WOODCRAFT
The following section is made up of excerpts from the Woodcraft Manual
for Girls, 1918, by Ernest Thompson Seton, copyright by Ernest Thompson
Seton, and the Woodcraft League of America, Inc.; used by the kind
permission of the author, the Woodcraft League of America, and the
publishers, Doubleday, Page & Company.
TWELVE SECRETS OF THE WOODS
Do you know the twelve secrets of the woods?
Do you know the umbrella that stands up spread to show that there is a
restaurant in the cellar?
Do you know the "manna-food" that grows on the rocks, summer and winter,
and holds up its hands in the Indian sign of "innocence," so all who
need may know how good it is?
Do you know the vine that climbs above the sedge to whisper on the wind
"There are cocoanuts in my basement"?
Can you tell why the rabbit puts his hind feet down ahead of his front
ones as he runs?
Can you tell why the squirrel buries every other nut and who it was that
planted those shag-barks along the fence?
Can you tell what the woodchuck does in midwinter and on what day?
Have you learned to know the pale villain of the open woods--the deadly
amanita, for whose fearful poison no remedy is known?
Have you learned to overcome the poison ivy that was once so feared--now
so lightly held by those who know?
Have you proved the balsam fir in all its fourfold gifts--as Christmas
tree, as healing balm, as consecrated bed, as wood of friction fire?
Do you know the wonderful medicine that is in the sky?
[Illustration: 1 Indian Cucumber
2 Rock tripe
3 Bog potato
4 Rabbit
5 For Future use
6 Feb 2
7 Amanita
8 Poison Ivy
9 Balsam
10 (Sun)
11 Jack-o-Pulpit
12 Healing Healing]
Have you tasted the bread of wisdom, the treasure that cures much
ignorance, that is buried in the aisle of Jack-o-Pulpit's Church?
Can you tell what walked around your tent on the thirtieth night of your
camp-out?
Then are you wise. You have learned the twelve secrets of the woods. But
if you have not, come and let us teach you.
WEATHER WISDOM
When the dew is on the grass,
Rain will never come to pass.
When the grass is dry at night,
Look for rain before the light.
When grass is dry at morning light,
Look for rain before the night.
Three days' rain will empty any sky.
A deep, clear sky of fleckless blue
Breeds storms within a day or two.
When the wind is in the east,
It's good for neither man nor beast.
When the wind is in the north,
The old folk should not venture forth.
When the wind is in the south,
It blows the bait in the fishes' mouth.
When the wind is in the west,
It is of all the winds the best.
An opening and a shetting
Is a sure sign of a wetting.
(Another version)
Open and shet,
Sure sign of wet.
(Still another)
It's lighting up to see to rain.
Evening red and morning gray
Sends the traveler on his way.
Evening gray and morning red
Sends the traveler home to bed.
Red sky at morning, the shepherd takes warning;
Red sky at night is the shepherd's delight.
If the sun goes down cloudy Friday, sure of a clear Sunday.
If a rooster crows standing on a fence or high place, it will clear. If
on the ground, it doesn't count.
Between eleven and two
You can tell what the weather is going to do.
Rain before seven, clear before eleven.
Fog in the morning, bright sunny day.
If it rains, and the sun is shining at the same time, the devil is
whipping his wife and it will surely rain tomorrow.
If it clears off during the night, it will rain again shortly.
Sun drawing water, sure sign of rain.
A circle round the moon means "storm." As many stars as are in circle,
so many days before it will rain.
Sudden heat brings thunder.
A storm that comes against the wind is always a thunderstorm.
East wind brings rain.
West wind brings clear, bright, cool weather.
North wind brings cold.
South wind brings heat. (On Atlantic coast.)
The rain-crow or cuckoo (both species) is supposed by all hunters to
foretell rain, when its "Kow, kow, kow" is long and hard.
So, also, the tree-frog cries before rain.
Swallows flying low is a sign of rain; high, of clearing weather.
The rain follows the wind, and the heavy blast is just before the
shower.
OUTDOOR PROVERBS
What weighs an ounce in the morning, weighs a pound at night.
A pint is a pound the whole world round.
Allah reckons not against a man's allotted time the days he spends in
the chase.
If there's only one, it isn't a track, it's an accident.
Better safe than sorry.
No smoke without fire.
The bluejay doesn't scream without reason.
The worm don't see nuffin pretty 'bout de robin's song.--(Darkey.)
Ducks flying over head in the woods are generally pointed for water.
