. Canada; a descriptive text-book . allerstreams are clear, the ice on the lake begins to go. The logs are held bya boom till all are in the main river, or usually a lake expansion. Whenall are down, the men let them drift. A boom is a long chain of logs fast •ened together end to end by means of short bits of rope or chain, and isused for holding and dragging logs. The men follow the drive, sweepingthe river as they go—that is, leaving no logs lying on the shore or in the CANADA. 39 mouths of creeks, but keeping all moving before them as they work theirway slowly down stream. The drives, as t
. Canada; a descriptive text-book . allerstreams are clear, the ice on the lake begins to go. The logs are held bya boom till all are in the main river, or usually a lake expansion. Whenall are down, the men let them drift. A boom is a long chain of logs fast •ened together end to end by means of short bits of rope or chain, and isused for holding and dragging logs. The men follow the drive, sweepingthe river as they go—that is, leaving no logs lying on the shore or in the CANADA. 39 mouths of creeks, but keeping all moving before them as they work theirway slowly down stream. The drives, as they are called, often number ahundred and fifty thousand logs, and quite cover the river for a mile ortwo. The cooks caboose follows the drive on a large raft, and cookingis done as it drifts along. In the evening the raft is moored at a con-venient spot and the men sit on the grass and eat their meals. Theysleep in tents unless the mosquitoes become too troublesome, when theyoften push out into midstream and sleep on the Pafting Logs. But it is at the numerous rapids that the river driver finds the excite-ment and danger of his occupation. Here, as the logs go through, theygradually stick and pile up along the sides until the whole river, excepta narrow channel, is blocked. The water is dammed back and rushesthrough the channel. The men guide the logs with their longpike-poles and try to keep them running but a log is sure to stickbefore long and those coming swiftly behind pile up and make a, jamthat closes the channel. The men rush down and try to let off the jambefore it gets too big. They work hard, hopping about from log to logwith the utmost dexterity and every moment running risks from whichonly their skill saves them. Presently the key log is found and worked 40 CANADA. loose by means of cant-hooks awl pike-poles. Then there is a rush offoaming water and tossing Logs, over which the men must run or becrushed to death. To the onlooker the task seems impossibl
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