T
he oft-recurring question as to where to go for the outing, can hardly be answered at all satisfactorily. In a general way, any place may, and ought to be, satisfactory, where there are fresh green woods, pleasant scenery, and fish and game plenty enough to supply the camp abundantly, with boating facilities and pure water.
"It's more in the man than it is in the land," and there are thousands of such places on the waters of the Susquehanna, the Delaware, the rivers and lakes of Maine, Michigan, Wisconsin, and Canada.
Among the lakes of Central New York one may easily select a camping ground, healthy, pleasant, easily reached, and with the advantage of cheapness. A little too much civilization, perhaps; but the farmers are friendly, and kindly3 disposed to all summer outers who behave like gentlemen.
For fine forest scenery and unequaled canoeing facilities, it must be admitted that the Adirondack region stands at the head. There is also fine fishing and good hunting, for those who know the right places to go for deer and trout5. But it is a tedious, expensive job getting into the heart of the Wilderness6, and it is the most costly7 woodland resort I know of when you are there. You can keep expenses down (and also have a much better sport) by avoiding the hotels and going into camp at once, and staying there. The best way is for two men to hire a guide, live in camp altogether, and divide the expense.
All along the Allegheny range, from Maine to Michigan, and from [Pg 96] Pennsylvania to the Provinces, numberless resorts exist as pleasant, as healthy, as prolific8 of sport, as the famed Adirondacks, and at half the cost. But, for an all-summer canoe cruise, with more than 600 accessible lakes and ponds, the Northern Wilderness stands alone. And, as a wealthy cockney once remarked to me in Brown's Tract9, "It's no place for a poor man."
And now I will give my reasons for preferring the clinker-built cedar10 boat, or canoe, to any other. First, as to material. Cedar is stronger, more elastic11, more enduring, and shrinks less than pine or any other light wood used as boat siding. As one of the best builders in the country says, "It has been thoroughly12 demonstrated that a cedar canoe will stand more hard knocks than an oak one; for where it only receives bruises13, the oak streaks15 will split." And he might add, the pine will break. But I suppose it is settled beyond dispute that white cedar stands at the head for boat streaks. I prefer it, then, because it is the best. And I prefer the clinker, because it is the strongest, simplest, most enduring, and most easily repaired in case of accident. To prove the strength theory, take a cedar (or pine) strip eight feet long and six inches wide. Bend it to a certain point by an equal strain on each end, and carefully note the result. Next strip it lengthwise with the rip saw, lap the two halves an inch, and nail the lap as in boat building. Test it again, and you will find it has gained in strength about twenty per cent. That is the clinker of it.
Now work the laps down until the strip is of uniform thickness its entire length, and test it once more; you will find it much weaker than on first trial. That is the smooth skin, sometimes called lapstreak. They, the clinker canoes, are easily tightened16 when they spring a leak through being rattled17 over stones in rapids. It is only to hunt a smooth pebble18 for a clinch19 head, and settle the nails that have started with the hatchet20, putting in a few new ones if needed. And they are put together, at least by the best builders, without any cement or white lead, naked wood to wood, and depending only on close work for water-proofing. And each pair of strips is cut to fit and lie in its proper place without strain, no two pairs being alike, but each pair, from garboards to upper streak14, having easy, natural form for its destined21 position. [Pg 97]
Various Craft
The veneered canoes are very fine, for deep water; but a few cuts on sharp stones will be found ruinous; and if exposed much to weather they are liable to warp22. The builders understand this, and plainly say that they prefer not to build fine boats for those who will neglect the proper care of them.
The paper boat, also, will not stand much cutting on sharp stones, and it is not buoyant when swamped, unless fitted with water-tight compartments23, which I abhor24.
The canvas is rather a logy, limp sort of craft, to my thinking, and liable to drown her crew if swamped.
But each and all have their admirers, and purchasers as well, while each is good in its way, and I only mention a few reasons for my preference of the cedar.
When running an ugly rapid or crossing a stormy lake, I like to feel that I have enough light, seasoned wood under me to keep my mouth and nose above water all day, besides saving the rifle and knapsack, which, when running into danger, I always tie to the ribbing with strong linen26 line, as I do the paddle also, giving it about line enough to just allow free play.