If the turtles on a log are dry, they have been there half an hour or
more, which means no one has been near to alarm them.
Cobwebs across a hole mean "nothing inside."
Whenever you are trying to be smart, you are going wrong. Smart Aleck
always comes to grief.
You are safe and winning, when you are trying to be kind.
WHEN LOST IN THE WOODS
If you should miss your way, the first thing to remember is like the
Indian, "You are not lost; it is the teepee that is lost." It isn't
serious. It cannot be so, unless you do something foolish.
The first and most natural thing to do is to get on a hill, up a tree,
or other high lookout, and seek for some landmark near the camp. You
may be sure of these things:
You are not nearly as far from camp as you think you are.
Your friends will soon find you.
You can help them best by signalling.
The worst thing you can do is to get frightened. The truly dangerous
enemy is not the cold or the hunger, so much as the fear. It is fear
that robs the wanderer of his judgment and of his limb power; it is fear
that turns the passing experience into a final tragedy. Only keep cool
and all will be well.
If there is snow on the ground, you can follow your back track.
If you see no landmark, look for the smoke of the fire. Shout from time
to time, and wait; for though you have been away for hours it is quite
possible you are within earshot of your friends. If you happen to have a
gun, fire it off twice in quick succession on your high lookout, then
wait and listen. Do this several times and wait plenty long enough,
perhaps an hour. If this brings no help, send up a distress signal--that
is, make two smoke fires by smothering two bright fires with green
leaves and rotten wood, and keep them at least fifty feet apart, or the
wind will confuse them. Two shots or two smokes are usually understood
to mean "I am in trouble." Those in camp on seeing this should send up
one smoke, which means "Camp is here."
In a word, "keep cool, make yourself comfortable, leave a record of your
travels, and help your friends to find you."
EDIBLE WILD PLANTS
No one truly knows the woods until he can find with certainty a number
of wild plants that furnish good food for man in the season when food
is scarce; that is, in the winter or early spring.
During summer and autumn there is always an abundance of familiar nuts
and berries, so that we may rule them out, and seek only for edible
plants and roots that are available when nuts and berries are not.
_Rock Tripe._ The most wonderful of all is probably the greenish-black
rock tripe, found on the bleakest, highest rocks in the northern parts
of this continent. There is a wonderful display of it on the cliffs
about Mohonk Lake, in the Catskills. Richardson and Franklin, the great
northern explorers, lived on it for months. It must be very carefully
cooked or it produces cramps. First gather and wash it as clear as
possible of sand and grit, washing it again and again, snipping off the
gritty parts of the roots where it held onto the mother rock. Then roast
it slowly in a pan till dry and crisp. Next boil it for one hour and
serve it either hot or cold. It looks like thick gumbo soup with short,
thick pieces of black and green leaves in it. It tastes a little like
tapioca with a slight flavoring of licorice. On some it acts as a purge.
_Basswood Browse or Buds._ As a child I ate these raw in quantities, as
did also most of my young friends, but they will be found the better for
cooking. They are particularly good and large in the early spring. The
inmost bark also has food value, but one must disfigure the tree to get
that, so we leave it out.
_Slippery Elm._ The same remarks apply to the buds and inner bark of the
slippery elm. They are nutritious, acceptable food, especially when
cooked with scraps of meat or fruit for flavoring. Furthermore, its
flowers come out in the spring before the leaves, and produce very early
in the season great quantities of seed which are like little nuts in the
middle of a nearly circular wing. These ripen by the time the leaves are
half grown and have always been an important article of food among the
wild things.
[Illustration: Wild Food--Plants
Rock tripe
Crinkle-root
Basswood
Slippery Elm
Wapato
Hog Peanut
Calopogon or Grass pink
Prairie Turnip
Indian Cucumber
Bog Potato
Jack-in-a-Pulpit
Solomons Seal
False Solomons Seal]
Many Indian tribes used to feed during famine times on the inner bark of
cedar and white birch, as well as on the inner bark of the slippery elm
and basswood, but these cannot be got without injury to the tree, so
omit them.
When the snow is off the ground the plants respond quickly, and it is
safe to assume that all the earliest flowers come up from big, fat
roots.
A plant can spring up quickly in summer, gathering the material of
growth from the air and soil, but a plant coming up in the early spring
is doing business at a time when it cannot get support from its
surroundings, and cannot keep on unless it has stored up capital from
the summer before. This is the logic of the storehouse in the ground for
these early comers.
