DAYS IN THE WOODS 



TOWARDS August or September, any man 

 who has once been in the woods will 

 begin to feel stirring within him a restless 

 craving for the forest — an intense desire to 

 escape from civilisation, a yearning to kick off 

 his boots, and with them all the restraints, 

 social and material, of ordinary life, and to 

 revel once again in the luxury of moccasins, 

 loose garments, absolute freedom of mind and 

 body, and a complete escape from all the petty 

 moral bondages and physical bandages of society. 

 To a man who has once tasted of the woods, the 

 instinct to return thither is as strong as that of 

 the salmon to seek the sea. 



Suppose then that you have determined upon such 

 a return and, with me, have arrived at the last house, 

 where Indians and canoes are waiting for us. Old 

 John Williams, the Indian, beaming with smiles, 

 shakes hands, and says, " My soul and body, sir, 

 I am glad to see you back again in New Brunswick. 



