32 



NARRATIVE OP A 



the trees and bushes. On retracing our steps, we discovered 

 under a bank a little canoe, fastened to the roots of a tree. 

 The idea of making our homeward trip by water imme- 

 diately suggested itself; the canoe had neither oars nor 

 paddles, but the captain tore off the branch of a tree, to serve 

 as a pole. We now got into the canoe, which was barely 

 capable of containing two persons, and cast her loose. Our 

 situation much resembled that of the illustrious knight of 

 La Mancha, and his squire Sancho, when they got into a 

 boat to reconnoitre a water-mill which they had mistaken 

 for an enchanted castle. 



It required no small degree of address on the part of the 

 captain to navigate our little bark with his pole, so as to 

 keep her clear of the obstacles and dangers that surrounded 

 her. At one time she would come within an inch of dash- 

 ing her frail sides against a rock ; at another, she would 

 drift close under a bank overhung with trees, and bring our 

 heads in contact with the branches : now she would get 

 into an eddy, and, turning with her side to the stream, be 

 on the point of capsizing; and then perhaps we ran 

 aground, which obliged us to get out to push her off. At 

 length, however, the navigation of the brook was success- 

 fully performed, and the voyage brought to a close without 

 any accident. 



