The Grange advance. [volume] (Red Wing, Minn.) 1873-1877, 1877-05-02
Running a Rapid in a Birch Canoe.

Incidentally to his narrative of "Sea
Trout Fishing" in Scribner for May, Mr..
A. r. Marlborough gives the following
description of necessary experience
on the rivers that feed the st. Lawrence
In this sort OF surf, half stone, half
water, Il common wooden boat would be
bumped to pieces in five minutes. The
only thing that can float in it, the birch
canoe, is one Of those marvcls OF clever
adoption that look like genius. Such II
canoe is really nothing but Il basket with
pointed ends and stitfencd sides. You
sit, float, and toss in her as you would in
Il basket, and without most watchful per-
pendicularity and tiresome tcntion of
nerves in balance, you tip out OF her as
you would out of a basket. She is amerc
single skin of bark sewcd together with
dccr-sinews, trimmed with slight ash or
birch stri ps,. and connected across ut top
10y five slender thWarts, or "bords," mod
cled in all her lines so that the deepest
point is along the middle bottom, and she
turns in the water every wayas on pivot.
The draft, with two men aboard, is three
to four inches. Buoyant, of elastic frame,
unsteady to the lightcst touch, cn(lways
troll, like a sentient thing and throws
clumsy rider like Il mustang With her
light grace and delicate color she is the
lady of watcr-craft.
The skill of these canoc-men is Won
derful, only gained by long practice from
early childhood. Nearing the foot of the
rapid, while yet in still water, the guide
drops the paddle, stands erect with his
setting pole in the extreme stern, his boy
in the same attitude at the point of the
bow, and studies the eddies and stones
intently. In a moment she is swung
alongside a rock, her peak thrust just
round 1t across the strean-then with a
mighty drive from the poles she darts di-
agonally through the torrent and whirls
her tail down stream, under the lee of
another rock few feet higher up. She is
again held hugging the granite by main
force, and edging forward till the beat of
the water boiling up astcrn of her center
helps to lift her on, and with another
powerful send she shoots across upward
again to the next covering point. She
threads her intricate way among the
powders by repetition Of these zigzag
dashes, sometimes missing the aim and
crashing back against rock, sometimes
beaten aside by the pole slipping on the
bottom,' with the guides eye quick at
every turn, and his muscles steadily
braced. The mems pose, alertness and
strength form a study At times she
must be thrust up by sheer power against
the dead rush Of the torrent, gaining inch
by inch.
David's cries to his boy rise above the
noise ofthe water" Porsse orrete! lance!
peau! hale l'eau! 0utre bord! pousse,
pousse aw zoia!. Accidents occur, but
seldom from miscalculation. If Il pole
should snap while the stress of the flood
beats on her, the canoe may be whirled
broadside on, and capsizcd. Then there
is a rolling and tumbling upon the rocks,
struggling for a footing, sometimes with
hard bruises,-or if near the foot of the
rapid, one may be swept into deep water
and must keep a clutch on the point of a
canoe till she drifts into shadows.
cept in the larger rivers, there is not much
danger of drowning. The guides prefer
ascending to going down rapid, as the
risk of the canoe getting beyond their
control is much less when the water
drives against her in sight. They are very
cautious too to avoid straining or bruis-
ing the boat. ':You act as if this canoe
belonged to you," David would re-
proach his boy at a careless movement
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