbia, and Elsewhere — Breaking a Wild Horse not an Easy Task — A Wanderer should be his own Manufacturer — The "Way to Make a Lassoo and a Cabresto — Lassooing, Saddling, Mounting, Roping Wild Cattle— -An Exciting Adventure . . . . '205 CHAPTER XV. Winter and Sumnur Travelling with Dogs — Idlers— Free Fights — Packing Dogs— The ' Travaille' preferable — How to make and use a Travaille — • The Sleigh and Tobogan — Bone Rings and Toggles — The Way to Harness your Team — A long Whip desirable — Precautions against Rheumatism — Sure Bind Sure Find ' — Feeding Dogs— Sore Feet — Merry -Bella . 2'28 CHAPTER XVI. The Wild Honey-bee — Bee Hunting — How to line a Bee — Hoiioy Hunting ofton a Profitable Employment —Texan Islands— A Hunter's Disgust — i XIV CONTEXTS. luliljlo Berries— Hoots oft.'ii Poisonous and to bo Eaton with Caution — .Substitute for Tobacco— Insects which are devoured by the Red People— Pemmacan— Preserving Meat— Extractum Carnis : Morgan's system- Preserving Beef and Mutton fresh— Jerking Beef— Catching and Curing White-fish and Sahnon page 244 CHAPTER XVII. A Puzzle for a Carpenter— To Build a Log-house without Iron— Split- Shingles— Put on the Roof— Make a Door, Fireplace, and Chimney- Log Quarters of the Bomidary Commission— Effects of Cold— A Caution to bo remembered— To procure a Light from two pieces of Wood- Getting a Light with a Gun— How to carry Luciforc . • 263 CHAPTER X-^III. Mosquitoes — Sand-flies — The Breeze-fly — The Trumpet-flies — Jack- Spaniards— Stone-Wasps— Rattle-Snake Bites— A use for the Rattle— The Trap-door Spider— The Deer-tick— Leeches in the Mouth . 27-i CHAPTER XIX. Hints on Taxidermy— What Tools to carry— To set Fall-trap— How to Pack the proceeds of the Hunt — The End .... 305 Index . 319 !■ ! LIST OF ILLUSTEATIONS. •4 Frontippikce Vignette Cross-tree Fack-Saddle ..... page 52 Grimsley's Pack-Sabbi.e . 67 Round-topped Aparejo 68 The Gable-ended Aparejo . 70 A Packed Mui.b .... 75 Synch, shoamng the -wooden eye 76 Tapujo, or Blind 78 Mule with Blind on 79 Californian Riding Saddle 81 Mexican Knot 84 Solid block Stirrup, No. 1 85 Stirrup made of Bent Wood, No. 2 85 Gun Sling .... 87 Indian Pad .... 89 Cabresto .... 95 Sibley Tent .... 105 Half-shelter Tent . 108 Indian Wigwam 109 Gable-ended or Doo-kennel Tent . . 109 Axeman's Tent . . 114 Camp Bedstead , . 116 XVI LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS. L()(J I'kdstead .....•• Thk way to fold Bkdding anu Cloths in a wateupuoof wkai-i-eu Baruel Chaiu How TO fell a Tree LoGGixo rp A Tree . TuEE-Bninfii'; . Cedar Canoe Bark Canoe . Swimming a Horse . The Travaille Bone IIino and Togcjle DoQ Harness Snow Shoe Frame of a Log-hovse Splitting a Loo for Shingles Amongst the 'Punkies' The Breeze-fly and Lancets 117 119 121 121 127 176 191 192 193 230 232 233 242 2G4 2G;3 276 290 f [ t 117 119 121 121 127 170 191 192 193 230 232 233 242 2G4 20;') 270 290 AT HOME IN THE WILDERNESS. CHAPTER I. Home in the Wilderness and Elsewhere— An Imaoinary Journev— ^y\u^t the Word Packiiu; means— Fitting out for a Journey Ifules to be ob.^erved in the choice of l»ack Animals— (Jeldings prefcrable to Mares— Mules lulled by Magpies and IJlowing- flies— Beware of Crupper Cuts— What a Hoof ought not to be, and what it ought to be— Shoeing advisable, if possible— How to examine the Eyes-Mules with JX^fective Vision dangerous to a degree— l»revalence of * Cataract'— The way to examine the Teeth— I'arrot-Mouthed Mules always lose condition— Never work Pack Animals thin—' l^oints ' of a good Pack Mule. I SHOULD like to know who is able to boast a more perfect independence than is he who has learned the art, for art it most assuredly is, of being ' at home in the wilderness.' What cares such a one for quarter-day; no flintj-hearted landlord threatens to sell him up if the rent is not paid j that terrible man, the tax-gatherer, AT HOME IN THE WILDERNESS. ,i t has no terrors for liim, and never 'jnst looks in' with his ug'ly book and an ink-bottle dangling from the coat button, for his little account, which it is not at all times convenient to pay. All the collectors that ever were, or ever will be, could not in the wilderness cut off your water supply or stop your light. I quite agree in ojjinion with that dweller in the wilds, who, when the newly-arrived settler boasted that the sun never set u2)on England's possessions naively replied, ' Wa'al stranger, that ar likely enough, kase 'tis low'd by all as cum from thim parts that the tax bos never camps down to sleep.' At home in the wilderness in right good earnest you live rent free, ppy no taxes, get fuel for the trouble of cutting it, and water and light without paying a rate ; though surrounded with an abundauce of fish, flesh, and fowl, you are free from meat hiUs, nothing to lock into your house, and no thieves to lock out: front door and latchkev are useless incumbrances ; you wear what you like, do what you like, go out when you like, com? homo when you like, snap your fingers at 'Mrs. Grundy,' and care less for her evil tongue than the bite of a mosquito. To feel that one is at home, though it be in the wilderness, is always to me a great source of pleasure. What household word is more cherished than is that of home ? How delightful are all its associations, in it how many hopes and joys arc hidden j the woods and I THE MAGIC OF HOME. 3 of u streams dear to us in childhood, the hoary hills and flower-decked meadows, the old church spire grey with lichens, the Sabbath bells that were wont to peal so softly down the valley, are but a few of the links which unite us to home. Happy memories not to be counted cling round about it like trailing vines, and living garlands of brilliant blossoms encircle the brown, sombre, branchless trunks of tropical palms, adding to them beauty and usefulness, as prattling children cling to their parents and make the father's right arm stronger. ' No tonerue shall tell what bliss o'erflows the mother's tender heart while round her the offspring of her love lisp her name.' Or to employ a more homely simile, as the ivy enwraps the crumbling ruin and entvviues its evergreen arms round the sturdy oak, in like manner the remembrance of home with all its treasures winds itself at all times round the heart of the iin)sentee, nor need there be ancest^'al mansions, broad lawns, acres of woodlands, rich pastures, fertile orchards, and gardens, to recall household joys, or to 1 lark the spot wherein they abide : not a bit of it. ]Iome is not shut within narrow limits, is not con- fined to scenes of pleasure, regal splendour, or the dwellings of the great. Wherever warm hearts are to be found together, with contentment and a hearty desire at all times to do the best that can be done und(n' existing circumstances, health and strength, a will to work, and an unwavering trust in God who B 2 m^ 4 AT HOME IX THE WILDERNESS. cares even for the sparrows, there believe me exist the primal elements, the magic of home. ' Mankind, however fettered and benighted ; Ilowe'er oppressed by penury and care ; Have their existence by one beacon lighted, Kave still one bliss which all may freely share.' A novice finds travelling terribly perplexing, because he has no idea of making himself at home, neither does he discover until stern necessity stares him in the face how absolutely requisite it is to cultivate a habit of observing. He must train his eyes until his sight equals in delicacy of perception the to^cli of the blind. Trifles impercei3tible to the tyro are to the practised traveller pages of information, as easily read and com- prehended as are those of a printed book. His tread should be light and stealthy, so as to avoid cracking fallen ^ranches unnecessarily or rustling the bushes ; nothing should escape his attention. The disturbance of insects, the switch of a tail, the flajD of an ear, the gleam of an eye, a displaced stone, or a broken twig, are matters not to be passed lightly by. He must educate his ears too. The voices of birds, the calls denoting love and anger made by different animals, the hum and buz of insects whether loud and angry, as evidencing aimoyance and irritability, or soft and low as indicative of peaceful security ; the sough of the breeze and the roar of the torrent must be to the cultivated heariiiL^ of the dweller in the wilderness as understandable as i the i WHAT WE HAVE TO DO. 5 diiFerent musical notes are to tlie ears of a practised musician ; and to some extent he must be a musician and ventriloquist of a certain kind himself. He must acquire the art of imitating sounds ; the amorous bellow of the lady moose-deer to attract her lord, the plaintive ' bleat ' of the fawn to lure the doe, the * call " of the wild turkey, and the whistle of the beaver and marmot, are a few examples selected from a goodly number to show that to be at home in the wilderness demands that the dweller therein, to be successful in the pursuit of game, must needs be a skilful imitator of forest sounds. Be it my pleasant duty to act as guide and in- structor to all who may feel disposed to wander through far away lands. Come then with me now, in imagination — ' To cvftofpy mountaing, where the hunter buildeth in.s fragile dAvelling like nu eagle's lair : To southern climates, whore the sunlight gildoth The vine-clad hills -with colours ever fnir. To far otf lands, where the savage roameth, The untutored lord of many a scene sublime : To groves and glens, to where the ocean foameth; To every country and to every clime.' We shall have rough roads and narrow trails to travel, deep and swift-flowing streams to cross where boats aud bridges are as yet unknown ; we must learn to build our own houses and provide our larder with meat, and how to cook it and provide the requisite fuel. 6 AT HOME IN THE WILDERXESS. - We must wield the axe, paddle our canoe, lassoo wild horses and ' gentle,' and ride them when captured ; it is necessary also that we should be able to * pack ' either mules or horses, yoke and drive oxen and manage a team of mules, tramp on snow shoes and harness dogs to a sleigh ; but we shall find out all we have to do as we jog on our way. And if on the completion of our imaginary wanderings you have learned to make yourself at home in the wilderness, the Wanderer will have fulfilled all he set out to accomplish as guide and instructor. I have introduced a short story here and there which will serve to illustrate the district we are travelling through, as well as the character of the savages we shall have to encounter ; and it will, perhaps, too, lighten the tedium of continuous telling what to do and what to leave undone. The general equipment of a mule-train, or pack and saddle horses, if mules are not to be procured, forms by no means the least valuable part of the experience which it is absolutely requisite a traveller should possess. Packing means putting anything and every- j thing, irrespective of shape or size up to a weight of 3001bs., on mule or horseback, and so fastening it that it shall neither rock nor sway from side to side, shift backwards up-hill or forwards on a descent, or fall off if the animal carrying the load stumbles or even rolls down a hill-side. The same remarks will apply whether the pack-train consists of four mules or one 1 OUR FIRST TRIP. I hundred. Mules are far preferable to horses for all purposes of transport. And so let us begm by- supposing that we are, say in Upper California, ' fitting out ' for a trip through Southern Oregon, to cross the Rocky Mountains. First and foremost, mules must be purchased if we mean to travel comfortably. If our party does not exceed three, we shall require five pack-mules, two riding mules for the packers, three riding mules for ourselves, and a bell-mare to be ridden by the guide or the cook, or any outsider attached to the party. In selecting mules, when purchasing always choose geldings or ' machos,' as they are usually styled, in preference to mares. The former are invariably much stronger, keep in better condition, and are far less liable to those aberrations of temper which lady mules are in the constant habit of displaying, much to the packer's annoyance and dis- comfiture. Be sure to examine carefully the back, arch of the ribs, under surface of the tail close to the rump, hoofs, and eyes. If you discover the evidences of pre- vious sores on the back or sides, especially if the skin covering the spot or si)ots looks shiny and polished, have nothing to do with the mule; the greatest care will not prevent regalliiig, and a sore-backed mule is worse than none at all, because the poor animal travels in pain and misery all day, if loaded, and gets no rest or a chance to feed after the day's work is done, in consequence of the ceaseless persecution inflicted by % ,1 I AT HOME IN THE WILDERXESS. swarms of flies ; and, what is far worse, magpies, if any are about, will be pretty sure to percli on the back of ||i the chafed animal, and eling-ing' on by their sharp claws, peck away at the sore with a sort of fiendish delight. During our work, w^lien marking the Boundary line, we had several mules and horses seriously injured by the magpies, the packers having incautiously turned the I ' animals out with sores exposed. I observed one of our mules on the Sumass prairie, near the Fraser River, British Columbia, rolling maxU}", but was at a loss to imagine the cause. As I stood quietly watching him he got on his legs, but no sooner was he up than a couple of magpies which I had not previously noticed issued from an adjoining bush, swooped down upon the luckless mule, and commenced again what they had clearly just left off, literally, and not in mere figure of speech, to eat him alive. Vain were all the tortured beast's writhings, kickings, and attempts by mouth and tail to displace the greedy birds ; they hung on with a perseverance certainly worthy of a better cause. Rolling was his only chance, but even then his persecutors simply hopped off patiently to bide another o]3portunity. Too much occupied to notice my approach, the two g'^^irmands permitted me to get within range : a shrill whistle sent them hurry-scurry from their horrid ban- quet, for which they paid the penalty of their lives ; I shot one with each barrel. Their beaks, as I picked them up, were recking with the blood of the mule, and MAGPIES AXD BLOWING FLIES. 9 in one was still grasi^ed a bit of quivering mnscle. We had in our employ a quaint specimen of the thorough- bred woodsman; old ' Pine-knot ' we styled him, in com- pliment to his toughness or powers of endurance; in other words, he combined within himself the various crafts of gold-washer, axeman, hunter, packer, trapper, and rowdy in general. He hated magpies nearly as much as ho loved whisky, and invariably tried his best to destroy every one he saw. * Darned cusses,' he used to exclaim, ' they'd as leve eat a Injun as a boss, and that's more nor a skunk ad do, you may bet high on it.' To return to our subject. These several causes rapidly produce loss of condition, and the probability is the mule will either have to be shot or abandoned ; the former being by far the more charitable course, and one 1 should always advise. I have several times discovered abandoned pack animals in a most pitiable condition. Once I remember finding a mule on a small open patch of prairie land in Oregon, which had been left by its owners in consequence of a stake wound just above the hoof having produced such excessive lameness as to render further rapid progression impossible. Blowing flies soon found out the sore, laid their eggs, which were rapidly developed into larvcc, or maggots in plain English, and these had burrowed in every direction, betwixt the horny hoof and bone, consuming what is equivalent to that most exquisitely sensitive tissue, commonly called in man * the quick of the nail,' whilst 10 AT HOME IX THE WILDERNESS. the helpless animal lived. It makes my heart ache even now when I recall its look of agony as on three legs the poor beast limping along said, in language quite as intelligible as articulated words could have been, ' In pity help me.' On examining the foot, I found the hoof was almost detached from its union with the ad- joining tissues, which were being rapidly devoured by the maggots. What was to be done ? No system of treatment which I could have adopted would have been of the slightest avail. Charity whispered, ' End its suf- ferings as speedily as you can,' which I did by sending a bullet through its brain. I could recount many other instances of finding de- serted animals enduring horrible sufferinp-s, but this one will suffice ; and I have related it with a view to induce those who read these lines (should they ever have occasion to abandon an animal) to kill it at once. As a general rale it is far more humane than to give an animal * a chance for its life.' You ask, why it is de- sirable to look imderneath the tail ? Because * crupper cuts' are of common occurrence, and when once a mule's tail has been badly cut by the sawing motion of the cripper it never properly heals, and although the wound may be skinned over, so as to escape the eye of an inex- perienced buyer, still no person accustomed to packing would purchase a mule if signs of * crupper-cut ' were discoverable. If the hoofs are worn very much, and the sole and \i f ADVANTAGE OF SHOEING. 11 frog come flat upon the ground, or if old cracks are to be seen about the coronets, or if a ridge or ridges of bone encircle the coronet, commonly called -'ring-bone,' have nothing to do with the mule ; he will be sure to work lame the first rough ground you drive him over. Badly worn hoofs are usually composed of weak poor horn, and when the wear brings down the lower edge of the outer horn to its union with the horny sole, small fragments of gravel are apt to work in, often causing an incurable lameness. A good hoof should be black, very oval, and hard as flint. Shoeing pack animals is all very well, if you can find a shoeing smith, and afford to pay him a dollar (4s.) a shoe ; hence shod animals are seldom seen ; now and then a favourite riding mule or horse may be indulged with a set of shoes, if a rough country has to be travelled over. The Commission mules and horses were always shod, but then we had our own soldier shoeing-smiths, and could afford to do it. One thing I am quite sure of, shod mules are capable of enduring greater fatigue, carry a heavier weight, and travel much faster than do those which are without the iron protection to the feet. A light shoe, turned up at the heels, steeled at the toes, and put on firmly with eight nails, is the kind of shoe I found to answer best for general purposes. Turning up the heels prevents slipping when going down steei? trails, and saves the flat part of the shoe from a great deal of wear. T 12 AT HOME IN TITE WILDERXESS. 1 A rigid and most careful scrutiny of the eyes is a first necessity. To examine them, stand at the mule's side, shatle the eye to be examined with your hand and look throug-h it from corner to corner, then place yourself in front, and peer into the interior of the eye as yon would into a well if seeking for truth at the bottom of it. Should you discover any pearly-looking- specks, like tiny white beads, at once reject him. Mules are extremely liable to ' cataract,' and a mule with defective vision is dangerous to a degree ; not only does he risk his own life, by shying on narrow trails, and perhaps falling over a cliff into a river, or down a vertical wall of rocks, nobody knoAvs where, with the freight and packing gear ; but by suddenly backing or halting, the mules following- close to him are stopped suddenly, trails being very seldom wide enough for one mule to pass by another. The hinder mules in the train, immediately there is a htuit, as if actuated by a vicious determination to push each other over, crowd on iipon those that are obliged to stop in consequence of the semi-blind mule refusing to proceed, from dread of some imaginary object, produced by defective vision. The result of all this usually is, that two or three good mules may be either killed or dangerously hurt, in consequence of your purchasing a bad mule with unsound eyes. Anotlier thing a dim-sighted mule does is to run against the trees with his load, and if he happens to be carrying a box, or anything breakable, smash it goes, i t( c si I THE WAY TO EXAMINE MULES. 1:3 i'J I to a certainty. In examining large bands of mules, in California and elsewhere, when purchasing- for the Government Boundary Commission transport, I was astonished to find so many had ' cataract.' Why this should be I cannot tell, excepting the disease is inherited. Old and worn-out mares are frequently, though unwisely, thought good enough to ' raise ' a mule from ; and over- ridden ' mustangs ' are usually turned out to take their chance in wet or cold, and from this cause are extremely liable to inflammatory affections of the eyes, which ge- nerally ends in the formation of ' cataract.' Hence, I am disposed to attribute the frequency of the disease, in young mules, to inheritance ; although blows from the packers' whips, or ophthalmia produced by cold and exposure to inclement weather, may be, and I feel sure often is, the cause of the disease in older and hard- worked animals. We complete our examination by taking a peep at the teeth ; it is very seldom pack-mules will allow any liberties to be taken with their mouths, and they always manifest a very decided objection to showing their incisors. If you have a quiet horse to deal with, nothing is easier than to place a finger behind the tusk, or tush, or in the space betwixt the grinding and cutting teeth if it be a mare, then to raise the lips with the left hand, and by the wearing down of the ' marks ' find out the age ; but with ill-disposed mules the case is altogether different, you might as reasonably expect T 14 AT HOME LV THE WILDERNESS. ■i if m hi I - to pull your fiiigor from the snap of a steel trap unscathed as for it to escape from out a mule's mouth without bein<,r bitten. Tame old riding and team mules are often docile enough to permit any liberty to be taken with them, but never trust one that is us.:d only for packing. The safer way to manage the rascal, so as to be enabled to look into his mouth, is first firmly to seize the near-side ear with the right hand, and with the left hand grasp the tipper lip, nose and all, then lean the hip against the mule's shoulder and bring the nose toward you. In this way one can generally obtain a peep at the front or incisor teeth. By keeping the hip jammed tightly to the animal's shoidder you avoid the risk of its striking jovl with the fore feet, for let me tell you these pack animals are quite as handy with their fore lioofs as a prize-fighter is with his fists. It is not of any material moment to know whether a mule is three or five years old, so that you know he is not very aged. For jiacking, I prefer mules between five and seven years old to younger animals. There is yet another reason, besides that appertaining to age, which renders a scrutiny of the mouth indispensable. What are called * parrot-mouthed ' mules are far from being uncommon ; in this case the upper cutting teeth over- lap, and instead of meeting, shut down outside the under ones. This deformity is most objectionable ; experience has proved that wherever grass is short, I WHY MULES WORK TIIIX. 15 or the g-eneral herbage scanty, parrot-mouthed mules invariably lose condition. Here will be as good a place as any to caution all young travellers against ' working their pack animals thin.' So long as mules retain their rotundity and plumpness, the sure signs of good condition, there is very little fenr of galling them, unless it happens or arises from the most reprehensible carelessness on the part of the packers ; but let your mules once get thin, from over-driving, over-loading, or from either of the causes j)reviously pointed out — which faults should, or at any rate ought to have been discovered in the examination prior to purchasing — and all the care and skill the most practised hands are able to adopt will not prevent the occurrence of galled backs and chafed ribs. Numbers of mules in large pack trains are found by their packers to ' work thin,' from some cause or other not discoverable. Such animals are always discarded, and when placed in jiasture where the grass is long, there, with i^lenty to eat and nothing to do, they soon fatten, and are finally disposed of to the unwary. A pack mule should be short upon the legs, strong and rather arched along the back, tliick in the shoulders and muscular about the loins. The hoofs should bo small and black, and the hocks straight and fine, with- out any tendency to bend inwards, or what is technically designated ' cow-hocked.' He should have bright full eyes, sharp teeth, a good long swishy tail, and a sound skin. IH IG AT HOME IN THE WILDERNESS. rt CHAPTER II. Average wortli of Pack Mules — Mortality in Cold Regions — Poisonous ofl'ects of tlie Horse-tail Kusli {equisetinn) — Advantages of Sheds and DrN'th— The Bell-mare— Value of a Horse's Tail — Branding. We have fixed on the raules we intend to purchase, and agreed with the f^eJler as to the price to be j)aid, which, on a rough average, will amount to about 120 dollars (25?.) to 150 dollars (30?.) per head. If mules are purchased in Sonora or Texas, unbroken, or only partially tamed, and driven up into California at the buyer's risk, they may be obtained at a much less cost than I have quoted as the average price current in Upper California,. I was sent from Vancouver's Island into California especially to purchase a band of eighty mules for the Boundary Commission, which cost, one with another, 120 dollars per head. Like all other marketable matters, mules rise and fall in value, in accordance with the demand and supply, or in tlie ratio of successful gold-hunling. Whenever mining is prosperous mules are dear; when the miners are 'do- i upon their luck,' mules can be obtained at compuni- tively small prices. ±^ sasa EFFECTS OF FOOD AND CLIMATE. 17 In cold regions the mortality is sometliing awful during the winter, an d in that way the value is often increased. It may be interesting to mention as an instance of this, and as an example how differences of food and climate affect mules, which are generally supposed to be hardy to a provei'b, (a most erroneous idea, by the w^ay) , that during the time we were at work on the Boundary line, y\rest of the Cascade mountains, the gold discoveries on the Fraser River ' Bars ' attracted a vast concourse of miners, and consequently mule trains, for the puii)ose of supjDlying the diggers' necessities. When the cold weather came on the mule trains were, nearly every one, driven down to the Sumass and Chilukweyuk prairies, in order to winter the animals. The grass was in great abund- ance, and small sheds were run up with ' wickey and mad,' (twined branches plastered with clay or mud), to protect the nudes, whilst the owners or packers in charge built themselves log shanties; and thus pro- vided, no apprehePoions were entertained but that all would go on a.3 * merry as a marriage bell.' But the too sauguine Californians little dreamed what the winters were like in British Columbia ; snow rapidly coverrd up the grass far too deeply for the mules to dig it away with their feet, in order to reach the buried herbage. No dry fodder had been provided to meet this contingency, so, in the absence of all other kinds of foliage, the hungry mules began to devour -7= mmt 18 AT HOME IN THE WILDERNESS. m ^ i the lar^e patches of equisetum, or horse-tail rush, which covered many acres of grom :d under the trees, by the river side, and around the swampy edges of the bush ; being in a great measure protected by the trees, and growing often to a height of six feet, it was easily comeatable above the snow. The effect of this plant was perfectly astounding. As soon as the mules begar. to eat it they were seized with a disease precisely resembling Asiatic c holera ; the most violent purging came on, accompanied with cramp, rigors, utter prostra- tion, and speedy death. More than five hundred mules died on these two prairies in less than a month. What the cause of this poisonous effect might have been I am puzzled to say. My impression at the time was, that the animals' stomachs and intestines beinjr com- paratively empty, and at the same time the general tolerance of the system being further weakened by the excessive cold and lack of requisite food rich in carbon, the flinty covering of the rush acted mechani- cally as a mineral irritant to the mucous lining of the alimentary canal, producing dysentery of a most violent character. This is simply a tiieory, and must be estimated only as such. I mention the fact inci- dentally as a warning to travellers, who nuiy perchance be placed in a like disagreeable and ruinous portion. I have often seen the mules eat this ho^'se-taii j ish during the summer, when mixed with other food, and then no ill effects accrued from it. KJia ADVANTAGES OF A DRY BED. 19 by ! i! I r* I wintered all the Commission mules and horses during the following winter on the same prairies, and with signal success ; but I had grown wiser by having witness c;d the misfortunes of others. So I took the precaution to have a requisite suoply of the long grass mowed and converted into hay during the summer, and likewise a supply of barley safely housed in a log store, which grain was brought all the way from Chili to Vancouver Island, and thence up the Eraser and Sumass rivers, by boat, to be finally landed on this desert prairie. I had a large square enclosed with open sheds, in which the animals were fed and kept, being driven out only to ice-holes cut in the stream, twice every day, to drink. The grand secret of wintering animals successfully h\ jj^ry cold districts is, I am convinced, to insure their a;'\ iys having a, dry bed to lie on, and shelter from ti 1 -iliing falling from tlie heavens. Cold, however intense, (I have wintered mules, hoises, and cattle when the temperature has been 32° below zp!':o), never does them any hann, so long as tlieir bodies are dry and they have plenty to eat. Wet and cm'rents of fi'osty air do all the mischief, not the intensity of dry cold. Every one of my animals living in the open sheds were healthier, and less predisix)sed to colds and lung affec- tions than were those more closely shut up. After this little digression, we must go in pursuit of the next essential, and that is a ' bell mare.' With a C 2 1 20 AT HOME IX THE WILDERXESS. ,: 'i 'ii' train of mules, if the number of animals composing it exceeds three or four, you must have a * bell mare.' A small band of mules can be either hobbled or tethered when you are camj)ing'; with a large number this system is imj); voticable. Experience has taught the packers that mul . ill follow a mare or gelding, (the former being always preferred), should it have a bell tied round its neck, wherever it goes ; more than this, at night, when camping, all you have to do is to secure the 'bell mare,' either by hobbling or tethering her, and the mules will very rarely graze further away than they can distinctly hear the bell, which is always tink- ling so long as the mare is eating' or wandering about. When the bell ceases, in consequence of the mare's lying down, the mules also lie down and take their rest. When the mare gets up, and the bell begins to ring, the mules also arise and again commence feeding. The ' bell mare ' always precedes the mule train, and is ridden by the cook as a rule. Her pace regulates that of the train, and must be most carefully watched by whomsoevc '' has the charge of the train. Over-driving, as I have before said, is most hurtful to loaded animals. From what I have stated in reference to this said ' bell mare,' it is quite clear we must be very careful in the selection of the lady to be honoured with such an unruly family. In the first place she must be perfectly gentle, and not very young ; young mares are given to ramble and very often get amorous fits. : THE BELL MARE. 21 Wliilst this lasts, all discipline is to a great extent at an end amongst the pack of mules ; they one and all (that is, the geldings) become like Ingoldsby's abbot, when seated by the devil, disguised as a fair lady, * less pious and more polite.' She must not be vicious or given to kicking. A light grey, if we can get her of that colour, is by far the best, because she is much moro readily seen, when browsing among tr^es; and about fourteen hands, or fourteen hands two inches, is the more preferable size. Her back must be free from galls, her eyes sound, a,rd, what is of more value than you Avho have not earned experience can well imagine, she must ha 'J AT HOME IN THE WILDERNESS. ^ !l poor feeble man, shaken to the very centre with terror and grief, seemed to rouse the soldiers into ungovernable fury, and I felt quite sure if by chance any * Snake Indians ' fell into their hands, but little time would be given them for explanation or repentance. The orders were positive that all Indians taken alive should be brought back to the Post as pnsoners, an order I well knew the soldiers would never obey. Just as Auger-eye had predicted, two, nay nearly three days, were lost in rafting the horse and mule gear over the swollen streams ; thus nearly a week had flown by when darkness compelled us to camp very near the scene of this terrible murder. Each watched eagerly for the first ray of dawn, no one appeared disposed to sleep, but preferred to sit moodily by the smouldering embers. Few sounds disturbed the intense silence of the night save the trampling of the tethered animals, the occasional snort of a horse as something tickled its nose, the continued munch-munch as they all greedily cropped the succulent herbage, the distant bay of the wolves, and now and then the startlino- shriek of the niaht owl as it skimmed with mulHed wings over the silent group. I never I'emember so long a night ; I began to think ir.orning had put off coming at all, and really envied old /Vuger-eye, who was coiled up and sleeping for all the world like a dog. Tlie wished for light Ciime at last, and long ere the sun's rays came fairly over fhe hills we had * saddled up ' and were cantering I A HORRIBLE SCENE. 