St. Johnsbury Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1867-1919, 1890-05-15
CANOEING ON THE ERIE CANAL.

The New York Mail and Express
each week gives graphic account OF
| the voyage of its representative who
left New York in a paper canoe on
April 18th, bound for the Pac1fc
ocean. He padded up the Hudson
to CohOeS, where he entered the Erie
canal. Some of his wayside sketches
may prove interesting to our
readers. The following was written
at Utica, n. Y:
There are cities and little villages
nesting in the mountains and val
levs; factories and storehOuSes
crowding around the swift-running
Mohawk; homesteads of ancient
families who settled along the river
when it watered a wilderness; forts
and battle grounds, monuments and
landmarks, tales of the tavern his
torian, the laundering of railroad
trains, the music of waterfalls and
the sluggish canal to interest the
lone canOeiSt.
The sky overhead and two stone
walls on each side ola narrow stream
are all one sees for miles after enter
the Erie canal at Cohoes OCCASION
ally the landscape is relieved by a
canal bridge, the monotOny of whose
architecture is somewhat leSsened by
the landmarks of the Salvation
Army left several years ago, i'll the
form of various texts which suggest
means of avoiding a sulphury con-
dition of future existence. Sixteen
locks lie between Troy and Cohoes,
10 NJ ,,1 E~-
press canoe continued her course up
the Hudson to the latter city, and
entered the big ditch there at the
nine-mile level Canoeing on the
canal is far from eXhilarating. AT
first the nine-nile level is very tame,
but when the aqueduct is reached.
where the canal spans the Mohawk,
one enjoys the novel experience of
rowing over instead of under a
bridge. In sailing, or rowing, or
padding, and in answering the ever
lasting question, "Are you the one
that's going around the world ?"
one can find amusement all day, but
the nights are lonely. The farm
houses are more inviting than an
outdoor camp and much more com
Portable than the hotels, but the
farm houses do not always happen
along at the right spot. SO when
camp is made for the night, if it hap
pens to be somewhere on the edge of
the woods or in barn like the first
night out of Cohoes, there is nothing
to do but go to sleep, and if it hap
pens to be s O'Clock in the evening
make it up by being on the water at
, the next morning.
AS soon as the sun had risen and
the frost disappeared, breakfast at
the first farm house frightened the
prospects for a long days cruise.
Before q stiff east wind the canoe
fairly danced, and with all sail
spread, mile after mile slipped away
unnoticed Towards shutdown the
wind shifted to the west but the
water remained quite smooth. Then
the paddle measured off a few miles
before darkness made it necessary to
find another camp for the night. SO
almost every days experiences come.
The canal turns and twists con-
stantly, and every bend has such
picturesque cOves and hooks that q
stretch of straight water is unin-
viting. One travels beside open
fields, or high above them, then I'M
rperpendicularcl cliffs with the mists
of water spread down across the
face of the rocks from the stream
coming over the summit One rows
for hours through the woods, some
times below the level of the adjoining
country, and sometimes so close to
dwellings that the children run along
the shore to hand out pail of
water, and the mothers bring out the
little ones to ''see the pretty boat y
| have already passed 100 bridges.
One is hardly out OF sight before
another appears ahead. The air is
filled with the songs OF birds. Crick
cts and frogs make the nights must
cal The moon is now nearly full
and, shedding its soft light on the
placid water, makes the silent stream
like a sheet of silver. When sailing
at night a canal boat is occasionally
Overtaken. The steerSman of the
spectcr-like craft waits until one is
fairly abreast before he speaks an al
most whispered, Good evening,
stranger" and then the noisy ripples
under the bow of his boat die away.
One of his mules on the towpath
sounds a long, deep unearthly bray
at the sight of the strange little craft,
and then a quietness almost sublime
reigns over nature while the Mail
and Express canoe winds its way
past farms and sleeping villages, all
wrapped in the blanket of night.
Sometimes | have drawn up to
canal boat during the day, fastened
the boats painter to a ring SO that
she would tow freely, and then have
gone on board to wait for the next
bridge. When the boat passes under
meath it takes but a spring to get on
the bridge. Then a walk of an hour
or two with the driver along the
tow-path, gathering flowers and
blossoms, affords a relaxation from
sitting behind the paddle all day
that is just delightful
INOUISITIVI2NE2SS