The daily morning journal and courier., 1905-12-02

\ that the tops were not bent by the
 wind, they would find that they bend 1 in all directions. l have walked along
 in open places and roads testing this 1 by compass, and one might as we'll rely
 on which way the leaves fall as on be- ing guided by the tree-tops.
 Another tells us that the gum is soft
 CT on the south side. Now, one may
 travel miles without seeing any gum at all, and to find it upon both sides of a ] tree, except upon spotted line, would
 be very unusual thing. In our woods 1 I hardly think that a man could aver l age finding one such tree in a day, and l even if he did by chance find one in ! cold weather the gum on both sides
 would be hard. In point of fact, the
 gum which has recently exuded is soft,
 no matter on which side of the tree i it is, while the old gum is always hard. Then, again, the gum on trees is not confined to the north and south sides i of the trees, but is as likely to be found
 upon the east and west sides if the trees have been wounded on those sides
 Another tells us that by cutting down a tree rings will be found wider upon the south side. The majority of
 those out hunting do not carry axes.
 but if one did he would find very few
 cases where the grain of the wood
 would show any difference In some
 cases, where a tree stands so its side
 is fully exposed to the sum- there may
 be slight difference, but a man might
 +o
 fore he could tell the north from the
 south. have travelled the Maine
 woods in company with as good men as ever travelled these woods. and I never knew any sman to be in any way
 helped by any of these things which so
 many write of, and those who write so
 only show their own ignorance of the
 woods.
 Some men I have travelled with never
 used a compass: some always carried
 one, but very seldom set it, except in
 stormy weather, while occasionally a woodsman relies entirely on plan and
 compass Some men seem to be born with compass in. their heads, while
 some can never learn to travel even with a compass in their hands. A good
 Woodsman finds his way just as an an- imal does, by a certain kind of in- stinct. He cannot tell you how he does
 1t or teach you how, but he can do it himself, and knowing that he will hunt all day without troubling his head as to where the camp is. Of course he is guided some by sun and wind and lay, of the land, but it is perfectly surpris- ing what some men can do in finding their way in stormy or cloudy days.
 I once separated from an Indian on the top of Bald Mountain near Victor
 Lake on the Little Tobique in New Brunswick. He belonged north of the St. Lawrence and was an entire stran- ger in that part of the country. He was going to look for moose, while I
 was to take the canoe back after I was done hunting he coming to the camp at the outlet on foot. The day was fine, but at night grew cloudy and threat ened rain. JAS he failed to, come in l grow anxious and at intervals during the evening fired my rifle with heavy charges to try to guide him in. In the morning it was raining hards,9 At nine o'clock in the forenoon I heard some one calling, and oh going across the stream foud Peol.
 After he had eaten he told me that he and followed the track of a moose till five ?. m., then he had started for camp. He travelled till nine. Then he had spotted three trees in line so as to keep the directionsn the wind should change; had built a fire and stood by it all night until at a. m. when it got light enough for him to see to travel; then he walked yuntil nine and had struck the stream only a mile below our camp and followed it up He estf- ! mated that he was sixteen miles from camp when he started back, as he had travelled eight hours to get in. He had no compass, in fact never carried one, although he always carried a watch. He had eaten nothing except piece of :, hard bread since the morning before 1 and had been out all night with no | clothing but pants and red flannel | shirt, yet he did not speak of hay ing had a hard time. He remarked l that two owls slept in the same house | where he did and that he travelled by the wind. I have hunted with a num- | Der of men who, think, could have done as well.
 once heard Paul B. DuChaillu, the noted traveller, say: 'tOn the west coast of Africa, if you fall into the wa- ter the sharks will get you sure; consequently you had better never fall | in!" And so I would say to those go- ing into the woods You had bet | ter never get lost"