IN CAMP AND CANOE 153 



this calm repose is a tumult of fierce moods. Here is a field for 

 action ! Bestir yourself and feel the ecstasy of latent nerve-power 

 roused. Man was made for noble efforts and deeds of high em- 

 prise. Would he experience the keenest exhilaration of which 

 sense is capable would he enjoy the dangers he dares, and feel the 

 buoyancy of the bark on which he floats let him take his place in 

 the canoe, and with each nerve tautened to fullest tension, and 

 every faculty alert and active, run the rapids that form the outlet 

 of the lake ! Here are rocks projecting, precipices overhanging, 

 fir-trees clinging to perpendicular heights, huge boulders piled in 

 midstream, walls contracting into gorges and ravines ; and through 

 its tortuous channel the river chafes and roars, piling its crested 

 waves in a turbulence of foam, leaping cascades, and shivering 

 itself in showers of spray. Upon the tide of its impetuous career a 

 frail canoe might shoot for an instant like a meteor in its flight, and 

 then vanish forever. A bubble would break as easily. But with 

 sturdy arms to guide, and eyes keen and true to foresee danger, the 

 peril becomes a joy ; and the little craft leaps and dances over the 

 feathery waves, until at last the precipitous banks melt into grassy 

 strands, and the dashing stream spreads into broad shallows that 

 laugh and ripple over pebbly bottoms." 