_Wapato._ One of the earliest is wapato, or duck potato, also called
common Arrowleaf, or Sagittaria. It is found in low, swampy flats,
especially those that are under water for part of the year. Its root is
about as big as a walnut and is good food, cooked, or raw. These roots
are not at the point where the leaves come out but at the ends of the
long roots.
_Bog Potato._ On the drier banks, usually where the sedge begins near a
swamp, we find the bog potato, or Indian potato. The plant is a slender
vine with three, five, or seven leaflets in a group. On its roots in
spring are from one to a dozen potatoes, varying from an inch to three
inches in diameter. They taste like a cross between a peanut and a raw
potato, and are very good cooked or raw.
_Indian Cucumber._ In the dry woods one is sure to see the pretty
umbrella of the Indian cucumber. Its root is white and crisp and tastes
somewhat like a cucumber, is one to four inches long, and good food raw
or boiled.
_Calopogon._ This plant looks like a kind of grass with an onion for a
root, but it does not taste of onions and is much sought after by wild
animals and wild people. It is found in low or marshy places.
_Hog Peanuts._ In the early spring this plant will be found to have a
large nut or fruit, buried under the leaves or quite underground in the
dry woods. As summer goes by the plant uses up this capital, but on its
roots it grows a lot of little nuts. These are rich food, but very
small. The big nut is about an inch long and the little ones on the
roots are any size up to that of a pea.
_Indian Turnip or Jack-in-the-Pulpit._ This is well known to all our
children in the East. The root is the most burning, acrid, horrible
thing in the woods when raw, but after cooking becomes quite pleasant
and is very nutritious.
_Prairie or Indian Turnip, Bread-root or Pomme-blanche of the Prairie._
This is found on all the prairies of the Missouri region. Its root was
and is a staple article of food with the Indians. The roots are one to
three inches thick and four to twelve inches long.
_Solomon's Seal._ The two Solomon's Seals (true and false) both produce
roots that are long, bumpy storehouses of food.
_Crinkle-root._ Every school child in the country digs out and eats the
pleasant peppery crinkle-root. It abounds in the rich dry woods.
MUSHROOMS, FUNGI OR TOADSTOOLS
We have in America about two thousand different kinds of Mushrooms or
Toadstools; they are the same thing. Of these, probably half are
wholesome and delicious; but about a dozen of them are deadly poison.
There is no way to tell them, except by knowing each kind and the
recorded results of experience with each kind. The story about cooking
with silver being a test has no foundation; in fact, the best way for
the Woodcraft Boy or Girl is to know definitely a dozen dangerous kinds
and a score or more of the wholesome kinds and let the rest alone.
_Sporeprint._ The first thing in deciding the nature of a toadstool is
the sporeprint, made thus: Cut off the stem of the toadstool and lay the
gills down on a piece of gray paper under a vessel of any kind. After a
couple of hours, lift the cap, and radiating lines of spores will appear
on the paper. If it is desired to preserve these, the paper should be
first covered with thin mucilage. The _color_ of these spores is the
first step in identification.
All the deadly toadstools have _white_ spores.
No black-spored toadstool is known to be poisonous.
POISONOUS TOADSTOOLS
The only deadly poisonous kinds are the Amanitas. Others may purge and
nauseate or cause vomiting, but it is believed that every recorded death
from toadstool poisoning was caused by an Amanita, and unfortunately
they are not only widespread and abundant, but they are much like the
ordinary table mushrooms. They have, however, one or two strong marks:
their stalk always grows out of a "_poison cup_" which shows either as a
cup or as a _bulb_; they have _white_ or _yellow_ gills, a ring around
the stalk, and _white spores_.
Deadly Toadstools
All the deadly toadstools known in North America are pictured on the
plate, or of the types shown on the plate.
The Deadly Amanita may be brownish, yellowish, or white.
The Yellow Amanita of a delicate lemon color.
The White Amanita of a pure silvery, shiny white.
The Fly Amanita with cap pink, brown, yellow, or red in the centre,
shaded into yellow at the edge, and patched with fragments of pure white
veil.
[Illustration: Deadly Amanita
Amanita phalloides
Fly amanita
Frosty Amanita
Yellow Amanita
White Amanita]
The Frosty Amanita with yellow cap, pale cadmium in centre, elsewhere
yellowish white, with white patches on warts.
All are very variable in color, etc.
But all agree in these things. They have _gills_, which are _white_ or
_yellow_, _a ring on the stalk_, _a cup at the base_, _white spores_,
and are _deadly poison_.
