The star. (Reynoldsville, Pa.) 1892-1946, 1907-08-28

A fanciful writer has developed the
theory that II is easier than 1t was
a hundred years ago to find solitude
in civilized countries. Then agri-
cultursts ranged naturally over the
great spaces; now the traffic OF life
keeps to the prescribed routes. The
writer made no allowance for the fact
that the tourist, with sense of ma
tural beauty more consciously culti-
waited than ever before, has rushed in
where the agrlculturists has ceased to
tread. The tourist calls grand"
what his ancestor of the eighteenth
century called Savage" and 1t Is
unjust 20 his enterprise to say that
he does not wander far from the rail
ways. The rucksack, though 1t has
not yet won the place in our esteem
It will have one day, has already en-
abled thousands of Englishmen in
their own country to become inde-
pendent of every means of transport.
But even In a ruSksack you cannot
carry bed, and the present writer
(who would promise that he Is not
averse to a reasonable comfort) has
learned from experience a method of
making the most romantic solitude
habitable The secret, which Is ap-
plicable only to estuaries, rivers and
lakes, lies in the use OF beamy boat
as headquarters. A boat between fif-
| teen and twenty tons does very well.
| II orderly habits be observed-if, for
instance, you do not eat your break
| do not turn in at night before the
dinner things are washed up-it will
| be found that there is more room in
| such a boat than In many cottages
| the bulk OF which is a hundred times
| greater. The architectural problem
of admitting many cupboards into
small buildings was solved ages ago
by naval architects, though 1t still
puzzles us on land, where we lave
been less hotly pressed by necessity.
The Incompatible advantage of a
boat is that it can be moved from
place to place. Even II 1t be hulk
without sails Il can be towed. The
most convenient cottage ever built
remains in the same place.
The boat was lying In creek on
the Norfolk coast, secure from the
highest wind that a winter night
could bring. To be truthful, the high
tide just Tapped her sides without
making her float. The sensation oi
hearing a gale blow outside room
/ where the curtains are drawn and
the fire burns bright has become 6
kind of traditional satisfaction, cele
brated for us everywhere in litera
ture. But to those who are bad sail
ors, at all events, there is still more
curious satisfaction in hearing squalls
in rigging while tSe ship remains firm
as a rock.
There is no bit of coast in Eng
land quite like that which stretchc
from Wolferton to Wells. 1t is tn,
Norolk mars of the shallow Wash
1t is gaining on the sea, in accord
ance 18th the principle that oui
coast gains where 1t lies low and re
ceives continual accretions of sand
and loses where it is high and is IN
dermined by the sea beating on tn,
base of cliffs. To stranger whit
has not studied his map, it is al
ways puzzling to find th2. thougl
he is on the East Coast he may se
the sun set in the sea, and 'atch
heavy sea roll in when the Wind i
from the west. The unrivalleu charm
of this wild coast, however, Il tn
salt marshes and flats guarded b.
barriers of sand further out to sea
These marshes and mud flats ar
filled with an extraordinary variet
of birds, and are one of the favorit
arriving places of birds in the autumn
immigration. The present write
has watched the immigrants arrive Of
an autumn day, not volleying acros
the sky in delirious fight, as the
are sometimes said to do, but fyin
with the measured, deliberate air o
rather tired but still resolute pill
grims; Hopping and lolloping the
came, yet never deviating from tn
straight line.
AS one looked seaward beyond tn