87 I I rapidly throiig-li tlie timber, to come out on tlie open pliiteau leading to the ford at the upper fork of the Snake River. As we neared the line where the forest ended and the prairie land began, the pace increased to almost a race, each appearing to think he ought to be first to discover a survivor, or reek vengeance on a Red Skin. Hence it happened that every one selected a path for himself, and the detachment dashed from amidst the pine trees scattered like a flight of frightened birds. It was iny fate, I cannot say good fortune, to emerge on the very spot whereon the terrible butchery had been perpetrated. Once in a lifetime is quite often enough to witness such a scene as I was in the midst of. Numbers of bodies of both sexes, many of them those of children, lay gr^^n and ghastly upon the bright green grass in all sorts of positions. Vitality flown, chemistry had begun its work of destruction, and lenJing their aid as general removers of nuisances were vultures, ravens, wolves, and a host of lesser flesh feeders, together with their diminutive yet powerful assistants belonging to the scavenger brigade of the insect army. All the adults had been scnlped, and many cleft skulls showed that the savages had brained with a tomahawk or Jiatchct the wounded and disabled. I will not sicken you by lingering here, it would be only ^^linful to relate '^U the terrible evidences of brutality wc naw, ns wandering about amidst the dead bodies, cindered wjigona, and 38 AT HOME IN THE WILDERNESS. ■ii il spoiled property useless to tlie savages, we realised to the full what a scene of carnage the fight must have been. Whilst the men were occupied in digging a large pit, into which the remains of the dead were to be dej^osited, old ' Auger-eye ' had been cautiously circling round the spot, and might be seen every now and then down U2)on his knees peering intently at the ground. At last he appeared to have discovered something ; beckon- ing me, he at the same time pointed in the direction of the upward course of the river. All hands were so eager to learn what discovery the old tracker had lighted on, that persuasion and command failed alike to induce them to continue at the work on which they were engaged. Dropping their tools they crowded round the old man, and scarcely venturing to breathe, intently listened to what he was saj'ing. In the figurative style common to all Indian languages, the old savage stated his opinion to be that three, if not four, white people had crossed the plateau after the fight, and by the appearance of their trail were making for the river. Children had accompanied them, but he could not say whether two or three. He also stated that he had made out, from a careful reading of Nature's book, that Indians had visited the i^lace since the fight, nnd that in all likelihood they too had struck this same trail and followed it up the river. Their suftin told him they luid not passed more than three suns ago ; THE GUIDES READINGS. 39 further, if the Indians had not discovered the fugitives, we should most likely capture the ruffians by dividing our party, sending some of them across the ford, to scout up the right bank of the stream, whilst others were to keep close to it on the side we were. A third party was ordered to make a short circuit through the bush and again strike in upon the river a few miles farther up its course, at which place of rendezvous the differ- ent parties would eventually meet. The opinion being unanimous that no time should be lost, it was arranged that some of the detachment should return on our homeward route, to complete the sad task so summarily abandoned. Thirsting for a speedy revenge, the men at once divided. With Auger-eye as guide I took command of the detachment who had to search the river-bank ; the old Sergeant commanded the scouting party told off to cross the ford and scour the timber, on the right side of the river ; whilst the third band was appro- priated to the Doctor. The weather was cold, and the sky, thickly covered with fleecy clouds, foreboded a heavy fall of snow. The wind blew in fitful gusts, and seemed to chill one's blood with its icy breath as sweeping past it went whistling and sighing up the glen. The rattle of the horses' hoofs as the receding parties galloped over the turf grew fainter and fainter, and when our little band halted on a sandy roach, about a mile up the river, not a sound was audible save the \ ii I fi l! !■ r^ 40 AT HOME IX THE WILDEllXESS. steady rliytliin of tlie paiitiiij^ horses and the noisy rattle of the stream, as tumbling- over the cragcry roeks it rippled on its course. The * Tracker' was again down ; this time creeping- along npon the sand, on his hands and knees, and deliberately and carefully ex- amining the marks left on its impressible surface, which to his practised eye were in reality letters, nay, even readable words and sentences. As we watched this tardy progress in impatient silence, suddenly, as if stung by some poisonous reptile, the Indian sprang upon his legs and making eager signs for us to approach pointed at the same time eagerly to something a short dist-ance beyond where he stood. A nearer api)roacli revealed a tiny hand and pai't of an arm, pushed through the sand. At first we imagined the parent, whether male or female, had thus roughly buried the child — a consolatory assumption Auger-eye soon destroyed. Scraping away the sand partially hiding the dead boy, he placed his finger on a deep cleft in the skull, which told at once its own miserable tale. This discovery clearly proved that the old guide was connect in his readings that the savages were following up the trail of tli(3 survivors. The man who had escaped and brought us the intelligence appeared so utterly terror stricken at this discovery that it was with ditficulty he could bo supported on his horse by the strong troopers who rode beside lam. We tarried not for additional signs, but THE FUGITIVE GIRL. 41 I pusliecl on with all i30ssible haste. The trail was rough, stony, and over a leclg-e of basaltic rocks, rendering j)rogTession not only tedious but difficult and dangerous ; a false step of the horse, and the result might have proved fatal to the rider. The guide spurs on his Indian mustang, that like a goat scrambles over the craggy track ; for a moment or two he disappears, being hidden by a jutting rock ; we hear him yell a sort of ' war- whoop,' awakening the echoes in the encircling hills ; reckless of falling, we too spur on, dash round the splintered point, and slide rather than canter down a shelving bank, to reach a second sand beach, over which the guide is galloping and shouting. We can see the fluttering garments of a girl, who is running with all her might towards the pine trees ; she disai^pears amongst the thick foliage of the underbrush ere the guide can come up to her, but leaping from off his horse he follows her closely, and notes the spot wherein she has hidden herself amidst a tangle of creei^ing vines and maple bushes. He awaited our coming, and, motioning us to sur- round the place of concealment quickly, remained still as a statue whilst we arranged our little detachment so as to preclude any chance of an escape. Then gliding noiselessly as a reptile through the bushes, he was soon hidden. It appeared a long time, although not more than a few minutes had elajised from our losing sight of him, until a shrill cry told us something 42 AT nOA[E IX THE WILDERNESS. was discovere'^1.. Dashing into the midst of the under- brush, a strange scene presented itself. The hardy tr( o^ers seemed spell-bound, neither was I the less astonished. Huddled closely together, and partially covered with branches, crouched two women and the little girl whose flight had led to this unlooked for dis- covery. In a state barely removed from that of nudity, the unhappy trio strove to hide themselves from the many staring eyes which were fixed upon them, not for the purpose of gratifying an indecent curiosity, but simply because no one had for the moment realised the con- dition in which the unfortunates were j)laced. Soon, however, the fact was evident to the soldiers that the women were nearly unclad, and all honour to their rugged goodness, they stripped off their thick top coats, and throwing them to the trembling females, turned every one away and receded into the bush. It was enough that the faces of the men were white which had pre- sented themselves so unexpectedly. The destitute fugitives, assured that the savages had not again dis- covered them, hastily wrapped themselves in the coats of the soldiers, and, rushing from out of their lair, knelt down, and clasping their arms round my knees, poured out thanks to the Almighty for their deliverance with a fervency and earnestness terrible to witness. I saw, on looking round me, steaming droj)s trickling over the sunburnt faces of many of the men, whose THE SAD DISCOVERY. 43 iron natures it was not easy to disturb under ordinary circumstances. It was soon explained to the fugitives that they were safe, and as every hour's delay was a dangerous waste of time, the rescued women and child were as care- fully clad in the garments of the men as circum- stances permitted, and placed on horses, with a trooper riding on either side to support them. Thus reinforced the cavalcade, headed by Auger-eye, moved slowly back to the place where we had left the pack train encamped with all the necessary supplies. I lingered behind to examine the place wherein the women had concealed themselves. The boughs of the vine-maple, together with other slender shrubs con- stituting the underbrush, had been rudely woven toge- ther, forming, at best, but a very inefficient shelter from the wind which swept in freezing currents through the valley. Had it rained they must soon have been drenched, or if snow had fallen heavily, the * wickey ' house and its occupants soon would have been buried. How had they existed? This was a question I was somewhat puzzled to answer. On looking round I observed a man's coat, pushed away under some branches, and on the few smouldering sticks, by which the women had been sitting when the child rushed in and told of our coming, was a small tin pot with a cover on it, the only utensil visible. Whilst occupied in making the discoveries I was sickened by a 41 AT HOME IX THE WILDERNESS. L. noisome stench, whicli proceeded from tlie dead bod}' of a man, carefully hidden by branches, c^rass, and moss, a short distance from the little cage of twisted bouy-hs. Gazin*^ on the dead man a suspicion too revolting to mention suddenly f^-ished upon me. Turn- ing away saddened and horror-stricken 1 leturned to the cage and removed the cover from off" the saucei'an, the contents of which confirmed my worst fears. Hastily quitting liie fearful scene, the like of which I trust nevt'r to witness again, I mounted my horse and galloped after the party, by this time some distaiuM? ahead. Two men and the guide were desired to find the spot where the scouting parties were to meet each otlwM*, and to bring them with all speed to the mule camp. It was nearly dark when we reached our destination, the sky lo()ke(l black and lowering, the wind appeared to be in- creasing in ''orce, and small particles of halt'-froz'-n rain drove smartly against our f{.ces, telling in pretty plain language of the coming snow-fall. Warm tc:,', a good substantial meal, and suitable clotlies, whit-li had l)een sent in case of need by tlie officers' wives stationed at the ' Post.-' W(»rked wonders in the way of restoring bodily weakness ; l)ut the shock to the mental system time alone could alleviate. 1 cannot say 1 slept much during the nigld. Anxiety lest we might be snowed in, and a fate alinnst as trisoners wctuld very likely escape ; tliat taking them with us would only add to the risk of delay, and weary the men who had to keep gujird over them day and night. Summary judgment was d(;- manded, and iinding that i)ositive disobedience w(>nld follow my detiM'mination to abide by ord«'rs, I deemed it more expedient to yield to the wishes of the men I fij t< r(| h fj A STRANGE PLACE OF EXECUTION, 47 w than endeavour to enforce what I felt sure I coukl not possibly carr^ out. A branch suited to their purpose was soon found, and from it three tether-ropes dangled, each with a noose at the end ; the horses, carrying their terror-stricken masters, the three Snake Indians, were now led under- neath the moss-covered branches, which drooping to the ground formed a kind of curtain round the tree. It was a strange place of execution. Above the sturdy branches resembled natural arches; underfoot grew moss, and grass soft as a velvet carpet; a dim half- light found its way in varied quantities through the leafage, giving the scene a solemnity and grandeur almost unearthly in its character. Each savage had a, noose adjusted to his neck; their legs were unbound from beneath the horses' bellies ; * remh/ ' j^eeled the deep voice of the Sergeant, then a smart cut administered to each of the horses caused them to spring from beneath their riders, who were left swinging from the branch. The heavy jerk must have produced immediate death, for a slight convulsive shudder alone shook the frame of each savage as the soul quitted its tenement, to wing its way to that bourne from whence no traveller returns. I need not weary you by recounting the return to heiid-(piarters ; we had a cold and perilous trip, snow fell heavily and rendered it a ditHcult matter to follow the trails, but old ' Auger-eye,' true to his instincts, 48 AT 1I0.ME IX Tin: WlLDEliXESS. guided US safely on our way, until we trotted into the square of the cosy * Post,' welcomed by the hearty con- f»-ratulations of all, there to relate over and over ayain this strang-e story. So ended this romantic narrative, which I relate, as nearly as memory will permit it, in the words of my kind-hearted host. I heard some tinic afterwards of the rescued women — one of them had married a soldier who was present at the discovery in the ' wickey ' house, and that the little girl was adopted by a settler and his wife, who were as fond of her as though she had been their own child. The other wonuin was still a servant to Captain D , who told me the tale. But to return. Let us suppose ourselves to have pro- cured our ' bell mare,' riding and pack mules. The next thing is branding, and obtaining the equipment, or, as it is termed, in packer phraseology, 'the rigging.' Branding is a small matter of detail a novice would hardly think of very much importance, nevertheless its neglect may, and frequently does, prove the cause of very s(,'rious annoyance, and not uncommonly results in the loss of the mules or horses with which he is travelUng. To explain clearly what I mean, let us sup- l»ose you have paid for your [>ack-train, and to laive taken a receipt only for the money; the mules are branded M.C., which means, for example, ]\Iike (^istle, a well-known packer, ih>m whom you have purchased til a WIIAli'::^ YOUR BRAND? 49 the V con- ayaiii ite, as of my lien — at the ;le L'irl IS loud The , who ve pro- lie iiexl , or, as • ^ woiikl less its aiise ol' results li he is us sup- to have les are Castle, rchased them. Yon start, and on reaching some outpost town, up walks the U.S. district consbable, who, as a rule, like the Cornish Mayor of Tintagel, combines within his sacred person the varied offices of judge, mayor, magistrate, constable, registrar-general of marriages and births, and chin-shaver in general. I should have written city, as there are no towns in the wilds of America — a log-shanty, hog-stye, and hen-house are enough in themselves to warrant the civic title. The functionary of many offices says to you, * Stranger, war did you git them mules ? ' * Wliy, I bought and paid for them,' you indignantly reply, and if your temper will allov^r you so far to condescend, out comes the receipt, which you imagine will prove a stojiper to the impudent questioner. Not a bit of it ; he deliberately reads it through, and with a leer in his eye, says, as he squirts out a small cataract of tobacco-juice, * Wliar's your brand; tliar ain't none on the mule, nor iiarry counter-brand on this liar receipt; you might a jisi stole 'em from Mike's baud, or may-be the mules hav(^ strayed, and y(>u might a found 'em ; I shall emi)ound 'em, stranger, until you get Mike's counter-braud receipt.' So your mules are stopp^a until you can lind means to communicate Avith the seller, and in that way prove your right of ownership. Now, what you ought to have done is this: vv^hen the purchase was complet(>d you should liave Inmghi a brand, or have had one made by the blacksmith. a 50 AT IIOMI-: IX THE WILDERNESS. ' Initials are as good as anything' ; our Commission brand was B.C. and the broad an^ow. The letters should have been burnt into the skin under the brand mark of the sillier, and on his receipt it should have been written : branded M.C., brand of seller ; counter-branded, B.S. (Bill Stubbs), brand of buyer. The thigh on the near side of the animal is the best place for the brand mark, because it will be the more readily seen ; well nigh every operation, such as girthing, roping, mounting, or what not, is usually done on the near side. The branding-iron should be made red-hot, and then applied lightly, and kept against the skin after the hair is burnt off sufficiently long to scald it and destroy the roots of the hair, but not long enough to cause a sore, which is sure to slough, and in that case might be troublesome to manage. Branding on the hoofs is of no use; the mark rapidly grows out, and then your own and the counter- brand are lost together ; on the bfick, so as to be under the saddle, is likewise a bad place, although many brand there to avoid disfigurement ; the skin where the mark has been made is of a spurious churacter, and readily rubs into a sore in hot vireather, despite every care — henc(% I always refuse to purchase pack animals which have been branded on tlu; back. Numbers of the mules E purchased in California, had been so tattooed with dilfcr- ent brand marks, that their thighs resembled trees I liave been, in the bark of which loungers invariably cut , I VALUE OP COUNTER-BRANDING. 51 iission letters brand should seller ; buyer. is tlio be the uch as usucally )uld be 1 kept iciently air, but sure to 3nie to le mark ouuter- e under y brand le mark lily rubs —hence, L'h liave mules [ h dilfer- tr(^es I ably cut I their own, and I suppose their sweethearts' initials, until the letters become so jumbled together as to defy even the skill of the carvers to identify their own letters from those of their neighbours. This system of branding and counter-branding is extremely useful, and I may say actually necessary, in countries wherein stealing mules and horses amounts to a profession. Animals in outpost places are not even safe from theft when shut up in a livery stable, if un- branded ; but if the animals are plainly marked, the thieves know very well that they may be, as you were, in the supposed strait, caught by the watchful function- aries who are ever on the look-out for chances to pocket dollars in the shape of fees ; one or two of these preventive officers are generally stationed wherever mining is going on, or where there are facilities for the disposal of riding and i)ack animals. There is no crime deserving a heavier punishment than is that of horse or n>ule stealing in a wild country. A traveller's or a hunter's life is in a great degree de2)endent on his means of transport. Deprive him of his horse, without his having any chance to replace the loss, and in most cases it would be more merciful to kill him at once than leave him to perish slowly, bit by bit, and day by day, from hungci', weariness, solitude, or the arrow of the savage, which in nine cases oat of ten must be his fate it' left entirely to his own resources, far away from lielp or civilisation. Hence, a horse thief is often swung up M 8 52 AT HOME IX THE AVILDKllXE,n. l*Mabby stpiaws crouch at the entrancehole — • door is a misnomer — whilst a peep throun. On our left, and be- hind us, the treeless plain — once clearly the bottom of a lar<4V lake, for the water-line is still visil>le round the e(lo-('s of the encirclin^j hills, and the }j^rav»'lly surface is bestrewn with boulders and water-worn pebbh's — stretchcf" away for a es of a rid<(e of hills thai ascend in terraces coiu- posed of ancieut <^ravels, until i^Towiu^' obscure in the mist and ha/e c>f distance they seem io mini^lc their siniimits with the clouds. A-hcad a, narrow slreaui iwists like a silver cord from iliebase of the hills, to join llu^ ('(ilumbia. 'JMiis stream we cross on a fallen tree, a brid^^» of Nature's own contrivill;,^ worn bare by the feet of the Red Skins that traverse it by th(» hundred during the salmon harvest. Now we scrand>le up a steep shinn;|y rise and stand on a level plateau, where ^^ij^niutic pitch- • iVfA' illiiMlmtion, pnp' 10l», ■'^ Tin-: ' KKTTI.K FALLS.' 69 $ V ])iiie tivos, many of them 250 feet high, and straight as (lagstait's, grow thickly. I scarcely know a more beau- iifiil pine than this, the rinuH ponderomt, which to a great extent rei)laces the Douglas ])ine [AhUs DoiajhtxHii), everywlKTO east of the Cascadt' Alonntains. The bark, arranged in massive scales, not nnlike that peculiar to Ihe cork tree, has between each of the shields ov soi for lish- injjf, duriii'^Mhe salmon ' run,' whicli takes place in June and July. More than live hundred Indians ilirn iissend)le here, in order to trap this lonlly lisli. to them an abso- lute necessity. ( 'ut ihem oil* fr(tm the salmon-harvest and ihey must inevitably perish duriii'i;' the bitter wiuter, starved uliKe by cold ,tui\ lMm;;'er, I have myself seen above ot)«> salmon iaiwled in one day from till' ha.skets into whieli the tish lea[>. Once ev<'ry t rilKI'AULVfJ Foil TIIK ' BRlGADi:.' Gl flaiul, low [)r iiii iHlaiicl iigeiher with other matters o*' detail, all of which are carried back by the brigades on their r<'turn to their diiferent trading posts. This jonrney from Colvilh; to lIo2)e occupies nearly tliiee ii!onths lor its accomplishnuMit. About the begin- ning of June preparations connnenceat F*\)rt (\)lvillefoi tlu^ Ih'igade. The horses (the Hudson's Bay Compjiny never use mules), in n»ind)er about 12(» to ITjO, are Imamht by the ' Indian herders,' who have had charge of them dnring the winter, to a, spot called the 'Horse (Juard,' about three miles from the fort, where there is an abundance! of succulent grass and a good stream of watei'. Wi'vi' the animals are taken rare of by the trust- woi'tliy Indians until their ecjuipment or 'riggin«r' is ready, which jtrocess is at tlu^ same time going on at the fort. Here some thirty or forty savages mav be fu'en S(|uatting round the door of the fn r-room ; some of tiiem are siitehing [>a,ds and cnshions into the wooden IVaines of the pack-saddles; (dhers are mend- 62 AT HOME IN THE WILDERNESS. i : I I t iiig the broken frames ; a third ^oiip is cutting long thongs of raw hide to serve as girths, or to act in lieu of ropes for lashing and tying ; and a fourth is making the peltries up into bales, by the aid of a powerful lever jn-css. Each bale is to weigh about sixty pounds, and the contents to be secured from wet by a wrapper of buftalo-hide, the skin side outermost. This package is then provided with two very strong loops, made from raw hides, for the purpose of suspending it from what are called the ' horns ' of the pack-saddle. Two of tliese bales hung np each side of a horse is a load, and a horse so provided is said to be packed. When all the preparations are completed the horses are driven in from the ' guard ' to the fort, and the packing com- mences. They use no halters, but simply throw a lassoo round tlie iinimnl's neck, with which it is held Avhilst being packed ; this finished, the lassoo is removed, and the horse is nguin turned loose into the 'corral,' or on to the open plain, as it may be. Let us imagine a horse lassooed up a wailing the operation of packing. I'Mrst a, sheep or goat's skin, or a pi *rol)(>,' failing either of the former, called an ' api('liini(>,' is placed on its baek, with the fur or hair next 1o that of the hors(», and is intended to prevent gall- ing; next the pack-saddle is put on. This miserabh^ alVair v.ith its two little pillows or ])ads, tied into the croHH-trees of woodwork, is girthed with a. narrow strap of hid(», whieli often, from the swaying of the load. THE START FROM FORT COLVILLE. 63 long lieu king erful inds, )01' of l<^0 IS ■■'« i cuts a regular gash into the poor animal's belly. Next a bale is hung on either side, and the two are loosely fastened together underneath the horse by a strap of raw hide. This completes the opcnititni of packing, and the horse is set fre(», to await the general start. When all the animals are packed, each of the hands who are to accompany this cavalcade mounts lis steed; then waving their lassoos round their heads, and vociferating like demons, they collect tlith tlic master and his men a»s a kinn's Bay (*ornpa>ny, but 1 i»lea«l as an I'xcuse that it will lielp my read'-i- to the clearer eompreluMision of tjie systems adopt. «i by *■ j»rolessionaI packers,' who jiaek fnr money and a living. My own ojiiniou, deduced from i)nictieal ex]>eriads once arc saturated with wet they j^et as hard as stones, and in that state gall to a certainty. More than this, with boxes, bales, tents, cooking- gear, instnunents, axes, cross-cut and pii-saws, to carry lip liill and down dale, as we had to do eveiy day during the cutting of the Boundary line*, one might as reasonably have hoped to bind up loose potatoes into a transportable biuhlle Avith a straw band as to ti'ans- port onr heterogeneous freight on mules' backs, with cross-tree pack-saddles. I had a good deal of expe- riences in llie C^riniea, during the war, in regard to diffe- • J'iih' ilhiHlnitiou, 'Cmsa-troe piick-.sadillc,' pngo /j2. 4 1 TRIM KA\ PACK-SADOLi:. OS atedly if^adi', L their of the rribly pack- niid as iiissioii "used in h1, the besides placed, i of the [)ck and to bear, k^ith wet Ljiill to a cookin*;' to curry ery day ni<4hi as ioes into (> irans- IvS, vvitli of expe- todiir.'- 4 rent patterns of pack-saddles. One in particular, which was sent out from Enj^land by Government, and was said to be par tijccv Hence the very best thinj^ of its kind ever invent^'d. It is impossible to describe it, or to convey very clearly a correct idea of its eonstructiii'lit.' To a cortjiiii extent tlic cross-tivc Siiddlr serves tliu purposes of the llud- Hon's Bay (Nnupiniy helter perhaps tliiin -wouM tlie form of [»afk-sa(MIe I am presently froinn^ to a«lvoeato ; ami liere I wisli it to l»e clearly iinany, but I said so oidy as comparinijf tlie eross-tree pacdc-saddle witli the aparejo. The (Nnnpany's system of paekinj^-, when considered in reference to the work to 1m' dom>, is doubtless the very best that could be ado[>ted juuler the [►ecubar cir<'umstauces in which they are placed. Theii- fn'ii^ht bein<4' always made up into pacdcai^-es of a(h'iinite sh;ipe and wei;^ht, it needs no skill, or even [>ractice, to hanu' them on the saddles, anv more than it would to lian<4' a coat ui>on a i>en'. Mence, the ( 'om|»aiiy have no ni'ed of professional packers; more than this, tln» pack- s;i(ldles iii'e only used once a year, and all their transport IS |M rinrint'd oii hoi-ses instead of mules. Hut if once the saildle-tree breaks, th«' cross-treractical usi' ; the fractiuv is certain to rnuMSLKv s rA('K.s.\i>r)i,f:. xtciit ru«i- ionii iiiitl Ijr IS work loosi', tli(^ 1 sliif't, jnid il' yon rscjijn' witliniil so <4alliii;^' the piick iiiiinijil as to rciHlcr it useless lor a iiioutli, (»r inor<', you may eou^'ralulatc yourscH" on i»os- st'ssiun' extronic pfood I'ortune. In the transport, sorvico of tlic riiitcd Slates. (Jriujsley's pack-saddle is very IVetnienlly euiployed, more especially tor (mt]>ost ami exjd'ivat iou pur{)oses. This ])ack-sa praise; and to dispara;4'c without ha\in<4' lirst tested its (|U;ilities. eood or had. Would he most unfair: nevei-lheless. the same ohjection (theoretically) exists in the (irinisle\' pack-saddle I so coni[dain of in the cross-tree saddle. vi/. the usine- a saddle-tree or frame made from W(M.d, therehy incrcasiu;^' the risk of hreakai^'c. I havealr»'adv poiuti'd out the dilliculties (»ne has to contend with when a pack-Haddlc-trcc is .smashed. I have <4i\en an illustration of this United States i>ack-saddle. heeanse I m AT llOMi: IX TIN-: WILDERNESS. ' am (lis[M)se(l to think it iiuiy be found serviceable, if used for mule trains iieconipanyins a cross- tree or Cirimsley's saddh* ^"^Jiy be found to answer [)retty well ; but if the ' wanderer ' has learned to ' j>ack ' in the i»ro[»'r s<'nse of the word, even then I slnmld advise him to do what I most assuredly should my- self — use the oiKwrjo. My own c(Miviction, deduced from lon«^ and extensive experience, is, that the aparejo c(unes nearer to what E conceive to be 1' 'rfect ion in I Mi •k- Kill M>- liil'l'l- II ArAHi;.lii saddle, than any other form (d* ]>ack-saddle yet invented, <»r iierhaps I should have said, that T have yet seen. As neither wood nor irtm enters into its com[>osition, wherever there are animals from which hides can be obtained, there a. person can (ind all ihe materials he needs for makin;^' an aparejo, tools recjuired for sewin|jf of course excepted. Hut bef«n'e saying more in j)raise of its many admirable (jualities, it may be as well to explain how this model DKFINITIOX OF AN Al'ARK.IO. CD |)le, if iiirt'li, |>r tlu' horse la few eross- ^riswer }>ack ' sliould a iiij- ti'iiHivo lat tlie jiivr to to be jiack- ' other (Ih: yet lia])s I 1, that enters H from n ean [)arejo, But I i ruble iikkIcI pack-saddle is constructed. Any one Avho has ever been in Mexico, Spain, or North-west America, will have been pretty sure to have seen a niule-trniii, loaded with ^^oods, packed on aparejos; but nidess the traveller has tried his hand at the work of 'i»ackin^',' and taken his place, first on the near side of the animal, and next on the off", Fll venture to say he couhl no more throw a, ' riata ' and rope on a load, than he would be able to walk on a tij^'ht-rope by simi)ly lookin«if iit lilondin. This pack-sad' betwixt the rid<>'e of the aiiimars back and the angle of the aparejo, sufficient to allow a current of air to pass freely through, whicli will be found to exercise a nuiterial influence in the prevention ()f blistered backs : blistering from ex- clusion of air, and c(^ntinuous pressure, beiug the primary cause of nine sore-backs out of every ten. In the other case, wherein a piece of leather is used to connect the ends, I contend that the principle is bad, because this ilat band must necessarily come down on the back of the mule, and the heavier the load the more Hglitly will this strap be broug-lit to bear on the ridge of the spine, and, as a, ]natter of course, the liability to prtKluce sores be much more imminent. The weight of an aparejo of the size I have given tlie preference to is somewhere about J50 lbs. ; if wetted i\ will weigh (luite .')0 lbs. It is stuffed with dry o-rasa. * /V((V ' IJouiul-topped aparejo,' pago 08. A WARNING TO WANDERERS. 71 :er- led for •ejo leii w- ,it X)ll ace lii-e some small twigs being first placed in the angles, to keep them stiff, and obviate any chance of bending, or of their being indented from the pressure <^)f the * riata.' The stuffing is accomplished through a round hole, purposely cut from out the centre of the inner side (►f the cushion, just wh^'re it rests on the arch of the animars ribi, and let me warn every 'wanderer ' avIio sets up or travels with a pack-train to exercise the strictest vigilance with respect to the stuffing of his aparejos. Never trust the packers to attend to it, iniless immediately under your own surveillance. A day's neglect may gall a mule badly, whereas five mi- nutes'* time devoted to the investigation of the stuffin*'- })rior to ' saddling up ' would have ju'evented so mis- chievous a result. Hired i)ackers alwavs skulk tliese anything but trifling details, if they are not strictly looked after. The steam and damj) from the perspiring mules condenses and collects amidst tbe grass com- posing the stuffing, which, when in this condition, has a strange tendency to felt itself into various-sized nobs. These, from the continued motion impnrted to the apa- rejo by the regular pace of the nmle, become as hard as cricket-balls, and, as I said before, if not removed or picked to pieces, soon make their presence kncjvvn by boring, or rubbing an ugly hole through the poor ani- mars skin. When once thoroughly up to ' working ' a ' pack- 72 AT HOME IX THE WILDERXESS. train,' yon will notice in a moment, if you have a sharji eye — as the mules one by one file past you after the \bell ' — if one of them is 'galling*.' When suifering- pain, a mule's lips have invariably a tremulous twitchy motion, tl»e ears are slanted backwards, and the teeth every new and then g-rind sharply tog-ether, producing a singular grating noise, which once heard will never be forg'otten. The silent evidences of suifering' are quite as intelligible as articulate words, when one only finds out how to interpret them ; a mule telling" you that there is something ^vrong oug*ht to be stopped at once, its load removed, the aparejo ' unsynched ' and examined, and the cause of the evil remedied. An inexperienced or ' green ' hand would, in all likelihood, neglect thus regularly to watch his train, a want of care he might have occasion to lament when unpacking at camping- time. When purchasing ' aparejos,' if you ask the price of an aparejo only, the seller will tell you perhaps 15/., or it may be fifty d(>lhirs each, as the price he wants. Sup- posing* the terms are agreed on, you will find that io pay will be added on for ' rigging*,' which should always be specihed in tlie purchase of aparejos ; if forgot- ten, it is usually made a handle for subseque^^t unfair extortion. When equipping the eighty mules T purchased in (California for Her Majesty's (\)mmission, T had immense i Mil ftr, 5 IX SEARCH OP APAREJOS. 