66 
FOREST A xN U S T R E A xM 
F'ebruary, 1919 
FREEDOM’S ARK— THE CANOE 
THE CANOEIST PROPERLY EQUIPPED FOR A CRUISE 
IS THE MOST INDEPENDENT CREATURE ON EARTH 
By FOREST HARLOW 
( ( '"T^ HE happiest animal,” to quote an 
old writer, “is, methinks, the 
snail; for he carries his house 
upon his back and abides for the night 
wherever night finds him.” But for a 
real “happy animal” commend me to the 
canoe cruiser, who in many particulars 
has it “all over” the snail. Briefiy ex- 
plained, the properly equipped canoeist 
is the most independent creature on 
earth. He not only carries with him, in 
the narrow confines of his craft, shelter 
and food, but the craft itself is of such 
order that it carries him safely on the 
water while he can carry it easily on the 
land. In it he can travel as fast as he 
pleases and as far as inclination urges 
him; his strength and the length of time 
at his disposal are the only factors limit- 
ing his efforts. 
As for a canoeing season, in its broad- 
est sense there is no canoeing season. 
Taking it by and large, the whole year 
is the canoeist’s season; if not in one 
part of this vast country, then in an- 
other, the canoeist may cruise from year’s 
end to year’s end. Even in those sec- 
tions where the seasons are sharply de- 
fined, the canoeist may pursue his sport 
from May to November with much en- 
joyment and little inconvenience except 
from wet weather, which may be en- 
countered at any time. Rain is merely 
an incident on 
a real canoe 
cruise, un- 
pleasant p e r - 
haps; but it 
can be so well 
prepared for, 
especially i f 
one has a 
decked c r u i s- 
ing canoe that 
it is a neglig- 
able evil. 
The canoe 
nas been scom- 
fully called 
“the poor 
man’s yacht.” 
Well, why not? 
You wish to go 
on a vacation; 
you would quit 
the city and 
its crowded 
streets and get 
out into the 
open; a month 
at a place 
where all you 
wish is served, 
as one might 
say, on a plat- 
ter, is entirely 
too expensive; 
camping out is 
monotonous to 
some people 
who crave a change of scene; a cruise 
at sea would be ideal but the cost pro- 
hibits that also, and a motor trip has 
the same objection. Be not discouraged, 
lovers of the Great Outdoors, it was for 
you and your ilk that the canoe was cre- 
ated and if you would realize your out- 
door dreams you have but to read on a 
little farther and learn what it means to 
go canoe cruising. 
I N this world nothing is obtained with- 
out money. Having indulged in that 
platitude, let us find its application in 
regard to canoeing. It is probably the 
cheapest form of recreation to be en- 
joyed. Naturally, a walking trip could 
be arranged at less initial expense, but 
with the present high cost of shoe leather 
it might after all be cheaper to buy a 
canoe; and the comfort of padding lazily 
on, close to the shaded banks of some 
wayside river, is immeasurably greater 
than trudging along the dusty highway 
beside the stream, carrying your outfit 
on your protesting back. So let us meet 
the financial side squarely and may be 
its terrors will vanish. 
The cost of the outfit can be arranged 
to suit the intending canoeist’s purse. 
The amount that must be expended to 
secure a really good canoe and outfit is 
not exhorbitant, and once obtained it will 
last for several years if a little care is 
exercised in keeping everything in the 
best of order. A trifling amount of 
money expended each year will pay for 
necessary repairs and combat the rav- 
ages of time and the elements. 
W HAT sort of people make the best 
canoe cruisers? That vast major- 
ity of people, who, having a small 
amount of leisure time, wish to make the 
most of it; who love the outdoors, and 
find their best enjoyment in a few days 
spent close to* nature, surrounded by the 
peace and quiet of the woods and fields, 
entertained by the rippling streams and 
the songs of birds at dawn and twilight; 
who wish to conserve their strength and 
vitality during their leisure time, instead 
of dissipating it; who know how to build 
up their health by natural means — not 
medicaments, but sunshine, fresh air, 
pure water and plenty of it, both inside 
and out, and sound, refreshing sleep. 
These people make the best canoe cruis- 
ers for they feel that by means of the 
canoe they are able to enter into their 
rightful inheritance. 
The boys just back from overseas will 
find in canoeing the form of recreation 
most adapted to their newly acquired 
ideas of life. The hours spent in camp 
life, tenting out under the stars, bivouac- 
ing by the open 
fire, up and 
away at dawn 
— these have 
wrought an 
unrest in the 
fibres of their 
nature that 
will make it 
hard to settle 
back into the 
well - ordered 
routine of 
business and 
of convention- 
al life. Canoe 
cruising is the 
ideal form of 
recreation for 
our returned 
boys; it offers 
all the freedom 
from conven- 
tion, all the 
good - fellow - 
ship of army 
or navy life, 
without its 
burdensome re- 
straint. The 
Golden Rule is 
the one law 
laid upon the 
canoe cruiser. 
To any per- 
son who wishes 
to get every 
By means of the canoe the Lover of the Outdoors comes into his inheritance 