In Case of Poisoning
If by ill chance any one has eaten a poisonous Amanita, the effects do
not begin to show till sixteen or eighteen hours afterward--that is,
long after the poison has passed through the stomach and began its
deadly work on the nerve centres.
_Symptoms_. Vomiting and purging, "the discharge from the bowels being
watery with small flakes suspended, and sometimes containing blood,"
cramps in the extremities. The pulse is very slow and strong at first,
but later weak and rapid, sometimes sweat and saliva pour out.
Dizziness, faintness, and blindness, the skin clammy, cold, and bluish
or livid; temperature low with dreadful tetanic convulsions, and finally
stupor. (McIlvaine and Macadam, p. 627.)
_Remedy_: "Take an emetic at once, and send for a physician with
instructions to bring hypodermic syringe and atropine sulphate. The dose
is 1/180 of a grain, and doses should be continued heroically until 1/20
of a grain is administered, or until, in the physician's opinion, a
proper quantity has been injected. Where the victim is critically ill
the 1/20 of a grain may be administered." (McIlvaine and Macadam XVII.)
Wholesome Toadstools
It is a remarkable fact that all the queer freaks, like clubs and
corals, the cranks and tomfools, in droll shapes and satanic colors, the
funny poisonous looking Morels, Inkcaps, and Boleti are good wholesome
food, but the deadly Amanitas are like ordinary Mushrooms, except that
they have grown a little thin, delicate, and anæmic.
[Illustration: Puffballs
Brain Puffball
Cup Puffball 2 stages
Giant Puffball
Oyster Mushrooms
Moose horn clavaria
Red tipped clavaria
Golden coral mushroom
Gyromitra esculenta
Delicious Morel
Beefsteak mushrooms
Inky coprinus]
All the Puffballs are good before they begin to puff, that is as long as
their flesh is white and firm.
All the _colored_ coral toadstools are good, but the _White Clavaria_ is
said to be rather sickening.
All of the Morels are safe and delicious.
So also is Inky Coprinus, usually found on manure piles. The Beefsteak
Mushroom grows on stumps--chiefly chestnut. It looks like raw meat and
bleeds when cut. It is quite good eating.
So far as known no black-spored toadstool is unwholesome.
The common Mushroom is distinguished by its general shape, its pink or
brown gills, its white flesh, brown spores, and solid stem.
SNAKES GOOD AND BAD
Snakes are to the animal world what toadstools are to the vegetable
world--wonderful things, beautiful things, but fearsome things, because
some of them are deadly poison.
Taking Mr. Raymond L. Ditmars[4] as our authority, we learn that out of
one hundred and eleven species of snakes found in the United States,
seventeen are poisonous. They are found in every State, but are most
abundant in the Southwest.
These may be divided into Coral Snakes, Moccasins, and Rattlers.
The coral snakes are found in the Southern States. They are very much
like harmless snakes in shape, but are easily distinguished by their
remarkable colors, "broad alternating rings of red and black, the latter
bordered with very narrow rings of yellow."
The Rattlesnakes are readily told at once by the rattle.
But the Moccasins are not so easy. There are two kinds: the Water
Moccasin, or Cotton-mouth, found in South Carolina, Georgia, Florida,
Alabama, and Louisiana, and the Copperhead, which is the Highland, or
Northern Moccasin or Pilot Snake, found from Massachusetts to Florida
and west to Illinois and Texas.
[Illustration: Types of Poisonous Snakes
Coral Snake
Copperhead
Moccasin
Pigmy Rattler
Timber Rattler
Diamond-back Rattler]
Here are distinguishing marks: The Moccasins, as well as the Rattlers,
have on each side of the head, between the eye and nostril, a deep pit.
The pupil of the eye is an upright line, as in a cat; the harmless
snakes have a round pupil.
The Moccasins have a single row of plates under the tail, while the
harmless snakes have a double row.
The Water Moccasin is dull olive with wide black transverse bands.
The Copperhead is dull hazel brown, marked across the back with
dumb-bells of reddish brown; the top of the head more or less coppery.
Both Moccasins and Rattlers have a flat triangular head, which is much
wider than the thin neck; while most harmless snakes have a narrow head
that shades off into the neck.
Rattlesnakes are found generally distributed over the United States,
southern Ontario, southern Alberta, and Saskatchewan.
How Does a Snake Bite
Remember, the tongue is a feeler, not a sting. The "stinging" is done by
two long hollow teeth, or fangs, through which the poison is squirted
into the wound.
