200 PLEASURES OF ANGLING. 



down the numerous rapids was intensely exciting. 

 It requires a quick eye and a steady hand to 

 run the chute in safety. But accidents are rare. 

 The Indian guides, who were born on the river, 

 are as familiar with every hidden bowlder and 

 every dangerous eddy as the denizen of the city is 

 with the pathway to his place of business, and 

 they take their canoes safely through channels 

 where, if directed by the uninitiated, they would 

 be inevitably dashed into fragments. As a rule, it 

 is perfectly safe to go where an Indian is willing 

 to take you. He has just that sort of discreet 

 courage which leads him to keep as far from dan- 

 ger as possible ; and he will never take his canoe 

 into waters he is not quite sure he can safely navi- 

 gate. I only once insisted that my guide should 

 go through a channel which he pronounced unsafe. 

 He obeyed orders under protest, wondering at my 

 foolhardiness and temerity. The result of the 

 experiment may have given him a favorable opin- 

 ion of my courage, but I am sure it depreciated 

 his previous estimate of my good sense. The 

 sensation was somewhat thrilling as we dashed 

 through the boiling cauldron, but it was purchased 

 at the expense of saturated garments and a half- 

 filled canoe. But for the almost superhuman ef- 

 forts of the faithful fellow we would have been 

 inevitably swamped, if not badly bruised and bat- 



