inches in thickness, with which they covered the roof. If suitable wood
for this purpose could not be found, the bark of trees was used, with an
occasional thatching of the long grass of the prairies. Logs about
eighteen inches in diameter were selected for the floor. These were
easily split in halves, and with the convex side buried in the earth,
and the smooth surface uppermost joined closely together by a slight
trimming with axe or adze, presented a very firm and even attractive
surface for the feet.

In the centre of the room, four augur holes were bored in the logs,
about three inches in diameter. Stakes were driven firmly into these
holes, upon which were placed two pieces of timber, with the upper
surfaces hewn smooth, thus constructing a table. In one corner of the
cabin, four stakes were driven in a similar way, about eighteen inches
high, with forked tops. Upon these two saplings were laid with smooth
pieces of bark stretched across. These were covered with grass or dried
leaves, upon which was placed, with the fur upwards, the well-tanned
skin of the buffalo or the bear. Thus quite a luxurious bed was
constructed, upon which there was often enjoyed as sweet sleep as
perhaps is ever found on beds of down. In another corner, some rude
shelves were placed, upon which appeared a few articles of tin and
ironware. Upon some buck horns over the door was always placed the
rifle, ever loaded and ready for use.

A very intelligent emigrant, Dr. Doddridge, gives the following graphic
account of his experience in such a log-cabin as we have described, in
the remote wilderness. When he was but a child, his father, with a small
family, had penetrated these trackless wilds, and in the midst of their
sublime solitudes had reared his lonely cabin. He writes:

"My father's family was small and he took us all with him. The Indian
meal which he brought was expended six weeks too soon, so that for that
length of time we had to live without bread. The lean venison and the
breast of wild turkeys, we were taught to call bread. I remember how
narrowly we children watched the growth of the potato tops, pumpkin, and
squash vines, hoping from day to day to get something to answer in the
place of bread. How delicious was the taste of the young potatoes, when
we got them! What a jubilee when we were permitted to pull the young
corn for roasting ears! Still more so when it had acquired sufficient
hardness to be made into johnny cake by