This book is included in the Self Reliance Transportation section.
Introduction
Probably no vehicle or craft, so far devised by man, contains
in proportion to its weight such marvelous capacity for business
and pleasure as the canoe. Its only rival in lightness and carrying
capacity is the bicycle; but the bicycle is limited to one, or at
most to two, passengers, permits practically no baggage to be
carried, and is dependent for its usefulness on a road prepared by
man. A canoe of equal weight to a tandem bicycle will comfortably
carry three, four, or even five persons, or two persons
with ample equipment and food for several months of cruising in
the wilderness far from the haunts of men. It becomes shelter
or tent in an emergency, and it requires only the natural road of
river or lake, that great, flowing highway which was man's first
route to the regions beyond.
As bearer of those intangible, priceless gifts, pleasure and
health, even the tiniest canoe carries such cargo as rarely falls to
the lot of an ocean greyhound. For it is not too much to say that
perhaps no single implement of sport enjoys such reasonable certainty
that it will be used by many for simple, wholesome pastimes
out of doors, that it will stimulate many to beneficial exercise
under sunny skies, that it will bring its precious freight into
the very heart of nature, whence come the finest inspirations of
life.
Fortunately, the canoe is not a type of that "sport by proxy"
which thoughtful students of modern athletic pastimes are beginning
to question so critically. Nobody comes into the fascinating
range of a canoe's influence without desiring to take a
hand in managing the craft. Every canoe owner knows the
avidity with which guests are willing to exchange comfortable
seats among cushions for a bit of the strength-giving exercise at
the paddle. And few who have ever tasted the rare joys of handling
a canoe for themselves are satisfied with mere memories.
Not a few men who have tried every form of water sport end by
being thoroughly satisfied with the canoe. Some of the most
noted canoeists of the world are even graduates from the decks
of lordly yachts, who have learned that if one truly loves the
water the nearer one can get to it the happier one is.
The Americans, and by that we mean all the dwellers on this
continent, owe much to the canoe. First as the craft with which
the early voyageurs made their way up the Hudson, the St. Lawrence,
along the Great Lakes, down the Missouri, the Ohio and
the Mississippi, then to explore those wonderful rivers of our
own great Northwest, and the even mightier highways of water
in Canada and Alaska. Perhaps the conquest and the civilization
of this continent was advanced hundreds of years by reason of
the birch-bark craft of the American Indian.
Having served its day and generation so well as a vehicle for
trade and exploration the canoe has renewed its youth and now
promises' to become the most popular implement for sport and
nature-enjoyment so far devised by this or any other people.
Unless one is fully in touch with the facts, the statement of the
rapidity with which the canoe is coming into popularity, not
merely on this continent, but all over the world, reads like romance.
Where, twenty years ago, the use of the canoe was limited
to the real wilds, or to some few daring souls apparently in
search of the quickest method of suicide, it is to-day found everywhere
that men and women seek the joys of the open air, from
billowy ocean to tiny mountain stream. Clubs spring up over night
and build additions every year. With that enthusiasm characteristic
of the American people in matters of sport, the vogue of
canoeing promises to be one of the most interesting developments
in the wholesome athletic life of the people in which this generation
has been privileged to participate. Already the American
canoe has become one of the most popular features of the Henley
Regatta in England, perhaps the most important aquatic festival
held anywhere in the world; and the upper reaches of the Rhine
furnish Continental proof of the widening interest taken in this
strictly American contribution to the joys of life afloat. The
Sweetwaters of the Bosphorus and the sacred waters of the
Ganges, the blue Nile, the fjords of Norway and the lakes of
South Africa, the headwaters of the Amazon and the network of
canals which have made Venice the delight of artists for centuries
— all these places know and respect the light, fragile, buoyant
thing of life and beauty which the American of to-day has
learned to fashion from the patterns which the American of yesterday
handed down. If America had contributed no other gift
to the sports of the world, the modern canoe would entitle her to
a respectful ranking among all those virile people who have
learned that the spirited outdoor pastimes of any race are true
foundations upon which to build structures of individual integrity
and character.
Contents PART I Introduction Canoes of All Nations The Open, Cruising Canoe Decked Paddling Canoes Decked Sailing Canoes Canoe Cruising and Cruises Equipment for Canoe Cruising The American Canoe Association Racing Regulations of the American Canoe Association Hints for the Beginner How to Paddle a Canoe Learn to Swim—Canoe Stunts—Take a Camera—General Hints Sailing Canoes The Joys of Canoeing Concerning the Cook on the Canoe Cruise PART II Camping for Boys and Girls How a Camp is Conducted The Relation of Camp Athletics to Character Building Intellectual Recreation at Camp "The Long Hike" A Vacation Camp Care Necessary in Camp Selection A Boys' Camp with a Religious Environment The Real Aim of Camping How the Boys' Camp Movement Has Grown The Camp as an Adjunct to a Summer School Horseback Riding for Boys' Camps The Value of Camp Life for Girls Why Basket Ball is Especially Suitable for Girls' Camps Camps for Adults Athletics at Camp Camp Life Has Developed Many Prominent Athletes
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