Say what you will there is no other form of outing that makes possible, within sight of conventional life and labor, such days and nights of utter freedom, health, natural beauty, and manly enjoyment.
But the river proceeds—as the canoes could not—below Towanda. There were immense stretches where the river widened, and the depth nowhere exceeded three or four inches. There was little pleasure in wading and dragging our boats till the bottoms were worn out; so we carried them up to the railroad (which hugs the river all the way), and shot the iron rapids till we came to fair water again.
It was sometime in the forenoon when we ran into Wilkesbarre, passing through that lovely historic valley,
Surely, in all the world, there is nothing to exceed the quiet, large beauty of this valley, that is enriched with so many forms of wealth; with the stamp of sublimity from the hand of God; with the deep coloring of pathetic and patriotic association, and with the priceless mineral treasures that lie deep in field and hill.
"This is the richest valley on the face of the planet," said a Wilkesbarre man to us; and he
