My Boyhood and Youth 



roads of any sort, bareback and without rope 

 or bridle, guiding only by leaning from side to 

 side or by slight knee pressure. In this free 

 way we used to amuse ourselves, riding at full 

 speed across a big "kettle" that was on our 

 farm, without holding on by either mane or 

 tail. 



These so-called "kettles" were formed by 

 the melting of large detached blocks of ice 

 that had been buried in moraine material 

 thousands of years ago when the ice-sheet that 

 covered all this region was receding. As the 

 buried ice melted, of course the moraine mate- 

 rial above and about it fell in, forming hopper- 

 shaped hollows, while the grass growing on 

 their sides and around them prevented the 

 rain and wind from filling them up. The one we 

 performed in was perhaps seventy or eighty 

 feet wide and twenty or thirty feet deep ; and 

 without a saddle or hold of any kind it was not 

 easy to keep from slipping over Jack's head in 

 diving into it, or over his tail climbing out. 

 This was fine sport on the long summer Sun- 

 L98 ] 



