It not unfrequently happens that pigs, when the settler is fortunate enough to have any, are apt to cause much mischief among the young canes or maize plants. To prevent them from doing so, prepare a good number of “hogs’ cravats” from stout forked sticks, as shown in the annexed illustration, put them on, and a fence of very moderate strength will keep the pilferers out effectually.
Many descriptions of trees will be found on which the branches grow in a species of crown at each joint of the trunk. The holly and some kinds of pines are familiar examples, and are commonly found in this country. From a piece of the main stem of a young tree of a suitable size, a contrivance called a “supple jack” can be made by cutting off the radiating branches to a convenient length, removing all the bark, and then pointing each projecting spine like a skewer. When the jack is hung up by its small end it forms a most convenient contrivance from which to suspend dead game, fish, or odds and ends. To hang a bird to the jack pass one of the pointed hooks up through the angular space between the lower mandible, and bring it out at the beak. A fish is best suspended by entering the hook at one of the gill covers, and bringing it out of the mouth; hares or rabbits by passing one hind leg through a space formed by cutting a slit behind the back tendon of the other. The legs thus form a loop to slip over one of the hooks of the jack. The foregoing illustration shows the jack in use. Saddle rests, wall and tent pole hooks, &c., can be made from knee, elbow, or hooked branches of trees. They can be attached to any fixed point either by the use of treenails or lashing, as shown in the preceding illustration.
The maple and some other kinds of trees are not unfrequently found with large projecting excrescences growing on their trunks; these, when carefully chopped off with the axe, will be found to have a hard, dense crust or shell next the bark, whilst the main body of the wood is soft and easily scooped out. From these abnormal growths excellent bowls may be made. Some of them are sufficiently large to admit of vessels capable of containing from eight to ten gallons being made from them. Very excellent platters or shallow trays can be obtained from the same source.
CHAPTER VII.
SLEDGES AND SLEDGE TRAVELLING.
The use of the sledge in some of its various forms is general throughout the greater portion of the known world. The northern regions may, however, be fairly considered the great field for the performance of sledging operations. Men, animals of various kinds, and the wind are all at times made available as means of applying either traction power or propulsion to the sledge; and as the build and rig of ships and boats are found to vary according to the seas they are sailed over, and the requirements of those who sail in them, so will sledges differ in form, size, capacity, weight, and the material from which they are constructed according to the nature of the climate and country they are used in. The far north, and in regions where long and rigid winters lock the earth, the rivers, lakes, and even at times the sea itself, in ice, and covers the whole with a thick mantle of snow, such travelling would be next to impossible, without the aid of the sledge, which, although apparently simple in design, requires much care and judgment to construct successfully.