k pole between two enormous wheels some seven or eight feet
in diameter. Above these wheels a very strong iron arch is fastened,
provided with heavy chains, by means of which and with the aid of an
iron crowbar, used as a lever, almost any weight of timber can be
raised from the ground. The apparatus is called a 'jinka.' The men
engaged in the work sit upon the pole with the greatest _sangfroid_ as
it goes bumping and crashing through the forest, striking up against
big trees, or knocking down small ones; sometimes one wheel and
sometimes another high on the top of a stump, or sometimes both wheels
firmly fixed in one of the numerous deep holes. The scene was
altogether most picturesque, as well as interesting; and it must be
remembered that the top of each stump was larger than the surface of a
large dining-table. The trees were from eighty to one hundred feet in
height, all their branches springing from near the summit, so that the
shadows cast were quite different from those one is accustomed to see
in an ordinary wood. The day was brilliant, the sun shining brightly,
and the blue sky relieved by a few white fleecy clouds moving softly
before a gentle air. The timber-cutters were of fine physique, with
brawny limbs and sunburnt faces.

We watched the adventures of one enormous log. A team of fourteen
horses were yoked to a strong chain attached by large hooks to a trunk
of such vast proportions that it seemed as if all the king's horses
and all the king's men could never make it stir an inch. Twice the
effort was made, and twice it failed. First, the hooks slipped off the
end, and as the horses were pulling and tugging with all their might,
directly the weight was removed away they went helter-skelter down the
steep hill, up which they had just climbed with so much difficulty,
being utterly unable to stop themselves on the steep slippery ground.
Next time the chain broke as the horses were straining every muscle,
and the same tantalising process was repeated with even more striking
effect. The whole of the long team of the fifteen horses (for they had
added another this time) became hopelessly entangled, two of the poor
animals either falling or getting hampered and knocked down in their
headlong gallop. The third time the log was got into position; the
'jinka,' with only one horse attached to it, was brought close, the
pole was lowered, and the levers applied with such force that they not
only raised the log but ver