Overboard
I am not—to use a little modern slang—going to "give myself away" on canoeing, or talk of startling adventure. But, for the possible advantage of some future canoeist, I will briefly27 relate what happened to me on a certain windy morning one summer. It was on one of the larger lakes—no matter which—between Paul Smith's and the Fulton Chain. I had camped over night in a spot that did not suit me in the least, but it seemed the best I could do then and there. The night was rough, and the early morning threatening. However, I managed a cup of coffee, "tied in," and made a slippery carry of two miles a little after sunrise. Arrived on the shore of the lake, things did not look promising28. The whirling, twirling clouds were black and dangerous looking, the crisp, dark waves were crested29 with spume, and I had a notion of just making a comfortable camp and waiting for better weather. But the commissary department was reduced to six Boston crackers31, with a single slice of pork, and it was twelve miles of wilderness to the nearest point of supplies, four miles of it carries, included. Such weather might last a week, and I decided32 to go. For half an hour I sat on the beach, taking weather notes. The wind was northeast; my course was due west, giving [Pg 98] me four points free. Taking five feet of strong line, I tied one end under a rib25 next the keelson, and the other around the paddle. Stripping to shirt and drawers, I stowed everything in the knapsack, and tied that safely in the fore4 peak. Then I swung out. Before I was a half mile out, I fervently33 wished myself back. But it was too late. How that little, corky, light canoe did bound and snap, with a constant tendency to come up in the wind's eye, that kept me on the qui vive every instant. She shipped no water; she was too buoyant for that. But she was all the time in danger of pitching her crew overboard. It soon came to a crisis. About the middle of the lake, on the north side, there is a sharp, low gulch34 that runs away back through the hills, looking like a level cut through a railroad embankment. And down this gulch came a fierce thunder gust35 that was like a small cyclone36. It knocked down trees, swept over the lake, and—caught the little canoe on the crest30 of a wave, right under the garboard streak. I went overboard like a shot; but I kept my grip on the paddle. That grip was worth a thousand dollars to the "Travelers' Accidental"; and another thousand to the "Equitable37 Company," because the paddle, with its line, enabled me to keep the canoe in hand, and prevent her from going away to leeward38 like a dry leaf. When I once got my nose above water, and my hand on her after stem, I knew I had the whole business under control. Pressing the stem down, I took a look inboard. The little jilt! She had not shipped a quart of water. And there was the knapsack, the rod, the little auxiliary39 paddle, all just as I had tied them in; only the crew and the double-blade had gone overboard. As I am elderly and out of practice in the swimming line, and it was nearly half a mile to a lee shore, and, as I was out of breath and water-logged, it is quite possible that a little forethought and four cents' worth of fishline saved—the insurance companies two thousand dollars.
How I slowly kicked that canoe ashore40; how the sun came out bright and hot; how, instead of making the remaining eleven miles, I raised a conflagration41 and a comfortable camp, dried out, and had a pleasant night of it; all this is neither here nor there. The point I wish to make is, keep your duffle safe to float, and your paddle and canoe sufficiently42 in hand to always hold your breathing works above water [Pg 99] level. So shall your children look confidently for your safe return, while the "Accidentals" arise and call you a good investment.
There is only one objection to the clinker-built canoe that occurs to me as at all plausible43. This is, that the ridge-like projections44 of her clinker laps offer resistance to the water, and retard45 her speed. Theoretically, this is correct. Practically, it is not proven. Her streaks are so nearly on her water line that the resistance, if any, must be infinitesimal. It is possible, however, that this element might lessen46 her speed one or two minutes in a mile race. I am not racing47, but taking leisurely48 recreation. I can wait two or three minutes as well as not. Three or four knots an hour will take me through to the last carry quite as soon as I care to make the landing.
A few words of explanation and advice may not be out of place. I have used the words "boughs" and "browse" quite frequently. I am sorry they are not more in use. The first settlers in the unbroken forest knew how to diagnose a tree. They came to the "Holland Purchase" from the Eastern States, with their families, in a covered wagon49, drawn50 by a yoke51 of oxen, and the favorite cow patiently leading behind. They could not start until the ground was settled, some time in May, and nothing could be done in late summer, save to erect52 a log cabin, and clear a few acres for the next season. To this end the oxen were indispensable, and a cow was of first necessity, where there were children. And cows and oxen must have hay. But there was not a ton of hay in the country. A few hundred pounds of coarse wild grass was gleaned53 from the margins54 of streams and small marshes55; but the main reliance was "browse." Through the warm months the cattle could take care of themselves; but, when winter settled down in earnest, a large part of the settler's work consisted in providing browse for his cattle. First and best was the basswood (linden); then came maple56, beech57, birch and hemlock58. Some of the trees would be nearly three feet in diameter, and, when felled, much of the browse would be twenty feet above the reach of cattle, on the ends of huge limbs. Then the boughs were lopped off, and the cattle could get at the browse. The settlers divided the tree into log, limbs, boughs, and browse. Anything small enough for a cow or deer to [Pg 100] masticate59 was browse. And that is just what you want for a camp in the forest. Not twigs60, that may come from a thorn, or boughs, that may be as thick as your wrist, but browse, which may be used for a mattress61, the healthiest in the world.
