New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1880-08-29
=. ROB ROY MACGREGoR. THE cANoEIsT

From The London World.
The destruction of the Kent was an important
event in his own life, and marked ny the posses
sion Of n very curious letter. This mssive. now
hanging up in Mr.. MacGregors drawlng-room, IL
merely half sheet OF note paper on when are SUN
legibe the words written in pencil by his father.
General Sir Duncan MacGregor, on board the Kent
on the LIST of March, 1923, s1Orty after the III
fated Indiaman caught fire. The note was lncI0sed
i'm bottle and on the of the greater part Of
the Thirty first regiment passengers, ana shlps
crew. was left in the cabin TO be east into the
sea by the explosion, when, long del4Yeu ny the
skill of her officers, finally destroyed the henc;
Nineteen months afterward the bottle, ncrnsted
with shells and seaweed, was picb ed up at Bath
sheba bathing place on the wese o. "a ba9ts
ana read the account Of the loss OF the Kent Not
the least extraordinary Giro unstance Is that the
yvriter himself arrived shortly afterwards at Barba-
docs as Eeutenant-cO0nel of the Ninetythlrd High
landers to find his letter. written while death was
staring him in the face, on ship on nre, Win hve
hundred barrels of gunpowder on DOar1: saIe ana
ierible. three thousand miles west of the Bay OF
Blscav. -, ,, r..
was the future canoelst lecturer, preacher, rlie
man, gnd organizer of successful s3cleiles, Hr.
John MacGregOr, whose voyages IN the Rob Roy
have spread his name over the civilized world.
BEING only few weeks old, he was helu 10 nave
the first claim TO place in the first boat, and was
saved together with his mother, ms fatner 1olow-
ing many hours later after difficult Journey alOhg
thp spanker boom, the descent OF rope, ana per
lions dron into boat. feat in attempting Yhlch
many persons were lost and injured. The baby
came home to England IN the brig cambria ana .l,l
grew up TO 20 to Cambridge, and proved one OF the
best oars in the Trinity boat to study law under
Chirty and other eminent Instructors, only 70
finally hang up, his WIZ IN hls pall9r 20 WIN
prizes with his rifle and to the world as 1t ap-
pears from canoe. fvt his friends say he only
wanted me spur OF poverty to supplement- sue
cessful university career by lucrative practice at
the Bar Be this as It NAV, his independence OK his
profession as O means OF livelihood decided nun To
reliuqulsh It, not from indOlence-rOr few have
worked and do work harder-but from conviction
80 N no world
and gown Almost every pursuit he has taken up
he has conducted successfully. Despite oil lncon-
venences however, Mr.. MacGregoE stands hrm on
the canoe question: declaring that the seated attl
tnde with the rest for the back TO lean against,
is Ie dernier mot Of independent boating. Canoe
ing is mmeasurably to be preferred to rowing. AS
the reformed convict told his master, who quoted
the proverb about honesty being the best policy,
have tried both, and nttnltely prefer the canoe
1t is the spine on when fatigue teIs inc one none
the spine which cannot be rested IN rowing. what
is the restful attitude of an oarsman covering
over his Oar-abOut as comIortless Apd Oh Iepose
as YOU can imagine. In the canoe, on the contrary,
one il perfectly at ease ali the while, and the low
position IN the boat gives immense comtoTt ana
power. Rowing, grant, Is sylfter for Day OF
two, but it cannot be practised on strange waters
alone and the sense of freedom depends on this In
dependence of aid from a coxswain.
The speater-than whom no man living is Oetter
ouaIifeo 10 give an opinion on the comparative
merits of oar and paddles "a tall man, with IRON
gray hair and mustache, and a hard wear and-tear
bered by superhuo1s weight His tongue mas inst
turned that Slight tnge of bonnie Scotland which,
like glimpse of purple heather recalls the memory
of the land of the mountain ana the nood. 10
Judge. not by past deeds but by present aspect, a
strong sinewy man, ready at any moment, despite
his fifty -four years eltherto breast mn SIDE OF o.
guide the Rob Roy through the seethnS rapids Oh
an unknown stream. Happily married within a fey
wears tc a lady Who like the Duchess OF Sutherland
Is an energetic canOest, John MacGTegor Is an ex-
traorinary instance of late con version to the mar
ried theory OF existence.