In other
words, to walk without snow-shoes would be utterly impossible, while
to walk with them is easy and agreeable. They are not used after the
manner of skates, with a _sliding_, but a _stepping_ action, and
their sole use is to support the wearer on the top of snow, into
which without them he would sink up to the waist. When we say that
they support the wearer on the _top_ of the snow, of course we do not
mean that they literally do not break the surface at all. But the
depth to which they sink is comparatively trifling, and varies
according to the state of the snow and the season of the year. In the
woods they sink frequently about six inches, sometimes more,
sometimes less, while on frozen rivers, where the snow is packed
solid by the action of the wind, they sink only two or three inches,
and sometimes so little as to render it preferable to walk without
them altogether. Snow-shoes are made of a light, strong framework of
wood, varying from three to six feet long by eighteen and twenty
inches broad, tapering to a point before and behind, and turning up
in front. Different tribes of Indians modify the form a little, but
in all essential points they are the same. The framework is filled up
with a netting of deer-skin threads, which unites lightness with
great strength, and permits any snow that may chance to fall upon the
netting to pass through it like a sieve.
On the present occasion the snow, having recently fallen, was soft,
and the walking, consequently, what is called heavy.
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