And now for a little useless advice. In going into the woods, don't take a medicine chest or a set of surgical62 instruments with you. A bit of sticking salve, a wooden vial of anti-pain tablets and another of rhubarb regulars, your fly medicine, and a pair of tweezers63, will be enough. Of course you have needles and thread.
If you go before the open season for shooting, take no gun. It will simply be a useless incumbrance and a nuisance.
If you go to hunt, take a solemn oath never to point the shooting end of your gun toward yourself or any other human being.
In still-hunting, swear yourself black in the face never to shoot at a dim, moving object in the woods for a deer, unless you have seen that it is a deer. In these days there are quite as many hunters as deer in the woods; and it is a heavy, wearisome job to pack a dead or wounded man ten or twelve miles out to a clearing, let alone that it spoils all the pleasure of the hunt, and is apt to raise hard feelings among his relations.
In a word, act coolly and rationally. So shall your outing be a delight in conception and the fulfillment thereof; while the memory of it shall come back to you in pleasant dreams, when legs and shoulders are too stiff and old for knapsack and rifle.
That is me. That is why I sit here tonight—with the north wind and sleet64 rattling65 the one window of my little den-writing what I hope younger and stronger men will like to take into the woods with them, and read. Not that I am so very old. The youngsters are still not anxious to buck66 against the muzzle-loader in off-hand shooting. But, in common with a thousand other old graybeards, I feel that the fire, the fervor67, the steel, that once carried me over the trail from dawn until dark, is dulled and deadened within me.
We had our day of youth and May;
We may have grown a trifle sober;
But life may reach a wintry way,
And we are only in October.
[Pg 101]
Final Advice
Wherefore, let us be thankful that there are still thousands of cool, green nooks beside crystal springs, where the weary soul may hide for a time, away from debts, duns and deviltries, and a while commune with nature in her undress.
And with kindness to all true woodsmen; and with malice68 toward none, save the trout-hog, the netter, the cruster, and skin-butcher, let us
PREPARE TO TURN IN.
点击
收听单词发音
收听单词发音 |
1
boughs
|
|
| 大树枝( bough的名词复数 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
2
browse
|
|
| vi.随意翻阅，浏览；(牛、羊等)吃草 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
3
kindly
|
|
| adj.和蔼的，温和的，爽快的；adv.温和地，亲切地 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
4
fore
|
|
| adv.在前面；adj.先前的；在前部的；n.前部 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
5
trout
|
|
| n.鳟鱼；鲑鱼(属) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
6
wilderness
|
|
| n.杳无人烟的一片陆地、水等，荒漠 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
7
costly
|
|
| adj.昂贵的，价值高的，豪华的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
8
prolific
|
|
| adj.丰富的，大量的；多产的，富有创造力的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
9
tract
|
|
| n.传单，小册子，大片(土地或森林) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
10
cedar
|
|
| n.雪松，香柏(木) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
11
elastic
|
|
| n.橡皮圈，松紧带；adj.有弹性的；灵活的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
12
thoroughly
|
|
| adv.完全地，彻底地，十足地 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
13
bruises
|
|
| n.瘀伤，伤痕，擦伤( bruise的名词复数 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
14
streak
|
|
| n.条理，斑纹，倾向，少许，痕迹；v.加条纹，变成条纹，奔驰，快速移动 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
15
streaks
|
|
| n.（与周围有所不同的）条纹( streak的名词复数 )；（通常指不好的）特征（倾向）；（不断经历成功或失败的）一段时期v.快速移动( streak的第三人称单数 )；使布满条纹 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
16
tightened
|
|
| 收紧( tighten的过去式和过去分词 )； （使）变紧； （使）绷紧； 加紧 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
17
rattled
|
|
| 慌乱的，恼火的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
18
pebble
|
|
| n.卵石，小圆石 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
19
clinch
|
|
| v.敲弯，钉牢；确定；扭住对方 [参]clench | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
20
hatchet
|
|
| n.短柄小斧；v.扼杀 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
21
destined
|
|
| adj.命中注定的；(for)以…为目的地的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
