With the exception of an occasional beaver, duck, partridge, or string of trout captured on the way, we were obliged to carry provisions sufficient for five men, who never failed in their attendance at meals three times a day, and with appetites which only wood life can stimulate.
Add to these provisions the weight of three tents, three blankets for each man, rubber beds, personal baggage, cooking utensils, guns, ammunition, rods, a Tourograph with seventy five glass plates, and three canoes weighing from eighty-five to one hundred pounds each and you have an idea of the toil and hardships of a tramp through this wilderness.
This “Carry” is the water-shed of the St. John’s and Aroostook Rivers, and passes over a succession of hills, through swamps, and wind falls.
Although one trip across is but two miles, a return for a second load makes four, and four trips carrying during half the time all one can bear on his shoulders makes sixteen miles, a fair day’s tramp in a country where not even a “spotted line” guides the traveler to his destination.
At the time of our appearance there, the ground after the recent rain was in a soft, soggy condition, which made the way slippery and tedious.
As we pushed forward loaded down with our traps, frequently did a misstep send one of our number “to grass,” and smother him among the articles which constituted his burden. Our progress, as Hiram observed, “was slower than cold molasses.”
For every step taken forward we slipped two backward, until the idea was suggested to us of turning about and walking in the opposite direction, that we might travel faster.
“Me fix your load for the ‘Carry,’” said Nichols to me, as I started off with what I supposed I should be able to transport without halting; “I show you how to fix pack.”
Stepping aside into the woods he cut from a cedar broad strips of bark, and passing them about my chest outside of my arms, fastened them to a roll of blankets on my back. On top of this he mounted my Tourograph, and held it in place by another strap across my forehead.
Like a horse being harnessed, I stood motionless, while he placed my rifle on one shoulder, my shot gun on the other, and hung to them an iron tea kettle, cups, and various other cooking utensils.