73 difficulty to discover any aparejos which were for sale, as packing happened just at that time to be unusually brisk. I remember at Stockton, when casting* about amongst the more probable localities, wherein I might by good fortune possibly alight upon the kind of pack- ing-gear I was in search of, a Yankee merchant, who dealt in everything from toothpicks upwards, came rushing after me, having scented my business as readily as a raven or a vulture would have done a dead car- case. He began at once in nasal drawl — ' Say, cap, you are just a foolin' your time ; bet your pants, thar ain't narry aparejo down har, fit to pack squash on.' ' Well,' I replied, ' how can I tell that unless I inquire?' ' Waal, I raither guess you want to buy, and I want to sell, so just let us two take an eye-opener, cap, and then make tracks straight a-liead for my store, war I can show you sich a lot of aparejos as you ain't ever seen afore in these parts ; I ain't showed em to none of the boys as yet, guess if I did they'd have the store down slick ; give me fifty dollars a-piece for the aparejos, rigging and all, and walk right along with 'em to the bluffs.' Considering this rather good news, I did ' liquor up ' with my new friend, and afterwar,^ v^i) cabresto, first place a running noose round the animal's neck, then measure rope enough, com- mencing from the loop of the noose, to reach from the cantle of the saddle to the corner of the animal's mouth ; make your ' clove hitch ' and put it round the jaw^, carry on the rope and tie to the loose end, coil up the slack, and hang it on the pommel as you would on a peg ; you have now, if I am clear in my explanation, two ' reins ' and the ' clove hitch ' in lieu of a bit. If you want to dismount and tether, all you need do is to loose the tie of the reins, slip out the ' clove hitch,' then the noose round the animal's neck prevents any chance of its escaping, when fastened to a tree or tether stake. It is a very unsafe plan to tether an animal, however quiet it may be, by a rope fastened only to a ' leather head-stall.' The most gentle mules and horses are liable to sudden alarms, either from wild beasts, Indians, bush-fires, or what not. The first impulse is to escape, and to do this mules and horses invariably ' hang back,' or in other words retreat from the point to which they i ' 96 AT HOME IX THE WILDERNESS. are fastened; this brings the strain to bear upon the weakest part of the ' head stall,' and it must be con- structed of stronger materials than any I have ever yet met with, if it does not break like a piece of sewing- cotton. The best plan, and the safest one, is to use a rope made from hair, buffalo hair being the best ; to put a noose round the animal's neck, and then to take a single turn of the rope round the noose to prevent it from running up too tight upon the windpipe, but drawn sufficiently close to avoid any risk of the animal slipping its head through Never tether with a ' hide lassoo ; ' if you do, the wolves, cayotees, and woodrats are pretty sure to eat it in two, and you find the fag end of 3'our tether line minus the animal wdiich 3'ou quite expected to discover fast to it. In using the ' hair rope,' or ca- bresto, instead of a bridle, as previously recommended, your tether line is always where it should be, round the animal's neck. When you are Avorking with a 'bell,' tethering is not ncccled. The easiest and simplest hobble is made by buckling a strap or tieing a larriette round a fore and hind leg on the same side, or tieing the fore legs above the fetlock'' with a strap not less than two feet loner. a « MULES VERSUS OXEN. on the e con- ver yet sewmg" ) use a , to -pni take a vent it t drawn slipping- 300 ; ' if pretty of your xpectetl ,' or ca- nencled, und tlie I 'beli; simplest larriette »r tieing not less CHAPTEE V. Wagons and Teaming. Wagons cannot possibly be too simple in their con- struction. They should be built of thoroughly seasoned timber, and this caution applies with most force to the wheels, because where the air is hot and the atmosphere very dry, unseasoned wood cracks, shrinks, and readily splinters. At Stockton and Red Bluffs in California, the mule wagons are made in three or four divisions, so that a team of eight mules draws them easily over good level ground, bufc when hills have to be ascended, or wet ground got over, then the wagons are separated and taken along one at a time. It is always a safe precaution to have a wagon pole jointed where it goes between the ' hounds ; ' it saves Gripping off in bumping over holes. A good team of six mules ought to drag 2,000 lb. in a light wagon over any ordinary prairie land. Mules travel faster than oxen, and are better fitted to endure heat and want of water, but for a very long march, where grass is not over abundant, and no grain can be procured, then I think oxen are preferable. They are better too at a dead ,, „ —-^ '*«! !i :;f i "W 08 AT HOME IN THE VVH^DEUNKSS. steady i)ull, tliroufrli mud and slush. Besides, oxen are cheaper, and you can eat them when they are otherwise done with. It is a novel sight and rather a picturesque one too. in the Eed River and Pembina district, to witness a procession of carts, each one drawn by a single ox liarnessed into shafts after the manner of a dray-horse. A single man, called a ' bull-driver,' takes charge of eight or ten carts, and manages his team, aided by a wliix) (and, by the way, a person requires a vast amount of practice to be able to use ' a bull-flogger ' cleverly) . A young lacli tree is usually selected for the haft, which should be six feet long and as pliant as a salmon rod; the thou g is made of plaited green hide, and should be two inches in diameter at the centre or ' belly ' of the thong, tapering towards each end, and about li feet to 8 feet inches in length. The crack of this whip in the hands of an experienced ' bull-driver ' is like the report of a rifle. Woe betide the unfortunate bullock that gets a real taste of the thong ; it takes oft' the hair like a hot iron and raises a, ' wale ' as larire as a sausage. The oxen are harnessed betwixt shafts like horses, and each ox and its cart will transport a, loa three years ago it passed into the hands of their chief creditor, Mr. Ben Holladay, an energetic Missourian, who hiid been a successful contractor for the (Joverumeut and for trvoat corporations on the I'lains and the Pacilic. He has since continued the Hue, iuiproviug, ext(M»ding, and enlarging it until it is now, perhaps, the greatest enter- ju'ise owned and controlled by one man which exists in the country, if not in the world. His line of stages commences at Atchison, on the Missouri River: its lirst section extends across the great Plains to Denver, six H 2 .:3=T-iT — ..i 1 1. . I. '^^tmmt 100 AT HOME IN THE WILDERNESS. himdred and fifty miles ; from here it goes on six hun- dred miles more to Salt Lake City, along the base of and through the Rocky Mountains at Bridger's Pass. From there to Nevada and California, about seven hundred and fifty miles further, the stage line is owned by an eastern company, and is under the management of Wells, Fargo, & Co., the express agents. All this is a daily line, and the coaches used are of the best stage pattern, well known in New England as the ' Concord coach.' From Salt Iiake Mr. Holladayruns atri-weekly coach line north and west, nine hundred and fifty miles, through Idaho to the Dalles on the Columbia River, in northern Oregon, and branching off at Fort Hall, iilso a tri-weekly line, to Virginia City, in Montana, four hundred miles more. From Denver, too, he has a sub- sidiary line into the mountain centres of Central City and Nevada, about forty miles. Over all these routes he carries the mail, and is in the receipt for this service of six hundred and fifty thousand dollars per annum from the Government. His whole extent of staging and mail contracts — not counting, of course, that under Wells, Fargo, &l Co., from Salt Lake west — is two thou- sand seven hundred and sixty miles, to conduct which he owns some six thousand horses and mules and about two hundred and sixty coaches. All along the routes he lias built stations at distances of ten to fifteen miles ; has to draw all his corn from the Missouri River ; h of his hay has also to be transported hundreds of I COST OF WORKING THE STAGES. 101 11 x i -V miles ; fuel for his stations comes frequently fifty and one hundred miles. The Indians last year destroyed or stole full half-a-million dollars' worth of his property- barns, houses, animals, feed, &c. ; he pays a general superintendent ten thousand dollars a year ; division superintendents a quarter as much ; drivers and stable- keepers get seventy-five dollars a month and their living ; he has to mend, and in some cases make, his owil roads, so that, large as the sum paid by the Government, and high as the prices for passengers, there is an im- mense outlay and a great risk in conducting the enter- prise. During the last year of unusually enormous prices for everything, and extensive and repeated Indian raids*, Mr. HoUaday has probably lost money by his stages. The previous year was one of prosperity, and the next is likely to be. But with so immense a machine, exposed to so many chances and uncertainties, the returns must always be doubtful. "^ "^ The passenger fares by his staores are now, from Atchison to Denver one hundred and seventy-five dollars, to Salt Lake three hundred and fifty dollars, to Nevada five hundred dollars, to Califor- nia five hundred dollars, to Idaho five hundred dollars, to Montana five hundred dollars. These are much higher than they were two years ago, and will probably be reduced during the season, as safety from the Indians and lower prices for food and corn are assured, from thu-ty-three to fifty per cent. Mr. Holladay now resides in New York City, and is reported to be immensely : I 102 AT HOME IN THE WILDERNESS. wealthy— say five millions. He owns and runs, also, lines of steamships in the Pacific Ocean from San Fran- cisco, north to Oregon and British Columbia, and south to Mazatlan, Mexico, with contracts for the mails and both routes from our Government or from Maximilian of Mexico. He conducts all this immense business success- fully by the choice of able and trusty mana^^ers, to whom he pays large salaries. * ^ Mr. HoUaday visits his over- land line about twice a year, and when he does, passes over it with a rapidity and a disregard of expense and rules characteristic of his irrepressible nature. A year or two ago, after the disaster to the steamer ' Golden Gate,' on the Pacific shore, by which the only partner he ever had, Mr. Edward Eust Flint, son of old Dr. Flint of Springfield, lost his life, and himself barely escaped a watery grave, he made the quickest trip overland that it is possible for one man to make before the distance is shortened by railway. He caused himself to be driven from Salt Lake to Atchison, twelve hundred and twenty miles, in six and one-half days, and was only twelve (lays and two hours from San Francisco to Atchison. The trip probably cost him twenty thousand dollars in wear and tear of coaches and injury to and loss of horses by the rapid driving. The only ride over the Plains, at all comparable with this, was that made by Mr. Aubrey, on a wager, from Santa Fe to Independence, seven hundred miles, in six and one-half days. But this was made on horseback, and when the rider reached his <» 1^ «»k i \ ' TALL TRAVELLING.' lOiS destination he was so exhausted that he had to be lifted from his horse. How exciting the thought of si: ^h rides as these across these open fields and through these mountain gorges, that make up the half of our Con- tinent ! ' tent-pegs and nuillets to be fitted into a } : intci canvas bag, made round at t]io bottom, and finished to tie like a corn-sack at the t« •>. by plaiting the canvas, and fastening the cord round the phiits. When the string is * run in,' so that the mouth may be ' drawn up,' an orifice is gonenilly left sufficiently large to allow the tent- pegs to escape at, and when reaching the camjjing ground 11 TEXT POLES AND PEGS. Ji:^ ssion, nmis- f tent arable nded ' made 8-ell, 1 with time ! tent- cli the rodigal [iiently i had I ?nt was thing' I have 3d with d i^ine, capped s, made ut-pegs as bag, ) like a lis, and string is nj),' an he tent- r OTOlind one has to waste an hour foraging* for new pegs, which are not worth a straw when compared to those this stupid system of — I cannot say fastening tent bags — has cause 1 one to lose. The tent-poles we carried with us from England — although I dare say many of my readers will even now say it was vastly like, to use an e very-day simile, ' taking coals to Newcastle,' made very little difference to the weight or cubic measurement of baggage necessitated for the supply of so large a party, and for accomplishing such a laborious under- taking as was that of marking the forty-ninth parallel of latitude — tlie ' Boundary-line ' — dividing British Columbia from the lands of the United States. On landing our party, about seventy-five persons, on Vancouver Island, it was imperative that all should at once go ' under canvas.' Poles and pegs being ready, the tents were all pitched in no time, tools were not required, and our tiny canvas city was built and occupied in less time than it would have taken to cut and fit a dozen jDoles. After commencing our work of cutting the Boundary-line, to accomplish which a corps of fifty American axemen wa.*' required, it was found desirable to have very nuich larger tents made for the chopping gangs than those we brought from England, tents sufficiently capacious to accommodate twelve or fifteen axemen. When several men were workiii^ together, a large tent was easily pitched by their united labour, and as they did not 114 AT HOME IN THE WILDERNESS. * shift camp ' more frequently as a rule than once in every twelve or fourteen days, one large tent was found to answer far better than three or four smaller ones. These lar^^e tents were generally slung; the poles in this case have io be cut, as they were re- quired to be large and strong ; five are needed for one large tent. The 'ridge-pole' rests on the fork made by the ends of the other four poles. Two of the lateral poles should be cut with a natural fork; by resting the ends of the two other poles in these, all trouble of tieing is dispensed with, and the tent when pitched will be firmer and steadier than if ' poles lashed at the top were em - ployed. More than this, rope, cord, or raw-hide, cannot always be obtained at a minute's notice. The poles so arranged are then placed at either end of the tent, the bottoms of the poles being pulled as far apart as it is desirable to get them. The canvas is first thrown over the ridge- pole thus kept up, and then it is pegged firmly into the ground. If I am clearly un- derstood, it will be seen that in this mode of ' pitching a tent ' the supporting poles are out side the canvas, instead of inside, where the poles must always be, if only two uprights are used. AXKMANS TKNT. MIl'T DP FOB 'IHK NKJJIT. :i g A HUNTERS VISIT. \\r, once it was mailer ; the re re- ed for e fork of the 'k; by tie two trouble ith, and will be than if ^ereem- is, rope, ninute's it either g pulled 3 canvas le ridge- i then it 11 to the arly un- >ii that in •• a tent ' are out >les must I; CHAPTER VII. A Hunter's Bedding — Bedding for Tents or T.og-hoi;?eg — Bedstend, how to ninke— Systems of Packing up liedding— Tools necessary for a Wanderer— The way to fell your first Tree— How to split a Log — Traps to be avoided. If you start either ' hunting' (I use the word ' hunter' in its Transatlantic sense, as meaning one who shoots, traps, or otherwise destroys wild animals and game), trapping, prospecting, or in search of an eligible ' loca- tion,' whereon to ' squat,' and ' clear' or ' fence' in a farm, you will require but few if any superfluities. In the shape of bedding, a couple of blankets carried under the saddle, a ' butt'alo robe' rolled up in a piece of stout hide, and tied behind the saddle cantle, ought to suffice for a week or two, if roughing it ; but when provided with mules or other means of transport, then being provided with proper bedding will be found a great comfort ; one mule ought to carry the ' full kit' or outht of two persons. It will be as well perhaps to describe briefly the summer and winter systems for sleeping adopted by the Boundary Coirimission, as we found them to answer peirfectly. The men, consisting of about seventy sappers, and flfty axemen and packers, were 1 2 r I I IIG AT HOME IN THE WILDERNESS. wintered for two consecutive years at Colville, on the upper Columbia, in log-houses, of which I shall say something further on. The temperature was often as low as 30° and 32° below zero, and an average depth of 18 inches of snow covered the ground from the be- ginning of November to the end of April. The sap- pers had a requisite supply of blankets served out to them, but the axemen and packers had to provide their own. In the log-houses built for the men ' bunks' were constructed round the sides just as they are arranged in the forecastle of a ship, or in the best cabins for that matter, and in these the men slept comfortably enough. The officers had each a small log-house for sleeping and sitting in, a general mess-room being provided for the victualling department. The bedstead I used, and prefer as best suited to a permanent camp, or for general travelling, consists of two side-poles, measuring from about 7 to 8 feet in length, made of tough wood and fer- ruled in the centre with a strong ferrule made of galva- nised iron, supported on three pairs of legs crossed like those of a tressil ; a strip of canvas is so sewn as to allow the two lateral poles to pass through loops, or what is preferable, a continuous hole from end to end. This . ^ .. ..---ji. ■ CA.Mr-UKDSTKAl). A A Fcrnilt'H. II II Hctul-ropc. »; (; Foot rope. u Pivot on which tho logs fohi. K Cross rope to keep tho legs from xpauiling. AX EASY WAY TO BE COMFORTABLE. 117 I affair, a common pattern of camp bedstead, minus the ferrules, is* sold by most metropolitan oiitfitters, is rapidly j)ut together, and is very comfortable to sleep on; but if this bedstead gets broken, as according to my experience it constantly does, then a capital sub- stitute can be j^rovided, by a judicious use of the axe, the canvas belonging to the broken bedstead, and the timber growing roiuid about you. My remarks apply to furnishing a log shanty. Sleeping on the floor may be well enough if one cannot help it, but as a rule, n, few simple contrivances, which can be provided in an hour, will nuike the ' wanderer' fifty times more ' at home,' save him many a bad cold, rest him better when weary, and economise heat equal to that of two blan- kets, by elevating his body above the draughts. Look out for a straight pine or 1,'irch, about two feet in diameter, chop it down, and ' log off' two junks, each about five feet in length ; then look out for two poles, as straight as you can find them, each about eight feet ii» length. Roll your logs into the shanty, place one where the head of your bed is to be, and the other for the foot : now measure three feet six inches in the cen- tre of each log, and at the end of the mea- sure-marks chop a deep notch, and mind you ""' *'" ^-akkshikt ni;i,.TioAi.. chop the inside piece vertically, or leaning over at th< 118 AT IIOMK IN THE WILDERNESS. top a little will be still better and slant the outermost wall of the notch or that part of it which will be the nearest to the end. Then run your poles through the eyes or loops in the canvas, drop the ends of the poles into the notches, and you have a bedstead fit for an emperor to repose on. When you move camp, all you have to do is to slip out the poles from the canvas, roll it up, and leave the logs and poles in readiness for your return, or the next comer if you never do go back. A small mattress, stuffed with horse-hair, the size of which should not exceed three feet, or three feet six inches in width, and six feet in length, will be found to be an immense convenience ; in winter you can lay it over your canvas to sleep on at night, or use it for a lounge during the idle hours of the day. Two good blankets during summer, and four during the winter, a buffalo skin or ' robe,' as a dressed buffalo hide is styled, and a good large waterproof wrapper or ground sheet, to spread on the ground when camj)ing during the sum- mer, and to roll the bedding in when travelling, will about complete the bedding arrangements. Let me impress upon the minds of all travellers a golden rule : never onut seeing to the ' rolling' up of your bedding. There is a right and a wrong way of doing it ; if managed as it should be, no wet can get into the blankets, however hrid it may j)Our with rain, or if the pack-animal carrying the tent-freight amuses itself by rolling in erery stream it arrives at, a pastime mules I 'I KEEP YOUR BEDDING DRY JI9 ost the the oles an you roll for )ack. 5e of fc six id to ay it for a good J aro very much predisposed to indulge in if they are not looked sharply after. Should the weather be fine, pack your ' dressing gear' if you are going to shift camp, ' strike " your tent, fold, roll, and place it in its bag, with the pegs and mallet, and tie your poles tightly together. Now carefully fold your blankets to the length, and a trifle narrower than the mattress, and lay them on it, double your buff'alo robe, and place the mattress and its contents upon it. Begin at one end, and roll the whole tightly, turning in the ends of the " robe' as you progress in rolling, having a stout cord or a small 'hide rope' ready to tie round as tightly as you can haul it. The more compact this bundle can be made the better it will be found to pack. Then spread the water- proof camp sheet, and lay the bundle on one side of it, and bring the edges of the water- proof over each end of the bed- ding, and thus continue to roll it in the camp sheet. By doing this it is next to an impossibility for water to find an entrance. The whole should, lastly, be securely lashed with a stout hide rope, or * lassoo.' To find all one's bedding saturated with wet — a mis- fortune I have often had happen, arising to my trusting another with what I ought to have seen to myself — when camping after a day's march, would aggravate a -est quality. A stout * India-rubber camp sheet, ' or a square of canvas soaked in boiled linseed oil, will answer better to wrap round your bedding than any ' case ' or envelope made for the purpose I have as yet seen. With a 'case,' if a hole rubs through it, or a snag tears it, there arises the immediate necessity to repair the damage, or the chances of a wet bed are before you. With a wrapper rolled many times round, the probU- bilities are ten to one against a hole being torn through all the enwraps ; and if such a mishap should occur, why, it is only to alter the rolling, and the holes are securely hid, and hence effectually stopped. Another advantage a plain camp sheet has over a ' bed case' is, that you can spread it on the. ground when sleeping in a tent to place your mattress on ; for in a tent a bedstead is a useless encumbrance. If it rains, and there is any chance of the water draining A CHEAP COSY CHAIR. 121 underneath the tent, all that is necessary is to fold the sides and ends of the waterproof up over the bed aftei* you have safely turned in, and let the water find its way past and under you. There can be no fear of getting wet underneath so long as the edges are well turned up. I never use a pillow, as it increases the size of the bundle, and I find my clothes when folded up answer every purpose. Moreover, this plan keeps your garments from the chance of getting wet. We found this plan of sleeping on the ground, ' and rolling the bedding,' to answer admirably whilst doing the Commission work, and nearly all the ofiicers dispensed v/ith the * bed case ' altogether, and the bedstead during the summer field-work. A very useful chair, or rather make- shift seat, can be easily contrived by cutting a cask, as shown in the illus- tration, then fisli^g the under part with dry grass or moss, and nailing a strip of canvas or hide across the bottom or seat part. It is far pre- ferable to perching on a log, can be made in ten minutes, and abandoned when shifting camp. In regard to tools, a great deal must depend upon the object of your journey. If you are bent upon any special mission, requiring for its due accomplishment tools of a particular character, such tools can be best H.VKUl'.l.-CHAIK. 1 ' 1-22 AT HOME IN THE WILDERNESS. selected by the person who is going to use them, and no advice I can offer will be of any practical value ; but for all ordinary travelling a skilled wanderer needs only an American axe, a three-inch auger, a couple of gimlets, a stout clasp-knife coujaining several blades, and being besides a sort of ' omnium gatherum'' of little tools, as, for instance^, a punch for leather, a lancet, a saw, a screw-driver, touch-ho^ pricker, together with others I need not enumerate ^ase -knife to be worn at the waist-belt, and for this I have found the knife in use by pork-butchers the best kind for all ordinary purposes ; it is strong, usually made of good steel, has a riveted box-wood handle, and its shape fits it for all sorts of uses, either to flay a buffalo, paunch a buck, mend a pen, or skin a humming bird. The blade should be fitted with a stout pig-skin case, and kept from falling out by a small leather strap and buckle, fastened to the sheath for the purpose of being buckled round the haft of the knife. When the traveller is on horseback or walking through dense timber, a knife is apt to slip from its sheath unless secured. Losing a good case or other kind of knife is by no means a trifling matter to the dweller in the wilderness. Thus equipped, if the wanderer knows how to use the tools he has, he can do nearly anything and everything ; build a log-cabin, split shingles to roof it, and make, as I shall by-and-by show how, a fire-place, door, latch, hinges, and windows; rafts can be also constructed, f SKILL VERSUS STRKNGTH. 1-23 bridges made, and logs hollowed into safe and shapely cano^'es. Indeed, an axe and auger, in the hands of a man thoroughly up to his work, and skilled in all the arts of an axeman, are equal to a chest of carpenter^s tools, employed by a novice or inefficient workman. No one from mere hearsay evidence would beUeve how many things a back-woodsman can accomplish with an axe. Trees measuring eight and ten feet in diameter, counted by lumdreds, were cut down by our Boundary Commission corps of axemen, two men only at a tree, with a rapidity utterly astonishing; trees that no ordinary woodsman would ' fall ' in a day, were stretched upon the ground by their brawny arms in less than an hour. To use perfectly the American wedge- shaped axe (and here let me say, that it is the only axe for felling timber, and doing everything with, which is worth one stra;v), requires no ordinary degree of skill and practice. Strength, of course, has something to do with it ; still, a man of only moderate muscular power would beat a giant into being ashamed of himself, if the weaker man did, and the stronger man did not, know how to wield an axe. The axe I prefer for all ordinary pur- poses ought to weigh about eight pounds, and it should be carefully mounted, or ' hung,' as the term is, on a springy, rightly curved, hiccory handle. Now for a few brief instructions for ' green hands ; ' and should you think, most courteous ' wanderers,' that these hints are altogether superfluous, let me ask ' I i 124 AT HOME IN THE WILDERNESS. yon to try your hand on any log within yonr reach, using an American axe, and it strikes me you will dis- cover that it is far moie easy to amputate your toes, or split your shin-bones, than it is to cut the log into jjroper lengths for splitting, the ends of the severed portion to be left as smooth and true as wedges cut purposely. All our sappers were indignant when, on landing at Vancouver Island, they were told they must be taught how to ' chop.' Nevertheless, scarcely one of them, after the experience of nearly four years, was, to use a Yankfeism, a 'patch ' upon one of our regular staff of axemen. Let us suppose you are going to fell your first tree ; oe careful to discover how the tree leans, and always choose that side towards which it inclines to begin on ; by doing this you avoid the risk of falling tlie tree on yourself. Stand off from the trunk, so that the edge of your p.xe-blade can touch the centre of it, whilst both your hands are grasping the handle before the knot tj at the e!id of it, purposely mnile to prevent it from slipping o\»1 of the grasp in the act of chop- ping; fix your eye on a spot about three feet from the ground on the tree-trunk, pb.nt your feet firmly, look carefully behind you to make sure that there are no small twigs or branches to intorcept the axe — I have seen the omis- ;r„ /Ml' L^: mm^ llOAV TO VKLL A TUKl/ ^\ THE RIGHT-SIZED CHIP. J25 I sior of this little precaution lead to most dangerous accidents — then holding the handle by the extreme end, not too firmly, or it will jar your wrists, and whirling the axe at arm's length round your head, bring it ob- Uquely down upon the spot you have fixed your eye on. If you bring the edge down at the proper slant, the blade should be nearly buried in the bark and timber ; if you do not, it will ' glance,' and then look out for your legs. Repeat this cut if you can ; an axeman would, twice or three times following in the same place ; should the tree be, for example four feet in diameter, chop in the next cut you make three feet lower down than where you made the first cut, but this time hori- zontally, always bringing the axe round at arm's length. This will give you the 'right-sized chip,' to use a * lumberer's ' phrase ; or what he means, in other words, is, that the three-feet notch will enable the chopper to make the wedge end of the tree break in the centre of the stu up; if you took a smaller notch, as nine out of tei*. inexperienced men would do, you would find your axe jammed before you cculd choj) half-way through the trunk ; hence, the ' length of the chop ' is always in proportion to the girth or diameter of the tree to be felled. Cut half-way through the tree, always keep- ing the lower surface horizontal and smooth, as if planed ; then change, and begin on the opposite side to that on which you have been chopping, precisely in the same way as you began the other cut ; when you 126 AT HOME IN THE WILDERNESS. are nearly tlirough, the tree will crack off, and of course fall in the direction to which it leaned ; that is away from you. To split a log never stand it on its end ; lay it flat on the ground, commence at one end, chop the axe in as far as you can, free it, and chop in again, close to and in a line with the first cut, and so proceed along the length of the log. A log eight feet in diameter and twenty long can be easily split by adopting this plan, without the aid of wedges ; two skilled axemen, by working one axe in so as to free the other, and continuing alter- nately to bury their axes in the fallen tree along its length, can easily split an immense tree from end to end. Wedges are often used, and although I need hardly niime it as a caution, still it may be a useful hint, to mention two cases of terrible suffering, both of which ended fatally to ' lumberers ' employed in split- ting heavy timber. One of the two was wedging open a large pine which had been ' felled.' He had driven three wedges, one after another, and thus opened a considerable fissure ; the first two wedges were loose, so that one of them came out easily, but the seccmd being rather more firmly fixed, required to be knocked clear with the nnillet or ' wedge beetle.' Holding the top of the wedge with one hand and striking it with the mallet held in the other, it sud- denly slipped, and the jerk threw him forwards. Drop- ping the wedge and instinctively pushing his left hand i 1 i CAUTIONS TO BE REMEMBERED. li»7 i I forward to save himself from falling, he most unfortu- nately pushed it into the gaping crack, a matter that would have been of no consequence if the third wedge had not suddenly ' sprung,' or slipped from out its place. In an instant the crack closed, and firmer than any steel trap ever held a beaver the fissure shut upon and held the wretched man by the wrist and hand. Luckily in this case there were other * lumberers ' at work near by, who hearing the shrieks of their comrade ran to his aid ; and wedges driven by muscular arms wielding masnive mallets, soon released the sufferer from this novel trap of his own making. He was taken to his cabin and metl il aid obtained, but although the luind and wrist, crushed to a mummy, were togtther amputated, still the shock was i*)o ij^rcat ev^n for so hardy a man's physical endurance and system t<> bear up Mgainst ; the wound became gangrenous, and the axeman died. The second misfortune befell an axeman who was ' logging ' up a very large tree into four feet lengths for splitting into ' c<)r<^ wood.' To axe a tree into logs it is necessary to stand on it and chop between your legs, adopting exactly the same law us regards the size of the notch, or ' chop,' as explained when speaking of ' felling ' a tree ; only in this case both the right and left cuts are made obliquely, the ends of i.onniNo IT A THi',i;. .i »i f 128 AT HOME IN THE WILDERNESS. each log", when the tree is divided, being wedge-shaj)ed. Having cut half through, the axeman turns round and commences on the opposite side. An immense amount of practice is required to enable a man to ^ log ' timber cleverly. In the first place, it is extremely difficult to stand on a tree lying on the ground, and chop betwixt your feet, your legs being well apart ; in the next place, few but the most practised hands can make the two * cuts ' meet exactly in the centre of the tree trunk. 