The Montgomery advertiser., 1904-11-09
HOW BusHMAN FINDS HIS WAY.
Remembers Every Detail of Route i over Which He Has Passed.

Remembers Every Detail of HOute t over Which He Hss Passed. Forest and Stream.
 E What appears marvellous and posi- lively uncanny to a town person is simple to a bushman.
 Years of continuous observation de- velop the bump of locality, every ob- ject has a place and meaning to g. trapper; his eye is ever on the alert. and what his eye sees is photographed on the brain and remains there for fu- ture reference at any time he may re- Quire it. rrs
 Tsis bump of locality is highly de- veloped in all Indians and whites who have passed many years in the bush. Without the faculty of rememberine objects bushman could not find his way through the forests.
 Providing the trapper has. once passed from one place to another, he is pretty sure to find his way through the second time, even If years should have elapsed between the trips. Every object from start to finish is an indeS finger pointing out the right path. A sloping path, leaning tree, 8 moss covered rock, a slight elevation in land, cut in the hills, the water in the creek, an odd looking stone, g. blasted tree--all help as guides as the observant trapper makes his way through painless forest.
 Of course, this tax on the memory is not required of trappers about a set- tied part of the country, but am tell Ing of what is absolutely necessary for the safety of ones life in the far-away wilds of the north. where to lose ones self might mean death.
 I followed an Indian guide once over trail of 2S0 miles, whereon we snow shoed over mountains, through dense | bush, down rivers and over lakes. To | test my powers of a retentive memory. | the following winter when despatches | again had to be taken to headquarters asked the Indian to allow me to act ! as guide, he following.
 l On that long journey of ten or twelve days. always walking and con- tinually thinking out the road, was in doubt only once. We were stand ing on the ice; a tongue of land stood out toward us, a hay on either side. | The portage leaving the lake was at l the bottom of one of these bays, but which2 The Indian had halted almost on the tails of my snowshoes and en- l toying my hesitation, but saying noth- ing. To be assured of no mistake, had to pass over the whole of Nast winters trip in my minds eye up to the point on which we stood. Once
  there was no further trouble Our route was down the left hand bay. When the Indian saw me start in that direction, he said: "A-a-we-pu- ka-tan" ("Yes, yes; you are able'O.
 The most difficult proposition to tackle Is a black spruce swamp. The trees are mostly of uniform size and height, the surface of the snow is per fectly level, and at times our route lies miles through such a country, and should there be a dull leaden sky or g. for the guide to depend on but his ability to walk straight.
 It has been written time and again that the tendency when there. are no landmarks, Is to walk in a circle. By constant practice those who are brought up in the wilds acquire the ability to walk in a straight line. They begin by beating trail from point to point on some stretch of ice. and in the bush, where any tree or obstruction bars the way, they made up for any de- viation from. the straight course by give-and- take process, so that the gen eraI line of march is straight.
 During forty years in the country I never knew an Indian or white bush man to carry a compass. Apart from a black spruce swamp, 1t would be no use whatever.
 In going from one place to another the contour of the country has to be considered, and very frequently the longest way round is the shortest way home" A ridge of mountains might lie between the place of starting and the objective point, and by making g. detour round the spur, one would easier reach his destination, rather than to climb up one side and down the other.
 If were to tell you as a fact that when a bushman sees the track of some wild animal in the snow he can tell you not only the name of the anil nal, but if 1t was male or female within an hour of the time the tracks were made, if 1t was calm or blowing and the direction of the wind at that time, and many other minor things. would would think this wonderful. Yet, as wonderful as this may appear and hardly to be credited, an Indian boy of 10 or 12 can read this page from nature as easy as one of us can read a page of print.