Iowa County democrat. [volume] (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1877-1938, 1891-07-24
DOWN THE ASSABET
Obstacles Encountered in a Canoe
Trip on This Quiet New Eng
land River.
Sensations Experienced in Padding
Along High Above the Level
of the Country.
Some Embarrassments of a Canoes
Wicked Game of Upsetting in
the Rapids.

| good for canoeing. One kind is tae tor
rent sort, all rapids and excitement, like
the Deerhei In the early spring or the
| lower part OF the Housatonic. The other
kind is the little, quiet brook that winds
along through the meadows and marshes,
| past the farm houses, with their big elm
| trees, Through the little manufacturing
| towns, with their dam and little bit of
miniature rapids, and then through patch
es of wild woods. where you hear the
| partridge drumming. and might fancy
| that the days were not long past when the
| little, tame, donlesticated brook was an
important highway for the Indians.
| OF the latter sort the best specimen |
know is the Assabet. From where you
put in at Northboro, where it is only fifteen
! feet wide, down to the beautiful little
wooded stretch celebrated by Hawthorne
and Emerson, Just before it joins the
| Musketaquid, at Concord, through all its
variety of society and solitude, of wild
woods or busy mill town, 1t is the ideal
of the quiet, cozy, little New England
river.
We put in at Northboro. We were told
that we couldn't. You are always told
that YOU can't. That is the first thing to
| learn about canoeing. Never believe any
thing anybody tells you about the river
They always say you can t, and you almost
always can; out if they ever do say yoI
can then look out 1t is either fall forty
feet high or else it is entirely dried up. 1t
is true, nevertheless, that you can not go
down the Assabet from Northborc except
in the spring OF after heavy rain.
The pear blossoms were out and there
were plenty of them in the little gardens
behind the houses running down to the
river. There was fair current, and we
glided down and slued around the bends
in great form, until we came to a small
tree fallen entirely across the brook. We
managed to push through by the top
branches. There are plenty of these OBJ
stacles on tfe Upper Assabet. Indeed, for
short distance, In sort of willow
swamp below Northboro, it is sort of
mosquito net with meshes Just about big
enough for a canoe and a man in it with
his hat knocked off. The best way to do
in many cases is for both men to get out
on the obstructing tree or log, balance on
it and pull the canoe across.
The only really difficult thing to get past
is a barhed wire fence. They are never
high enough to go under nor low enough
to go over Scissors might do it, if you
carry pair sufficient for the purpose. For
wire fepce, / always meekly take the canoe
out and lift it sHs.s gesHHts.s and entirely over on
dry land. T and put it in aesl aesln on the other
side. There Is only one 5a a@bed wire fence
across tic .ssasot. Oio oa
Not far beDw Northbors you come to
canal. II the river is very full you can go
by the river, 18th It's always shorter IN
this particular case to go by the canal and
carry round the factory. The canal runs
along by wood on the left and looks out
over a meadow or the right it is curious
sensation to travel aleng so high above
the level of the country.
Then you go through the mosquito net
spoke of, and then through one of tLose
beautiful grassy meadows or marshes,
with farms and patches of woods on each
side. Here you first become aware that
the red winged backbrd is the commonest
bird there Is; that, iii fact. there are more
red-winged blackbnds than Of any other
creatures on the face of the earth. They
stand on a swaying twig on every willow
and practice the-call out of ''Siegfried.'
Tney never get it quite right, and their
voices show the effects of trying to sing
Wagner's music, but they are very nice
and companionable all the same. The lit
tie rainbow patch on their shoulder
~
makes a striking bit of color.
After the marsh, as the sun was getting
low In the west, we went under a bridge
by willow-planted causeway and found
ourselves almost Immediately in perfect
ly solitary wood. The stream ran little
faster and made little swirls around the
rocks. Sometimes there were dark patches
of hemlock, reflected darker still in the
water, except where it ruffied with the cur.
rent and borrowed a silver streak from the
sky. Usually the woods were the delicate
purpish, almost violet color of early
spring, sometimes shading off into deli
cate green where the buds were Just
bursting, sometimes blending with red,
where the blossoms of a maple showed,
and dashed here and there with the
shower OF white blossoms of wild cherry
or wild pear tree. When we came near
to one little rocky point we started
partridge right close to our bows
Whether he waited so long because he
was not in the habit of being shot at or
because | have weak nerves | am unable
to say.
Out again to a meadow, under a road,
past some Canadians fishing, and in an
other hour we are at Hudson, where we
take out for the night.
The next day, for sundry reasons, of
which slothfulness on or part Was of course
not one. sc did not get started till 1890
This makes it rather too rapid padding
to get the O'Clock Sunday evening
train In from Concord, for the most i'm
portant thing in padding is to have plenty
of time. Loaf along. Stop and sketch.
Go to sleep on the bank after luncheon.
Never have to catch train.
Marvellous to observe In the river below
Hudson is the number of tin cans. That
is one point about river scenery. 1t COM
bines the most beautiful and the most
grotesquely ugly scenery there is. The
landscape is made 10 be seen from the
river naturally and on purpose.
Behind are the hills, then the taller dark
| pines and hemlocks, then the Iigter color.
| ed treese, al arranged so as to show off their
full variety of color. Along the bank are
alders or willows; where it is low there
are cowsiips, where it is steep there is
moss, anemones, and other pretty little
| plants that do not know the names of
Next to these, swaying gracefully on
| broken branch. is perhaps rubber boot,
! hanked by backing bottle and tomato
can. There has always been food just
before you came, and 1t has apparently car
/ ried away most of the household effects in
the village through which i. has passed.
But to return to the tin cans. They are
not all cans, but comprise every variety of
| tin object or utensil known to man. Il
American tin plate is ever to become
Leading industry in this country, il will be
| located on the shore of the Assabet, and
| begin by working the rich deposits Of the
| ready-made article which are to ba found
| in that stream. The important point
about these tin cans, to the canoeist, is that
| they have tendency to cut holes IN the
bottom of the canoe if you run into trem
with more than certain impetus. This
/ | know for a fac know |
| am dawdling about leaving Hudson
| The fact Is | have very tender associations
| with the town. II was there / first heard
"Annie Rooney" 1t was sung by Topsy
in Uncle Toms Cabin" in a troupe in
which one man in his tinle played many
parts, and worked the bull eddie besides
Below Hudson there are more hills in
sight from the river than there are above.
The apple trees were not in bios ON when
We passed, but the leaf buds were just
enough out to give them dull green like
an olive tree.
Then ues Rockbottom. A pretty little