THE LOON ISLAND DECALOGUE 
FROM "ROUND RIVER'! 
BY ALDO LEOPOLD 
1. Cuss not thine ancient backlash, for the poor cast we have with us 
always. 
2. When thou risest up to smite a mosquito, hold thy peace and lay thy 
shirt upon the canopy. 
3. Cherish thy hat on the portage, that it may be with thee to the end of

thy trip. 
4. Stack not tortillas without flour, lest they cleave together and thy 
brother gather up thereof seven baskets full. 
5. If thou wouldst bump the tent in a rainstorm, do it over thine own bed.

6. Six days shalt thou paddle and pack, but on the seventh thou shalt wash

thy socks. 
7. Covet not thy neighbor's shave, lest thou cast for a trout and be given

a pickerel. 
8. To him that eats shall be given a pancake, but from him that is always

wanting to cook shall be taken away even the one that he hath. 
9. An aluminum cup is made for forbearance, and a hot griddle is the 
trial of a patient man. 
10. See not thy brothers' bum cast, and love his campsite as thine own. 
If there be a rock in the tent, lay thy bed upon it. Ask not for more cheese
till 
thou see if there be any, and peace shall be with thee to the end of thy
days. 
"One of the marvels of early Wisconsin was the Round River, a river
that flowed 
into itself, and thus sped around and around in a never-ending circuit...Wisconsin
not 
only had a round river, Wisconsin is one. The current is the stream of energy
which 
flows out of the soil into plants, thence into animals, thence back into
the soil in 
a never-ending circuit of life." 
"The common denominator of all hunters is the realization that there
is always 
something to hunt. The world teems with creatures, processes, and events
that are 
trying to elude you; there is always a deer, and always a swath down which
he can 
be seen. Every ground is a hunting ground, whether it lies between you and
the 
curbstone, or in those illimitable woods where.rolls the Oregon. The final
test of 
the hunter is whether he is keen to go hunting in a vacant lot." 
"As I sit against a mossy rock writing up the sequel to yesterday's
adventures, 
a cool breeze fans the blueberry bushes, which dangle big dewy fruit over
the very 
page of this journal. Starker and Luna, after being prodded through the job
of 
dishes and beds, are organizing the fishing tackle for the day with thoroughness
and 
enthusiasm. Carl is trying a new way of putting the tumpline on the boys'
packs. 
Gentle waves are lapping the canoe in invitation for the day's travel. Down
the lake 
a loon calls, and back in the aspens a pine squirrel tells us to get the
hell out o' 
here. We will! " 
"There is much confusion between land and country. Land is the place
where corn, 
gullies, and mortgages grow. Country is the personality of land, the collective

harmony of its soil, life, and weather. Country knows no mortgages, no alphabetical

agencies, no tobacco road; it is calmly aloof to these petty exigencies of
its 
alleged owners."