The striking distance of a snake is about one-third the creature's
length, and the stroke is so swift that no creature can dodge it.
The snake can strike farthest and surest when it is ready coiled, but
can strike a little way when traveling.
You cannot disarm a poisonous snake without killing it. If the fangs are
removed others come quickly to take their place. In fact, a number of
small, half-grown fangs are always waiting ready to be developed.
In Case of Snake Bite
First, keep cool, and remember that the bite of American snakes is
seldom fatal if the proper measures are followed.
You must act at once. Try to keep the poison from getting into the
system by a tight bandage on the arm or leg (it is sure to be one or the
other) just above the wound. Next, get it out of the wound by slashing
the wound two or more ways with a sharp knife or razor at least as deep
as the puncture. Squeeze it--wash it out with permanganate of potash
dissolved in water to the color of wine. Suck it out with the lips (if
you have no wounds in the mouth it will do you no harm there). Work,
massage, suck, and wash to get all the poison out. After thorough
treatment to remove the venom the ligature may be removed.
"Pack small bits of gauze into the wounds to keep them open and
draining, then dress over them with gauze saturated with any good
antiseptic solution. Keep the dressing saturated and the wounds open for
at least a week, no matter how favorable may be the symptoms."
Some people consider whiskey or brandy a cure for snake bite. There is
plenty of evidence that many have been killed by such remedies, and
little that they have ever saved any one, except perhaps when the victim
was losing courage or becoming sleepy.
In any case, send as fast as you can for a doctor. He should come
equipped with hypodermic syringe, tubes of anti-venomous serum and
strychnine tablets.
Harmless Snakes
Far the greatest number of our snakes are harmless, beautiful, and
beneficient. They are friendly to the farmer, because, although some
destroy a few birds, chickens, ducklings, and game, the largest part of
their food is mice and insects. The Blacksnake, the Milk Snake, and one
or two others, will bite in self-defence, but they have no poison fangs,
and the bite is much like the prick of a bramble.
THE STARS AS THE CAMPER SEES THEM
(See Plate of Stars and Principal Constellations)
So far as there is a central point in our heavens, that point is the
pole-star, Polaris. Around this star all the stars in the sky seem to
turn once in twenty-four hours.
It is easily discovered by the help of the Big Dipper, _a part of the_
Great Bear, known to every country boy and girl in the northern half of
the world. This is, perhaps, the most important star group in our sky,
because of its size, peculiar form, the fact that it never sets in our
latitude, and that of its stars, two, sometimes called the Pointers
always point out the Pole Star. It is called the Dipper because it is
shaped like a dipper with a long, bent handle.
Why (_the whole group_) is called the Great Bear is not so easy to
explain. The classical legend has it that the nymph, Calisto, having
violated her vow, was changed by Diana into a bear, which, after death,
was immortalized in the sky by Zeus. Another suggestion is that the
earliest astronomers, the Chaldeans, called these stars "the shining
ones," and their word happened to be very like the Greek _arktos_ (a
bear). Another explanation is that vessels in olden days were named for
animals, etc. They bore at the prow the carved effigy of the namesake,
and if the Great Bear, for example, made several very happy voyages by
setting out when a certain constellation was in the ascendant, that
constellation might become known as the Great Bear's constellation.
Certainly, there is nothing in its shape to justify the name. Very few
of the constellations indeed are like the thing they are called after.
Their names were usually given for some fanciful association with the
namesake, rather than for resemblance to it.
[Illustration]
The pole-star is really the most important of the stars in our sky; it
marks the north at all times; all the other stars seem to swing around
it once in twenty-four hours. It is the end of the Little Bear's tail;
this constellation is sometimes called the Little Dipper. But the
Pole-star or Polaris, is not a very bright one, and it would be hard to
identify but for the help of the Pointers of the Big Dipper.
The outside stars (Alpha and Beta) of the Dipper point nearly to
Polaris, at a distance equal to five times the space that separates
these two stars of the Dipper's outer side.
Indian names for the Pole-star are the "Home Star," and "The Star That
Never Moves," and the Big Dipper they call the "Broken Back."
The great Bear is also to be remembered as the hour-hand of the
woodman's clock. It goes once around the North Star in about twenty-four
hours, the same way as the sun, and for the same reason--that it is the
earth that is going and leaving them behind.
