Four Months in a Sneak-Box: A Boat Voyage of 2600 Miles Down the Ohio and Mississippi Rivers, and Along the Gulf of MexicoBishop, Nathaniel H. (Nathaniel Holmes)
General
Four Months in a Sneak-Box: A Boat Voyage of 2600 Miles Down the Ohio and Mississippi Rivers, and Along the Gulf of Mexico
Bishop, Nathaniel H. (Nathaniel Holmes)
Boats and boating; Mississippi River -- Description and travel; Ohio River -- Description and travel
These men assured us that the happiest life was that of the cow-
hunter, who could range the forest for miles upon his pony, and sleep
where he pleased. The idea was, that the nearer one's instincts and
mode of life approached to that of a cow, the happier the man: only
another version, after all, of living close to nature. One of these
wood-philosophers, taking his creed from the animals in which all his
hopes centred, said we should be as simple in our habits as an ox, as
gentle as a cow, and do no more injury to our fellow-man than a
yearling. He was certain there would be less sin in the world if men
were turned into cattle; was sure cattle were happier than men, and
generally more useful.
Upon learning our dilemma, the good-natured fellows set at once to
work to help us. We cut two pine poles, and placing one boat across
them, each man grasped an end of a pole, and thus, upon a species of
litter, we lifted the burden from the ground and bore it slowly across
the land to the sea. Returning to the bay, we transported the second
boat in the same manner; and making a third trip, carried away our
provisions, blankets, &c
It was now evening, and viewing with satisfaction our little boats
resting upon the beautiful beach, we thanked our new friends heartily
for their kindness. The owner of a thousand cattle gave us a warm
invitation to visit his orange grove in Apalachicola, and then retired
with his man to their nest in the woods, while we slept in our boats,
with porpoises and black-fish sounding their nasal calls all night in
the sea which beat upon the strand at our feet.
In the morning the wind arose and sent the waves tumbling far in upon
the beach. After breakfast I walked to the extremity of the cape, and
dined with Mr. Robert Colman, the principal light-keeper. He was a
most ingenious man, and an expert in the use of tools. The United
States Light House Establishment selects its light-keepers from the
retired army of wounded soldiers. In all my voyages along our coast,
and on inland waters, I have found the good results of the perfect
discipline exercised by the superintendents of this bureau. These
keepers live along a coast of some thousands of miles in extent on the
Atlantic and Pacific oceans and the Gulf of Mexico, many of them in
isolated positions, but honesty, economy, and intelligent skill are
everywhere apparent; and these men work like an army of veterans. I
have intruded upon their privacy at all hours, but have never found
one of them open to criticism. There is no shirking of the onerous
duties of their position. Too much praise cannot be given to these
light-keepers in their lonely towers, or to the intelligent heads
which direct and govern their important work.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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