The night before Christmas there will be a candle in every window
While we were unloading the pack of Christmas parcels fine snow began whispering in the still air and in a few minutes the outlines of the trees across the lake had disappeared in a white smother. Jack was moving fast now for he knew the signs. The engine roared and he swung the plane into the wind to take off to the north. We couldn’t hear his words, but we knew he was shouting “Merry Christmas” as the plane picked up speed and the propeller sent clouds of dry snow whirling back. In a few seconds he was lost to sight, but we heard the beat of his engine to the westward on its course for home.
On Christmas Day when we sit down to our dinner here faraway in the north woods we will be thinking of all our friends. And just before we begin Chief Tibeash will motion Hank and me to come to the door, as he has every year for a long time, and when he opens it he will lift his arms with his wrinkled brown fingers spread wide and say as near as I can write it: “Aslam nene-ti-une-non e-stays a-nouch-ke-se-cow!”—which in his language means “Come near our own brother today.” And so he speaks to all our friends, near and faraway, on Christmas Day.
Woodcraft Index
Page numbers listed correspond to the print edition of this book. You can use your device’s search function to locate particular terms in the text.
Animal tracks carving, 65
casting, 91
identifying, 201, 245, 251, 253
Arrows, blow-pipe, 219
Axe sheath, 117
Bathing, steam, 82
Beaver
dams, 113
house, 35
Bellows, 100–3
Bird
feeding, 37, 194, 255
houses, 70–71
migration, 110–12, 193–94
tracks, 65
Camp equipment bedding, 184–85
clothing, 259–61
cooking, 117, 134, 137–39, 171–72, 248
provisions, list of, 172–75
Camping in winter, 55–59
Candle
holders, 99–100
making, 267–68
Canoe
hauling, 152
paddles, 121–23
portaging, 132–33, 158–59
sails, 156–58
storing, 216
Carving, see Animal tracks, Models
Chair, barrel, 65–66
Clothing, 259–61
Compass
how to make, 141–42
how to use, 43–44
needles used for, 139–40
watch used for, 47
Dewdrop
formation, 145–47
microscope, 120–21
Direction, how to determine, 46, 61
Distance, how to measure, 45
barrel-hoop wheel, 46
Drum, 76–77
Dyes, 237–38
Feet, care of, 200–2
Fireless cooker, 255–58
Fires
building, 212, 217, 226–28
danger from, 178
forest, 163–65
First-aid equipment, 263
Fish
preservation, 184
storage in ice, 60
Fishing
flies, 72
rod, 64–65
through ice, 73
tricks, 182–84
Food
on the trail, 39–60
preservation, 184
smoked meat, 202–4
storage, 60, 160–62, 217–18
Frostbite, 61
Frost crystals, 249–59
Games, 233–35
Grass cutter, 153
Hammocks, barrel-stave, 153–54
Heliograph, 264–67
Hides, tanning, 224–26
Horn, 136
Ice boat, 245–47
Ice flow, 88–89
Ice creepers, 231–32
Insects, 148–51
Knife bread, 73
hunting, 73
sharpening, 115
wood carving, 115
Level, carpenter’s, 162–63
Lights
candles, 99–100
Logging, 93–94
Magnet, 140
Maple sugar, 68–69
Moccasins, 33–34
Models
animal, 115–16, 135
camps, 228–29
tools for, 74, 115
Mouse trap, 218–19
Oven
French Canadian, 124–26
Reflector, 189
Pets, wild animal, 235–36
Photographic blinds, 196–99, 237
Rabbitskin robe, 55–56
Radio, 238–43
Raindrops, size of, 86–87
Recipes
baked beans, 187–88
baked fish, 188–89
blueberry pudding, 200
griddlecakes, 258–59
Indian pudding, 75–76
waterfowl, 221
Saws, 73–74
Sled
dog, 222
hunting, 52–53
repairs to, 74
Sled dogs, 103
harness for, 224
Sling stick, 119–20
Smoked meat see Food
Snow goggles, 37–38
Snowshoes, 232–33
hitch, 232
Mal de raquette 32
Snow storms, danger from, 262
Stars, as guides, 61
Sundial, 167–68
Table, split-log, 99
Tanning see Hides
Tents, 175–78
Timber felling, 208, 210
Trail signs, 44–45
Vegetable garden, 104–6
Water, purifying of, 153
Waterproofing
flour and sugar bags, 139
matches, 124
tents, 179
Weather signs, 142–47, 244
Weather vane, 218–19
Whittling see Animal traces, Models
Wind gage, 31–32
Copyright © 1947,1959 by W. W. Norton and Company, Inc.
Introduction copyright © 1990 by Verlyn Klinkenborg
First Countryman Press paperback edition, 1998. Reissued 2017
All rights reserved
For information about permission to reproduce selections from this book,
write to Permissions, The Countryman Press,
500 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY 10110
For information about special discounts for bulk purchases, please contact
W. W. Norton Special Sales at specialsales@wwnorton.com or 800-233-4830
The Library of Congress has cataloged the printed edition as follows:
Rowlands, John J.
Cache Lake country : life in the North Woods / by John J. Rowlands : illustrated by Henry B. Kane ; introduction by Verlyn Klinkenborg
cm.
Originally published: New York : Norton, 1947. With new introd.
Includes index.
ISBN 0-88150-421-1 (alk. paper)
1. Natural history—North America. 2. Natural history—Outdoor books.
3. Outdoor life—North America. 4. Cree Indians—Social life and customs. [QH102.R7 1998]
508.713—dc21
98-14503
CIP
978-1-58157-491-3 (pbk.)
978-1-58157-492-0 (e-book)
The Countryman Press
www.countrymanpress.com
A division of W. W. Norton & Company
500 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY 10110
www.wwnorton.com
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