The time in going around is not exactly twenty-four hours, so that the
position of the Pointers varies with the seasons, but, as a rule, this
for woodcraft purposes is near enough. The bowl of the Dipper swings
four-fifths of the width of its own opening in one hour. If it went a
quarter of the circle, that would mean you had slept a quarter of a day,
or six hours.
Every fifteen days the stars seem to be an hour earlier: in three months
they gain one-fourth of the circle, and in a year gain the whole circle.
According to Flammarion, there are about seven thousand stars visible to
the naked eye, and of these twenty are stars of the first magnitude.
Fourteen of them are visible in the latitude of New York, the others
(those starred) belong to the South Polar region of the sky. The
following table of the brightest stars is taken from the Revised Harvard
Photometry of 1908, the best authority on the subject.
THE FIRST TWENTY STARS IN ORDER OF BRIGHTNESS
1. Sirius, the Dog Star.
2. *Canopus, of the Ship.
3. *Alpha, of the Centaur.
4. Vega, of the Lyre.
5. Capella, of the Charioteer.
6. Arcturus, of the Herdsman.
7. Rigel, of Orion.
8. Procyon, the Little Dog-Star.
9. *Achernar, of Eridanus.
10. *Beta, of the Centaur.
11. Altair, of the Eagle.
12. Betelgeuze, of Orion's right shoulder.
13. *Alpha of the Southern Cross.
14. Aldebaran, of the Bull's right eye.
15. Pollux, of the Twins.
16. Spica, of the Virgin.
17. Antares, of the Scorpion.
18. Fomalhaut, of the Southern Fish.
19. Deneb, of the Swan.
20. Regulus, of the Lion.
OTHER CONSTELLATIONS
Orion (O-ri-on), with its striking array of brilliant stars, Betelgeuze,
Rigel, the Three Kings, etc., is generally admitted to be the first
constellation in the heavens.
Orion was the hunter giant who went to Heaven when he died, and now
marches around the great dome, but is seen only in the winter, because
during the summer, he passes over during daytime. Thus he is still the
hunter's constellation. The three stars of his belt are called the
"Three Kings."
Sirius, the Great Dog-Star, is in the head of Orion's Hound, the
constellation _Canis Major_, and following farther back is the Little
Dog-Star, Procyon, the chief star of the constellation _Canis Minor_.
In old charts of the stars, Orion is shown with his hounds, hunting the
bull, Taurus. This constellation is recognizable by this diagram; the
red star, Aldebaran, being the angry right eye of the Bull. His face is
covered with a cluster of little stars called the _Hyades_, and on his
shoulder are the seven stars, called _Pleiades_.
Pleiades
_Pleiades_ (Ply-a-des) can be seen in winter as a cluster of small stars
between Aldebaran and Angol, or, a line drawn from the back bottom,
through the front rim of the Big Dipper, about two Dipper lengths,
touches this little group. They are not far from Aldebaran, being in the
right shoulder of the Bull. They may be considered the seven arrow
wounds made by Orion.
Serviss tells us that the _Pleiades_ have a supposed connection with the
Great Pyramid, because "about 2170 B.C., when the beginning of spring
coincided with the culmination of the Pleiades at midnight, that
wonderful group of stars was visible just at midnight, through the
mysterious southward-pointing passage of the Pyramid."
Cassiopeia
On the opposite side of the Polar-star from the Big Dipper and nearly as
far from it, is a W of five bright stars. This is called the
_Cassiopeia's Chair_. It is easily found and visible the year round on
clear nights.
Thus we have described ten constellations from which the woodcrafter
may select the number needed to qualify, namely, the Little Bear, or
Little Dipper, the Big Dipper or Big Bear, Cassiopeia's Chair, the Bull,
Orion's Hound, Orion's Little Dog, the Pleiades and the Hyades; the Lyre
(later).
The Moon
The moon is one-fourth the diameter of the earth, about one-fiftieth of
the bulk, and is about a quarter of a million miles away. Its course,
while very irregular, is nearly the same as the apparent course of the
sun. It is a cold solid body, without any known atmosphere, and shines
by reflected sunlight.
The moon goes around the earth in twenty-seven and a quarter days. It
loses about fifty-one minutes in twenty-fours hours; therefore it rises
that much later each successive night on the average, but there are wide
deviations from this average, as for example, the time of the Harvest
and Hunter's moons in the fall, when the full moon rises at nearly the
same time for several nights in succession.
According to most authorities, the moon is a piece of the earth that
broke away some time ago; and it has followed its mother around ever
since.