1 have often seen a tree 250 feet l-"»ng ' axed ' into four- feet lengths without a log being moved or displaced ; so accurately did all the notches meet, that division was accomplished without knocking one of the ends out of the straight line. In the third place, if the axe is not brought down as it is swung round at the extreme end of tlio handle, exactly true to the slant of the notch, it will be certain to ' glance,' and then if you do not require a wooden leg for the rest of your life, why, you may congratulate yourself upon possessing a greater share of luck than falls to the lot of most young (ihoppers. The man had finished his logging, an'liiijr also from the shoulders to the wrists are other fringes, and down the entire length of the legs orna- menting the outer seam. Sometimes bead- work and stained porcupine quills are used to increase the orna- mentation. This style of dress is decidedly showy and picturesque, and having said so much of it, I have exhausted everything that it is possible to say in its praise. I know of no good quality belonging to a leather hunting suit ; but such as are objectionable I could multiply ad infinltmn. It is disagreeably heavy, without sui^plying an equivalent of warmth. Assuming the character of tripe or a damp chamois leather when saturated with wet, it becomes, when in that state, cold, clammy, and uncomfortable beyond description. Then when you have succeeded in drying the suit, a work of time even if aided by the sun or the camp-fire or both, you have to robe yourself in garments much like a light armour of lanthorn-horn ; your ' pants' in all probability will have receded into the breeches pattern, and the sleeves of your jacket have modestly retired to the region of the elbow. I care not how much tugging and stretching you may bestow on your wet suit of leather, shrink it will tlR)Ugh you do your ' darndest' to prevent it; not only that, but it shrinks (without l)eing wetted externally) day after day from perspiration. One i LEATHER, AXD ITS DISADVANTAGES. 141 'e •e observes his * pants' are creeping steadily away from off the insteps ; as the tide during its ebb leaves rock after rock exposed, so the leather steals away from the hands and feet, gradually uncovering at first wrists and ankles, then arms and legs ; and if some curative means were not resorted to, I verily believe the pants would become like to those worn by acrobats and tight-rope dancers, and the jacket sleeves dwindle into mere armlets, such as ladies wear when in evening dress. If nothing better can be obtained, there is no other course left open than that of wearing leather or going a la sauvage, * sans ' every- thing. But adopt my advice, and never wear leather if you can help it ; take out with you two suits of clothes, made of the best Scotch tweed you can procure. My remarks, be it understood, only apply to bush life — visiting, or doing the swell en route, is altogether another affiiir, with which I have nothing to do. I have tried all kinds of material for roughing it in, and the result of my experience is entirely in favour of Scotch tweed. I am quite convinced a thoroughly well-made piece of tweed will stand more wear and wet than any other fabric produced from wool. The Canadian * blanket-coats,' so commonly worn during the winter in Canada, are admirable in a dry frosty atmosphere, but white, except on snow, would be fatal to Oiiy success in hunting ; and furthc r, their shape is inconvenient, and the material out of which they are made is easily torn, and holds water like a sponge. The il 142 AT HOME IX THE WILDERNESS. colour I prefer is dark grey ; the waistcoat and jacket should have as many pockets as the tailor can find room for, and on each shoulder a piece of glazed leather should be stitched, to prevent the gun from rubbing a hole in the tweed. Flannel shirts and thick worsted socks will be found to answer better than linen, only do not encumber yourself -^'ith too large a stock. Indeed I should never think of taking a.ny article of clothing with me except it was fabricated from the best wool, and of the choicest quality money could purchase. I despise fur and leather garments, and strongly recom- mend all ' wanderers ' never to use either if they can help it. Boots are indispensable ; ' mocassins ' are all very well for Indians, who have feet harder than sole leather, and to whom socks or stockings are unknown articles of clothing. You may * sole a mocassin ' with a piece of green hide, keeping the hair outwards, and in that way contrive to walk with a moderate amount of ease until the hair rubs off, which it is pretty sure to do in a few hours, especially if the ground should be wet ; the hair removed, the hide becomes slippery as glass, rendering progression under any circumstances extremely difficult. Indians have shorter toes than white men, and from con- tinued practice the great toe in particular acquires a kind of liolding power, which enables a savag<' shod with ' skin-shoes' or mocassins to ascend steep slopes and climb craggy mountains, with greater ease and celerity A RECEIPT FOR EXSURING WARM FEET. 143 tlian any white man, however well trained to hill- climbing, could accomplish with nailed boots on his feet. Hence persons are disposed to ima^ne mocassins must be the better foot armature, because they only observe the facility with which * Red men ' walk and climb in them, without taking into consideration the all-im- portant difference in the structure of the foot. Reduce it, however, to the test of experience, and you will soon discover that your feet shod with mocassins become sore, your ankles strained, and the joint of your great toe so stiff that walking grows positively painful if not im- possible. Hence I always provide myself before leaving England with a few pairs of strong nailed boots of the pattern known as * ankle-jacks,' made wide in the sole and laced up in front, and do not resort to mocassins until my boots are worn out and there is no means of replacing them. In winter, however, when travelling with ' dog sleighs ' and walking on * snow-shoes,' the mocassin is the only form of shoe practically useful; to wear boots during intense cold is to risk * frost bite,' and not unlikely the loss of your toes. The better plan for pro- tecting the feet against frost is to dispense with socks altogether. I make a small bag of thick blanket, for putting over my toes — it should reach only to the middle of the foot ; then I have four long blanket bandages, with A\hich I regularly enwrap my foot and ankle, so high up as the calf of the leg. Over these layers of 144 AT HOME IX THE WILDERXESS. flannel I jnit a large mocassin made from moose-liide, tie it firmly, and lastly, bind the leg of the trouser securely over all. The feet thus protected are safe from any effect of cold, and wet never penetrates through the thick bandaging even after a long day's march through soft snow. When camping just dry the outer bandages and mocassins, and you are all right to begin another tramp. A wide-brimmed felt hat, soft and pliable, I prefer to any other kind of head covering. It shades you from the glare of the sun when shooting, prevents the rain from running down your back, accommodates itself to any amount of folding and squeezing, and will be found an immense comfort when ' camping out ' to sleep in. I pass an old handkerchief or * comfoi'ter ' over the poll of the hat, and then tie it under my chin, bringing the two sides of the brim of the hat over my ears. This plan prevents the head from galling, keeps the ears and throat beautifully warm, and is quite as serviceable as a canvas covering or umbrella in shielding one from dew and rain. The brim being wide, it will also add materially to your comfort in * mosquito time,' by keeping the gauze net which covers the head, face, and neck well away from the nose, mouth, and eyes, thus facilitating breathing and seeing. A gauze bag to cover the head and face, without which I do not hesi- tate to say a man could not long exist where mosquitoes are so plentiful as we found them to be on the Fraser I i i CHOICE OF FISHING GEAR. 145 it Biver and Suinass prairie, sliould be worn at all times twisted round the hat durin^i; summer, because one is never sure of not falling, when least expected, among mosquitoes and sand flies. The choice of ' fishing gear' may, perhaj)s, be woi-thy i>f a few hints, although we are all more or less wedded to some pet system of ' how to hook 'em.' I will, how- ever, briefly give my own plan, and leave it an open question for other * wanderers ' either to profit by it or to follow their own particvdar hobby, whichever may be the more congenial to their taste. In any * possible sack' I carry a few hooks of diflerent sizes, gut, silk, a little gold and silver thread, a dab of * cobbler's wax,' and a coil of strong line, such as we usually employ for salmon fishing. For obtaining all the other requisites for fly-making I trust to chiince. Feathers for making hackles and wings I have always found to be readily procurable from the birds frequenting the district travelled through ; fur for dubbing, the small rodents supply. The best trout fishing I ever enjoyed was obtained whilst we were marking the Boundary-line along the eastern slopes of the cascades and western slopes of the Rocky Mountains. I observed whilst sitting on the banks of a stream a trout jump at a fly that had fallen into the water. Immediately I overhauled my stock of materials, selected thread, hooks, &c., knocked over a ruffed grouse, made wings from its frill feathers, and a L 14G AT HOME IN THE WILDERNESS. hackle from the tail coverts ; picked out some red wool from my shirt, tied all the lot together into what I called a ' fly/ which no more resembled an insect than it did a hippopotamus, fastened it to a piece of fishing line, and the line to the end of a young larch-tree. Thus equipped, I flogged away at the water as though [ had been whipping a horse, but nevertheless with the most unquestionable success : the trout rose readily at my monster, and seizing it, disappeared with the enjoyable sort of bubbling splash that anglers know so well indi- cates feeding and not play. It must suffice to say that this rude imitation and yet ruder rod was pre-eminently successful, and what more coald one say of the best finished sabnon rod, wyuch, line, flies, and cast, that money could procure ? I never hamper myself with a Pishing rod, but just cut the best stick I can find, and trust to strength of tackle rather than to skill in play- ing a heavy fish in order to land it. If you do not know how to ' tie a flie,' in that case it may perhaps be advisable to take a small assortment of ready-made ones with you ; but it is better to learn how to make artificial flies than to bother yourself with articles that in nine cases out of ten you never have at hand when vou require to use them. I have deemed it superfluous to append any instructions for the making artificial flies, inasmuch as bcoks innumerable can be obtained, where- in every minutia} is clearly explained and illustrated. Th result of my own experience is, however, that six ( FISHING IN *WILD COUNTRIES.' 147 practical lessons, imparted by a master in the art of *fly making-,' will aid a novice more than will the perusal of an entire volume, together with a patient following out of the instructions given for * tying up a fly-' I invariably wear my line and flies tied round my hat, with a plain hook or two simply * whipped ' on to strong gut — for using live bait if need be, hooked into the felt. Arriving at a likely-looking stream, cutting a stick, and tying the line to the end of it, is all the delay required to commence. Sport or no sport, un- fastening the line, winding it round your hat, and pitching away the stick, will not occupy more than five minutes' time at the finish. A good plan for carrying fish, in the absence of anything better, is to cut a long twig with a crook at the end, and pass the point under the gill cover of the fish and out at its mouth, then push it down to the crook, which prevents it from slip- ping off; thus string up fish after fish until your stick is filled. To sum up, I say dispense with rod, wynch, fishing-book, together with a host of flies, and artificial bait, whenever you are far away from the streams of civilisation. That fish in rivers very much fished grow shy, and hence require great skill and the most delicate tackle to catch tlioni, all anglers well know ; but this in no wise a[)p]ies to waters and the fish tenanting tlieni in * wild countries.' The unsoi^his- ticatod natures of such fish are not familiar with l2 I 148 AT HOME IN THE WILDERNESS. the wiles and lures craftily prepared by disciples of the < gentle art,' so they do not hesitate to seize upon anything offered to them, however widely it may differ in appearance from every known form of insect life. What description of gun is best suited for ' hunting purposes' is a question more easily asked than answered, and must have a chapter to itself. V 1 ^ ■■ the ffer •ed, THE GOOD OLD TIMES. 149 CHAPTER X. Firearms-Muzzle-loaders - Breecli-loaxiers -Rifles - rxevolvers - Shot-belt versus Pouch-The better Plan for cleaning Gruns. It would s rve no useful purpose, nor in any way aid you in the choice of firearms, were I to attempt a dissertation on the respective merits of breech and muzzle loaders, or rifle versus shot gun. ' A man who gives in against his will remains the same opinion still,' says the adage, and true enough it is too. Few sportsmen nowadays would say very much, if anything at all, in praise of the poor discarded muzzle-loader. It has had its time, like stage coachmen, comfortable, homely roadside inns, with the smiling landlady, rosy barmaid, civil waiter, and ' good accommodation for man and horse.' I am not sure whether I do not even now prefer those old times to the present. I do not care ubout fashionable places, and particularly dislike large hotels; and somehow have an instinctive dread of getting into the clutches of landladies and lodging-house keepers, who wear rustling silk dresses, and 'sail' about rather than walk as ordinary women ; if by any mis- chance I am driven to seek shelter in a monster inn or II 150 AT IIO.ME IN THE WILDERNESS. gorgeous first-floor front, I make up my mind to bear and to suffer, and to leave, if not a wiser certainly a poorer man. Give me an old-fashioned road- side inn for comfort and quietude. What do I want more, so that I get my meals with a decent amount of regularity, and that they are good of their kind. No reasonable person would desire to be hoisted up to his bedroom by machinery, as if he were a trunk or a bale of goods ; or prefer to be waited on — or, rather, kept waiting — by an army of pale-faced men clad in seedy black and very loose shoes (I often w^onder where waiters at hotels get their shoes), to having wholesome food served by a smart maid-of-all work, and a bedroom only a single story high ; if there be such an one, he had better go to fashionable places where hotels are to be found, con- ducted on the un-limited liability system, ' combining,' I quote from an advertisement, ' the convenience of a hotel with all the comforts of a home.' The operation of quietly putting in my powder and shot, and listening to the screech and weeze of the wad as it glides down the barrel, j^ressed on by the sturdy ramrod, whilst surveymg my dogs crouching closely and waiting in panting anxiety for the * hold up ' and ' seek dead,' affords me more substantial pleasure than does the rapid loading and firing of the new and improved breech- loading shot guns. After all, this is only a matter of opinion. I have never tried a breech-loading I J ( BREECH VERSUS MUZZLE LOADER. 151 [ear !> shot gun when away on a long hunting expedition, hence I am not able to state from experience how such a gun would answer, exposed as it necessarily must be to the effects of wet, the grinding power of sand and dirt in the hinge or hinges, and the continued rough usage a gun invariably suffers when one is riding all day long, and sleeping at night in the open air. No Oi)inion is worth a straw on this matter excei^t it be deduced from the results of actual ex- perience extending over a long period of time. A breech- loader may be fitted to stand wear and tear quite as well as a muzzle-loader, for anything I can say to the contrary, and it may be found from experiment that cartridges can be quite as conveniently carried, and replaced when exhausted, as shot powdt^r and caps can be conveyed in the ordinary fashion. But until I am convinced either by the experience of others, or by practically testing the virtues of the breech- loader myself, when far removed from the aid of a gun- smith and for a period of time extending over not less than two years, that the modern breech-loading double-shot gun possesses all the advantages that the muzzle-loader has, added to greater facility in charging and discharging, I shall be chary how I trust t'^ a breech-loader oidy, if I start again on a hunting exi^edition to an uncivilised country. Call it prejudice if you like, obstinacy, or a stupid adherence to old ways and customs, simply because I.r2 AT IIOMK IX THE AVILDKRXRSS, one lins been used to tlieiii, nevertheless if you beat me by iiro-uineiit, I am after all only a verification of the ada{|e just quoted. For real forest and prairie life 1 have thorou<;hly tested the muzzle-loader's powers ('f endurance and extreme usefulness for nearly every purpose a hunter can require a g*un. Excei)t for unusually heavy wild beasts, I contend a short <.>'un is more useful than a riile ; lon^ ran^-es are seldom, I may say never, required, and for any distance witliin ei<;'ht3" yards a ^'ood muzzle-loadin|JC shot-nun will carry a bullet as true as a rille, and with a forc'(3 of penetration quite equal to br(\ikin!4' ^1^^ I'i'^^ of a bull-buffalo, or those of the mueh-dreadcd o;rizzly- bear, and wluit more can you desire*^ Then ducks, ^eese, <;rouse, and other feathered <4'am<' ad to a, profitable account. Moreover, countries wlierein camels, ele[»haiits, and dromedaries are found so useful, with an exception or lw(> — are unsuited to European coloni- sation, and with such we have nothing' to (bt. To the wanderer in search of an eli<4ible home iu the wilderness, such inl'oruiation would i)rove of no possible service. My own ecjuipment wbeu 1 h'ave Kn^land for America, North and South, cousihts of one jjfood stronur double-barrelie«l muz/le-loa-un-cleiining ^vill discard water and oil for ever after. It is a wise i)recaution to have with you in reserve a pair or two of spare niainsprin|^s, at hnist two sets of ramrod iittin<:]^s, and not k^ss than three pairs of nipph^s ; the hitter I prefer ' inverted,' and bouclied witli phiti- nuni. Experience has cdearly proved to my mind that with inverted nii)ples there is not neiirly so j^reat a liability to miss-fires from dnnip, neither are you an- noyed with a small column of smolvc curlinra«r<' a fi^reat many times every day, caiTied it on iiorsc and mule-back, and a,ls<> used it constantly in boat-Hlioot- iuf^-, but with the excejttion of rfphicino- flif nipples occasionally, and tlie loss of a ramrod <»r two. it was never onc<» dama<4'<'d (ti- disabled. -. bree Timber — 'Stringing out' and Counting — Mules apt to lie down if halted. We must now assume that the tents are struck and packed ; that the equipment we have been gatherin^;^ together is piled in properly adjusted loads in a straig-ht line, each load being laid on a * riata ' stretched full length upon the ground ; that the aparejos are arranged in a crescent shape, and that the packers are away in search of the hell-iiiare and her family of mules. Whether a hundred mules are to be packed, or five only, exactly the same routine is to be obsei'ved. We hear the distant tinkle, tinkle, of the bell, and presently trotting froui out the timber or scamjx'ring and plifying over the grassy prairie come the muh^s. S<)im» follov, others pre- cede the bell, but none t)f them are allow* 'il to stray far away, for the packers know what cr ifty anini;ils mules invariably are, and that some of the band, usually oM stagers, have an ugly habit of slij)]iing nnar by. This I ]«0 AT UOyiK IX TIIH WILLKRNESS. done, tlio lioad packer, or packinaster, takes his stand upon the centre oi* the ba^jfya^^-e, so that he can look down on the ' caronas ' (yon will remember what I told you was the use of the carona), and guided by the pattern, he directs the two packers to take the nude they have unfastened to its own aparejo. It will sufhce to confine our remarks to the saddlin^^ and packing of one nmle. The nude, led up to its aparejo, is first blinded wdth the *• tapnjo,' which is slipped deftly over its ears ; ^' then a packer goes on each side and ex- amines the mule's back, and combs out all the sand, dirt, or matted hair, with a currycomb — a precau- tionary measure which I w^ould imi)ress upon your mind it is essential to look well after, if you wish to avoid sore backs. Packers skulk doing it, unless yoiu' own or the packmaster's eye is overlooking them. This finished, one i^acker takes up the ajiarejo, whilst the other adjusts the cloths, first sweat-cloth, then blan- kets, lastly corona. There is a right and wrong way to take hold of an aparejo ; it must be grasped by the two {ingles, at the up])er or that part of it where the cushions are joined, lifted well above the mule's l)a(*k, and then allowed to drop on the cloths. When on, the (►If-side man pushes it towards fhe nude's tail, whilst the near-side man, standing well awjiy from the nude, lifts the crupper, pushes his arm imder it, seizes the * I'idc illiistmtiou, pago 79. \ i s stand an look Avhiit I I by the le ninle 1 suliice kin"" of is first tly over md ex- e sand, precau- iir mind o avoid ur own , whilst 'n blan- nnr Avay bj the ere the s back, on, the , whilst D mule, zes the SY.NTiiiXG rr. If) I m\ilo's tail, and qniekly slips the crnppor beneath it. This is nearly always a service of dany^er, demanding nuieh care and caution, especially if a mule is sntfcring from a chafed tail. The aparejo is next pushed back into its proper place, care being taken that there are no folds in the cloths- — the synch '^ is lastly placed on the aparejo by the near-side man, the oif-sider passing the end back to his comrade under the mule's belly ; and the latter then passes the heather strap three or four times through the synch ring (as previcmsly described when speaking of sa"es iiploy a words, I sways about ; if too high, it will be very likel}' to * topple ' over, either in ascendin<^ or descending- a steep hill-side. The grand secret, however, consists in getting; the weig'ht of the two packages first swung, to rest on the arch of the mule's ribs ; a second's reflection will make it plain to any one that if the sling-rope is tied too long the weight will in a great measure hang from the rope, and as a matter of course bear directly on the backbone of the mule, but if the rope is knotted to the proper length, then the weight conies on the convexity of the ribs, thus relieving" the back and taking all undue strain from oft' the rope. When barrels are packed a different arrangement of the sling-rope is required ; the rope must be longer than that ordinarily used, and be doubled four times instead of twice. By right, a barrel ought not to weigh more than 150 lbs., two of these make a fair load for a sturdy mule. We had an immense number of barrels to convey during the Boundary Commission transport, containing ration beef and pork ; and T would strongly Jidvise any persons who may perchance be engaged in similar tield-work, never to purchase ration meat, except i)acked in 100 lb. casks. Add to the 100 lbs. of meat the weight of the brine and cask, and it will be found that two of these packages are quite as much as a mule ought to carry, if you desire to keep him in good condition. We found from experience that two 150 lb. casks were too heavy (i.e. containing 150 lbs. of meat exclusive of brine and M 2 IMAGE EVALUATION TEST TARGET (MT.3) V A O A . £<^ 1.0 I.I Hi 125 i us lU 2.2 |M|/< 1.8 — 6" l>-25 IIIIII.4 IIIIII.6 <^ vQ /}. "^'4 ^y >> '/ /A Photographic Sciences Corporation 4 \ \\ - ^ c\ 23 WIST MAIN STRUT WnSTIR.N.Y. MStO (71«) 173-4303 ^'^ ^ z?. ill ]u4 AT HOME IX THE WILDERNESS. cask) for the mules, and it was more than most of our packers coukl do to lift one of them on to the aparejo, and keep it there whilst the sling-rope was being ad- justed. Packing" a single cask on the centre of a mule's back, a plan I have frequently seen adopted when two casks were found to be an overload, is a most reprehen- sible practice, and one I should advise any owner of mules never to permit ; the mule must necessarily carry its load in pain, and the least slip may produce a cricked- back, a mishap that renders a mule utterly useless for ever after. The first two packages we have properly slung, and these form, so to speak, the foundation on which the superstructure, consisting of the odds and ends, which make up the load, is to be built. This performance needs only a little management in order to keep the weight cleverly balanced. Over all, the packers now throw a painted canvas cover or ' tarpaulin,' which is for the purpose of keeping the load dry in case of rain. If you do not look sharply after the packers they will invariably put this cover under the aparejo rather than over the load ; the reason they give, if you ask tliem why they do it, is that there is no chance of rain. Never believe them, it is not the truth ; ' roping ' a load over a tarpaulin is rather more trouble, hence they would rather save themselves extra labour and indulge their own idleness than save your goods and chattels from getting satu- rated. I always adopt that good maxim with my Hf A WISE MAXIM. 165 tarpaulins that the wise Quaker did with his umbrella, I put them on when the sun shines, to be at all times in readiness for the storm ; thunder-showers have a dis- ag'reeable habit of coining* on when one least expects them, and should your tarpaulin be carefully stowed away underneath, instead of being* sjDread over the bao'Cfasre, the latter, as a matter of course, ixets a soaking; w4iat ci.re the packers, so they get their evening ration? I know of few misfortunes more depressing to the spirits than to look on whilst your rations and camp equipment are being poured on as if Aquarius had capsized his watering-pot immediately over the mule train. To travesty an old conundrum, rain and clouds, when the baggage covers have been l)urposely stowed away, appear to aifect a wanderer's hilarity as they do his goods, the sun, and his boots — they effectually take the shine out of all three. The near-side man now * throws the riata.' How to make this system of * roping ' on the load intelligible is somewhat a puzzling task ; I am quite certain that watching the process is of no practical use. I have my- self, when a novice, narrowly scanned every bend of the rope., as the ready-handed packers twisted it in mazy, incomprehensible turns, round, over, and under the load, and have an- used myself by observing other novices alike uninitiated try the same expedient in order to learn the art of * roping a load,' with a like unsuccessful result. You may keep sentry day after day for a fortnight, or 166 AT HOME IN THE WILDERXESS. longer if your patience holds out, and if some kind magi lent you the eyes of Argus, even with these added to your own, you would no more be able to adjust and tie a riata ' secundum artem,^ by simply seeing others do it, than you could learn to play a sonata of Beethoven's on the flute or violin, or rattle off difficult music at sight on a pianoforte, by watching the fingers of an accom- plished musician. How much more then impossible appears the task of making this complicated affair com- prehensible by description. I say complicated, but, after all, it only appears to be so because the way to do it is not understood. I could teach any person in lia.lf- an-hour with a rope, a chair for a mule, and an old trunk for luggage, but how I am to commence the lesson by writing it I no more know than I should know the Avay to picture the phosphorescence of a tropical sea, or describe the ever-varying scintillations of the aurora borealis. I Avish some simple plan would suggest itself to extricate me from this difficulty ; the puzzled reporter, who was suddenly called upon to describe a rocket, luistily wrote — ' a flash, a bang, a stink, and it is all over;' wlir.t could he say more? But I am afraid what may answer as descriptive of fireworks will not be similarly efficacious in regard to ' riatas.' Well, all I can do is to try my best to make this roping problem understandable . As the ' riata ' lies on the ground, the near-side man takes hold of it, about 20 feet from the end of the rope, i^-^ M agi to tie it, on ^lit lia- ble EOPING A LOAD. 167 with his right hand; with his left he gathers tip the remainder in coils, the right-hand end is obvionsly double, because the slack end hangs loose ; this double portion he throws over the load to the off-sider, who catches it, and quickly passes the loop back again under the mule's belly. Near-sider next passes the short end through the loop, brings it up against the aparejo, then twists the end three or four times round the rope to prevent it from slipping. The off-side man now hauls away upon the rope ; mind it is double on his side, which is continuous with the long end. This process, you will clejirly see, always supposing I am understood, tightens the rope encircling the load as would a circingle or the synch around the aparejo. As the off-side man hauls, the near-side gathers in the slackrope, and pre- vents it from running back ; the whole secret is to pull this encircling rope as tight as it is practicable for human strength to accomplish. There is not the slightest additional pressure on the mule's belly, because the edges of the aparejo take all the strain, and keep the rope clear away from touching the animal — a fault I complain so much of in the cross-tree pack-saddle, as previously pointed out. The near-side man, when everything is hauled tight, passes the longer end of the rope first under the foremost corner or angle of the aparejo, brings it along under- neath tlie edge, then from under the hindermost angle, and along the edge of the aparejo to the centre of the i ! rH 1G8 AT HOME IX THE WILDERNESS. aiiinial's back, or perhaps the centre of the load will be the better coinprehended.'^ Here he passes it betwixt the double rope we have just been tightenino*, brings it out towards himself, or, in other words, towards the mule's tail, and gives it to the off-side man, who takes it down the edge of the aparejo, and follows j^i'ecisely the same course witli it under the ano-les and lower edge as did the near-sider, brings it up the front of the aparejo and passes it through the double rope, but brings it out towards the mule's head. Here the near- side man again takes it ; now off-sider goes back and seizes the rope where it was passed over to him at first, at the hinder part of the load, and lading well back tuo's at it with all his mi^ht and main. This done, the near-side man performs a similar feat with the end of the rope passed to him in front, makes it fast, and the packing is completed. In this system of fastening, the double rope acts in the first place similar to a girth, antl it is rendered immensely tight by the strain of the fore and hind purchase, brought to act ujion it by the longer end of the riata, acting directly from the angles and lower edges of the aparejo (however tight the rope is hauled it can never in the smallest degree bear upon or injure the mule), and in the second place the double portion of rope is to some extent spread open by the strain upon its sides, and thus serves to maintain the built- * Vide cut, pucketl nuile, page 7o. ■ 'working' a pack traix. 