EXPERIENCES & REMINISCENCES. 67 



Friend Brown is good at " hauling," and as Mr. Hopper had 

 done a tidy spell of it during his 1892 visit the latter sought a 

 little quiet and relaxation in the stern of the boat whilst Brown 

 did a bit of hauling on the bank. Things went well for a time 

 this was whilst the boat was in fairly deep water but when 

 the shallows were approached Brown called out from the bank 

 that Mr. Hopper was to bring her near in shore, and he 

 thought he would be able to get her (the boat) along inside the 

 gravel bed. Mr. Hopper thought not, and said so, but Brown 

 possesses the same spirit of independence in wishing to have 

 his own way which people who don't understand Mr. Hopper 

 in his case call by that nasty word " obstinacy." Mr. Hopper 

 accordingly brought the boat near in, and in about fifty yards 

 farther on it was " grounded." Brown tugged and Mr. Hopper 

 pushed, but all to no purpose the boat was fast and the extra 

 rise of water backed up by the tide was ebbing very fast. Mr. 

 Hopper in order to lighten the boat took an oar and leapt 

 ashore, and whilst Brown pushed the stem of the boat Mr. 

 Hopper took the hauling line and pulled like an elephant, and 

 the result was that twice the hauling line broke and Mr. 

 Hopper, after performing several acrobatic somersaults in the 

 air, found himself embracing Mother Earth. A council of war 

 was then held and a resolution passed unanimously that as 

 Mr. Hopper had performed so well upon Mother Earth, it was 

 incumbent upon friend Brown to perform in the water. Sentries 

 were then stationed at various points to give warning of the 

 approach of any of the fair sex, and then Brown, having appealed 

 to the gods and goddesses for protection, divested himself of his 

 garments nearly all, not quite and took to the water, and after 

 a Herculean display of strength managed to get the boat into 

 deeper water, and Mr. Hopper then sprang into the boat with 

 the assistance of an oar and left Brown, who was decidedly 

 muddy, to roll himself in what long grass there was on the 

 bank, like unto as a dog doeth when he be wet, before he 

 resumed acquaintance with the garments he had doffed. 

 Brown's rolling took a long time, for the grass was not long 

 .and many and prickly were the thistles that grew there. 



