Young Hunters 



open for health, one of our neighbors remarked : 

 "Oh! that's unnatural. It's well enough to 

 wash in a tub maybe once or twice a year, but 

 not to be paddling in the water all the time like 

 a frog in a spring-hole." Another neighbor, 

 who prided himself on his knowledge of big 

 words, said with great solemnity : " I never can 

 believe that man is amphibious!" 



Natives of tropic islands pass a large part of 

 their lives in water, and seem as much at home 

 in the sea as on the land ; swim and dive, pursue 

 fishes, play in the waves like surf-ducks and 

 seals, and explore the coral gardens and groves 

 and seaweed meadows as if truly amphibious. 

 Even the natives of the far north bathe at 

 times. I once saw a lot of Eskimo boys ducking 

 and plashing right merrily in the Arctic Ocean. 



It seemed very wonderful to us that the wild 

 animals could keep themselves warm and strong 

 in winter when the temperature was far below 

 zero. Feeble-looking rabbits scud away over 

 the snow, lithe and elastic, as if glorying in the 

 frosty, sparkling weather and sure of their din- 

 [ 189 1 