The Stars as Tests of Eyesight
In the sky are several tests of eyesight which have been there for some
time and are likely to be. The first is the old test of Mizar and Alcor.
Mizar, the Horse, is the star at the bend of the handle of the Dipper.
Just above it is a very small star that astronomers call Alcor, or the
rider.
The Indians call these two the "Old Squaw and the Papoose on Her Back."
In the old world, from very ancient times, these have been used as tests
of eyesight. To be able to see Alcor with the naked eye means that one
has excellent eyesight. So also on the plains, the old folks would ask
the children at night, "Can you see the papoose on the old Squaw's
back?" And when the youngster saw it and proved that he did by a right
description, they rejoiced that he had the eyesight which is the first
requisite of a good hunter.
One of the oldest of all eye tests is the Pleiades. Poor eyes see a mere
haze, fairly good see five, good see six, excellent see seven. The
rarest eyesight, under the best conditions, see up to ten; and,
according to Flammarion, the record with unaided eyes is thirteen.
Vega of the Lyre
If one draw a line from through the back wall of the Dipper, that is,
from the back bottom star, through the one next the handle, and continue
it upward for twice the total length of the Dipper, it will reach Vega,
the brightest star in the northern part of the sky, and believed to have
been at one time the Pole-star--and likely to be again. Vega, with the
two stars near it, form a small triangle. The one on the side next the
North Star is called Epsillon. If you have remarkably good eyes, you
will see that it is a double star.
The Nebula in Orion's Sword
Just about the middle of Orion's Sword is a fuzzy light spot. This might
do for blood, only it is the wrong color. It is the nebula of Orion. If
you can see it with the naked eye, you are to be congratulated.
On the Moon
When the moon is full, there is a large, dark, oval spot on it to the
left, as you face it, and close to the east rim, almost halfway up; this
is the Plain of Grimaldi; it is about twice the size of the whole State
of New Jersey; but it is proof of a pair of excellent eyes if you can
see it at all.
[Illustration: SIGNS AND BLAZES]
Blazes
First among the trail signs that are used by Woodcrafters, Indians, and
white hunters, and most likely to be of use to the traveler, are axe
blazes on tree trunks. Among these some may vary greatly with locality,
but there is one that I have found everywhere in use with scarcely any
variation. That is the simple white spot meaning, "_Here is the trail._"
The Indian in making it may nick off an infinitesimal speck of bark with
his knife, the trapper with his hatchet may make it as big as a dollar,
or the settler with his heavy axe may stab off half the tree-side; but
the sign is the same in principle and in meaning, on trunk, log, or
branch from Atlantic to Pacific and from Hudson Strait to Rio Grande.
"This is your trail," it clearly says in the universal language of the
woods.
There are two ways of employing it: one when it appears on back and
front of the trunk, so that the trail can be run both ways; the other
when it appears on but one side of each tree, making a _blind trail_,
which can be run one way only, the blind trail is often used by trappers
and prospectors, who do not wish anyone to follow their back track.
But there are treeless regions where the trail must be marked; regions
of sage brush and sand, regions of rock, stretches of stone, and level
wastes of grass or sedge. Here other methods must be employed.
A well-known Indian device, in the brush, is to break a twig and leave
it hanging. (_Second line._)
Among stones and rocks the recognized sign is one stone set on top of
another (_top line_) and in places where there is nothing but grass the
custom is to twist a tussock into a knot (_third line_).
These signs are also used in the whole country from Maine to
California.
In running a trail one naturally looks straight ahead for the next sign;
if the trail turned sharply without notice one might easily be set
wrong, but custom has provided against this. The tree blaze for turn "to
the right" is shown in No. 2, fourth row; "to the left" in No. 3. The
greater length of the turning blaze seems to be due to a desire for
emphasis as the same mark set square on, is understood to mean "Look
out, there is something of special importance here." Combined with a
long side chip means "very important; here turn aside." This is often
used to mean "camp is close by," and a third sign that is variously
combined always with the general meaning of "warning" or "something of
great importance" is a threefold blaze. (No. 4 on fourth line.) The
combination (No. 1 on bottom row) would read "Look out now for something
of great importance to the right." This blaze I have often seen used by
trappers to mark the whereabouts of their trap or cache.
Surveyors often use a similar mark--that is, three simple spots and a
stripe to mean, "There is a stake close at hand," while a similar blaze
on another tree nearby means that the stake is on a line between.
Stone Signs
These signs done into stone-talk would be as in the top line of the cut.
