Читать книгу New Rivers of the North: The Yarn of Two Amateur Explorers - Footner Hulbert - Страница 11

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^"What did you eat?" "What did you take with you?" "How did you contrive for yourselves?" are the questions most commonly asked us. Our domestic arrangements on the trail are a never-failing mystery to those accustomed to a well-furnished house, a kitchen range, and a telephone to the store. On the other hand, those who have worked the trails themselves have the interest of a fellow-feeling in what we learned to do—and learned to avoid. So it seems that a chapter on the subject is called for. It may be skipped.

For the greater part of the four months the folding boat was at once our home, our companion, and our trusty steed. We grew to know its ways so well that it became almost like a third member of the party. Its actions under varying conditions are fully described in the narrative. On the whole it served us well. We could carry it anywhere, and yet its capacity was greater than we ever needed to use. Its beaminess was useful on a long voyage, for we could eat and sleep in it in comfort. Its lightness of draft and the flexibility of its sides were of the greatest service in descending swift and shallow streams. It simply bounced off the stones in the rapids, and its tough canvas skin was not once pierced during the voyage, except through the carelessness of the driver who carried it across Giscomb portage—and that hardly counts. On the other hand it must be borne in mind that we used it exclusively in down-stream work, and in slack water. Its lightness and its beaminess would count against it in working against the current.

There are several makes of folding boats on the market. We tried the two leading types, and we found the boat with wooden ribs much better suited to our purpose, being lighter, stiffer, and easier to take up and set down. For journeys where heavy winds and seas are occasionally to be expected the round-bottomed type of boat is the better.

These boats are usually supplied with oars and oarlocks, why I do not understand, because for two men under any circumstances paddles are infinitely better. You cannot descend rapids with oars, nor navigate tortuous or shallow streams, nor could the average man spend ten hours at the oars day after day as we did at the paddles without soon reaching the point of exhaustion. The paddles supplied with our boat were an insult to a riverman, and the little camp-stools on which we were supposed to sit were not only useless, but positively dangerous in broken water. In the foregoing are hints for the manufacturers of these boats if they care to take them. We built a little thwart over the stern for me to sit on, and my partner sat on the roll of blankets, never an altogether satisfactory seat.

Our tent was made after our own design. It was merely a little lean-to 9' × 10' 6", open in front to the fire. It could be slung in a few minutes between two trees, or anywhere on open ground with a couple of rough poles. It was lighter, more compact, and easier to put up than the A tents, but I confess that it left something to be desired when the wind changed at night. For a trip such as ours where every ounce of weight had to be considered as well as every cubic inch of bulk, it would be an almost perfect rig with the addition of a detachable flap to hang down in front. In the daytime this flap could be used for any of the purposes of an ordinary cover. We were unable to obtain any water-proof silk in Edmonton, but for small traveling tents that material is better in every respect, and is worth far more than the difference in cost. We had of course a cheesecloth mosquito bar cut to fit inside the tent. That was really the main purpose of the tent. After the mosquito season was over we rarely needed a shelter.

As to blankets, my first rule is to take more than enough. I would rather go to bed supperless than be cold at night. There are no blankets in America so good as Hudson's Bay blankets. The white ones are the best, and the Indians can rarely be persuaded to buy the colored ones. There are sound reasons for this. One pair is generally considered enough for a man, but I would always cheerfully shoulder the extra weight of two pair. They sometimes made remarks in the North as to the unnecessary amplitude of our beds, but just the same there were nights when we were the only ones in the crowd who got any comfortable sleep.

Hudson's Bay blankets are always of the same weight. They come in various sizes still called, as in ancient times, "four-point," "three-and-a-half point," "three-point," etc. The distinguishing lines are woven in black into the corner of the blanket, so that there can be no discussion as to what you are getting. The goodness of this article is instantly evident in the look and the feel of it. It is one of the worthy old things which has not deteriorated under modern methods of manufacture.

There are at least ten good reasons why blankets are better than sleeping-bags. I will mention only one of them, and that is, if you prefer a sleeping-bag you can make one out of your blankets anyway. All that is needed are a few saddlers' pins.

For clothes, blue flannel shirts and overalls are the simple requirements of the North. Beware of the elaborate, bepocketed sporting-suits if you wish to make friends with the people. A coat of any kind is of small use on such a trip. Its warmth in relation to its weight is small, and it hampers the freedom of your arms. You will find that you never wear it; it is simply another thing to be looked after. We each carried two sweaters. After August fifteenth heavy underwear is essential. For footwear we started in with moccasins, and kept to them right through. They are comfortable, but expensive if there is any walking or climbing to be done. Some of ours wore out in a single day. In wet and cold weather there is nothing like shoe-packs. A good soft felt hat is a wise investment. We had cheap ones, and they soon collapsed under stress of weather.

Everybody wants to know what kind of a gun to take. It would be vain to enter into a discussion as to the different makes. We had the new Savage .303, a truly first-class weapon, but not the best for this country, because it was impossible to buy ammunition for it outside of the cities, and of course impossible to trade off our surplus. The Winchester .30-.30 is the gun of the country, and shells of this size are as good a means of exchange as money. As an experiment we took a long-barreled .22 revolver for small game, but it was not a success. It had not power enough to kill.

Where traveling is to be the main object with hunting merely incidental, a good .22 rifle is the best weapon, and it is arsenal enough. This is what the Indians carry while working the trails. Of course, if you are after bear or moose, you must have something heavier, though I have seen a bear brought down with a .22—but it took the greater part of a box of shells.

In most parts small game is plentiful; grouse in British Columbia, prairie chicken in Alberta, duck on all the sloughs, and rabbits, if you want them, everywhere. The Indians say that there is no nourishment in rabbits; a man can eat all he wants and still be "poor." Notwithstanding the temptation of small game everywhere, a shotgun is not very serviceable for long journeys on account of the great weight and bulk of the ammunition. But if you are to be more or less in touch with the trading-posts it is a different matter.