2-982-333 - The Print Collector/Heritage Images

Lumbering in New Brunswick - Lumberman's Camp-house, [Canada], 1858. 'The lumbering business is the leading element of wealth in the province; and the sawmills, which are found collected at the mouths of all its rivers, as well as the building of ships, and the business of transportation to the mother country, give employment to a very large proportion of the population...The site for operations having been selected, a camp-house is erected and covered with the bark of trees. The floor of the cabin is made of small poles, and a sort of platform is raised for the general bed, which is composed of spruce bough, straw, and blankets...A party is usually divided into three gangs - one to cut down the trees, one to hew them, and another to drag the timber to the nearest stream. They begin work at sunrise, and seldom return to camp until evening, when their suppers are always enjoyed. They are ever cheerful and contented, and a more hardy, laborious, and active class of men than the lumbermen of New Brunswick cannot be found in any part of the world'. From "Illustrated London News", 1858.