Chapter 3

The river off to my west had changed course. It now flowed more easterly, where before it had flowed southwest. It was also smaller, almost small enough to try a crossing. Another day or two, I decided. Just keep to my routine and enjoy the good weather while it lasted.

The forest had thinned somewhat, and the trees were mostly smaller. That was both good and bad; I could see farther, but if I had to climb a tree in a hurry I might have to sprint farther to reach one.

Start early, push ahead as long as possible. Find a place to stop late each afternoon. Clear a space for my fire, get one started using the shavings in one of my bags. Collect more wood, feed the fire, then build a shelter. Set out my traps before eating whatever I had saved from previous catches, supplemented with what I’d gathered during my day’s travels. Inspect my traps before settling in for the night. One of the pyramid traps had caught something large and aggressive. It had destroyed the trap, which was just as well; I probably wouldn’t have wanted to eat it anyway. I certainly wasn’t going hungry, and replacing the trap tomorrow would be simple.

A raccoon? No tracks, so maybe a bobcat or small coyote. But not a wolf, because this this wasn’t their preferred habitat. Too many trees, too many briar thickets prey animals could shelter in.

Back to my camp with the rabbit I’d caught, start it cooking, then begin work on my latest project. Travelers need to carry stuff, but when you find something useful you have the problem of how to transport it. My hands had to be free for carrying my spear and only a few items would fit into my pockets. Another consideration; bulging pockets would hamper my movements, and that could be fatal.

Net bags turned out to be easy to make. I knotted the strings together fishnet-style, with the vertical and horizontal strands about an inch apart. Small objects tended to fall through, but carrying things in the bag was more comfortable than stuffing them in my pockets. Weaving additional fibers and long leaves between the knotted strands improved a bag’s ability to carry small objects. The resultant hybrid was stiffer, almost as much basket as bag. I figured that at some point I would need both, so I made another fishnet bag with extra strings woven through the mesh. This produced a kind of coarse ‘cloth’. A drawstring closed the bag’s top and also served to attach the bag to my belt.

Everything I carried had to pass a needs test. Can I carry this with me, perhaps for long distances and not be exhausted at the end of the day? Will it be helpful in the future, or more of a hindrance now? As a result of that winnowing examination, most things got left behind. Even so, a flexible basket-like container now hung over my left shoulder, along with the net bag I’d tied to my belt. I held a wooden spear with a fire-hardened point ready in my right hand and my club hung at my belt, as did my knife and axe. The system wasn’t comfortable, but it worked. I got used to the annoyance, because my chances for long-term survival improved with every tool or weapon I made.

I usually had a bundle of strings and loose fibers ready when I stopped for the day. After my other chores were done, I wove the fibers into string. When I had enough strings, I twisted some into three-strand rope. At some point, I intended to try trapping larger game.

My daily routine had changed. Now, I kindled a fire late each afternoon from the coals in my clay-lined turtle shell. As soon as it was burning well, I built a lean-to shelter that faced toward the fire. It would protect me, but more importantly, it would help protect my fire. After building the fire, building a shelter, and collecting enough fuel to keep it going during the night, it was time to set up a fish weir if a nearby stream was suitable. I built the weirs from hammered-in close-set sticks. A wide, enclosed end was upstream and a smaller mouth-opening faced downstream, with two short inner ‘fences’. Fish entered the weir easily, but were unable to find their way out. I tied crayfish inside for bait.

I also fished, using small, sharp-ended bones with carved grooves around the center for gorge-hooks. Thin cords tied around the grooves completed the assemblies, and I made the hook-and-line sets in advance, coiling the strings around the bone hooks for travel. Setting them out was easy; just tie the remaining string end to a tree or pole, then toss the baited hook as far toward midstream, and wait.

I captured crayfish using a pole with a tied crosspiece for a rake. Braces added between the main pole and each end of the crosspiece stabilized it, and an added piece, tied parallel under the crossbar, made the device even more effective. The tool wasn’t pretty, but it was easy to construct and use. The crossed end went into the stream as far out as my arm would reach, and I held the crosspiece against the bottom as I raked it to shore. I usually caught several large—and angry!—crayfish, the larger of which I boiled each evening in one of the my turtle shells. The others got used for bait.

Bamboo-like canes, if present, made superior fishing poles. Angled cuts on the ends of the poles made them easy to stick into the dirt, and the lightweight, flexible canes allowed me to toss the baited hooks farther toward midstream. The poles usually resisted the pull of even a large fish, but some mornings I found nothing.

Traps set, shelter built, bed of green leaves waiting under the rear of the lean-to, a fire burning for cooking and protection; so ended my days. After placing my weapons where I could reach them easily, I ate a cooked rabbit or smoked fish, fresh or from the previous day’s catch. Rainwater was my drink of choice, but spring-water if it was available. River water, when that was my only choice.

As the light faded to dimness I lay down, and slept as much as possible during the night.

Some two months or so had now passed. I hadn’t bothered to keep an accurate count, because I had nowhere to go and nowhere to be. Very liberating, in my opinion! Just get up in the mornings (or not, if the weather was bad!), eat breakfast, and get on with my day. Make a final round of my string-loop traps and carefully pack away any unsuccessful ones, skin out a rabbit or two if I had caught any, and head back for my temporary home. Partially cook my rabbits, put out the fire, then head out. Elapsed time, no more than an hour ... not that I had a watch!