22
warp
|
|
| vt.弄歪，使翘曲，使不正常，歪曲，使有偏见 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
23
compartments
|
|
| n.间隔( compartment的名词复数 )；（列车车厢的）隔间；（家具或设备等的）分隔间；隔层 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
24
abhor
|
|
| v.憎恶；痛恨 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
25
rib
|
|
| n.肋骨，肋状物 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
26
linen
|
|
| n.亚麻布，亚麻线，亚麻制品；adj.亚麻布制的，亚麻的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
27
briefly
|
|
| adv.简单地，简短地 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
28
promising
|
|
| adj.有希望的，有前途的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
29
crested
|
|
| adj.有顶饰的，有纹章的，有冠毛的v.到达山顶（或浪峰）( crest的过去式和过去分词 )；到达洪峰，达到顶点 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
30
crest
|
|
| n.顶点；饰章；羽冠；vt.达到顶点；vi.形成浪尖 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
31
crackers
|
|
| adj.精神错乱的，癫狂的n.爆竹( cracker的名词复数 )；薄脆饼干；（认为）十分愉快的事；迷人的姑娘 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
32
decided
|
|
| adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
33
fervently
|
|
| adv.热烈地，热情地，强烈地 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
34
gulch
|
|
| n.深谷，峡谷 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
35
gust
|
|
| n.阵风，突然一阵（雨、烟等），（感情的）迸发 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
36
cyclone
|
|
| n.旋风，龙卷风 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
37
equitable
|
|
| adj.公平的；公正的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
38
leeward
|
|
| adj.背风的；下风的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
39
auxiliary
|
|
| adj.辅助的，备用的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
40
ashore
|
|
| adv.在(向)岸上，上岸 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
41
conflagration
|
|
| n.建筑物或森林大火 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
42
sufficiently
|
|
| adv.足够地，充分地 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
43
plausible
|
|
| adj.似真实的，似乎有理的，似乎可信的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
44
projections
|
|
| 预测( projection的名词复数 )； 投影； 投掷； 突起物 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
45
retard
|
|
| n.阻止，延迟；vt.妨碍，延迟，使减速 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
46
lessen
|
|
| vt.减少，减轻；缩小 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
47
racing
|
|
| n.竞赛，赛马；adj.竞赛用的，赛马用的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
48
leisurely
|
|
| adj.悠闲的；从容的，慢慢的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
49
wagon
|
|
| n.四轮马车，手推车，面包车；无盖运货列车 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
50
drawn
|
|
| v.拖，拉，拔出；adj.憔悴的，紧张的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
51
yoke
|
|
| n.轭；支配；v.给...上轭，连接，使成配偶 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
52
erect
|
|
| n./v.树立，建立，使竖立；adj.直立的，垂直的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
53
gleaned
|
|
| v.一点点地收集（资料、事实）( glean的过去式和过去分词 )；（收割后）拾穗 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
54
margins
|
|
| 边( margin的名词复数 )； 利润； 页边空白； 差数 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
55
marshes
|
|
| n.沼泽，湿地( marsh的名词复数 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
56
maple
|
|
| n.槭树，枫树，槭木 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
57
beech
|
|
| n.山毛榉；adj.山毛榉的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
58
hemlock
|
|
| n.毒胡萝卜，铁杉 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
59
masticate
|
|
| v.咀嚼 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
60
twigs
|
|
| 细枝，嫩枝( twig的名词复数 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
61
mattress
|
|
| n.床垫，床褥 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
62
surgical
|
|
| adj.外科的，外科医生的，手术上的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
63
tweezers
|
|
| n.镊子 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
64
sleet
|
|
| n.雨雪；v.下雨雪，下冰雹 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
65
rattling
|
|
| adj. 格格作响的, 活泼的, 很好的 adv. 极其, 很, 非常 动词rattle的现在分词 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
66
buck
|
|
| n.雄鹿，雄兔；v.马离地跳跃 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
67
fervor
|
|
| n.热诚；热心；炽热 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
68
malice
|
|
| n.恶意，怨恨，蓄意；[律]预谋 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
| 欢迎访问英文小说网 |