169 Up portion of the load tlie more firmly in its place. There is no knot or anything- to untie that can by pos- sibility draw tight, and thus hinder the packers when unloading', the fastening at the finish being only that of passing the end under the tightened portion of the riata. Do not imagine that passing this long riata round and over the load, as I have endeavoured to describe it, is a slow and tedious process ; not a bit of it. If skilful packers are at their work, the rope is caught up, whirled over to the near-sider, passed back under, hauled on and slipped betwixt the double part almost as rapidly as your eye can folloAv the nimble-handed packers. When the riata is finally fastened the blind is removed, and the loaded mule turned loose. As the above description applies with equal force to numbers as to a single animal, let us suppose the train to be all packed and ready for a start. Oar march shall not be along an even trail, because the system of * working ' a pack train can be better ex- plained by assuming our course to skirt rugged hillsides, to wind along gorges and river valleys, where streams must be forded or swam by the mules, and the goods, men, and aparejos, crossed either by means of a canoe, raft, or temporary bridge, then to follow the trail as it twists in a serpentine manner up a craggy mountain side to reach a pass whereby we can cross its serried heights and safely descend its opposite slope. This is 170 AT HOME IX THE WILDERNESS. no imaginary picture, but one we had to encounter often during the working" season when employed in making the Boundary-line. All the difficulties enumerated might, and indeed I may truly say often did, occur in a single inarch, but they cease to be difficulties when the wanderer knows the right way to surmount them, and it must be a very steep mountain, swift torrent, and thick forest that a practised hand could not work a mule train over and through. The cook, belonging to the pack-train, or some out- sider attached to the party, has mounted the bell-mare, and slowly rides away after the packmaster, who has already preceded him ; the tinkling bell grows fainter in the distance, the mules, one by one, in single file, march on after its sound ; the packers are all mounted, and flourishing their blinds, or ' tapujos,' ride, after the manner of field-officers on a review day, up and down by the side of the slowly-moving train. Behind there is very little to be seen, save the smouldering heaps of ashes marking the whereabouts of the camp-fires, trod- den grass, and wild flowers crushed, broken, and de- spoiled of all their native loveliness. Perhaps a prowling wolf or cayote may be visible, creeping stealthily from out the timber in hope of pilfering a bone or a discarded piece of meat from the whisky-jack (Canada jay), al- ready in possession, whilst over-head soar vultures, impatiently waiting to pounce upon anything left behind suited to their filthy tastes. -en ng ht, gle bhe -nd Lnd a 111 I ■■« / DANGER OF IIALTIXG. 171 As the bell-mare and her rider enter the timber and leave the open ground, on which we had our camp, the packmaster reins in his mule, and carefully counts the mules, as one after another they inarch past him ; he never attempts to count the mules after they are packed until, as the packers' term is, ' they are strung out.' As he counts them, a second in command also reins up and takes the tally likewise. If, on comparing notes, the full number are present so much the better, if contrariwise some are missing, then never halt the train, but send one or two packers to discover and drive on the truants. It is a very bad plan ever to halt a mule train on the march unless to unpack for the purpose of camping or to cross a stream. When loaded mules are stoj)ped they are apt to lie down directly they halt, and should the grass bo long or the halting-spot be near or amidst tim- ber and thick underbrush, mules when once down amongst it are most difficult to find, and if not discovered, the result will — at any rate very probably may — cost you a mule or two, and the loss of the loads added to it. The heavy weight, together with the pressure of the ' synch,' prevents a mule, if at all feeble or stiff, from getting on its legs after it has lain down, hence if the packers fail to discover them die they must, and I have very often been myself searching with a most skilled herder and finder of mules, close by the side of a mule which had lain down with its load, and yet we were neither of us jible to see it until a grunt or a groan betrayed the n 172 AT HOME IX THE WILDERNESS. animal's hiding-place. For these reasons I make it a fixed rule when travelling- never to halt a train after commencing my morning's start, unless, as I have pre- viously said, a river has to be crossed which is too deep to ford, until camping time arrives, and the mule's work for the day is at an end. During the operation of counting, the packniaster also takes particular note of every mule, judging from the evidences of pain exhibited by suffering mules, as already pointed out, whether the load is evenly balanced or if anything is galling, if the cruppers are too long or too short, if the ropes are tight, in a v/ord if everything is ship-shape and as it ought to be. If he detect.^ ^iny- thing wrong that needs altering, two packers at a signal ride up, dismount, seize the mule pointed out by the halter, drop on the blind, and rapidly adjust whatever is out of the way, the mule loosed trots after the train, and falls in to the rearward place. We are entering on a narrow rocky trail, which leads along the face of a cliff, overlooking a stream surging on some two hundred feet below us. ( I I ENTERIXG A NARROW TRAIL. 173 ^' CHAPTEE XII. Narrow Trails — raclcni aster goes ahead of the Bell-mare — Mountain Passes— Bridge-niakin examine the timber nearest the place to be bridg-ed. A person's judg-ment must in a ijfreat de«^ree'<4'uide him as to the necessar}^ streng-th of the poles intended for ' strino-ors,' or side poles to support the cross-pieces. If the poles available are of fair size, say from ten inches to a foot in diameter, they can be used of a g'ood length ; if snuiller, the lenjxths must be lessened. Having- made this mental estimate, you beg'in to construct two or three ' cradles ;' the number ay ill be dependent on the poles, whether long or short ; the long-er the '• string'ers ' the fewei' cradles are needed. These so-called 'cradles'' are roug'h sqnar<» baskets, made b^ trenailhig poles together, the si/e being* reg'u- lated in accordance Avith the streng-th of the current; if swift, v(»ry large cradles will be required. When these cradles are completed, cut down and trim four 'string'ers,' and gvt both these and the cradles down to the stream : make fast a rope to one of the cradles, and if no trc^e is near drive a picket into the j^round and fasten the rop(» to it. This is a necessary precaution. Onco or twice I N ifll .78 AT JIOME IN THE VVILDEHNESS. liave lost my ' cradle '' in ii swift current by ne<»iectiiij4- it. Now launcli the cradle, and when, hy the aid of poles, you have ^'uided it, as it floats to the spot where you intend to sink it (which should not be farther from the bank of the stream than a man can conveniently pitch stones, or shovel earth and shinyle into it), hll it as fast as you can with stones, earth, or anythinj^' heavy — and let me impress upon young* wanderers how necessary it is to think of trifling- details if they in- tend to bridg'e a stream as we are now doing- it. Make sure, before you select a spot to cainp on, that shingle or stones, or both, are within easy reach. "Well, we have sunk our cradle No. 1, and having- taken care to make it sufficiently capacious to hold rubble, the weight of which is equal to resisting- the force of the current, we lay two '^ stringers ' side by side from the bank to the cradle. You can now walk over them to reach the latter ; next, see that all is safe and the cradle firm ; if you are Avorking- with ai)arty of men, the one who is on the cradle need not return to the shore. Separate the stringers about six feet from each other, trenail the ends securely to the cradle, and fasten those on the land by driving- in strong- stakes on either side of them. This done, trenail cross-pieces to the stringers as close together as you can place fliem ; sj)lit poles answer best, the convex aide ui)permost ; mules do not slip on them. Now you can work from the shore to cradle No. 1, and proceed exactly in tlie same way with cradles No. 2 and 'K if it need so many. I 4k* C()KI)JN(; A .SWAMP. 179 how I These two systems of brid<>e-uiakiii^- 1 have fo^md to answer every useful purpose. Whenever streams are too wide and too swift of current t(/ render either of these phins practicable, then I always raft or take the bag*^age and men in canoes, and swim the mules. We have crossed over the tirst stream by our cradh.' brid<^e, and two more are similarly manao-ed, and we reach th enable them to do so we must ' cord ' it. This is very easily accomplished if ytnikiiovv how. Poles about six or eight inches in diameter are first laid along upon the swampy ground six to eight feet apart, and trenailed firmly together at the ends, so as to form two les ; these being* trenailed firmly together at sliort distances, keep the ' cord-trail as firm as a ladder ; two or more smart hands will cord a long- piece of swamp in a day. Over this cordway the mules walk as safely as if it were macademised road. All the impediments wdiich intervened betwixt the first stream and the pass I have to get over being surmounted, T make my camp at the base of the hill, and commence with some of my men to cut down the timber as I 'blaze' the way before them. All lines are marked through tiitdjer by 'blazing,' which has nothing erson marking the route to be f'ollow(Kl hy others cuts out a fair-sized chip from the trees as he go(^s along, first on the right hand and then on the left; these marks being made into the Avliite timber, are readily seen by contrast with the brown bark of the trees. My only chance is to ' zig-zag' the trail iij) the most accessible placr's ; to accomplish this I have to cross and recross the stream seven times on small bridges. The timber cleared, I next take a digging party, and witli picks and spades make a, regular path about six feet wide, on an average ; but at short if AN UGLY COUXKR. 181 V take thers ; ^ each en the firmly as firm a loiii;- mules xt the beino- le hill, wn the lies are lothinj'' leaiiinn- With to be (m\ the id then white brown i^*"' the sh this times take a 'epfnlar ; short distances I also make platforms, if I may so term them, by digging away the hill-side and then shoring up the earth with fascines staked down— the use of these you will learn anon — also where the earth was loose and likely to give way, or where a jutting point of rock had to be rounded, there also I constructed artificial ground with fascines and poles covered with earth. There was one place near the summit which well-nigh beat me. The rocks ran out to a sharp craggy point, below which was a precipice ; by breaking awa}"^ rock and adding earth, wliich was kept from slip^jing over by poles and bundles of wood, I made a path round the point, but it was fearfully dangerous, for if a mule by chance should strike its load against the jutting rock, the chances were a hundred to one it would be knocked over and killed. To obviate any risk I had ropes twisted together to make them of sufficient strength, and then securely fastened t') a tree growing imme- iliately over this point of rocks. To the lo(jse end of the twisted ropes I had a wooden hook attached ; the bridging was next done, and so far my work was com- plete. I tried a mule with nothing on it, at first; up it went all right ; next I tried one with an aparejo only, with a similar success ; then I bega n totent blind ; lumce stones are invaluable assistants, and I know from experience that stones are like policemen, you ca,n never find one when vou want it. As we near oiir dangerous corner T halt the mules on the platform nearest to it below, then muffle the bell to prevent the resting mules from hearing it, Inive the mare led round iho corner, and make two packers, on(^ befon* and one Ixdiind, bring L. L ClIRISTMAS-KVK. 183 lip a mule. I stand by in readiness, slip the hook nnder the ' riata,' and then let the mnle run up to the mare, which is waiting, so as to allow the mule to reach her without any strain upon the rope. I have to keep the rope clear of the rock by a, cross pole, then the mule passes the mare on the siding-, is unhocdced and is soon upon the level; so, one by one, I get the first five safely round, and with their loads they are on the summit. These are now unpacked and turned to feed, whilst the men and I ell-mare go down for other five. In this way, save with one accident arising from carelessness-a mule rolled over at the corner and was killed— the fifty loads were got to the top, and as many more a fortnight la.ter. I had just as difiicult a task to bring all the camp gear down again, which I did on the day preceding Christ- mas-day, spending my Christnms-eve at the foot of the Diamond-tree pass. I have related this little bit of trail-engineering because I thought it the best phiu for supplying such practical hints as I am desirous to im- part for the benefit of younger wanderers. We resume our march, having crept safely along the narrow tra-il. A river four hundred yards wide is ahead of us ; this we shall have to raft, and swim our mules a.cross. \ach animal is visible excepting its long ears and its nen many times. After the mules are over, the aparejos are first crossed in the canoes, next the goods and chattels, and lastly the packers, who then commence to saddle up, pack, and start again. To sum up, when the * wanderer ' has to cross a wide, swift-running river, he should first carefully note the kind of landing-place the mules will have to encounter on reaching the oj)posite side. If the river is four hundred yards in width and the current swift, a mile of landing ground clear from all obstruction is recpiisite. If you attempt crossing with a shorter landing-place the probabilities are that you will drown a immber of your animals. You must always calculate the chances of effecting a landing when swimming mules, b}^ estimating by the width of the stream and force of the current how far the weaker mules and bad swimmers will probably be "-^" '" ijk...t^^.pig^^?-y^^y Two of our axt'iiieu could iiiiike a canoe, with axes only, ill three hours, hiro-e enough to carry ten persons ; the best tiniber is either cedar or white pine. The great art is to shape the sides of the canoe st) that she will Hoat evenly. I have often seen green hands make a canoe that, when launched, la}'^ completely over on one side, and canted up either at the bow or stern. Nearly all the Indian tribes west of the Kocky Mountains own canoes, but the inland canoes, used on lakes and rivers, d.^ffer totally from such as are used by the coast and Fraser River Indians, and each tribe, whether inha- biting- the mainland coast or Vancouver Island, has a fashion of canoe peculiar to itself. All tlio c(>ast Indians use ' dug- outs ' made from cedar. I have seen canoes at Fort Rupert ckdau tAxoi;. that would carry thirty men easily in a heavy sea. Just think of the labour these savages must have bestowed upon each canoe, when they had nothing' but rude stone tools to work with. They exjjand the sides by filling- the canoe with w^ater, and pluiig-ing red hot stones into it, then prisinj^ open the heated wood witli cross-pieces, and keeping- it so forced ojjen until it is cold. The ' Kallispellem ' canoes,"^ used by the Colum- bia River Kootanie and other inland Indians, are made of large sheets of bark, stripped from the spruce fir * rule cut, i)!igi' 102. A 102 AT HOME IX THE WII.DERXESS. or cedar tree {Thvja (jiijantea). These pieces are sewn together and sloped at both ends, to a, conical point ; the length of the canoe is usnally abont twelve feet, and the width about seven between the o-unv/ales. A frame- work of wood is neatly made, over which the bark is stretched ; the seams, holes, and weak places are lastly secured with a kind of <^-um. When an Indian paddles in one of these canoes— which, by the way, he can carry on his back with perfect ease — he squats at the ex- treme end ; his w^eig'ht sinks the conical point, wdiich serves to steady the canoe, similar to the way a fish steadies itself with its tail; t'te other end is of course >,.~^<—-^=r..-.-rTr^:]~-T::s^^-ziEi^ tilted up far above the sur- -. :- ^__ __ \^-^.^5^j.._,^--- face of the water. These frail •"o-j ' ■ crait are more easily capsized %" than any other kind of canoe T t^ ^' was ever in, but the Indians " ---s^^^- "^ - AiJF-*'!ii ■!»' contrive to convey heavy loads in them, shooting' rapids, and 'poliny' ag'aiiist streams, without often coming to grief. To swim a stream with your horse requires great coididence and some knowledge of swimming. Horses all swim well, as a rule, so soon as they get over the dread of losing their foothold, and are fairly afloat. If you have no gun or anything spoiiable, and you do not mind wetting your clothes, then ride straiglit into the water, always taking the precaution to see that you can SWIMMIXCJ A IIORSH. ]b:i land on the opposite side bj taking- into calculation the distance yourself and horse will probably be drifted. Seize a good large lock of the mane hair, and twist it firmly round the fingers of the left hand ; shut the hand close, to prevent the risk of letting it slip ; free both feet from the stirrups, lean well forward, and the instant the horse begins to float and strike out with its feet, lay C'ltl).S!SIN(J A UIVi;i{. your body horizontally, and kick back with your legs as you do in swimming ; hold fast with the left hand ; the horse will tow you, and with the right hand you nuist s])lash the water at the horse's head to keep him from turning to swim with the current. The more you ciin contrive to keep the horse's head up stream the better 194 AT llOMK IX THE WILDERNESS. it wilJ cross with yoii. On reacliiiig the side you are swiimiiiiio- for, as soon as the horse touches its feet on tlie |L?round drop again into the saddle, and ride your niustano- out of the water. Many writers advise holding on by a horse's tail when swimming a river, and thus letting it tow them over ; I do not think it nearly so good a plan as the one above ; I have tried both. When holding by the tail you lose all command of your horse, it can swim in any direction it wishes ; you risk getting hit with the hind legs, and not uiifrequently you get towed under water. Landing, too, is difticult ; when the horse scrambles out it tugs you after it, or throws you down, and the cliances are greatly in favour of your losing your mustang, saddle, and gear, altogether. When swimming above the horse and holding by the mane, none of these risks are encountered, and you can steer the animal as you would a boat. A river 400 yards wide can be safely crossed in this way, even if the current is moderately swift, provided the horse is strong, in good health and condition, and that the rider is an expert swimmer and well up to his work. Supposhig you have biggage in the shape of blankets, a gun and ammunition, and you dislike wet- ting your clothes, you must find a dry log light enough to float, or cut rushes, and nuike them into two bundles or sheaves ; tie these together in the middle, as you would two sheaves of straw ; place some light sticks raftlxct baggage. 1C5 'I across and tie thein fast to the sheaves. Failing' sticks or rushes, you must tie up the things in the buffalo skin — remember I told you never to travel with- out one strapped to the back of the saddle. With raft No. 1, the log, you fasten all the things you have on the top of it, rolled up tightly in the ' buffalo-robe ; ' tie it firmly, and then take the long hair ' cabresto ' I advised you to use in lieu of a bridle, or the lassoo which should always be hanging from your saddlebow, and attach it to the log, so that there is no fear of irs slipping off, then make the other end of the cabresto, or lassoo, fast to the saddlebow, and the horse will tow the log-raft as it swims across with you. If this arrangement is properly executed everything can be ferried, without a chance of wetting it. Raft No. 2, rush sheaves, I like even better than a log, if so be rushes are obtainable; they float more evenly, and there is less chance of their rolling over. I have frequently seen Indians cross a river by sitting between two large rush sheaves and paddling them as they would a canoe. With No. 3 contrivance, the bufllilo robe, the only precaution you can take against wet is tinnly to secure the buffalo robe round the things you are going to tow over ; for in all three cases the towing system is alike adopted. Horses free from the saddle or other incumbrance can swim easily a mile in distance if there is anything like a swift current ; nevertheless, some mustangs are immeasurably better a lf)G AT HOME L\ THE WILDERNESS. 1 t swimmers than are others of equal bone and strength. Tnnid, scary horses are always bad to swim streams with. I had a very capital horse, and an admirable swimmer, which sank suddenly in the middle of the Kootanie River without any assignable reason ; I dare say horses get cramp as we do. The three grand requisites we have been looking out for — grass, wood, and water — are reached, a halt called, the loads are taken off and placed on the riatas, and the mules allowed to cool before unsaddling ; if you expose their backs suddenly to the air whilst the skin in heti-ted, the skin rapidly gets covered with large lumps. During this waiting, fires are lighted, tents pitched, and supper set agoing. The cardinal point to be observed in making camp fires is ' never be in a hurry.' The most unpromising material, such as the twigs and boughs of green willow bushes, may be made to burn even during rain ; if the traveller lias been sufficiently provident to lay away ;t small parcel "um-stick. It is not by any means a scarce material, if you know where and how to find it ; a practised hand learns, by a kind of instinct, how to pitch upon the right tree for gum-stick, although to explain the way to do it is an impossibility. Indians are particularly skilful in dis- covering it, and during the winters we passed at Fort Colville, they used to bring bundles of gum-stick daily, to trade for tobacco or anything else they required. A few shavings sliced off with your knife, and lighted, ^ GUM-STICK. •203 will kindle a fire even during x^elting- rain, to say nothing of its potency and power to give new life to a dying flame. Another kind of resinons material exudes from the pine-trees in great quantities, more especially if the bark has been partly removed, or a chop has been made on the trunk. It is yellowish-white in colour, its consistence is that of thick gum, its smell decidedly turpentiny as it exudes, runs down the tree, and hardens into large drops. An inexperienced hand on finding that it lights very readily, and blazes up like naphtha, Avould be dis- posed to employ it for fire-lighting ; he would soon, however, discover that as the resin flamed away it at the same time densely coated the siu-fiice of the wood with a coating of lamp-black, or some other analagous form of carbon ; and when pinewood is thus coated one might as well try to burn granite : hence this resin- coated timber is utterly useless for firewood ; not only does it render itself incombustible, but has a like effect upon all the sticks in the fire, and is nearly as effectual in extinguishing your fire, as would be the famed ' I'ex- tinctuer.' I frequently used to amuse myself by setting fire to the resin encrusting the side of a pine-tree. There was not the slightest risk of kindling the tree itself; the material blazed up furiously for a short time, coated the tree with its sooty deposit, and then went suddenly out ; the flame would not even char the bark. i ii I '• r I '204 AT HOME LN THE WILDERNESS. If you want a fire, never collect chips or timber coated with resin. Now to unsaddle : one packer stands where the aparojos are to be placed, whi^.^t the other packers catch the mules by the halters, loose the synch, and lead them up to him. He now takes off the aparejo ind phices it on the ground, next the cloths on the top • )f it, and lastly, the corona on the top of all. Then he ♦ 'xamines the back, and if lie finds it all right he jerks off the halter and lets the mule go; if not, he in- vestigates the aparejo and tries to remedy the evil at once. It is the duty of another packer to clean and tlioroughlv grease all the cruppers, coil up the sling ropes and carefully cover the aparejos (placed, re- member, in a semicircle), with the canvas covers. The herders drive tlie band awav, make fast the bell-mare and return to enjoy their suppers, their pipes, and the sleep needed to recruit them for the coming day. Let us bid them ' Good Night ! ' our march is at an end. I have some hints to giv^e about building log houses, breaking horses, and collecting specimens of Natural History, and then I shall have fulfilled my mission; how well I must leave other wanderers to decide. WILD MUSTANGS. 205 CHAPTER XIV. ^Fastano-s: their lirst appoaraiicc ia Mexico^ Found in Tomh, California, Oretjon, r.ritisli Columbia, and Elsewhere— lireakino- a Wild Horse not an I'^asy Task— A Wanderer should he his own Manufacturer— The AVav to ]Make a Lassoo and a Cahresto— Lns- sooing, Saddling, Moun'ting- Hoping Wild Cuttle-An Exciting Adventure. Mustangs, as wild horses are usually styled (and broken ones as well, for that ma,tter), are, as a rule, snrall horses, rarely exceedino- fourteen hands high. They are descended from Spanish stock, whicli must have been orio-inally brouoht into Mexico by the ori-'iiial conquerors of that beautiful but unfortunate country now somethhio- like three centuries ag-o. Dur^ag- this period niustang-s have increased to an extraordinary extent, and they have radiated, so to speak, in every direction. Vast herds now roam over the Texan prairies; and throughout Mexico to California, and from thence over Oregon, Washington territories, and British Columbia, to the head waters of the Columbia (west of the Rocky Mountains), an abundance of so- called wild horses are to be met with. Crossing the summit of the Rocky Mountains and descending to its ( i ■ 'f mmmmm :oG AT HOME IN THE WILDERNESS. I eastern side plains, thei'e again we find nearly every Indian tribe possesses itL^^ bands of wild horses. To lassoo, saddle, bridle, and mount a perfectly wild mus- tang is by no means an easy feat for a person to perform who is thoroughly up to its vicious tricks, who is at the same time an accomplished horseman, and who has ack or a mustang on the open prairie, permit me to say you will be terribly mistaken. I can tell you the right way to lassoo, saddle, bridle, and mount a wild nmstang; but to in- sure your doing it is quite another question. I have already told you the length of a lassoo is ordinarily thirty feet, and it must be kept flexible by ('t)ntinual greasing. One end of the lassoo is fastened to a ring provided for the purpose, or to the horn of the saddle ; the other end, which forms a running noose, is, together with the remainder of the lassoo, coiled carefully and held in the right hand. Thus e(piipped, I ride in pursiut of a band of mustangs. Having espied the animals I seek browsiug peacefully k I.ASSOOIXG A WILD MUSTANG, 211 : ooliiig; use it 11 fj the fs, yoii day, on [t prac- ventnre ceed in isooing" ' bullock will be that by able to i'oinu' at r on the terribly > lassoo, it to in- ^assoo is xible by fastened horn of runniiij^' 3 lassoo, 1. TllUB uistaii|j;s. eacefiilly beneath the shadows of the trees, or on the grassy prairie, I craftily manccuvre to get to windward of them ; neglect this precaution and their keen sense of smell will betray j^our approach, and then you may make up your mind to wish the band of horses good-bye for that day. Slowly, and by riding in an angular course, I get as near to them as possible. As soon as I find myself within about forty feet of the herd I dash my spurs sharply into the horse, whirl the lassoo three or four times round my head to steady my aim and to keep the circle of coils clear, then I fling it over the head and round the neck of the animal I have selected, turn my OAvii horse sharply round, sit firmly, press home the spurs, and gallop on, dragging iiiy prisoner after me. The powerful pressure of the noose u2)on the windpipe prevents the frightened mustang from offering any lengthened resistance ; it soon either falls or tlirows itself upon the ground, breathless, motionless, and to all appearance nearly lifeless. When the horse is down I dismount and carefully gather my way along the lassoo until I can get close to the terrified beast, then I slip the blind over its eyes, slack the noose, and quietly await its recovery. I am going to mount it at once, so I take the saddle and * cabresto ' from off my tame mustang, hobble its fore-legs firmly, and turn it loose to feed. 13y this time my captive has recovered its breath, a sharp slap on the haunches induces it to scramble upon its legs, but the blind prevents any !• 2 '212 AT IIOMl!] IX THE WILDERNESS. i i jittempt to escape. Now, by a little patience and nianauvring tlie double lialf-liitch'^ already described is slipped on to the under jaw beneath the tongue, and the ends of the ' cabresto ' tied for reins. I next softly put on the s^veat-cloth, then the blankets, and lastly the saddle, (be at all times careful to cross the stirrups and ' synch ' over the seat of the saddle, and lifting* the saddle well above the back let it drop gently upon the anini[d). This done, I give the saddle a gootl slap, and hold on tight to the lassoo ; this sometimes be- gets a vicious plunge or two, but as a rule the horse stands shaking and sulky. I have to be wary in getting the ' synch ' under the belly, or I may get a ' cow kick,' in other words, a blow from the hind leg in a direction forwards. I have managed it safely, the leather strap is passed through and through the ring, and, placing my foot firndy upon the lassoo I haul up the synch as tight as I possibly can, and make it fast. ' Synching ' is always a risky performance, because the wild animal usually lashes out its hhid legs, plunges, and not un- fi'cquently throws itself heavily upon the turf, but so long as the blind is on it never attempts to get away. This paroxysm of rage over, I place my foot in the stirrup, give the horse at the same time a slap on the haunch, and rest my weight for a minute or two in the stirrup. If the horse is moderately quiet, I next rest my stomach on the saddle, jerk about and smack its * Vida paj^o 95. . LEVrARE OF BUCK-JUMnXG. 21. e and LLed is le, mid softly lastly irrups ig' the on the :l slap, les be- ) horse ^•etting" r kick/ rection r strap placing' ncli as Lching- ' animal lot nn- but so b away. in the on the in the xt rest Lick its sides with my open hand ; if, on the other hand, it is a very bad tempered and vicions horse, I still keep on until it j)ermits me to rest on the saddle. Now I slowly and cautiously get my leg over the saddle, settle myself firmly in my seat, place my toes in the stirrups, coil up I my lassoo in my left hand, lean forward and jerk off the blind, and the battle begins in earnest. It would be only wasting time to describe the pranks a wild mustang resorts to in order to unseat its rider ; the worst thing, however, is buck-jumping, which it does with such vicious violence as to require every effort on the ])art of the rider to avoid being shot out of the saddle like a shell from a mortar. I sit tight, yell at the top of my voice, spur with all my might, and try by all and every means to induce the mustang to start at a gallop. If he does this he is mine, and I am his master for ever; if he lies down, rolls or gets me off by any other means, I turn him away and look for another. A wild horse never forgets it if successful in throwino- its rider at the first mounting. After the first gallop there is not much further trouble needed. If the mustang turns out sound and strong, I brand it, and a few more lessons sufiice to convert it into what is known in hunter parlance as a tame or gentled horse. It is rather singular that a dread of the lassoo is always retained by a horse that has been ' choked down,' saddled and broken on the prairie. The mere act of putting it round the neck ensures instant obedience. T • ..; i 1 214 AT no^iE \s Tin-: wildekxess. have seen horses slitike with terror when a lassoo was laid across their shouhlers. Of course, this system of breaking applies with equal force to horses taken from out of a * coiTal,' as it does to those lassooed on the prairie. The lassoo is used for catching wild cattle, just in the same manner as it is for mustang-s or mules, oidy that bullocks are usually * roped ' round the horns. It may prove of interest to mention incidentally, as a caution to the novice, an adventure which befel myself and a Mexican while lassooing- wild cattle. We came fiuddenly upon a wild Spanish bullock grazing some distance away from the herd. Perceiving our approach, it dashed olf with all speed for the timber. A rather exciting race ensued, but the Mexican being the lighter weight, and having a better start, was the first to head the bullock. He sent his lassoo over its horns, and attempted to wheel his horse ro\ind in order to tighten the noose, but quicker than either he or his horse could move away the maddened beast charged full tilt, caught the poor horse broadside on, and sent its long taper horn to the root into its side. The horse dropped dead, and the Mexican rolled over and lay by its side. The bullock, finding itself fast to the saddle of the dead horse, charged in upon the man, and would have seiTed him the same as it had the horse if an ounce of lead had not thwarted its savage intentions. I merely relate this affair to show that lassooing is often a dangerous pastime. . wns cm of 1 from 311 the cattle, mnlcs, horns. fs\ as a myself ) came some broach, rather lighter to head IS, and der to or his diarged id sent e horse lay by ! saddle 1 would ; if an ons. I s often AT A RODEO. 