30 HILLS AND LAKES. 



held in contact the ends of the bark; these formed 

 the bow and stern ; tow, which had found a place in 

 fiie pack of my guide, was stuffed into the crevices ; 

 over this was poured melted gum. gathered from 

 around the knots of the tree we had felled, and from 

 cracks in the unsound trunks of others around us ; 

 sticks stretched across from side to side gave it shape, 

 and slim "staddles" laid lengthwise in the bottom, 

 gave it strength to sustain our weight. Paddles were 

 hewn from slabs, split from the .trunk of the tree we 

 had felled. Being all prepared, we launched our 

 homely vessel, and seating ourselves in the bottom on 

 a cushion of boughs, we shoved from the shore. 



" She walked the water like a thing of life." 



So long as we remained seated on. the bottom, it 

 was steady enough, but when, from our cramped 

 position, it became necessary to change our posture, 

 it required the skill of a rope dancer to preserve 

 our equilibrium, and prevent one's self from being 

 plumped into the cold waters of the lake. 



This sheet of water is most appropriately named. 

 Its outlines are peculiarly irregular, most emphatic- 

 ally ragged. Here a rocky bluff thrusts its long nose 



