OXFORD: THE UPPER RIVER 



Oxford, like Central Africa, has a strange fascina- 

 tion over her sons. Like Central Africa, too, she 

 offers a boundless field to observation and research. 

 A many-sided man may live in Oxford half a dozen 

 different lives, and keep them all distinct. But the 

 typical man, asked for his most pleasant recollection 

 of Oxford life, would probably reply, if he belonged 

 to the later development, *' footer," or "socker," or 

 " togger " (names he would trace to obsolete deriva- 

 tions), or, if he were a wag, "the proggins." One 

 can imagine the howl of contempt which would 

 greet such an answer as "the upper river." The 

 "smug's" river. What, by the way, exactly is a 

 smug ? Men belonging to other colleges would pos- 

 sibly suggest ^* a man." But that, of course, is 



no definition. 



Yet the upper river has a charm that is all its 

 own. The lower river is a training course ; it flows 



