WAYS AND MEANS 



little of your burden, he will add it 

 cheerfully to his own, he appreciates 

 the thoughtful courtesies of the portage, — 

 himself practising them continually, un- 

 obtrusively, instinctively. There is an or- 

 der of precedence on both land and water, 

 determined by seniority or skill, but every 

 man leads as of right in his own country. 

 Where you are invited to go first, it is a 

 compliment paid, and to be acknowledged. 

 One who, crowding to the front, hears no 

 comment, must not infer that his manners 

 pass unnoticed. 



The good Pere Le Jeune once proffered 

 some odds and ends of advice to young mis- 

 sionaries joining the devoted land across the 

 ocean — advice designed to save them from 

 'getting in wrong' with the heathen. 'The 

 heathen' are yet with us, and these hints as 

 to conduct and demeanour have lost no 

 whit of their shrewdness and wisdom in 

 300 years: — 



'You should be prompt in embarking 

 and disembarking. . .and not carry either 

 water or sand Into the canoe. . . It is not 

 wise to ask many questions. . .nor should 

 you yield to the itch for making remarks 

 about the journey — a habit which may be 

 cultivated to an excess. Silence is a safe 

 229 



