PEPACTON: A SUMMER VOYAGE. 11 



full of it, to choose an illustrious example, was such a 

 man as Walter Scott 1 



But no such person came in answer to my prayer, 

 BO I set out alone. 



It was fit that I put my boat into the water at 

 Arkville, but it may seem a little incongruous that I 

 should launch her into Dry Brook ; yet Dry Brook 

 is here a fine large trout stream, arid I soon found its 

 waters were wet enough for all practical purposes. 

 The Delaware is only one mile distant, and I chose 

 this as the easiest road from the station to it. A 

 young .farmer helped me carry the boat to the water, 

 but did not stay to see me off ; only some calves feed- 

 ing along shore witnessed my embarkation. It would 

 have been a godsend to boys but there were no boys 

 about. I stuck on a rift before I had gone ten yards, 

 and saw with misgiving the paint transferred from 

 the bottom of my little scow to the tops of the stones 

 thus early in the journey. But I was soon making 

 fair headway, and taking trout for my dinner as I 

 floated along. My first mishap was when I broke 

 the second joint of my rod on a bass, and the first 

 serious impediment to my progress was when I en- 

 countered the trunk of a prostrate elm bridging the 

 stream, within a few inches of the surface. My rod 

 mended and the elm cleared, I anticipated better sail- 

 ing when I should reach the Delaware itself ; but I 

 found on this day and on subsequent days that the 

 Delaware has a way of dividing up that is very em- 

 barrassing to the navigator. It is a stream of many 