215 As I have previously said, those who have never seen a lassoo used by a thoroughly skilled hand can form no idea of the accuracy with which they learn to throw it ; indeed, on the large cattle runs in Texas and South America it would be quite impossible for the herders to manage either the bullocks or horses, unless they were most expert performers with the lassoo. To wit- ness lassooing in perfection, and the systems adopted for driving, corraling, and branding where cattle run wild over large districts of country, the best plan is to visit a ' rodeo,' which takes place sometimes every year, at others longer intervals elapse betwixt the drives or rodeos. At these affairs all the stockowners from far and near assemble at a given place, where a large enclosure or corral is built, and into it all the cattle which ca-n be collected are driven, to be owned and branded. These drives are always most festive meetings, but perhaps it will be the more interesting if T relate my own ex- periences of a rodeo than to simpiy say what it is. Many years have passed away since I was induced to make one at rodeo. I need not go into a tedious des- cription of locality ; it will suffice to say that my three companions were old stock-men, who now and then took a turn at gold washing or trapping, more by way of a change than for love of gain. We met by accident at a small frontier to^vll, I was seized uj)on immediately, and nolens volens, hustled into a bar-room. * Now Cap,' said Mose (one of the three), * it aint no -ilG AT HOME IN THE AVILDERXESS. manner of nse for you to try back tracks, we ar' just all «^wine to tlie roda, and that's your hand, bet your pants, so we'll fire-up. I feels a kinder hot, like a cinder as wants quinchin.' We did several drinks, which, together with my friend's persuasions, overcame all my objections, and arrangements were finally made that we should dei)art early on the following morning for the general trysting place. We started at sun up, our destination ine ' rodeo ' corral, about twenty-four miles distant. A pleasant breeze blew over the hazy plain, just sufficient to rustle the oak leaves as we swe^^t past the trees at a rattling gallop. Leaving the plain, the trail led through groves of oaks, then up a winding ' canon,' and across several deep ravines, to strike off at last upon a faint path lead- ing towards the hills, following which for some distance, we ascend a steep ridge, and pause to look down into a grassy valley, through which winds a river. On either side of it level plains stretch away as far as eye can scan the distance, and immediately below us tents are visible dotted irregularly about. Mose i)uts an end to my reverie by saying, * We've made the ranch, boys, thar's the con-al for the roda.' Our tents, simply strips of canvas stretched over a ridge pole, were very soon ad- justed and pegged down. These preliminaries arranged, and the mustangs safely tethered, we had time to look round. Seldom does it fall to one's lot to witness such I WHAT CHEER HOUSE. 217 a singular assemblage as were now camped in this tranquil valley — there were Americans, French, English, Sonorans, Texans, Kanakas, from the Sandwich Islands, and even Chinamen. Beneath the shadows of the trees, as we strolled along, were groups of gamblers busy at their work, and the jingling coin and rattle of the dice-box sounded in strang-e contrast vith the song's of birds and the hum of insects. There was actually an hotel, if a large tent, with * What Cheer House ' written in large black letters over the entrance, could be so designated, and like travelling caravans are usually managed, the most attractive part of the establishment was clearly on the outside. Long planks arranged on stakes driven into the turf served as dining-tables, or for feeding in general, whilst across the door, or rather entrance into the tent, was a shorter plank, and, lest there should exist any doubt as to the purpose for which it was designed, BAR, in big writing, surmounted it like a banner. A few dirty decanters, together with some sardine tins and cigar-boxes, made the only garniture the bar could boast of, unless we include as part of the furniture a par- ticularly cadaverous-looking individual, who seemed, for one could only judge of the whole by the upper half, to be made up entirely of shirt front and studs, his face, head, and hands, being merely accidental aj^pendages. About a mile further up the valley was the corral, a large space, enclosing several acres, made of felled ^fl I ! 218 AT HOME IN THE WILDERNESS. I trees, placed one on another, jnst like tlie walls of a loy shanty are constructed, but further strengthened by lighter trees, sunk on each side the log fence, the tops being lashed firmly together with strips of raw hide, the height of this fence being about nine feet. Strong poles, each end of whicli traversed in a groove, served for a gateway ; and from each side of this gate was a long wattle fence, carried out for some distance and gradually widened from the entrance — an arrange- ment which greatly facilitates the gettin^r the wild cattle into the corral. Near to this corral was a much smaller enclosure, made by sinking tall trees deepl} into the ground, instead of piling them on(^ upon another. The upper ends, as in the corral, wore lashed together with raw hide. Eound the outside, about five feet from the top, was a stage, standing on which one could easily look over and see what was going on inside. At either end was a small den, com- municating with the Interior by a trap-door, which could be hauled up by a rope by a person standing upon the platform. The use of this arena will be ex- plained anon. We adjoirned to the * hotel' to supper, after our tour of inspection — most of the visitors at the * rodeo ' boarded at this primitive house of entertainment, find- ing it cheaper and more convenient than providing provisions and pack trains for themselves. Do not imagine that we had to chew jerked beef and M^jk- OLD EPIIR AIM'S HOME. 219 of a lened ', tlie ►f raw feet. roove, g'ato stance tlriecl salmon, or feed on rancid ration pork — not a bit of it, we had such living' provided by mine host as would have cheered the heart of the most fastidious epicure. Here, far away in the mountains, we feasted on venison, wild turkey, antelope, beef, quail, and hare, green corn, butter, milk, coffee, and corn dodgers. The first two days were occupied by all hands in repairing the corral, and awaiting fresh arrivals ; whilst the evenings passed pleasantly away — tales of adventure, songs, jokes, and monte, easily beguiled the time. On the third day the drive commenced, * Cap, you bet your bottom dollar,' said Mose, * we're gwine to have a pretty tall time of it. I see any quantity o' iDainters (panther) sign round camp; 1 guess old Bull, a powerful dog he had, is about the smartest bit of stuff ever you see wrapped in dogskin for making a catamount smell thunder. Only three weeks agone the old dog skeered up a pair " a' painters; " the varmint treed, and the way ho howled at 'em, to let me know he wa . all thar, was a caution.' * Well,' joined in a stranger, ' I kalkilate me and old buck-horn know wliar to drop on to the biggest kind of a hw, AX EXCITIXG SCEXE. •221 wlien our cavalcade selected to drag- out the grizzly from his sleepiug quarters cantered briskly up by the side of the stream. Following- its windinj^s for a mile or two, we struck off to reach the timber, on entering which our g'uide led us up the hill-side to a larg-e pile of rocks which were supposed to be Ephraim's home ; and if the old hunter's theory was based upon fact, the bear should be at that very time sleeping* off his supper in some deep cleft or crevice. A large kind of drag, made of stout poles, had been sent ahead, drawn by a team of oxen — this conveyance was for Bruin. On nearing' the lair, the hunters dismounted, and very soon made ov' that the bear had recently passed, and was certainly concealed amidst the rocks. Bull and two other dog's were loost*!, and dashing furiously into the openings amid the stones, soon let us know that * Eidmiim ' was at home, sure enough. With lassoos coiled in readiness, several hor^'iueu sat on their trembling- mustangs, anxiously awaiting his appear- ance. An an<^ry grunt announced h'*^ coming-, and as he scrambled clear of the rocks, champing and growl- ing-, his hair erect, his cold hard eyes shining- like burnished metal, he looked the very incarnation of savage ferocity. As thus he faced his foes, debating within himself whether he should run or hg-ht, six of the riders spurred towards him, and the scene was changed to one of wild confusion ; horses snorted and plunged, the lassoos whistled round the heads of the I r o-)) AT llOMK IX THE WILDERNESS. I riders, and shouts of ' now roj)e liiiii, boys, give liiin thundor,' made the forest rino- again. As if by magic, several lassoos were round his neck ; the horsemen foriniag a circle, pinned him in the centre, whilst other lassoos noosed his hind and fore legs ; thus hampered, spite of every effort to escape. Bruin was secured to the drag, and in grand procession conveyed to the small corral, to be made a prisoner in the den already prepared for liiin, the bull having been previously secured in a similar contrivance on the opposite side of the enclosure. Heavy bets were laid, and drinks ad Uhitum, freely indulged in during the evening. The bear had his friends, who were very confident that his size and strength must tell ; whilst others Avere equally sure that the condition and horns of the bull would make the latter the conqueror. 1 was too anxious to sleep nuicli, pondering on the respective chances of the two coniljatunts ; there was a. strange fascination in the idea of witnessing a light between two powerful beasts, which in habits and niodeo of defence were so oj'i^osite. At the iirst blush of nmrning 1 turned out, and as others were quite as anxious as myself for the event, bivakfast was speedily despatched, {ind a general run made for the platform. All being ready, the trap-doors were slowly drawn ip, and out rushed the condjalants. 1 must say, on making their api>earance, my syni- I N THE COMBATANTS. 223 liiiii and J I k i patliies were with the bull, wliicli seemed to me to be iiiucli the nobler animal of the two, lithe and wiry, yet withal ^vonderfnlly massive about the shoulders, he gave one the idea of a splendid combination of strength and symmetry. For a brief period he stood glaring- at the pickets and people, his head erect, his eyes flashing, his nostrils distended, and his whole form fixed and rigid as if carved from marble. The bear, on the other hand, was the more conspicuous for i^onderous weight and gigantic strength, rendered more formidable by his terrible teeth and claws. A sharp cut from the end of a lassoo roused the bull from his reverie, and as though attributing the insult to his enemy, he lowered his horns, gave a deep grumbling bellow, scraped with his fore-feet, sending the dust and grass clean over his back, and then charged. The bear evinced no sign of wavering, but standing erect on his hind legs received 'le bull much in the same way as he might have done if he had been a trained and gigantic prize-fighter. Though somewhat unwieldy, Bruiu was quick and wary. No sooner was the bull within reach than both horns were clasped in his powerful grasp, and the bulFs head pressed to the ground by main strength, ho bit savagely at the nose of his antagonist, and raked strips of ilesh IVom the bnll's slu>uldei\s, with his hind claws, just as a cat tights when on its back. This position Avas maintained for some seconds, the bull r' AT HOME IN THE WILDEILXESS. strng-g-liiig furiously to free his head ; the bear strain- ing- every muscle to pin him to the ground; no ap- parent advantage was gained on either side, and loud cheers and bravoes were indulged iu by the backers of each. To my mind the result of the battle clearly depended on the merest accident. As if by mutual consent, both animals gradually ceased to struggle, and several minutes passed away whilst the combatants, locked in this deadly embrace, lay still, but panting as if at the last gasp. Suddenly the bull, by a desperate jerk, wrenched his head from the grasp of his adversary, and retreated a short dis- tance ; the bear also got up and stood on the defensive ready to receive him. All watched for the issue with breathless interest. Rendered furious by pain and passion, the bull again dashed at the bear with such impetuous force that, despite the blows Bruin dealt with his huge feet, he was rolled over and over in the dust; endeavouring, as best he could, to defend him- self against the thrusts of the bull. Either b}' chance or design, both horns were pushed underneath the bear, and, by a sudden jerk of the head, its side was laid open as if cut by a knife. It was now very evident tluit Ephraim must soon give up ; both were grievously wounded, yet maimed and gory they fcMight on with the desperate certjiinty of speedy death. The bear, prostrate upon the torn turf, vainly struck out witii his feet to avoid the horns of r I THE EXD OF THE BATTLE. 225 strain- no lip- id loud ^kei'S of clearly •adually d away mbraco, uddenly ad from ort dis- efensivo mo with iin and til sueli \Ln dealb r in tho lid liini- Y clianeo lie bear, was laid list soon iiiainied cert u inly orii turf, horns of the bull. Clearly determined to end the conflict, the bull drew back and, lowering his head, made a tremen- dous charge ; but, blinded by the blood streaming over his forehead, missed his aim and fell headlong to the ground. The bear in an instant rallied and scrambled upon him, and twice they rolled over locked in this terri- ble death struofo-le. A few minutes more and the bull's fate would have been very soon settled ; when, to the astonishment of all hands, the bear suddenly relaxed his efforts and rolled from off the body of his foe. Feebly dragging himself on the turf a few yards, a convulsive shudder shook his massive frame, there was a clutching motion of the claws, followed by a heavy sobbing sigh, aiici poor ' Ephraim ' was dead. The bull managed to get on his L : again ; and raising his mutilated head, made a weak effort to shake it in triumph, as loud shouts of praise proclaimed his victory. Could the poor bull have understood and appreciated these plaudits it Avould have been only a brief and fleeting pleasure. The blood streamed in countless rivulets from his wounds, ho tried to stand to the last, his legs were gradually stretched wider and wider apart, his breathing grew short and convulsive, his head sk>wly drooi)ed. Then dropping on his hind- quarters smd stretching himself on the grass, lie died without a struggk\ bo ended the bfittk ; there was no victor to crown with laurels ; the bloody encounter, with its somewhat unexpected termination, saddened even Q nn tl I I i I 226 AT HOME IX THE WILDERNESS. those wild and liardy men, intense as the excitement was during the struggle. Such a sight I should never care to look on again. As they died, so were their bodies left to the wolves and vultures. Tents were struck, the hotel demolished, or in the words of Mose — the boss landlord liad hauled down his shingle, and the valley that but a few hours before resembled a fair was left to the birds and beasts that in their turn would wage war over the dead bodies of the combatants. So ended my first experience of a ' rodeo.' I have been present at many since then, but in all, the j^rogramme of events was pretty nearly alike. I must ask the reader to refer — if so be he does not remember what I said about riding saddles — to Chap- ter rV. He will now be able to comprehend fully the advantages the Mexican saddle has over all others for breaking wild horses and lassooing. I do not hesitate to say that the strongest English riding saddle man's skill could produce, made as at present for hunting l)urposes, would not remain upon a wild mustang's back for five minutes ; no buckle, strap, or sewing would stand any more chance than darning-cotton. If you go on a visit to the prairies, by all means learn to use a lassoo, and practise saddling, bridling, tethering, and hobbling j^our own horse. If you know practically how to do these things yourself, you can always direct others, and at the same time see that they perform their work properly. Details, which may ^ IP ement . never ! their 3 were ^ose — Liid tlie biir was would ts. So re been rramme WINTER TRAVELLING. 227 appear trifling and insignificant in a civilised country, will be found of far greater consequence and value to tlie wanderer or emigrant, than either perhaps is at all aware of, when he finds himself cast upon his own resoiuces amidst the wilds of a far-away country. As travelling in summer is usually performed with pack animals, so in the winter dog-sleighs and snow- shoes are the means resorted to for every kind of transport. Loes not o Chap- ■uUy the hers for hesitate ie man's huntiug Lustang's r sewing Q'-cotton. Lins learn bridling, TOM know you can that they lich may ^ \ y 2 228 AT HOME IX THE WILDERNESS. ; f CHAPTER XV. "Winter and Summer Travelling with Dogs — Idlers — Free Fights — Packing Dogs — Tlie '^Trtavaille ' preferable — How to make and u^e a Travaille— The Sleigh and Tobogan — Bone Kings and Toggles — The "Way to Harness your Team — A long "Whip desirable — Pre- cautions against Ilheumatism — ' Sure J3ind Sure Find ' — Feeding Dogs — Sore Feet — Merry-Bells. In summer, dogs carry their loads on their backs packed on small j^ads ; in winter they are harnessed to light sleighs ; then the wanderer must protect his feet as already pointed out, tie on his snow-shoes, and tramp over the frozen rivers and snow-covered plains, either ahead of or beside his team of dogs. It is a pretty and a cheery sight in summer-time, when the hills are hidden beneath the leafy trees, and the valleys are decked with wild flowers, to watch a team of docs trottiug briskly along, each with its little load. Now and then one presumes to stop, in order to regale itself with a good sniff at some attractive perfume, or to lap, perchance, from out a tempting pool. Idlers such as these frequently get in the rear of their comrades ; the sharp crack of the whip quickly recalls them ; frightened, they scamper along to regain the train. If, however, the loads arr not securely fastened on, the galloping usually results in scattering them along the ■) L PACKING DOGS. 2'.?0 trail. If you are angry, perhaps the misbehaving- dog gets a taste of the thong before you repack it. A row is of constant recurrence when you are travelling with dogs ; what they quarrel about no one can tell, but all at once, reckless of loads, two begin to fight ; tlien the remainder, seeming to have each one an individual interest in the riot, join, until the whole team roll, snarl, and snap— a very heap of dogs. The whip must be used freely in order to restore peace and order. This sort of thing happens just as frequently when one is driving a team of dogs in a sleigh. If any two begin to fit>-ht the rest are certain to take part in it. O ■*- There are two systems of employing dogs for pur- poses of transjjort during the summer — the one I have just referred to, that of ' packing ' the loads upon the animals' backs ; the other plan is called ' the travaille.' To ' pack ' dogs is not by any means a good plan ; they cannot carry heavy weights, neither are they able to bear tight girthing. The ' pack pads ' are consequently continually slipping back over the dog's rump, and much time is wasted in readjusting the pad and the load tied to it. The pad is simply a kind of leather cushion stuffed with horse or deer hair ; no rule can be laid down as a guide to its right size, because that must entirely depend upon the build and character of the doo' which is to wear it. The load nmst be fastened on precisely in the same way as loads are fastened to aparejos. ff I- 230 AT HOME IX THE WILDERNESS. f ) ;■ TUli ' TUAVAIIXK.' For summer work with dogs I prefer the ' travaille,' \vliich is made in this way : two hght sticks about an inch and a quarter in circumfer- ence must be procured, the straighter the better ; measure from the dog's shoukler, and cut the sticks so that about four feet shall trail upon the ground behind the dog, or less than this if the dogs are small or weak ; the ends r»+ "^he shoulders must be fastened to a leather strap which should iit round the animal's neck like a collar. The portion of the sticks intended to trail upon the ground must be spread open by tying in cross-pieces. These pieces should vary in length, the shorter stick nearest the dog, the longer at the ends of the side i^oles ; when completed, of course the ' travaille ' is triangular in shape. The load is first fastened on with hide straps to the '' travaille ; ' the dog is then brought up, its head slipped through the collar, and, with a stick on either side like the shafts of a cart, it tugs along the load with far greater ease than it could have carried it. This ' travaille ' will be found very useful applied to horses when no pack-saddles are obtainable. I need hardly say that dogs should never be enqiloyed in the summer if horses are procurable. For winter transport dogs are absolutely essential ; they trot over the snow without breaking the crust (the f DOG SLEIGIIIXG, 231 frozen top of the snow), that a heavier animal with hoofs would g'O through at every step. First, of the sleig-h two patterns are usually employed ; one of these is made with two ' runners,' the other is simj^ly a flat piece of wood turned uj) at each end. With a good firm ' crust ' on the snow I prefer to use the sleigh with runners ; if, however, the snow is soft, then I like the flat sleigh, usually styled a *tobogan,' the better of the two. The size of a dog-sleigh must, of course, be entirel}^ regulated by the quantity of goods, or other things the wanderer has to i^ut on it, and the number of dogs he has to haul it ; the lighter it can be built, consistent with a due amount of strength, the better. To give detailed directions as to the way to make a sleigh would be only a waste of time ; a little ingenuity is what the wanderer needs, having which, an axe, a knife, and some strips of hide are the only things he will require (if sticks are to be got) to build a sleigh of any size and pattern. To harness dogs well, you will require practice. Let us suppose a sleigh to be packed, and awaiting the team. A piece of hide is fastened exactly midway betwixt the fc»repart of the runners ; to this loop the harness is attached. Six dogs make ui> a fair average team, and before I go farther with my directions for harnessing, let me advise all who use dogs for sleighing to saw off forty or more rings from marrow- bones (the shin-bones of either moose or wapiti deer answer best) during the summer ; (if you have no saw, M r '232 AT IIOMK IX THE WILDERNESS. I \ note] I a knife,) also, during- your leisure, cut out a good quantity of ' toggles,' from eitlier rilj or leg-bones ; by ' to'i-ii'les ' I mean round pieces of bone, made small enough to slip through the bone ring ; the length of each toggle should exceed the diameter of the ring ; a notch should be cut round the centre of the ' toggle,' to prevent the hide strap, when fastened to it, from slipping off ; carry these rings and ^ toggles ' with you alwtivs duriu"- the Aviiiter travelling ; you will hnd them invjluable for fastening the Inirness. 81eigh-gear put to- gether with this simple con- trivance can l)e tiikento pieces, lengthened < "r shortened, with- out the slightest trouble; knots are a[)t to sli[> when the hide gets wet, and when dry it is impossible to untie them. To liarness seven dogs abreast in Esquimaux fashion, (»ne strap, say eight feet in length, sliould extend from the sleigh-runners ; to the end of Ihis strap a second loop of liide is alHxed — (in cutting liis for Inirness adopt the plan already explained for making lassoos) — to which each dog" is se]>arately made fast ; a. single trace suiHces for each dog; the centre dog sliould have its trace rather longer than the others. It is always best to give dogs plenty of trace length, as it cualtles them to spread when pulling. A collar of hide, which should be bomidroinid with soft I)ark or cloth, litsroundeach dog's neck ; a. trace HON'K KI.NT, ANM) "lOi i(il,K. V DOG IIARXESS. 233 t^ > comes from either side of the collar, two other straps, known respectively as the back ami belly band, keep these lateral traces from slipping up or falling down. Immediately behind the dog the two traces are jomed and one strap only is used. When ready to start, all the traveller has to do is to fasten, in the first place, the lon<.- strap to the sleigh, next the six traces to the loop at the end of it, taking care that the longest trace is in the centre. Spread out all the collars, and as the dogs, one by one, are fli^^__^^pi led up, slip a collar over :^^^"'"^^^^^ — -^^ the head of each and -■ - " '^^^ fasten the belly strap (it does not take six iiiiinites to luirness seven dogs) ; the largest and strong- est tniimals nuist work in the centre, the smallest and weakest on tlie ilanks. Some travellers i)refer to use their dogs, side by side, in pnirs, but T do not think they work nearly so well iis they do abreast : the leading dogs get crafty and skulk their work, and it is not easy to see, when dogs are pulling in pairs, if each is doinu' its fair shave of the work. When abreast all the traces are visible ; a, slack out} at once detected and the skulker gets a touch of the whip for l)eing an idler. A very lon"' whii) is handy, because down hill or on sliplM'ry ice the irayeller may feel (lisp»>sed to rest his k'n-s by sitting on the sleigh. To reach the dogs a thong Ill i H ' \: 234 AT IIOMK IX THE WILDERNESS. of hide will bo required not less than twenty-five feet lonf^, a handle about two feet in length is all-sufficient ; a little i>ractiee will enable you to strike either of the dopes with unerrin'etlier. ' Sure bind sure lind ' ii[)[>lies most ])ertinently to sleigh doL>-s. Feeding your doijs inust in ly of either dried llesh or frozen fish, ^iy rule, nud 1 am sure from long practice it is a good oue, is only to feed my dogs at night when 1 camp ; DOG S MOCASSINS. 23,3 feet fient ; then if I have enough I let them eat as much as they l^lease, but it is fatal to good travelling to allow them any food in the morning — they work lazily, and often lie down. Do^•s travellinof on snow which has been frozen after a thaw frequently become very sore-footed ; the best plan in this dilemma is to put leather mocassins upon their feet ; these are easily kept on by tying them round the leg above the false or ' dew claw.' I always put on the dog's mocassins (merely bags made of leather or stout hide) if I anticipate rough travelling, on the principle that prevention is far better than a cure. A string of bells to go round each dog's neck is a great addition, although of no particular use; the jingling music of the bells is always a welcome sound, a merry peal that seems to cheer alike the faithful dogs and their solitary master. To protect the eyes against the blinding effects of the sun-rays, which are reflected from the snow when travelling over it, is a difficulty no plan with which [ am familiar will entirely surnutunt. I have twice suffered terribly from snow blindness, and to this hour my left eve has never recovered its diimiiiiiny: effects. Tlie Es(piimMUx use liirg(} goggles, and there are snow spectiK'les made, of various kinds and patterns, for arctic travellers ; but F [)refer, to all other expedient?, (and I have tried a. great many), wearing a green gauze veil, (which can be twisted round the hat when not f 'i 236 AT IIOMI'] IN THE WILDERNESS. required), and tlioronglily blackening the forehead and all round the eyes with charcoal or soot befca'e starting. The black seems to absorb, or in some way temper, the glare of light, that no person can endure very long without growing temporarily blind, or suffering from intense inHammation of the eyes. Goggles and spectacles of all descriptions rapidly become frosted over, from the condensing of the vapour exiiaied in respiring, and in this state, of course, are opaque, and recpiire cleaning before further progress can be attempted. Though to a casual observer a team of dogs appear to be huddled together without any regard to order ur reguhirity, nevertheless a skilled trav(,*ller pnys very mtirked attention to the disposjil of his dogs. The lead- inti' doo' is the one by wliich all the others are <>uigether again. Many untrained dogs are constantly getting entangled by dartino- under the traces of the others, in order to avoid the whip. AVilh a good leading dog there is not the slightest ditliculty in keej)- ing a ti'ack; if there is the faintest mark of a sleigh- runner or snow-shoe visible, the dog keeps his nose down to the snow, and goes as trne as a honnd upon scent; it' there is no track, and you are ridini** on the sleigh, some caution is reqnisiteto drive tin* dogs in the direction you intend travelling. When you desire to halt you call out, 'Ah! woa; ah! woa ; ' but if home- A NECESSARY rRECAUTION. 237 and ward bound, tlio dogs often exliibit a disaoTOoable spirit of rebellion, and obstinately refuse to stop. Then both your lieels must be employed as breaks ; forced into tlie snow, tliey soon bring the team to a stand- still; but remember one thino-, never get out of the sleig-h unless you keep one or both legs lirndy planted against the front bar or rail of the sleigh. Sleigh dogs arc the most crafty animals imaginable, and are ever on the watch for a chance to escape. If once they get clear with the sleigh, you will have to b(^ pretty light of heel if you catch them until they reach camp. When yom- leg or legs are before the front bar, if they should make a- sudden and unanticipated bolt, you have simply to fall upon the sleigh, and then you can soon bring the refractory team to their senses. Tf dogs are proi)erly trained they ought to lie down at the word of command, and when you halt lay the whip lighilyupon the head of each dog as you order it by name t(. lie (l<»wn. A very little training is sntli- cient to make tlie dogs miderstand wliat yon re(inire them to do. With good sleighing, when the ' crnst ' is hard and smooth, seven good dogs will easily draw ,.ight Imndred weight, at the rate (»f seven miles an honr, and this for live honrs at a stretch; Avitli a verv lig'ht load, good dogs will accomplish ten miles an honr. In Canada, the system of working dogs in sleighs, or tuboyans, is invariably to h.-u-ness them in pairs side n 1 II ; ,1 I • ( 238 AT HOME IX TIIK WILDERNESS. by side, although for very light loads single dogs are often employed. By this simple mode of conveyance, all the mails, parcels, and dispatches ai'e transported over the ice in Canada, during the winter, from Montreal to the head of Lake Superior. Some person who understands the worlv, nuvkes a contract with the Government for the transmission of the mails, during the winter, through- out all the Lake districts. On Lakes Huron and Superior the actual transport is sub-let to Indians and half- breeds, who travel on snow shoes and pack the mail bags upon light sleighs, which sleighs are usually tugged along by six dogs, worked in pairs side by side, providing relays, and, at the same time, being perfect li) asters in the art of travel, these mail carriers manage to transport the letters at the average rate of about sixty miles a day. 1 once passed a biiterly cold winter at the Bruce mines — co2)per mines situated on the iiorth shore oi Lake Huron, nearly opposite to San Joseph's Islnnd. Winter begins in this icy region about the begijining of ()ctol)er, and after the ice is fairly 'set' on the lakes, all communication will) the I'esi <»f'1h(' world is entirely cut otf (excepting dog sleighs and snow shoes are used by the traveller) until Mav in the vcar ibllowinii". All the carcases of sheoj), pigs, and bullocks, killed ans along over the snowy waste, the dogs trotting after jingling their bells. The silvery moon pours her streams of pale light U[)()n the snow, and the rays, instead of being absorbed or retlected, seem in a mysterious manner to accumulate*, until one is tempted to fancy hinisclf splashing' through a shallow lak(* of light. Every visible object a[»priirs iransfoi'med into something intangibl«» and unreal ; the tracks upon the snow grow into huge proi)ortions ; trees along the lake sIkh'O line resemble giants in diihlren's fairy tales; a hillock of drift takes on the fonn of a mountain ; now fl ^ -, I til 'I !