DWIGHT-WIMAN CLUB. 



57 



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the proper time — all hands being more or less fatigued, 

 having been up so early — for what Mr. Richard Swiveller 

 was wont to call ' the rosy,' one of the old timers anti- 

 cipated the general wish by asking to be allowed — that 

 is to say, in the language of the immortal Micawber, 



Soliciting that he should have the privilege of order- 

 ' ing the ingredients necessary to the composition of a 



moderate portion of that beverage which is particularly 

 "associated, in our minds, with the roast beef of old 

 "England. I allude to — in short. Punch." So the 

 lemons and sugar were produced, and the tin cups 

 ranged, the steaming kettle placed upon the hearth, and 

 presently the group, so soon to be separated, was drink- 

 ing farewell toasts. Hot water alone is not a cheerful 

 beverage, so the New Englanders qualified it with 

 lemon and sugar. The Canadians and Old Countrymen 

 mostly preferred a stronger mixture. 



One could not but be struck with the deftness of the 

 guides in managing their canoes, frail tottling craft that 

 a green landsman could neither enter, leave nor propel 

 without an upset. With what skill they keep the bal- 

 ance of the little boat, when the incautious passenger, 

 knowing nothing of his danger, gives a lurch to either 

 side, reaches forward, perhaps, to get his pipe, or puts 

 his hand behind him to adjust his back-board. This 

 the guides manage to do partly by adroit balancing of 

 the body, but largely by means of the constant grip re- 

 tained upon the water by their paddle, held at an acute 

 angle with the surface. But why do they use such 

 small canoes ? A not unnatural question. The answer 

 is simple. In making 'portages,' that is, in gorng by 

 land around rapids which cannot safely be ventured 

 into with a boat, or in tracking the forest from lake to 





