214 



AMERICAN HOMES AND GARDENS 



June, 19 1 3 



The slender canoe is roomy enough for reclining ease 

 as possible and strike out for it at once, as there would 

 otherwise be danger of becoming so numb that you would 

 be unable to retain your grip on the canoe and too exhausted 

 to get safely to shore. Years ago, when I was a boy, I 

 came very near losing my life in an accident of this kind. 

 The canoe I had was a very small, flat-bottomed, home- 

 made affair, which, one bitterly cold March day, swamped 

 with me in the middle of a small lake. I could have easily 

 swam the distance from there to shore, but as there was a 

 densely wooded swamp of about a quarter of a mile between 

 that and dry ground, I decided to wait until a boat from 

 the other end of the lake could come and pick me up. 

 The consequence was that before they reached me I was 

 so nearly frozen that I was barely able to keep my hold until 

 they got alongside and hauled me in. 



It is possible, while in the water, to upright and to climb 

 back into an overturned canoe, without again upsetting it, 

 but it is a feat that requires a good deal of strength and 

 skill to perform, even when one is in a bathing suit. If 

 one who knows little about swimming should happen to 

 get overturned some distance from shore the safest method 

 to pursue is to get it bottom-side up and pointed straight 

 ahead of one, when it can slowly but quite readily, be pro- 

 pelled in the desired direction. 



Another point in which a canoe is radically different from 

 a rowboat is that the. more weight it has in it up to its 

 capacity, the more difficult it will be to tip over. One ven- 

 turing out for the first time in a canoe will do best, unless 

 in a bathing suit, to kneel on a cushion in the bottom. 

 Canoeing, like bicycle riding, at first is a matter of practice 

 in keeping your equilibrium. Even those who are quite ex- 

 perienced occasionally get careless and find themselves in 

 the water before they realize what has happened. Such 

 being the exigencies of the art it behooves the beginner to 

 proceed with care. While the person who is doing the pad- 

 dling ordinarily sits in the stern seat of the canoe, in rough 

 weather or in windy weather, he may find it necessary to 

 occupy the middle or even the bow to prevent the wind from 

 swinging him out of his course. 



The art of paddling is not one which can be readily com- 

 municated by word of mouth. The first knack to acquire 

 of course is that of maintaining your balance while occupy- 

 ing the rear seat, and without anyone else in the boat. The 

 second is to be able to propel it in a straight line ahead, 

 without having to change the paddle from one side to the 

 other. This is done by giving the paddle a gradual twist 

 toward the end of the stroke so that the blade comes out 

 of the water at right angles to the direction in which it 

 is put in. Many people prefer to use the stern seat and 

 a long paddle, and the "long, swinging strokes," which one 



occasionally reads about in a novel or short story. As a 

 matter of fact, however, the Indians use a short paddle and 

 a rather short, quick stroke, most of the actual propelling 

 force being given from the body muscles rather than from 

 the arms and shoulders, and a further advantage of which 

 is that there is less loss of momentum between strokes. 

 Anyone who has occasion to make canoe trips of several 

 hours' duration at a time will find it well worth while to 

 practice this short stroke. 



I have mentioned my friend who has sometimes gone on 

 canoeing trips for some weeks at a time. It is possible, 

 however, to get a taste of the pleasures and other qualities 

 of camp life without such an extended course in them. An 

 ideal way of taking a vacation of from two or three days to a 

 week is to plan a canoe trip down some river which passes 

 through your vicinity. The requisite outfit for a trip of this 

 kind can be gotten together without much trouble or ex- 

 pense, especially if one of the party has a small tent already 

 on band, and a few rubber blankets can be included, as it 

 is always pretty certain to rain pitchforks when anything of 

 this kind is undertaken. There is a love of uncertain ad- 

 venture still inherent in most of us that makes a little out- 

 of-the-ordinary campaign of this sort most thoroughly en- 

 joyable. Things are quite sure not to go exactly as planned, 

 and therein lies the biggest factor of entertainment, for it is 

 in coping with and overcoming the unexpected and un- 

 planned for that we find the most gratifying outlet for such 

 ingenuity as we may possess. For those planning a trip of 

 this kind I have one final word of caution, and that is to 

 dispense with every pound of outfit possible. There will be a 

 great deal of difference in the weight of the packs the bright 

 sunny morning that you carry them down to the canoe and 

 three or four afternoons later, when, after a long day's trip, 

 you may find it necessary to carry everything a half mile 

 or so around a dam or stony bit of river before you can 

 find a suitable spot in which to make camp for the night. 



Canoe-sailing is another fine recreation for those who 

 want something a little more exciting than weilding the 

 paddle. Unless the canoe is so fitted that a small center 

 board may be attached when desired, it will not be possible 

 to do much real sailing in the sense of tacking back and 

 forth. Nevertheless, when going in the general direction 

 of the wind, a very good speed is obtained, which the small- 

 ness and unstableness of the craft make all the more excit- 

 ing. As to a general means of getting about on rivers and 

 small lakes, in my opinion there is no comparison between a 

 canoe and a rowboat. For use in getting across the water, 

 for going on little trips, or for taking out a friend or two 

 to see the beauty of our waterways, anyone who has ever 



The canoe can use a bank for a landing station 



