Preface to the American Edition. 255 



sheets or bands of paper did not really adhere, and 

 the water oozed between them after a while. The 

 proper gum to use for fastening paper so as to 

 resist water is simply a strong solution of shell-lac 

 in spirits of wine. I have a canoe at present and 

 two small punts which are made of thin wood, 

 lined with paper, applied with shell-lac. When a 

 leak shows itself, it is stopped at once with a bit 

 of paper and a touch of the solution, which dries 

 immediately. An English oarsman tells me that 

 for the last two years he has used bits of calico 

 with the same solution in an old wooden canoe, 

 which remains serviceable, thanks to the shell-lac. 

 One result of the voyage narrated in this volume 

 was the invention of a machine which is a punt by 

 day on the water, and a hut by night on shore, 

 large enough to stretch a hammock in. The 

 American reader will no doubt pardon an allusion 

 to these fancies, and believe them compatible with 

 serious work in other ways. If it is boyish to like 

 boating, in all its forms (as some grave and wise 

 men seem to imagine), I hope to remain puerile 

 yet a little longer. The cold sapience of age 

 comes on rapidly enough to all of us; and it is 

 not a misfortune to be able still to feel an irra- 



