IN A FISHING COUNTRY 



stand up in must carry you through from 

 day to day; where the going is hard — 

 rough and wet by turns — with slippery logs 

 and stones, streams to wade, thick brush to 

 be traversed, stretches of canoeing in be- 

 tween; there is a real difficulty in suiting 

 every occasion. Heavy water-proofed 

 leather to the knee is both hot and tiresome, 

 though some manage with it. Rubber is 

 unbearable. Lacrosse shoes are soaked at 

 once, but dry quickly; they give no protec- 

 tion to the ankle, and little to the sole; yet 

 these were long our favourite wear in a 

 bad country, and they are merciful to 

 canoes. For young light-weights, who can 

 afiford to be wet twenty times in the day, I 

 doubt if anything beats them, but the life 

 of a pair is barely a week. Middle-age 

 asks to be better shielded at all points, and 

 will not find comfort in what was de- 

 signed for town. On the whole it seems a 

 case for compromise: — a boot of horse- 

 or porpoise - hide to the middle of the calf, 

 with a water-proof tongue, stout catches 

 for strong leather laces, thick soles, a few 

 tackets on the very low heels and just at the 

 toe, otherwise soled with heavy rubber. 

 Nails, where the weight falls, are brutal 

 to a canoe. Equipped with Phillip's 'mil- 

 216 



