CHAPTER VI

HINTS ABOUT BOATING AND CANOEING


The following rhyme was thought to be very funny when I was a boy:

"Mother, dear, may I go in to swim?
Yes, my lovely daughter;
Hang your clothes on a hickory limb,
But don't go near the water."

I must reserve for "Swimming" a good long chapter, but let me say in
all seriousness, before writing anything about boating, that every boy
should learn to swim before he undertakes to manage a boat, or even to
handle a raft. It is surprising at what an early age this most
essential art is acquired, and once learned, it is never forgotten.

It is better, if you are going a-boating, not to wear your Sunday-go-
to-meeting clothes. Any old clothes will do, provided they are not too
heavy. Shoes are always in the way, more particularly if you should be
sent splashing overboard.

A bathing suit, good for a swim or a row, can be made from an old
undershirt, with the sleeves cut short. An old pair of drawers, cut
off at the knees and hemmed will do, and these can be fastened to the
shirt by a light belt or buttons.