( I 240 AT HOME IX TIIK WILDERXESS. one fancies rippling water is just ahead, which turns out on a nearer approach to be snow, ridg-ed by the breeze, reflecting light from off the polished facets of its myriad crystals ; now you feel positive a deep ravine is in the way, the gloomy depths of which wdll have to be traversed ; but the heart beats all the more lightly, when the imaginary cleft resolves itself into the heavy shadow of a passing cloud. Silence, like a guardian spirit, hovers Avith mufiied pinions over all, and the ear fails to catch the faintest sounds, save the steady rhythm of the panting dogs, the cheery tinkle of their tiny belfry, and the steady crunch, crunch, as the snow- shoes splinter the icy crust. Many and many a night have I travelled through scenes like these on the frozen surface of Lake Huron. Tt was always a kind of holiday with everybody when the ' mail ' was descried, a mere speck at first, coming over the snow towards the mine. The men left their work, the women and children their warm stoves, to group together uj)on the binding-place where the sleigh tracks led otf across the lake, there to await the advent of go<»d or evil ]iews from home, as it might be. To harness dogs to woik in pairs it is advisable to provide each dog with a trace of its own ; the collar, back and belly straps, th<' harness, in other words, is the same as that used for driving dogs abreast ; a single trace should extend from each dog to the loop or ' tug strap ' v I SNOW siioi:s. 241 li turns . by tlio 2ts of its ravine is Hve to bo lio-htly, le heavy guardian . the ear steady of their lie snow- throng-h Huron, very body at first, rhe men nr warm CO wliere to await le, as it i sable to 10 eolhir, 'ds, is tlie ij^'K' traee ig strap ' afKxed to the runner. It is a bad phm to fasten the traces of the two leadino- dog-s to the harness of the next pair, and so on to the hinderniost. Doj^'s pullin*^- directly from the sleiyh can draw a g-reater weight than if attached to one another ; they also work more g-ood- temperedly, and are less disposed to quarrel. To tramp wx'll on snow shoes is by no means a very easy art to accpiire ; it is one thing- to tell a novice the proper way to walk with snow shoes on his feet, and another to enable him to do it when the rig-lit way is learned. The snow-shoe {vuJii cut)"^ I usually employ is about three feet ten inches in leng-th, and eleven inches in width, but the size must be g-overned in a g-reat degree by the hardness or softness of the snow; the softer the snow, of course the larger must be the surface of the snow-shoe to prevent sinking. The outer frame is made of bent hardwood ; the centre p-art that rests on the snow, and upon which the foot is placed, is a lattice work made of thongs or strips of raw hide. A skilled perfoi-nier never stoops to strap on his snow shoes with his hands, but simply twists his feet into the loops of the shoes, and trudges away. An inspec- tion of the illustration will show a small hole nearer to the too than the heel of the snow-shoe ; in this liole the toes of the traveller play a very important part in th(i performance of snow-shoe walking. When the foot is advanced the snow-shoe is carried on resting upon the » l'iij.a'il'2. 11 242 AT HOME IX Till'] AVILDEKXESS. trout of the foot just where the toes tire articuhited, when the advanced foot is planted on the (»Tonnd in order to briny up the other ; the siioe is slipped from off the toes, and the foot stands firmly upon the lattice work. In order thus to catch up and drop the shoes quickly, <>-reai practice is needed. The shoe is never carried entirely clear of the gTound ; the heel trails, and leaves a mark like a line upon the snow. One can tell at a g-lance the snow-shoe track of a novice from that of a skilled performer ; the prints upon the snoAV made by the former are irreg'idar, and not equidistant; the heel trace is wavy, sometimes cut deeply into the snow, at others barely touchin;.^- it, wdiilst every here and there a jumble of tracks clearly evidence a scramble, perhaps a fall. A favourite pattern of snow-shoe with the Indians etist oi* the Rocky Mountains is what is termed the 'bear's fcot ]nLttern, a snr.iU snow-shoe -' nearly circular in form, but made precisely on the same plan as the lony-er ones ; they answer very well, if the crust is hard, for short journeys, jind they are quickly and easily made. A snow-shoe walker can cover a great many miles of <,n*ound in a day when he (nice acquires the habit or art, wJiicliever it be, of swin<4-iny one foot well clear of the other, and taking long striding steps. Beware of dogs following you if walking on snow shoes ; if they step on the sxow-siKu;. ■^ rdor to le toes, L-k. Ill r, gTcut entirely a iiiiirl-; o-laucc skilled _' former :raee is b others L jiniible fall. A s east oi' is wliat 's fcot OAV-slioe nil, but lie same es ; tliey ouriieys, low-slioe iiul ill a 'liieliever Llier, in 1(1 followinij;' ) on the FROST BITES. 245 lie el of your shoe the chances are you go head first upon the snow ; and let me tell you it is by no means an easy feat to regain your perpendicular when you have large snow shoes fastened to your feet. I have previously given tlie requisite instructions for protecting the feet against frost-bite, which, by the way, is best cured by briskly rubbing the frosted part with snow. Four times in my experience of cold regions I have seen men lose both their feet from the effects of frost, and 1 saw a man lose his nose, and several times J have known fingers and thumbs, from the same cause, require amputating, to save the life of the individual. 244 AT IIOMK IX THE AVILDHRXESS. CHAPTER XVI. Tlie Wild IIt»n('y-bot' — lioo Iluntinjjr — How to line n Px'o — ITonoy IIuntineef — Catching and Curing White-tish and Sahnoii. The streiini and the lake will yield the traveller who knows his work and is at home in the wilderness an inexhaustible snjiply of fish on the plains and prairies ; he can procure beef whilst in the woods, and aniono-st the open timber, venison, and lesser g-niue, feathered {ind furred, are at all times obtainable ; but there yet remains one more luxury to mention. Althouo-h a knowledge of how to liud this so-called luxury may often save a wanderer from starving", still as a general rule Ji hunter would not consider wild honey a neces- sary article of diet, but woiUd look upon it simply as a pleasant addition to his daily meal. I am quite safe in saying that the art of bee-hunting* is only to be acquired by long years of practice. To ' line a. bee ' home to its honey tree or ' bee-gum ' needs an eye traijied specially to the work and at the same I I 1 . AMERICAN WILD BEK. 245 ITonoy tids — A us, and s Avhic'h Meat — Mutton Salmon. }r who ess an dairies ; 111011 <4'st itliered b tliorc tlioii<:^-li ry niiiy ^eneriil nocc's- iiiply us miitiiio" ro ' lino 3cds an LC same time a tliorongli aecjuaintance witli the insect's habits. Wliether or not the wikl-bee of America is the same specifically as our ordinary honey-bee [Apis meUifwa) is a question entomologists are by no means decided about. The busy insect has in all ages been a riddle to the learned, a source of wonder to the scientific, and a faithful servant to man. To the honey-hunter it matters little to what species the bee he ' lines ' belongs, or wliether imported from other countries or a native of the plains on which h(^ searches for it. So that it makes honey and wax and stores thein in the hollows of the trees, the bee-liner cares not to trouble his head about any other details in the insect's history. Wherever wood, water, and wide-spreading* plains covered with grass and wild flowers are to be met with ill the southern parts of America, there wild bees are pretty sure to be found. They take possession of hollow trees, and if the hollow space is of sufficient si/e to contain it, often a good honey tree will yield as much as eight gallons of honey. The summers are very long, and the winters, the little there is of them, are not by any means cold, so that the bees can work very nearly all the year round. The only equipment needed for bee- hunting is an axe, a small quantity of powdered suli»liur, a bucket, a couple of tin saucers, and a small bottle filled with honey, or sugar will do. Then, 1 have already sai hbre to the le^^ of ea(di, and K>! llieni lly. Now comes the i^'rand diilimlty, which is to ke('[) an (\ye on Ihesi' bees, and lim' them homo. II' you arc nol sure of Ihe free into wliich the bee wcid, Iry a second capture some distance to the ri^lit or left of the spot on which the first bees were trapped ; then if fhe second lot Hies to the same point as did the others, you art; pretty sale in assuming' that the lMM»-tr((» is !iccui"at«dy marked or *■ aiiii'lecb'' A bee loaded ov scared alwavs takes a straight I'mr for home; but if any doubt remained as to the exact tree, it would be at once dispelled by the bees themselves, for not iikian" theii' sulphur-dusted IViends tle-y swarm out and make such a bu/zinL:' that ciiornxcj down a iioxhy TRi:r,. 'J 47 V lot lis VCH Oil iimiiioo wcr we <1 some lunicc WJlicll CO 1)0 it uirkiii;;' or, ill 1(1 <>lV('S lo uoo llio 'ii[)livos kind ol' . Now oyr oil siiro (»i' CJipiiiro 1 vvliicli Olid lof •oil ;iro 'iiraioly ;ii\v;i ys iiiiiinod 11.. 1 l.y -diislcd ILI' 11 lilt thoir wlioroabouts is at oiico rcvealod. Hiiviiii;* iiiado tlio ro(juirod discovory, provido ploiity of dry sticks and moss, ready to lipo si i)reke(>p(U\s in small towns williiii reach of ll>i> prairies, whether by canoe or p.sek animal. To obtain the bees-wax, the lioiu'ycond* should be broken up small, and bollecl in a. small (|uantily of water, ibr some time; then if ^u|uee/(>d tiL;li(ly in a. coarse clol li, llie wax runs tliroUL;'li and can be collected and eoitled in moulds of any desired shape. A tin pannikin is as •^•uod as any thiuL;" I know of for bees-wax to liar.leu in. 'I'lie isolated •^•i'ouj)s oi' trees scattcj'ed t»verlhe prairies fl li i>4« AT IIOMH l\ TIIK WILDKRXEPS5. jirc ii iiiiiikcMl ])('cn1i;irliy (»rT('\';ni s(m>ii<*vv. Tlioso palclios liii\(' l)<'('ii jiplly (mIKmI " islands,' and what is cMpially Avorlliy <•!' remark is, tlial oach island consists to Ji !L;"i"(MLt cxlcni of a siiiL;l(' kind of tree; (aie island Avill bo com- P<»s(m1 cxclnsivcly of oaks, anctilicr (»l 'pcccim irt'cs, and a (liii'd of* plnnis, whilst the vine ('(tninion ('verywli'Tc trails its Icndrillcd liramda's alike t' mine was once nearly starved on the Texan ju'airies. 'Why, thundei" and bars,' said the old man, 'hadn't lie <''ot narry evesV 'Yes,' I said, ' he conld see M'Vy AVell.' 'Than, why on airlh coiddiri the snck-ei- keep 'em skiiuied ; aint thar "' islands," and ainl tli;ir " bee o-nins," and aini thar bees lly-iii abniil in the ar and liLrhtin on the [>ra-a-a flowers? May he he'd a S(>eii 'em if Ihe eritturs had been as bin* as a '■ wild j^-obbler " oi- a bine chickin. Thini I'ellei's ^^-reen from the self ilmints aint «^'ot no more cnleness nor a bMll-froM-.' '|'he old trapper e'ave a l»i;iinod round most of IIk^ prairies of ilie Soutliorn ^States, as wi'U as on l»otli sides of ihe Roclvy INIoimtains. Of tlicse tlu? Service berry [AhicJuiirhirr Ca^' is filled, then S(»w it u[) firmly. i\Iany prel'ei to eat it as it is eut off in thin slices, others 1k»;I it with floiU". \ do M»ftt like it any way, and strips of m.-al ^imply sun-diM«' I (»r di'ied <»ver a slow fire can easily be carried lon^' distances without underi^'oiiiLj' deconi[tosit Ion. l*]dil>le ro(»ts too are in i^a'cat vai'iety, and serve as a vahiidtle addition t(» an rndKin's dietary, bnt unless dir«'cied by i't to oilier countries. In Iho countries Lordm*- in«4- the River Piute there arc said to be 22,idy for their hides, horns, and ileeees. 'i'lie fnllowin;^- three processes are found to answer tin* best : — ]\rorrocess of salting- animals by hydrostatic; pressure* is as follows. The proee.:s is ii very rapid one*. The animal is (ii'st (tf all stunned by ii blow on tin' head, then laid on ;i frame and 1 lie breast cut open; the ri;;hl ventricle of the heart punctured, and as much blood ex- tracled as ]>ossible. This o|)iTatire,-;sui-e, ]>acked into casks, lly tliis ])roeess not i»nlv is (lie llc^h preserved but the skins are also saltetl. (n'.'.it car*' is 'H'odcd in the pi'ej»arai ion (»f the brine, f<.r 2r,2 AT TIOMK IX Tin: WILDKKXKSS. ir imy midissolvod suit were left in it tlio piirtieli^s would sl(>[> tlio siuiillcr vessels, and conseqiicntlj somo portion of the Hesli would not receive its proper proportion oi* brine. In order to obviate this, it is sidijeeted to three difl'erent slniinin^^-s. ISIetlutd of inanuriK'turin<«- the Extraetnni LiebeLi- Carnis. This is carrii'd on iit a larj^-e saladero, most charniin^'ly and conveniently situated about a mile or so IVoui a town, on the banks of the Uruguay. '^ The es- tablishment, which is very lar;j;e, is conducted by an |]n;;lish comi)any, and that l)rancli of it whi(di includes the extra(.'tum is superintended by a (lerman i^vntlenian, Jlerr Iv'eller, who mosi kindly showed us over thc^ pre- mises, and eNphiliii'd the process. In this case the animals arc shiui;'htered the day l)efore, and the meat Itein^* cut off, is huiiL;' up for twenty-Coiu- hours. Tbe following' iii(»rninj4' it is put into dilferent cylinders, where it is pi-oj^-ressivelv maslicd ton Jtulp; it is then thrown inl(» a larj^'e cauldron, whei'e it is boiled for a specified time with a ceitain quantity of water, and this |»art of the ]>r()C<'ss (»xtracts all tlx' nutritious ([uaiities iVom tlie jlcsli. Tile li(|nid is next let olf into an a>npl<* vat, where boilino* is still continued nntil all the ^^'reaso rises to the top, wlien it is poured off throu^-li a pi]>e into tlie receptacles placeil to receive it, and the bi'»»tli (if I nia\' so term it i is di'ained IVoni the b.tltom. It is then jtut into lonj^', shallow vats, heated by steam-j»i[ies ]>assin^- round them, and IVom one extremity of these vats KXTUACTL'M L'AUMS. iJJ would xivtioii ion of lliroo , iiiosi (' or so Mio (>S- bj ;iii K'llull'S li'Mum, i(' prc- se ilic ;. Tlic iiulcrs, is llicn 1 lor Ji 11(1 tills iialii it's I i!in])l<' ;^T('iis«» :i pijM' • l.rolli . It is i)-|»i|i('s 'sc v;its II stroiiL*' l>l;ist of cold air is [x'rpi'tuully kt^pt ])lowiiiLf over the surface, to assist the evaporation. Tlie li(iuor, of Ji deep brown, is next very carefnlly strained, and passed into another shallow vat at boiling heat, wh«'re it is ke[)t stirred by a man who, toL;-ether with this vat, is enel(»sed in ii hir^'e cap^e of close wire nettin;4', which eifectually excludes all Hies or other extraneous snb- stances. The stirrin^^ is, [ [)resuine, lcei)t u[) to [>ri'V('n(. the li(juid from burning' during- this last sta^^-e. It Is now finished, and ready to be transferred io the tin can- isters in which it is exj^trted. It takes -1:5 lbs. of beef to make lib. of the extractum. I for<4 of arc of course turned to the same account as those of I'l.' n'st killed m, the sahnh'ros. The busini'ss cai-ried on at this saladcio is very (>xtensive, ank tempting- to an Mn^^lishman." ^' Ki«^*ht small til IS Tri^) loSouili Aiiiriicii ( l,;i,ii(l aiid Walt r), l»y Ili^fdiil P.iiii', Ivxj, 2.-A AT IIU.MI': IX Tin: WILDKllNESS. Avill contain tlic eoncentvatod nialtor of iin I'ntire ox at ;i cost of altout -V. This essence will nuike over l,(Ml() basins of sonp, stronL,^ and nutritious in quality. A toiispoonful in Ji bivakfiist cup full of water forms no despicable breakfast. Saladeros are used for various purposes of slauyhler, but the manner in which ihey kill an ox for domestic use in South Anu'rica is very remarkable when com- pared with ours. " The animal is sinfrled out from the herd and lassooed rt)und the neck, and has some- times a second lassoo round one le^' ; he is thus brought up to a convenient distance from the house, when a peon, armed with one (»f their lon<^' knives, comes behind, and hamstrini^s him, when, of course, the poor animal I'alls to the •^•round. In this helpless coiulition the peon thrusts the knife into his chest, just as a lli;;hlander stabs a stay-; and he very soon blet'ds to death. " The skin is quickly detached, but not removed from beneath tlie carcase, but serves to keep the ]neat from coming" in contact with the soil. In a, very short time the llesh is cut off, the joints separated, and all that is (o be used carried away ; the hide is then stretched out to dry, and its value is about three Bolivian dollars, or I>s. ()(/. Enn-lisli money; the live beast may be valued at 1/. Os. \Vhat would he not be worth if in these days ol' rinderpest he were but within a conveuieut distance uf our island '? " A new ])r()cess has been recently patented by l\lessrs. JKIlKIXCi IJKKl'. t>J3 Slopor tiiul raiis, which, us tiir as T have bt'on iiblo to leiini, is soiiK'what as follows. FiL'sh luoat is cut into joints or junks, and tlio bone removed; in this condition it is placed in tin canisteivj, haviny a hole in the to}) and bottom ; I'nmi the lower hole water is forced in until the canister is completely fdled, thus driving- out all the air through the upper hole. This water is in its turn forced out, and as it escapes it is r<'placed by some <>-as, the nature of whicli tho patentees will not reveal. 1 have eaten meat that was ju-epared by this process in 8(»uth America, and brought from thence to En;^land, and can truthfully say it was as pure and free from taint oraiiy unpleasant ilavour, as beef purchased fresh from the shambles in Newyate Market. Jerkin<4' beef is simply cuttinjj;" it into thin strips and dryiiiL;' in the sun; small fii-.'s shoull be kept sinoulder- iiiL;- under the di*yiiione should be removed, when the strips are pre[)ared foi'dryin-:;' ; this sun-dried nu'at is called ' (diar- ((ui' in South America, 'jerked meat' in North Aini-rica. If pr(»i)erly cured it will keep j^'ood for a lon-^- time, and in this condition is easy of transport. It can be cooked or eaten as it is, or in accordance with the tastes of the consumers. Fish of various d«'scri[)tious cured without salt, form very important items in the wintci- dietary of the dwellers in the wilderness. I need only brieJly refer to n 2^6 AT IIO.Mi: 1\ TUH WII.DKUXIvSS. two (tt'tlie most iinportiiiit lisli iisiuilly so cured. Were T to spiH'iiy etic'li one so used, I should requir*' ii ' 1)1,l;- book ' in earnest. The directions for ciitchiny iiud euriu<4' one or two species will iipply with e(|ual force to all others. East of the Kockj ^Mountains, -white tish, either di'v, cured, or frozen, for the purpose of [>reserviii|4' them, arc hn'i^ely consiuned h(jth l)y tlie Fudians and fur-traih'rs. Th«! lish so eaten is named scieutilically, Ciiii.'< iillnis; to the traders it is knowMi as the Attihawme;^- or lieindeer of the sea. In summer these lish are taken in traps and nets of all s(.>rts ; durinj^- winter in <^'ill-nels set \uiderneath the ice. A ^-ill-net nuiy he made any length, from ten fathoms to sixty ; lioles are du^- tliron^h the ice at short distances from eacli otlier; the net suspenth.'d from tliest; holes is ke[»t tl;4'htly stretched hy heavy sinkers; the lish swim a<4-ainst it and ;.';et entani^led hy the head andi^-ills in the meshes. The fish frec/e immediately on their removal from the net, and are tlius stored away for gencrai use as lon. ('SOll sauiox-sim:ari\(i. 257 )i (l)evoii(l the north «mh1 of Vancoiivor Island, on tlio niaiiilanst proniin«'iit wonders (tf this rey-ion. Salmon iiri-ive in ^-rciit numl»t'i"s :ii (he month of the ('oliiml)ia iihoiit the 1 si of jNIjiv, and ii litilc lati'i" at the Frascr and streams further north. < )n the Xaniino river the iialians have a most in;n'«'- nioiis eontrivanee for tiikini^' sulmoii. They construct ii weii' across th*' stream, iind, inslend of ]»l;icino' hnskel traps, they pave the river bottom with white, or linlit- <'oloiired stones; this pavement is iilways miide on the lower side of the Aveir, and leads to mii ^ y. 1.0 I.I 128 |Z5 ■^ ^ 12.2 I' i Hf li£ 12.0 11-25 i 1.4 i; 1.6 Photographic Sciences Corporation 33 WIST MAIN STMIT WIMTM.N.V. M5M (716)I73-4S03 i 258 AT HOME IX THE WILDERNESS. shuttlecock ; this cone he places on the end of the long spear, and depresses it under water until down the full length of the spear ; then a skilful jerk detaches this feathered cone, and it wriggles up through the water like a struggling fish. The savage with the short spear intently watches the deceiver — a salmon rushes at it, when, like magic, he transfixes it with the spear. In June and July the great ' run ' begins, and the numbers of salmon that ascend the various streams, is beyond belief to any one who has never seen them. In some of the tributaries to the Eraser river, the Chilukweyuk is an instance — a perfect mountain tor- rent — the salmon throng up in such myriads, that it is next to impossible to throw in a stone without hitting a fish. The spring salmon keep to the larger streams, and seldom enter the tributaries until they get a long way up from the sea ; these spring fish reach the salmon falls at Colville, in June, distant about 1,000 miles from the sea. This salmon is the Salmo Quinnat of Sir J. Rich, F.B.A. ; in Chinook, ^tylie, or chief salmon;' Oolville Indian, ' Se-met-loek ; ' Yakima Indian, ' kwin- na-to;' Nisqually Indian, ' satsup.' It is beyond doubt the finest salmon obtained in the rivers and in- lets of British Columbia. The colour of the fiesh is the most delicate pink, the general api)eariince bright silvery and metallic, the dorsjil region having a tinge of greenish-blue. Commercially, it is, too, by iir the most valuable salmon, and very large quantities are salted ■SI SALMOX-FISHING OX STAGES. ?59 •ear it, le and barrelled by the Hudson's Bay Company at Fort Langley upon the Fraser. During the season the Indians on the Columbia, Fraser, and, indeed, on all the principal streams, take immense quantities of these salmon, and prefer them to any other species for dry- ing and winter use. At the cascades on the Columbia, and on the Fraser river, the method of taking salmon is with scoop-nets. The salmon keep close to the shore, to avoid the more rapid current, and to take advantage of the eddies to rest in during their upward run. The Indian builds, or rather hangs, a kind of stage over the water, and lies upon it, armed with a net like a shrimping net, about four feet diameter, fastened to the end of a long pole. He j^asses this net down the current, and allows it to be swept on as far as his arms can reach, then he hauls it out and plunges it in again \\\) stream as far as possible. In this way I have seen a savage take thirty-five to forty salmon an hour. They usually fish immediately after sunrise, or late in the evening. At the north of the Fraser river a)id on Puget Sound, the Indians employ long poles, with shari) gaff- hooks at the end of them, then, paddling about in canoes, thus hook in large numbers of salmon. Higher up the streams, at the salmon falls or leaps, the Indians use huLre wicker baskets, flat on one side and bellied out on the other ; these they hang in places where they well know the salmon leap ; usually against the face of w rock, the fiat side of the basket being towards the rock. 8 2 r ;2G0 AT IIOMi: IX TIIK WILDEKXESS. Tlies(i baskets arc liuiig before the river begins to flood from the iiieltin<»' snow, for the Cohimbia rises at least thirty-live feet above its autumn and winter level. As soon as the water has risen sufficiently for the fish to leap the falls, at it they go, and in leaping" often fall back into the baskets. I have seen from 250 to '500 salmon taken from out one basket two or three times a day. I have likewise seen over a hundred salmon in the air at one time, and often six or oight tumble into a, basket together. Two Indians go naked into this huge pannier, each carrying in his hand a heavy wooden club, and, utterly reckless of the water dashing over them, and scrambling ab(mt amongst the struggling fish, they seize one after another by the gills, give each salmon a craclv on the head with the club, then fling it out upon the rocks, whereon the sc[uaws are waiting ; the women pounce upon the stunned fish, lug them away, cut off their heads, split them open, take out the backbones, and then hang them upon long poles to dry, keeping a small fire always smouldering underneath the poles to partially snuoke the drying fish. Sjilmon cured in this way I have known to keep two years perfectly sound. It is curious the Columbia, salmon never take a bait after they leave the fialt Avater. I have tried every expe- dient I could think of to tempt them, but always with- out success ; and from careful inciuiries made of the difl'erent tribes of Indians on both sides of the cascades, and from the officers of the Hudson's Bay Company at the various trading posts, E am quite sure salmon are ^p 30 d tl8t As (i.sli i TROLLlXli FOR SAl.MOX. 2tjl never taken with bait after they leave the sea. But in the sea, before entering- the rivers, I have seen this species of sahnon {Sahuo Qnlnnat) cano-htbj the Indians with the o-reatest ease by trolling" for them. The line is made of seaweed, smoked and then knotted together ; a large pebble about 4 oz. in weight, slung- about six feet from the hook, acts as a sinker. The savages at one time used a wooden hook with a bone barb, but now they get supplied with steel fish-hooks by the Hudson's Bay Company. The bait employed is a small fish, usually a herring or anchovy. The line is made fast to the canoe paddle, just above the hand-grip, and the act of paddling gives to the bait the necessary jerking motion. The time chosen for trolling is about two hours after the sun rises, or two hours before it sets. Water is an essential neither man nor beast can do without, and although it is generully procurable in great abundance in the Avilderness, to which wanderers in search of a home mostly bend their steps, never- theless there are localities in every country, where want of water may sadly inconvenience the traveller, hence a brief description of a few of the systems resorted to by the inhabitants of different countries, for the ob- tainment and conveyance of water, may be acceptable, and let us hope useful. Explorers inform us, in some parts of South Africa the Natives are frequently compelled to drink the fluid con- tained in the paunches of animals, to nlliiy their thirst. Mr. Darwin tells us of a people, who, catching turtles, 2G2 AT HOME IX THE WILDERNESS. draiik the water that was found in the pericardia, or heart sacks, ' and which was quite pure and sweet.' The Arabs in crossing the deserts use a large leathern flask, ' Zemsemmere,' which they convey, hung on the shady side of a camel. The Bushmen in South Africa employ ostrich egg- shells, which they fill with water, and bury at con- venient distances for the return route. For packing water on mule or horse-back, strong kegs are very convenient, holding about fifty pounds each. Stagnant water should always be filtered and boiled before it is drank, otherwise fever and dysentery are very likely to be produced. A very good temporary or make- shift filter may be constructed by pouring the muddy water through a tuft of grass, bound together tightly. The tracks of animals and the course of birds are good signs to note when the wanderer is in search of water. I believe I once saved my own, and several men's lives, by following the tracks of Prongbuck to their drinking places. We had been searching in vain for water on a sandy desert, until we were all nearly famished with thirst, and had almost abandoned every hope of finding a stream to camp by, w^hen I struck the antelope tracks, which led directly to a small brook completely hidden in a rocky ravine. Animals when going to drink almost invariably proceed in single file, hence trails leading to water are usually well beaten and very narrow. TO BUILD A LOG-HOUSE. 263 or rn he CHAPTER XVII. A Puzzle for a Carpenter — To Build a Log'-house without Iron Split-Shingles— Put on the lioof — Make Door and Fireplace — To make a Door, I'ireplace, and Chimney — liOg Quarters of the Boundary Commission — Eftects of Cold — A Caution to be reraem- hored — To procure a I^ight from two pieces of Wood — Getting a Li":ht with a Gun — I low to carry Lucifers. Direct a carpenter to build a house; he is only to have as tools an axe, an auger, and a knife ; he is not to use a nail, hinge, screw, or iron of any kind, and yet the door is to open and shut, latch, and accomplish all that an ordinary door is expected to do ; he is to let in light, and at the same time keep out wet, without the aid of glass ; he must roof the house, and make a fireplace and chimney entirely with wood, so as not to catch fire or allow the smoke to come into the room ; the onl}' building materials at his disporsal are to be trees grow- ing near the site of the intended house. Do you not think he would pronounce it an impossible task ? Never- theless, lumberers, settlers, and practised wanderers have to manage it. Like most other things, it is easy of accomplishment when once you know how to go to work. I presume the i^revious directions as to how an axe is to be used have been put into practice. First stake out the square or other shape you intend making 2G4 AT HOME IX THE WILDERNESS. YOiir house, having" previously satisfied yom-self that the trees round about are suited to your purpose and that a constant supply of water is near by, a precaution the ancient Romans never lost sig-ht of. Then calculate, Ijy taking" the average circumference of the trees, how many you will require to fell so as to make a wall seven feet high when the trunks are laid upon one another. Ply your axe, chop down the required number of trees, trim them and lop off the tops, leaving" the trunks the length you Avant thein ; the next process is that of rolJir.g these logs to the site of the shanty, which can be accomplished easily if a long handspike is employed. This done, lay four of the largest logs into a square, (we will suppose this to be the shape of the house), then by using" long" sticks placed slantwise, as ' skeds ' are adjusted to wagons, get four other logs upon the foundation logs. It Avill be necessary, in order to roll up the logs, as the height of the wall increases to have them of a less circumference, in order to diminish the weight; this, however, must depend upon the number and strength of the builders, or builder, if only one is at work ; it is better to cut notches in the lower logs for those above them to drop into ; it nnikes the building firm, and leaves less space open betwixt the logs. Now stand upon the topmost log", and chop out I'KAMi: OK A i.<»(;-iroisK. SHINGLE -SrLITTIXd. t>G5 a piece from it 2 ft. G in. long-, and so on, log after log', until the bottom one is reached ; this one mnst be only cut half-through, and the half split out ; this done, roll up one more log, and your doorway is finished ; if you did not axe out the entrance at this stage of the building, you could not do it at all. In one end of the house chop out another opening pre- cisely in the same way, only three feet wide ; this is for the fireplace. Having got the w^alls up, the hard and laborious part is over. Roofing is the second stage in the proceeding ; rafters must be trenailed together and arranged precisely as they are in a stone house, which is to be either tiled or slated, but in lieu of tiles or slates shingles are used in wild countries. Shingles vary in size, but fourteen inclves by eight inches will be found to answer well. To make them, a cedar tree nuist be felled and axed into lengths of fourteen »^^ inches ; to get a shingle eight inches wide the tree ought to measure forty-eight inches in circumference. Split your lengths into four pieces of equal size, remove the bark, and then, by employing the axe as Ji wedge and driving it with a log of wood, it becomes an easy job to split off til in slabs from the faces of the four pieces of cedar. These slabs are called shingles, and if projierly put on form a roof quite as secure as if it was made of SI']. IT !,(»(; I'OIt MAKING SHIMiLHS. I! 2r»6 AT IIOMK IN THE WILDERXESS, slates (parenthetically it will be as well to say that shingles are usually split with a tool made on purpose, called a ' frau,' which in shaj)e nearly resembles the knife used for cutting hay into bundles ; commercially, and where there is a large demand for shingles, they are made by machinery and sold by the thousand). To shingle a house when you have no nails, begin at the bottom of the rafters, and let half the shingle project over, in order to carry the rain-water clear of the wall, exactly in the same way as an ordinary house is tiled. Fasten this row by trenailing a light piece of wood at each end, so that it rests firmly on the row of shingles. Following up this plan, let row follow row until the ridge of the rafters is attained, finish the opposite side and ends in the same way, and your house, if you are anything of a carpenter, has a waterproof roof. The door can be easily constructed of rough plank, split from off a cedar log in the same manner as the shingles were, only the log must be as long as the plank you require. These planks are then to be trenailed together by means of cross-pieces ; one hole must be bored in the lialf-split lowermost log, and another in the uppermost log, for two pegs to work easily in, which i)egs are to be fastened to the top and bottom of the door. This plan make sac apital substitute for an iron liin ge . Any ordinary amount of ingenuity will be equal to designing a latch. A fireplace I have always found to answer remarkably well is made in this way. Measure about five feet from MAKIXG A FIREPLACE. 