DAYS ON THE NEPIGON. 



of the woods that, like the sky and hills and 

 river, they seemed a part of it, and were the 

 aesthetic thing for the northern wilds, proper 

 and becoming. 



They were necessary when the Indian, the 

 pioneer and voyageur, were living off the 

 country, and there were thousands in the 

 making, scattered throughout the forest, 

 hanging on trees like Christmas gifts. The 

 builder had only to select the one he fancied, 

 and none save the choicest were taken. The 

 roots of the young spruce furnished thread 

 for sewing the birch sheets, cedar and spruce 

 the ribs and flooring, tamarack the cross- 

 bars, and there was pitch from the pine for 

 covering seams and preventing leakage. A 

 little juggling with knife and hatchet, a little 

 twisting and turning, quite a simple matter 

 for the expert, and lo, the poor Indian had 

 fashioned a beautiful canoe, buoyant, symmet- 

 rical, graceful and somewhat resembling him- 

 self, with its high cheek bones and complexion. 



Now the white man is making as good a 

 canoe, and one more serviceable, of pine or 



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