ery bark. By
means of his sharp hunting-knife he "girdled" this tree near the ground,
and then higher up, so that the length between the two "girdlings," or
circular cuttings, was about four feet. He then made a longitudinal
incision by drawing the point of his knife from one circle to the other.
This done he inserted the blade under the bark, and peeled it off, as he
would have taken the skin from a buffalo. The tree was a foot in
diameter, consequently the bark, when stripped off and spread flat, was
about three feet in width; for you must remember that the circumference
of a circle or a cylinder is always about three times the length of its
diameter, and therefore a tree is three times as much "_round_" as it is
"_through_."

They now returned to the camp-fire, taking along with them the piece of
bark that had been cut off. This was spread out, though not quite flat,
still leaving it somewhat curved. The convex side, that which had lain
towards the tree, was now blackened with pulverized charcoal, which
Norman had directed Basil to prepare for the purpose; and to the bark at
one end was fastened a stake or shaft. Nothing more remained but to fix
this stake in the canoe, in an upright position near the bow, and in
such a way that the bottom of the piece of bark would be upon a level
with the seats, with its hollow side looking forward. It would thus form
a screen, and prevent those in the canoe from being seen by any creature
that might be ahead.

When all this had been arranged, Norman shouldered the axe, and again
walked off into the woods. This time his object was to obtain a quantity
of "knots" of the pitch-pine (_Pinus rigida_), which he knew would most
likely be found in such a situation. The tree was soon discovered, and
pointed out to Francois, who accompanied him as before. Francois saw
that it was a tree of about fifty feet in height, and a foot in diameter
at its base. Its bark was thick, very dark in the colour, and full of
cracks or fissures. Its leaves, or "needles," were about three inches
long, and grew in threes, each three forming a little bunch, bound
together at its base by a brownish sheath.

These bunches, in botanical language, are termed "fasciles." The cones
were somewhat shorter than the leaves, nearly the shape of eggs, and
clustered together in threes and fours. Francois noticed that the tree
was thickly branched, and therefore there are many knots in the wood.
For this reason it is not