INTERSCHOLASTIC SPORT]

The annual meet of the American Canoe Association, which is now in
progress on Lake Champlain, is decidedly the most important sporting
event of the year to canoe lovers. For the past week hundreds of
enthusiasts have been paddling and sailing and racing off Bluff Point,
and every known kind of canoe has been seen on the water. It is only
twenty-five years since canoeing as a sport found favor in this country,
but since then it has grown steadily, and now there are canoe clubs in
every State. Although the canoe, both as a paddling and a sailing craft,
is distinctly American in its origin, it is a fact, nevertheless, that
canoe cruising and the sport of canoe sailing were introduced from
England. About thirty years ago a Scotchman named John MacGregor built a
canoe, which he called the _Rob Roy_. It resembled an Esquimau kayak,
being low and narrow and decked all over, except for a narrow space in
the middle. It had a small lateen-sail, but the mode of propulsion used
most by MacGregor was his two-bladed paddle. In this queer little boat
he explored many of the waters of Great Britain, and cruised extensively
in Holland, Germany, Norway, and Sweden, meeting with many adventures,
an account of which he afterwards published under the title of _A
Thousand Miles in the Rob Roy Canoe_. He has also written several other
interesting accounts of other trips. The most delightful account ever
written of a canoe cruise, however, is Stevenson's _Inland Journey_. Any
young man who has the slightest inclination toward the sail and the
paddle will surely take them up with enthusiasm after reading these
books.

The choice of a craft is always difficult, especially to one who has had
little or no experience in canoeing. I told last week how an inexpensive
canoe might be built of canvas, but for cruising purposes a boat made of
wood is necessary. It is taken for granted that any one who can afford
the time for a cruise can also afford the money to purchase a suitable
craft for his journey. A good cedar canoe nowadays costs from $80 to
$150, but boats made of less-expensive woods may be had for as little as
$30. The building of these light canoes has become such a big business
that there are over fifty varieties made now where there were only half
a dozen fifteen years ago. But in spite of all the varieties there are
only about three classes--the racing-canoe, the paddling canoe, and the
cruising canoe--which use