Chapter 7

CAMPAIGN LIFE IN THE WILDERNESS.

Introductory Remarks.--"Amateur Trapping."--PLAN OF CAMPAIGN.--Selection of Trapping-ground.--Advantages of a Watered District.--Labor of transportation lightened by Boating.--Lakes, Ponds and Streams.--The Adirondacks and Alleghanies.--Remarks on the "Home Shanty."--Selection of Site for building.--Value of a good Axe.--Remarks on the Bark Shanty.--Its value in case of Storms.--Wise fore-sight.--Remarks on the Indian Birch-bark Canoe.--Dug-out and Bateau.--Commencement of Trapping Season.--Advantages of preliminary preparation.--Extensive route of the Professional Trapper.--Sixty pounds of Personal Luggage.--How the traps and provisions are distributed among the Trapping lines.--Use of the "Home Shanty."--"Keeping Shanty."--Necessity of its being Guarded.--Wolves and Bears as thieves.--Steel Traps considered.--Number used in a Professional Campaign.--Number for an Amateur Campaign.--Their Probable Cost.--The average size of Trap.--Dead-falls, Twitchups, &c., considered.--Requisite Tools for a Campaign.--A "House-wife" a valuable necessity.--"Cleanliness next to Godliness."--The Trappers' Light.--Comparative value of Lanterns and Candles.--The Trappers' Personal outfit.--The jack-knife.--The Pocket-Compass.--Necessity of preparing for Emergencies.--Shot guns and Rifles.--Both combined in the same weapon.--Oil for Fire Arms.--Fat of the Grouse Used on Fire Arms.--Fishing tackle.--The Trappers' portable stove.--The Stove versus The Open Fire.--The Trapper's Clothing.--The Material and Color.--Boots.--High-topped Boots.--Short Boots.--Their Relative Qualities.--Waterproof Boot Dressing.--Recipe.--The Trapping Season.--Hints on Trapping-lines.--The "Wheel" plan.--Mode of following the lines.--"Trap Robbers" or "Poachers."--How to guard against them.--Hiding furs.--How to store Traps from Season to Season.--Gnats and Mosquitoes.--The "Smudge."--How made.--FOOD AND COOKING UTENSILS.--"Roughing it."--"A chance Chip for a Frying Pan."--A "happy medium" between two extremes.--Cosy and Comfortable living on a Campaign.--Portable Food.--Combined Nutriment and lightness in weight to be desired.--The Trappers' Culinary Outfit.--Indian meal as Food.--The Trappers' "Staff of Life."--Wheat flour.--Salt Pork.--Seasoning.--Pork Fritters a luxury.--Cooking Utensils.--The "Telescope" drinking cup.--Recipe for making Pork Fritters.--"Chop Sticks" à la "Chinee."--A Flat Chip as a Plate.--Boiled Mush.--Old "Stand by."--Recipe.--Fried Mush.--Indian meal Cakes.--Recipe.--Johnny Cake.--Recipe.--Hoe Cakes.--Recipe.--Fresh fish.--How to Cook fish in a most Delicious manner.--Prof. Blot, and Delmonico, out-done.--The "NE PLUS ULTRA" of delicacies.--All the sweet Juices of the Fish preserved.--Disadvantages of the ordinary method of cooking.--Partridge, Duck, Quail, Cooked deliciously.--Roasting unrivalled!--Hints on Broiling.--An extemporized Spider or Toaster.--Roasting on a spit.--Venison, Bear, and Moose Meat broiled in the best style.--Venison cutlets.--The Camp fire.--Usual mode [Page x] of building Fire.--How the Kettle is suspended.--"Luxuries" considered.--The Knapsack a desirable Acquisition.--Matches.--The Bottle Match-safe.--Waterproof Matches.--How made.--Lucifer Matches.--Recipe for Waterproof preparation.--The Pocket Sun Glass.--A necessary adjunct to a Trapper's Outfit.--Its Advantages in case of Emergency.--"Touch wood" or "Punk Tinder," valuable in lighting fires.--How to light Fires without matches or Sun glass.--How to light a fire without Matches, Sun Glass, Powder, or Percussion Caps.--A last Resort.--Matches best in the long run.--The Portable Camp Stove described.--Its accompanying Furniture.--The Combination Camp-knife.--Hint on Provisions.--Potatoes as food.--Beans.--"Self raising" Wheat flour.--Light Bread, Biscuit and Pancakes in Camp.--Various accessories.--Olive Oil for purpose of Frying.--Pork.--Indian meal.--Crackers.--Wheaten Grits.--Rice and Oatmeal.--Tea and Coffee.--Soups.--Liebig's Extract of Beef.--Canned Vegetables.--Lemonade.--Waterproof bags for provisions.--Painted bags.--Caution!--Waterproof preparation.--Air-tight jars for Butter.--Knapsack or Shoulder Basket.--Venison as food.--To preserve the overplus of meat.--"Jerked Venison" Recipe and Process.--Moose and Bear meat and Fish, similarly prepared.--How to protect provisions from Wolves.--The Moufflon and Prong-horn as food.--"Small game," Squirrels, Rabbits, and Woodchucks.--"Skunk Meat" as a delicacy.--The Buffalo as food.--Grouse, the universal Food of Trappers and Hunters.--Various species of Grouse.--The Sage Cock.--The Ptarmigan.--How they are trapped by the Indians in the Hudson's Bay Country.--Waterfowl.--Sea and Inland Ducks.--Various species of Duck.--Mallard.--Muscovy.--Wigeon.--Merganser.--Canvass Back.--Teal, &c.--Wild Geese.--Fish as food.--Angling and Spearing.--Salmon Spearing in the North.--Description of the Salmon Spear used by the Indians.--Salmon Spearing at night.--Requisites of a good Spearsman.--Fishing through the Ice.--Cow's udder and Hogs liver as Bait.--Other Baits.--Assafoetida and Sweet Cicely as fish Baits.--Trout fishing with Tip-up's.--Pickerel fishing in Winter.--Pickerel Spearing through the Ice.--The Box Hut.--The "Fish Lantern" or Fish Trap.--Fish Attracted by light.--Light as Bait.--How the Fish Lantern is made and used.--THE TRAPPER'S SHELTER.--Introductory remarks.--The Perils of a Life in the Wilderness.--A Shelter of some form a Necessity.--The Log Shanty.--Full directions for building.--Ingenious manner of constructing roof.--How the Chimney is built.--Spacious interior of the Shanty.--THE BARK SHANTY.--A Temporary structure.--Full directions for its construction.--Selection of building site.--TENTS.--Advantages of their use.--Various kinds of Tents.--The House Tent.--The Fly Tent.--The Shelter Tent.--Directions for making the Tent.--Tent Cloth.--How to render tents Water and Fire-resistant.--Valuable recipe.--BEDS AND BEDDING.--Perfect rest and comfort to the tired Trapper.--A portable Spring bed for the woods.--A Hammock bed.--Bed Clothes.--The Canton Flannel Bag.--Hammocks.--TENT CARPETING.--Spruce and Hemlock boughs as bedding.--How to cover the ground evenly.--The Rubber Blanket.