267 the logs forming the end in which you have axed out the place for your fire ; cut as many light poles as you think you may require, each pole to be considerably taller than the ridge of the house when one end is placed on the line five feet from the logs and the other slanted against the log-house. Commence by placing one of these poles close to the lower log of the house on one side of the opening. Of course, the first pole will be vertical, and as the distance from the house increases slant the poles as you place them towards the point or angle of the gable. Continue this arrangement along the measured line, and finish at the log on the opposite side to that at which you commenced. You have now enclosed your fireplace, and by fastening the upper ends of the jjoles first firmly together, and then to the apex of the gable, you will find a capital chimney has been constructed. About six inches from the bottom ot this semicircle of poles, on the inside drive in several pickets, the height of which, clear of the ground, should be quite four feet. Next wreath in betwixt these up- rights a 'wickey' or basketwork of light twigs and sticks, and it should be woven close and firm. This operation completed, you will have to turn mudlark for a short time, and mix well together a good thick muck, composed of clay, sand, small shingle, and water. It must be so thick as not to run through the basketwork, and yet thin enough to settle and pack well together ; next fill in the space between the basketwork and the 2()8 AT 1I0MI-] ]X TIIH WII.DHRNHSS. poles with this conipo, and work it well doAVii with ii tciiii2>iiif^ stick, so that no cracks or hollow spaces are left ; then let it settle until you have completed the otlier parts of your house, which may be floored with roug-h plank if you are of a luxurious turn, or left only with the bare earth. A <^ood trench should be made' round the house, if you have the tools to do it with ; a small bench will be found convenient as a table, and for seats chop logs the length best suited to your taste. When I have no glass I admit light by raising one or two shingles in the roof, working them up and down by means of a bit of hide pegged on, like the hinge boys usually employ for rabbit hutches. If it i-ains, all that is needed is to nearly close the shingles ; the slant is then suHicient to run oft' the wet. I do not think I need LiO into iniv further detail, because there are numberless minor matters which can, and indeed must be left to the ingenuity of the wanderer. One who has a turn for carpentering will, as a matter of course, construct a better house than another not so o-ifted. The work of building completed, light ycur fire, by first placing two logs at a short distance from each other, and a third log at the back; build in your wood between them, and light it ; as you keep your fire burning day after day, the compo gradually drys and hardens, but the wet for some time will keep the basketwork from catching fire ; by and by, how^ever, it begins to burn, and when consumed leaves you a regular concrete back QUARTERS Or TIIK COMMISSION. 260 til ti are itlier >UQ-ll to yonr fireplace, wliieli, if well made and properly packed, becomes as hard and durable as fire-brick. This kind f)f fireplace answers admirably, and if tlie poles are properly slantod, and carried sntficiently liii^li above the honse, the s)ii;>ke is carried up by a draug-ht that keeps the fire burning" briskly, and g-ets rid of the nuisance wood smoke always causes when it escapes into an enclosed space. I need hardly say, that wdiere tools and proper labour are to be obtained, log' houses can be built cpiite equal to those made of stone or bricks, but as these are matters which do not apply directly to the wanderer, it would only occupy time unprotitably to give instructions as to the S3'stems of building these more elaborate edi- fices. The Counnission were all winterec (for two winters) in log-houses built on the banks of the Upper Columbia River. In the construction of these log'-houses we employed sun-dried bricks for making the fireplaces and chimneys, Avliich answered perfectl}', and Ave burnt lime to make mortar for building and for filling in the spaces between the logs of the houses. Of course we had glass and nails, and tools of all kinds, besides having men who were regidar carpenters. We had also blacksmiths and workers in every description of handi- craft. Hence we were enabled to build ver) complete houses, for stores, dwelling places, and large rooms for mapping". The cost of this log-camp was very heavy, because labour was dear, and rations most costlv, in 270 AT HOME IN THE WILDERNESS. consequence of the distance provisions had to be brought by pack animals, from the nearest water communication. The men and officers enjoyed admirable health during the winters, although the temperature was often down to 32 deg. below zero ; the ink froze so quickly in the pens that writing was next to an impossibility, and T have frequently seen the contents of a pail which was filled with watel* and placed close to the fire in my shanty become solid ice in a few hours ; yet as long as the air was calm and no wind blew it did not appear to the senses unusually cold. I may mention one little matter as a caution to be remembered in very cold weather — never put an iron bit into a horse's mouth without previously warming it ; very cold iron or steel acts much in the same way on animal tissues as it would do if at a white heat ; the bit takes the skin off the toimae of the horse in an instant. T told the wanderer just now to light his fire when he had built it. This is not at all times quite so easy a job as it appears to be to us, who have lucifer matches at \d. a box. The savage has no steel or iron to strike sparks from by using a flint ; still he manages to light a fire with the same material he burns. I had again and [igain read about the savage procuring a light by rubbing two sticks together, but for the life of me I could not tell how it was possible until I saw it done. You might continue to rub two pieces of dry wood one against the other, without kindling them, until your hair . JhM TO KINDLE A FIRE. 271 turned grey, or you froze to death. It is not in this way the Indian manages ; he takes a round piece of wood and a flat piece ; the former he tapers to a conical shaped point, in the latter he scoops out a hollow place a trifle larger than the cone 5 laying the flat piece on the ground, and, placing his feet firmly upon it, with his hand he rapidly rotates the end of the stick in the hollow place, by rubbing it between his palms, and at the same time pressing it firmly down. Very soon the dust thus rubbed off begins to smoulder, and at last ignites. This burning dust is next placed in dry bark or moss, and carefully blown by the breath into a flame. Cedar wood is best, but it must be very dry, sound, and free from knots. Any one can thus procure a light, if wood is to be obtained fitted for the purpose, but you will find it takes some practice to give the stick a rapid rotation, and to make at the same time a due amount of pressure. It is at all times easy to obtain a light, if you have a gun, gunpowder, and caps, or a flint lock does as well. The best plan of proceed- ing is to tear up a small quantity of the inner bark of a fir or cedar tree into fine threads, place a small quantity of gunpowder in the palm of the hand, slightly damp the bark, or whatever the material may be you are going to employ, and then rub it well in the powder. Ram this very lightly into the gun, build a little heap of the driest material you can find (dry material for kindling can be generally procured from the under sides of fallen trees, if I 272 AT HOME IX TIIli: WILDERNESS. it is raiiiv weather, or take the inside bark). Then if the weather is wet, cover your heap with a shib of bark. Now stand a few yards off, and fire yonr gun into the heap ; you will in all likelihood find the bark-wad smouldering* ; blow it carefully into a flame, and then the rest is easy. Flint and steel are very good in their way, but the grand difficulty is to keep your tinder dry. If I can possibly procure lucifer matches I invariably use them in preference to anything else, and by exer- cising a little care and strict economy it is wonderful how long you can make a large metal box full of matches last. The best plan of carrying them is in a tin, or metal box of any kind ; this box shcmld be always rolled up in a long strip of dressed hide and tied firmly; packed in this way you could not make the matches wet, even by soaking the package in a river. As a rule, I am not favourably disposed towards any of the machines — and their nauKj is legion — for procuring instantaneous light ; they are pretty sure to get broken, or escaping that contingency, the material composing them soon wears out, and of course cannot be replaced ; my advice is, have nothing to do with such useless toys. INSECT PESTS. 273 CHAPTER XVIII. Mofsquitoos — Sand-tiies — The Breoze-fly — The Tninipot-flies— .Tack- vSpaniarcls — Stone-Wasps — Kattle-Siiake Bites — A use for the IJattle — The Trap-door Spider — The Deer-tick— Leeches in the ^louth. The tiny insect called by the French, marliujouin, or cousin, by the Germans Stcchschnache, or Gohe, by the Americans Fimhies and mosquito (little fly), its repre- sentative in our own country being the knat, belongs to the order Diptera (having* two wings). Individuals of this species, so numerous as to be scattered over both hemispheres, from pole to pole, are all vicious and blood- thirsty. To those who have never visited the home and haunts of these pests I say, — you know nothing at all about insect persecution ; neither can you form the faintest idea of the terrible suffering foes so seemingly insignificant are capable of inflicting. Whether amid the regions of eternal snow, or betieath the scorching heat of an eastern sun, strange as it seems, these tormentors are met with, always lively, invariably hungry. I certainly was vain enough to imagine I had endured as much misery in the course of .iiy ■'"T" 274 AT HOME IN THE WILDERNESS. wanderings as it was possible for mosquitoes to inflict ; how sadly I was mistaken the sequel will show. In the summer of 1858 we were engaged in cutting the Boundary-line along the low and comparatively flat land, that lies between the seaboard and spurs of the Cascade mountains ; our camp was on the Sumass prairie, which in reality is simply an oj)en patch of grassy land, through which numerous streams wind, emptying themselves into the Fraser river, by a short swift stream named the Sumass river. Any settler who might chance to visit this spot in the spring, would never dream that in July the prairie is completely under water, and in ignorance, might ply his axe, run up his log shanty, and quietly settle down to establish his home in the wilderness where all gave cheer- ing promise of fertile acres. How astonished he would be, on awakening some morning, to find that his land of promise? was changing rajudly into a navigable lake, and his shanty, like a raft, floating away ! ijiit such would be his fate ; and thus it comes about. When the snow melts upon the hills, the Fraser rises with great rapidity, dams back the Sumjiss, reversing its course, so that it flows ivto the Sumass lake instead of out of it, fills it up as you would fill a basin. Overflow- ing the banks it floods the prairies, converting into an innnense lake what was a few days before a grassy expanse. On the subsidence of the waters our tents were ^.m m UNPLEASAXT SUSPICIONS. 275 pitched on the edge of a little stream, threading- its way through this prairie. Towering np from one bank of the streamlet rose the Cascade mountains, densely Avooded with pines and cedars ; to the right lay the tranquil lake ; to the left, and in front, for about two miles, the green prairie, bounded by the Sumass river, that Avound like a silver cord round the base of a distant hill. Wild fowl were in abundance, the streaius were alive with fish, the forest stocked with deer, whilst the mules and horses were knee deep in luxuriant grass. The first week passed pleasantly away, then the mosquitoes began to get troublesome. In my own mind, I must confess to entertaining a suspicion that they were more to be dreaded than my companions w^ere willing to believe, inasmuch as the crafty Red- skins had erected rude stages, by driving stout poles into the bottom of the lake, and then fastening other poles to them ; to these platforms they all retired on the first appearance of the mosquitoes. My susjiicions were confirmed — in about five days the increase was something beyond belief, and really terrible as tliey hovered over and about us in dense clouds. Night and day the hum of these blood-thirsty tyrants was inces- sant; we ate them, drank them, breathed them; the thickest leather clothing scarcely pro.V^cted one against their lancets. With trousers tied tightly round the ankle, and coat sleeves round the wrist, the head r 2 '""T" 27 a AT IIO.MK IX THE WILDERNESS. enveloped in a <^auze bag-, hands in g-loves, and feet in ^ _ , sliooting'-boots, we lived and slept, or rather tried to do so. Lighting' Imge fires, fumigating* our tents, try- ing every expedient we could think of, was all in vain, the mosquitoes seemed happy in a smoke that would have stifled anything else that was mortal ; and, what was worse, they increased in number daily. Eating or drinking, attired as we were, required an immense amomit of ingenuity, first dexterously to raise the net, and then deftly throw the wished-for morsel into the mouth ; the slightest bungle or delay in restoring the covering, and a torrent of mosquitoes gained admittance, causing insufferable AMOXG.ST THK • riNKKlW.' agonies. Human endurance has its limits ; the most patient get rebellious at being flayed alive. It was utterly inqwssiblo to work or write, one's entire time being occuijied in slapping, stamping, grumbling, and sa- vagely slaughtering mosquitoes. The human face divine rapidly assumed an irregularity of outline, far from consonant with the strict lines of beauty ; each one looked as though he had gone in for a fight and lost it. The unfortunate mules and horses, driven mad, raced about wildly, dashing into the lake, out again, then trying the shelter of the willow-trees, and roUirig VANQUISHED BY FLIES. 277 on the grass in very agony ; but all was of no avail ; go where they would, do what they would, their persecutors stuck to them in swarms. The dogs, howling piteously, wandered up and down restless and wretched, until, guided by a Avise instinct, they dug holes in the earth as a dernier ressort ; then, backing in, lay with their heads at the entrance, shaking their ears, and snapping angrily at the ravening legions, anxious and ready for an immediate assault. To endure any longer such ceaseless persecution was impossible ; officers and men began to show symptoms of fever, the result of want of sleep, and irritation arising from mosquito bites. To v/ithdraw into the hills and abandon the work until winter was the only alter- native. We were fairly vanquished — the labour of a hundred men and as many mules and horses put an end to by tiny flies. Tents Avere struck, the mules packed, the survey sus- pended, and a general exodus effected. The only thing that in any degree quelled the mosquitoes was a breeze, a relief we seldom enjoyed, a temporary respite Avhen it did come; the enemy, seeking shelter in the grass, returned when the wind lulled, more hungry and importunate than ever. The specimens brought hoine turn out to be a new species {Cidc.i' piiKJu-it^), its specific name being given in honour of its obesity. Why the Sumass mosquito should be fatter than any of its known brethren I 278 AT HOME IX THE WILDERNESS. * ken ' not ; and it is equally a puzzle to discover wliat they feed on when there are no men or animals. The habits of Ctdex iiincjids ai*e very nearly like to those of other well-known species. The female, hover- ing over a pool, deposits her eg'gs in the water. The eg'g's are long-, oval, and buoyant, and each female produces about three hundred in number. With her hind legs she manipulates the eggs so as to get them side by side, in a vertical position ; then, with an adhesive excretion, with which nature has supplied her, glues them together; in this for:ta they are just like a raft floating and drifting on the surface. At first the colour is wdiite, changing in a few hours to green, and subsequently to a dull grey. If the sun is hot the larva) come out in about four days, swimming, on their emergence from the q^^, with great ease and rapidity, often diving to the bottom, but rapidly returning to the surface to breathe. The respiratory or breathing organs are situated near the tail, on the eighth segment of the abdomen; hence their position in the water is invariably head downwards, j^.fter shifting the skin three or four times, the pupte form is assumed, during which state they still move about very actively, assisted by the tail and two strangely fiishioned organs, similar to paddles attached to it. In this stage of their ex- istence they never feed — (one woid.d almost be tempted to wish this condition a permanency), and although still maintaining a vertical position in the water, it is THE TRAXSFOKMATIOX. 279 reversed, the head being- uppermost, as the breathing organs are transferred to the chest. In about a week the final change into the winged stage of its existence takes pkice, a process clearly evidencing a wise provision to obviate the risk of drowning ; for the element in whic}\ its previous life was passed would be at once fatal to it when endowed with wings, and fitted for an aerial sojourn. The pupa case, as it floats near the surface, splits from end to end, and, looking somewhat moist and crumpled, from being so closely packed, the tiny fly creeps out and floats on its previous wrapper, thus suddenly trans- formed into an exquisite canoe of nature's own con- triving. A breeze rippling the water ever so slightly may now cause instant shipwreck, suddenly terminating an existence scarcely commenced. Should it be sunny and hot, the wings rapidly dry, and, bidding a long and lasting good-bye to its frail barque, the mosquito flies to the land, to commence and carry on the war of persecution. Endowed with an instinct of self-preservation, mos- quitoes seldom venture far over the water after once quitting their raft— a fact the wily savage ti ms to his advantage. Earely can an Indian be tempted ashore from his stage during mosquito time ; and when he is, he takes good care to whip out every intruder from his canoe before reaching the platform. These quaint- looking scaftbldings, scattered over the lake, each with •280 AT HOME IS THE WILDERNESS. its little colony of Indians, have a most picturesque ap- pearance. Fleets of canoes are moored to the poles, and the platform reached by a ladder made of twisted bark. To avoid being devoured, and to procure the sleep requisite for health, I used very frequently to seek the hospitality of the savages, and pass the night with them on their novel place of residence. Not that one gained very much by the exchange; if uneasy dreams or indi- gestion begat a restless desire to roll about whilst sleep- ing, the chances were that a sudden souse in the lake would be the consequence. Perfumes pungent and varied, constantly regaled the olfactory organs ; not such as the night breeze wafts over the Bosphorus or bears on its wings from tropic isles. Dogs, the sharers of the Indian's bed and board, are also tenants of the platform ; favourites not exempt from persecutors, that have a decided i:>enc1mnt for the blood of the pale face, though unseen and unheard, soon make their proximity painfully apparent; these annoyances, together with groans and nasal music, render a night on an Indian stage anything but * sleeping on a bed of roses.' I have tried every expedient my ingenuity suggested : mixtures, lotions, washes, ointments ; but nothing I have ever used will cure mosquito punctures. There are few expedients, which come under the head of palliatives, worth trying ; but all that one can hope to accomplish is in some degree to allay the fiery itching, that fairly scorches the skin, as the knobs surrounding the punc- PALLIATIVES WORTH TRYING. 2bl tures swell into miniature mole-liills. The best thing I discovered was water, used as hot as it was i)ossible to bear it; plun<,nnf,r the hands into it, and applying saturated cloths to the face and head, afforded very delightful, though only temporary, relief: but a minute's respite from misery is worth obtaining, when it can be had at the cost of a little trouble. The Indians believe in the efficacy of vermillion, a material they trade from the Hudson's Bay Company. An officer belonging to the Boundary Commission, dur- ing the work, was one day ' en route ' to an outpost camp, having for a guide an Indian lad ; the mosqui- toes were in legions, and my friend's hands and face commenced to swell rapidly. The Eed-skin guide very kindly took him to a lodge and pointed out his suffer- ings ; the squaws at once set to work, and painted every knob with vermillion ; he told me that it afforded him indescribable comfort and ease ; but it most assuredly did not improve his personal appearance; he was the most singular sight I ever beheld, and I cannot think of anything to which I can compare him except to Zamiel or a clown in plain clothes. Rubbing in soft fat is also a good plan to allay the terrible ceaseless itching. The British Columbian mosquitoes one would be disposed to think must be very closely allied to the mosquito family ' The Ranger ' (Captain Flack) speaks of in his Texan hunting experiences. 282 AT HOME IX TIIK WILDERNESS. * Arkansas is a state without a fault,' said a native. ' Excepting mosquitoes,' exclaimed one from another state. ' Wall stranger, except for them ; for it ar' a fact they are e-normous, and do push themselves in rather trouble- some. But they never stick twice in the same place ; and give them a fair chance for a few months, and you will get as much above noticing them as an alligator. But mosquitoes is natur', and I never find fault with her. If they ar' large Arkansas is large, her varmints ar' large, her trees ar' large, her rivers ar' large ; and a small mosquito would be of no more use than preach- ing in a cane-brake.' More diminutive, neverthel ^s quite as formidable in its sanguinary onslaughts, is the burning-fly, brulot, or sand-fly of the trappers and fur-traders. The male sand-fly is not a blood-sucker, but lives on flowers, sipping the nectar in indolent enjoyment ; whereas what should have been the gentler sex are, like the Da- homean amazons, the sanguinary spirits of the tribe. The sand-fly is very much smaller than the mosquito, and, instead of being a genteel hlonde, Madame Brulot is black as an African negress, with a short dumpy body, and wings, when folded, twice the length of the lady herself. Her mouth is not attractive, being a bundle of sharp blades, the sheaths forming tubes through which the blood is sucked. As the barbed stilettoes do their work, there is instilled into the SAND-FLIES. 283 puncture an icliorous fluid, causing the most intense irritation. Where the sand-fly lays her eggs is rather a doubtful matter, although it is more than likely they are attached to the stems of water plants, as the larva is easily discovered holding on to them, just helow the surface of the water. It is a long, ugly-looking grub, divided into twelve: rings or segments ; the second pair of feet, being prehensile, are used for holding on to the plants. When undisturbed it is somewhat active, and moves about briskly ; but, touch it ever ^o slightly, and it stiffens itself, hanging by the feet like a bit of dead rush. The larva having attained its full growth, spins for itself a delicate silken bag, in which it changes to a pupa ; the bag is invariably spun the long way of the stalk to which it is affixed, and the top left open, so that the pupa, being in an upright position, pushes its head a little way out of the bag. From this head four hair-like filaments project "r^e horns ; these are breathing organs. About the end of June the pupa changes into the little fly, which bursts from its sarcophagus and starts on its aerial flight. Here we shall find a contrivance totally differing from the mosquito boat, yet equally effective in aiding the newly liberated captive to escape drowning. The end of the silken bag being open, the fly easily creeps out, not into the water, but dragging with it a minute silken baUoon— a sort of inner lining to the pupa case. In this little balloon the fly ascends through the ir^!^^ 284 AT HOME IN THE WILDERNESS. water to the surface, then, bursting its slender walls, spreads its wings, and, with a hum of delight, goes away to revel in the sunshine amidst the trees and flowers. But one never thinks of these wonders when fairly in the strongholds of the sand-fly. To illustrate the torments they are capable of inflicting, I shall briefly describe a journey the misery of which will never be forgotten. Our route lay along the banks of the Upper Colum- bia to reach the S23okan river. Flowers in profusion peeped up from amongst the grass ; birds were busily employed in every tree and bush. The air was heavy with perfume ; whilst the insects, as they tumbled from flower to flower, buzzed a continuous song of satisfac- tion. Nothing could have been more enjoyable, had not clouds of sand-flies filled the air, stirred up by the feet of the mules and horses as they tramped through the grass. They pounced upon us at once, and covered the animals so thickly that they looked quite black. Plunging, kicking, and rolling on the grass \t^ith their loads, was of no avail. Unlike the bite of a mosquito, that left only a lump, blood trickled from e\ery punc- ture of the sand-flies' lancets. They whirled round our heads like angry bees, savagely attacking every avail- able spot. We picked large bunches of twigs, and by lashing and slapping, tried, though vainly, to drive away our assailants. My heart was really grieved at ^ MULE KILLED BY SAND-FLIES. 285 r walls, t, goes es and 1 fairly ate the briefly ?ver be Colum- ofiision busily ? heavy 3d from atisfac- le, had by the hror.gh covered black, h their )squito, f piinc- iiid our r avail- and by 3 drive sved at the sufferings the poor animals were obliged to endure, spite of every effort to rid themselves of their pests. One mule grew fagged and weary ; and in that con- dition neither force nor persuasion is of the slightest use to induce it to move. The only thing you can do is to unpack him, and either leave the load in the trail with the tired animal, or distribute it amongst the other mules. The tired mule was unpacked, and, with his load, left on the trail ; camping very soon after, two packers and a spare mule were sent after him. Short, however, as the time and distance were, it was only with immense trouble the packers managed to get him back to camp. A sight so pitiable as the poor beast presented I never beheld ; he was covered, from head to hoofs, with sand-flies. The little harpies looked quite pink, their skins being so distended as to reveal the colour of the fluid they were gorged with. No one could have recognised the animal as a mide, so fear- fully was it swollen from the poisoned punctures. We bathed, smoked, and greased him to relieve his suffer- ings, but to no purpose: about two hours after reaching the camp poor mulo was no more! Who could have dreamed that such pigmies would have killed a powerful mule in two or three hours 'P ' With caution judge of possibility ; Things thought unlikely, e'en impossible, Experience often shows us to be true.' One mode of protection is to light large smoiddering •;53P •286 AT IIO^tE IX THE WILDERNESS. fires, so as to produce clouds of smoke ; this the hrulotx dislilve ; the animals Vnow it, and, crowding round the smoking logs, struggle and quarrel as to which shall be nearest. This method is adopted by Indians ; and one may ahvays know where Indian horses are grazing by the clouds of smoke ascending from the burning logs. During night sand-flies trouble but little : like sensible insects, they sleep like the rest of the world. Brnlot, or hurninfj fly, is a most appropriate name for this insect, as the puncture it makes is as if a red-hot needle was thrust into one's flesh. Sandy soil, and lots of water, bein<^ essential to their multiplication, they are necessarily confined to particular districts. Bad as these flies are, I still maintain mosquitoes are worse. The brulots do indulge in a short re2)ose ; but mos- quitoes never wink their eyes, and are ever on the move. Bruce, in his * Travels in Abyssinia,' describes a small two-winged fly, called the ziinb, or tsaltsalya, unquestionably belonging to the Tabanida), or breeze flies, that drives every living thing from the districts it infests. He says : ' Small as this insect is, we must acknowledge the elephant, rhinoceros, lion, and tiger vastly its inferiors. Their very sound occasions more trepidation and disorder, both in the human and brute creation, than whole herds of the most ferocious wild beasts. As soon as their buzzincc is heard the cattle TUE ZIMB. '287 hrnlotx and tlie ih shall is; and grazing turning e : like ; world, line for red-hot iiid lots )n, they Bad as I worse. Lit nios- 011 the ribes a bltsalya, breeze tricts it '0 iiinst d tiger ls more d brute us wild i cattle forsake their food and run wildly about the plain until they die, worn out with fatigue, fright, and hunger. No remedy remains for the residents on such spots but to leave the hlach earth, and hasten down to the sands of Albara ; and there they remain while the rains last. Camels, and even elephants and rhinoceroses, though the two last coat themse.'ves with an armour of mud, are attacked by this winged assassin and afflicted with numerous tumours. All the inhabitants, from the mountains of Abyssinia to the confluence of the Nile and Astaboras, are once a year obliged to change their abode and seek protection on the sands of Beja ; nor is there any alternative or means of avoiding this, though a hostile band were in the way, capable of spoiling them of all their substance.' From this description, says the Marquess de bpineto, in the ' Philosophical Magazine,' ' it seems evident that this terrible insect must have been the fly that formed the fourth plague of the Egyptians, and which, in the language of Scripture, " would put a division between them and the Israelites," and sever the land of Goschen, where the cattle dwelt, from the land of Egypt.' This land, the possession of the Israelites, was a land of pasture, neither tilled nor sown, because not overflown by the Nile ; but the liiiid inundated by that river was the hiach e<()ih of the valley of Egypt; and, as the ziuib never leaves the black earth, it followed I 288 AT HOME IN THE WILDERNESS. be that no fly could De seen land of Goschen, because the kind of soil had ever been the refuge of the cattle, emigrating from the black earth round the Nile to the lower region of Astara. The prophet Isaiah (vii. 18, 19) has given an account of this insect and its manner of operation : ' The Lord shall hiss for the fly that is in the uttermost part of the rivers of Egypt ; and they shall come, and shall rest all of them in the desolate valleys ; ' or, in other words, the fly shall cut off from the cattle their usual retreat, by taking possession of those places of refuge to whi(;h they resorted. There are invariably found two hiero- glyphics at the top of the cartouche which incloses the mystic title of the Pharaohs, a crooked line and the figure of an insect ; and it is more than probable that this fly, or some species near akin to it, was the proto- type of the Philistine idol, the god of Ekron, wor- shipped in the form of a fly, under the name of Baahehuh, which means literally the fly of Baal, or, according to the Hebrew, lord fly. A small sand-fly, Slmulla ColnmhamhenHU^ pliiys fearful havoc amongst the people and their four-footed companions in the neighbourhood of Columbaz, in Servia. They have a tradition there that the flies are all bred in caves near the ancient castles of Columbaz, and at certain periods they issue from the mouths of these caves like a thick smoke. It was in these caverns, so say the Wallachians, that St. George killed the ■^ 3 of the lad ever he black Astara. account he Lord ft of the est all of >rds, the ;reat, by 3 whi(ni hiero- oses the and the ble that le proto- )n, wor- lame of Jaal, or, .s, plays ir-footed ibaz, m flies are ►Innibaz, 3utlis of caverns, lied the TIU: TSETSE. 'J8'J dragon, iind these insects, they sissert, are hatched from its still inidecomposed remains ; whereas the real fact of the matter is that the flies simply retire into the caves to avoid wind or rain. Dr. Livinj^-stone gives an account of a fly called the tsetse {Glossina norsitam), not larger than a house-fly, brown, like the honey-bee, but banded with yellow, a puncture of which is as fatal to the ua; horse, and dog, as the bite of a deadly serpent. ' In one journey,' he says, ' though we were not aware of any great number having at any time alighted on our cattle, v>^e lost forty- three oxen by its bite. We watched the aninnils care- fully, and believe that not a score of flies were ever upon them.' Man seems quite exempt from any harm arising from its sting, and calves that are Huckimj enjoy a like immunity. It does not startle the ox, as the gad-fly does; but, once stung, it swells under the throat, profuse discharges run from nose and eyes, followed by rapid wasting of the flesh, until the poor beast eventually dies from sheer exhaustion. It is also a curious fact that the antelope and zebra are not injured by its puncture, whereas the ox and horse invariably die. There lives no greater pest to the wanderer and his horses and mules tlian the breeze-fly ; by hreezc-Jii/ 1 mean flies belonging to the genus Tahanas (order, Dlptem, or two-winged), not those of the genus GiJdrus, with which it is frequently confounded. The latter — u ^'~;sam' 290 AT IfO.MK [X THE AVILDERXESS. cormnonly e;illod bot-fly, which is also a terrible pest, jilike avoided by both horse and ruminant — deposits its eg'gs sometimes on the hair, and sometimes underneath the skin ; hence animals, g'uided by a natural instinct, or liavino' been the victims of a past and painful (^x^ierience, all, at the sound of his dreaded trumpet, make the best of their Avay t(3 the nearest water, iuto which they plun<4'e. Viu. 1, Fio. L>. On the contrary, in the breeze-fly we have to do with a veritable hJood-.vicl'er, more ravenous than would be any wing-ed leech. There are three species, all three by far too plentiful for the comfort of either man or beast, and widely distributed in North-west America. These insects have an apparent ubiquity, and are literallv everywhere. Ascend to the reoions of eternal snow, there are huno-ry breeze-flies awaiting* your arrival ; by the rushing toiTent, on the shores of tlie placid lake, under the deep damp slia