The Indiana State sentinel. [volume] (Indianapolis) 1868-1895, 1874-12-08
FIVE MONTHS IN A CANOE.


FIVE MONTHS IN A CANOE.
FROM PHILADELPHIA TO KEY wEsT-TnE SOL.
ITARY N HIS ~CRAFr-EXAMIN-
ALTON OF HI INTERIo OF THE T
COURSES ALONG THE oAsT.
Aletter to the New York Tribune from
Philadelphia gives the following interesting
sketch of a novel undertaking: This morn
ing at 6 O'Clock a paper canoe put off from
one OF the wharves on the Delaware, and
went down the river at a rapid rate. pro-
PEELED by a double-bladed paddle in the
hands of its single occupant. The voyager
was Nathaniel II. Bishop, of Mannahawken,
New Jersey, author of "a Thou
sand Miles Walk Across South
America" His destination was the Cult #
Mexico. The object of his singular under
taking was not to gain notoriety or win the
applause of sporting circles, but to afford an
opportunity for a careful scientific observa-
ton of the system Of inlets, sounds, rivers
and bays that lie along the Atlantic coast,
and form almost a continuous land-lOcked
water course from Sandy Hook TO the south
ern part OF Florida, broken IN some places
by long reaches of the sea inland, like the
Chesapeake, and in others by iuttiug head
lands. Mr.. Bishop seasoned himself for his
fatiguin9 task by a pull in an open boat last
summer from Quebec TO Philadelphia. He
left Quebec In June in a cedar boat large
enough to hold two men. He had with him
a Barnegat boatman as assistant. Thu two
rowed up the st. Lawrence 145 miles to the
mouth of the Richelieu or Lord river, up
that stream to Lake ~Champlain, and from
the lake reached Albany by way of the
canal, travelling in all 42I miles. Mr.. Bishop
concluded that the help of his assistant did
not compensate for his weight and that of
his blankets and provisions, and that more
rapid progress could be made without him.
1t was then August, and he decided not to
continue the voyage until the frost had
killed the malaria along the coast. In the
mean Time ne mad a paper canoe
Troy, N. Y, in which to prose-
cute the more adventurous part of his novel
undertaking. This canoe is of what is
known as the Nautilus model, designed by
the Rev. Baden Powell, of England, and is
an improvement OH the we'll known Rob
Roy type. The body is made of linen paper
about one-sixth OF an inch thick, nodded
while soft upon a solid wood form, and
afterward highly polished and var
nished. This material is light,
tough, and water-tight. Inside of the shell
is a light framework TO which the seat is at
tached. The dimensions of the canoe are:
Length, ii feet; width, 2s inches; depth
amidships, So inches; height at stern from
horizontal line. 20 inches; at bow. % inches.
It Is not decked over like an ordinary canoe,
but is htted with a canvas cover buttoned to
the sides, which
KEEPS THE TT our
when a rough sea is running and serves as a
shelter to the sleeping occupant at night
The weight of the craft and its equipment is
as follows: Canoe. So pounds; one pair of
oars for use in still water, seven foot eight
inches long, 81 pounds; one paddle with
double blade, 2H pounds; mast, spirit and
boom, 6 pounds; total, 10 pounds. For cook
ing, Mr.. Bishop carries a stove that can be
packed in about the space occupied by a pack
OF cards., asmall coffee-pot and a tin pan. His
larder consists OF condensed provisions; his
bed Is his boat, and his bedding q pair of
blankets. He carries only the suit of clothes
whica he wears. In this canoe Mr.. Bisho D
lett Albany about a fortnight since. and
rowed and padded TO PHILADELPHIA bv way
OF the Hudson river, the Kill Won Kull
strait, the Raritan river, the canal from
New Brunswick to ~Bordentown, and the
Delaware from the latter point to
this city: The distance is
300 miles. and he accomplished it in "a hours
rowingtime. Mr.. Bishops plan for his long
voyage from here to the gulf is carefully
made, and he has studied his course in adj
vance by the aid of the coast survey maps.
He will first go down the Delaware river
and bay to Lewes, where he will haul his
CdihOO v hiAC ONCIihuu " feS1ODOt0 SOu0Q
AT the end of this sound he will haul over
four miles to the Indian river, which will take
him into the Chincoteague system of water
courses, which he will follow to Cape
Charles. Crossing the mouth OF the Chesa-
peake, he will enter Hampton roads, paddle
up the Norfolk, and by way of the Abe
marie and Currituck canal, reach In success
sion Currituck, Albemarle, Pamlico. Core,
Stump and Bogde sounds, which will bring
him to Topsail inlet, near Cape Fear, N. G..
Here, according to the coast survey maps, he
must take to the open sea for 40 miles to
reach Smithville, at the mouth of the Cape
Fear river. He hopes. however, to be able
to work his canoe through bitches part Of
the way. From Smithville to Georgetown,
). O., so miles, he will certainly have TO trust
his paper boat to the ocean. He expects to
creep along coast when the wind is off shore,
and take TO the land whenever 1t blows
from seward. All the way from George
town to the st. Johns river in Florida,
no will find land-locked waters behind the
sea islands. Rowing up the st. Johns 240
miles TO Salt Lake, near the Everglades, he
will make a portage of seven miles To reach
the Indian river, a salt water bayou extend
ing along the eastern coast of Florida, and
separated from the ocean by q narrow strip
Of beach. The river willtake him to Jupiter
inlet, from whence he will row as far as Key
Biscayine certainly, and If possible will go
rom key to key until he reaches Key West,
whore he expects TO arrive in March.