When this is done, paint the canvas inside and out, taking care to
paint under the frame, which can be removed if necessary. A second and
even a third coat of paint may be needed. Canvas covers should be made
for the aft and front decks, under which a small tent or camping
appliances can be carried.

In a canoe of this kind, fourteen feet long and eighteen inches wide,
three young American students made a voyage from the head-waters of
the Rhine to Holland and the North Sea. They made the canoe in Paris,
and carried it in a bundle to Switzerland. This vessel held a complete
camping outfit and provisions.




CHAPTER VIII

IF YOU CAN'T SWIM, LEARN AT ONCE--HELPS TO LEARNERS--CONFIDENCE IS THE
THING


Every animal, except man, can swim naturally on finding itself in the
water for the first time, for it takes a position nearly the same as
if it were on land and walking.

The physical structure of man, the lord of creation, is not so
favorably adapted for his making his way through the water, his head
being much heavier in proportion to its size than his trunk, while he
has to make an entirely new departure, in abandoning his customary