These are much used in the Rockies where the trail goes over stony
places or along stretches of slide rock.
Grass and Twig Signs
In grass or sedge the top of the tuft is made to show the direction to
be followed; if it is a point of great importance three tufts are tied,
their tops straight if the trail goes straight on; otherwise the tops
are turned in the direction toward which the course turns.
The Ojibways and other woodland tribes use twigs for a great many of
these signs. (_See second row._) The hanging broken twig like the simple
blaze means "This is the trail." The twig clean broken off and laid on
the ground across the line of march means, "Here break from your
straight course and go in the line of the butt end," and when an
especial _warning_ is meant, the butt is pointed toward the one
following the trail and raised somewhat, in a forked twig. If the butt
of the twig were raised and pointing to the left, it would mean "Look
out, camp, or ourselves, or the enemy, or the game we have killed is out
that way." With some, the elevation of the butt is made to show the
distance of the object; if low the object is near, if raised very high
the object is a long way off.
These are the principal signs of the trail used by Woodcrafters,
Indians, and hunters in most parts of America. These are the
standards--the ones sure to be seen by those who camp in the
wilderness.
Signal by Shots
The old buffalo hunters had an established signal that is yet used by
the mountain guides. It is as follows:
Two shots in rapid succession, an interval of five seconds by the watch,
then one shot; this means, "where are you?" The answer given at once and
exactly the same means "Here I am; what do you want?" The reply to this
may be one shot, which means, "All right; I only wanted to know where
you were." But if the reply repeats the first it means, "I am in serious
trouble; come as fast as you can."
Totems in Town
A totem is an emblem of a man, a group of men, or an idea. It has no
reference to words or letters.
Before men knew how to write they needed marks to indicate ownership.
This mark must be simple and legible and was chosen because of something
connected with the owner or his family. Later some of the trades adopted
a symbol; for instance the barbers in the early days were "blood
letters" and were closely associated with the medical profession. Their
totem indicate their business and we have the red and white barber pole
of today. It was among the Indians along the West coast of America that
the science and art of totems reached its highest development, though
they have a world-wide usage and go back in history to the earliest
times.
Out of this use of totems as owner marks and signs grew the whole
science of heraldry and national flags.
[Illustration: Northern Pacific R. R.]
[Illustration: Salt Lake R. R.]
[Illustration: Santa Fé R. R.]
[Illustration: Traffic Squad]
[Illustration: Bell Telephone]
[Illustration: Pawnshop]
[Illustration: Liberty]
[Illustration: Army]
[Illustration: Druggist]
[Illustration: Ireland]
[Illustration: Woodcraft]
[Illustration: Navy]
[Illustration]
[Illustration: Sea Power]
[Illustration: Optician]
[Illustration: Union Pacific R. R.]
[Illustration: Islamism]
[Illustration: Skating]
[Illustration: Star Union Lines]
[Illustration: New York City]
[Illustration: Penna. R. R.]
[Illustration: The Power of the People]
[Illustration: Canadian Pacific R. R.]
[Illustration: Barber]
[Illustration: Scotland]
[Illustration: Totems Often Seen]
Thanks to the fusion of many small armies into one or two big armies,
that is, of many tribes into a nation, and also to modern weapons which
made it possible to kill a man farther off than you could see the totem
on his shield, national flags have replaced the armorial devices, and
are the principal totems used today.
But a new possibility has been discovered in modern times. Totems will
serve the ends of commerce, and a great revival of their use is now
seen.
The totem is visible such a long way off and is understood by all,
whether or not they can read or know our language, is copyrightable and
advertisable, so that most of the great railway companies, etc., now
have totems.
There are not less than one hundred common totems used in our streets
today. Among the familiar ones seen are the American eagle, with white
head and tail, the Austrian eagle with two heads, the British lion, the
Irish harp, the French fleur de lis, etc. Among trades the three balls
of the pawnbroker, the golden fleece of the dry-goods man, the mortar
and pestle of the druggist, and others are well known. Examples of these
and others are given in the illustration but any wideawake Woodcraft
Girl will be able to find many others by careful observation.
[Illustration: Christianity]
[Illustration: Mourning]
[Illustration: Electric Power]
[Illustration: Commercial Success]
[Illustration: "AFOOT AND LIGHT-HEARTED."]
FOOTNOTE:
[4] This article is chiefly a condensation of his pamphlet on "Poisonous
Snakes of the United States," and is made with his permission and
approval.