The Danube from the Black Forest to the Black SeaMillet, Francis Davis
Philosophy
The Danube from the Black Forest to the Black Sea
Millet, Francis Davis
Canoes and canoeing; Danube River; Danube River Valley -- Description and travel; Europe -- Description and travel
remain to testify to the original perfection of the build. The two
sails, a large leg-of-mutton main-sail and a mizzen of similar shape but
much smaller, could be raised, lowered, reefed, and furled from the
canoist’s seat on the floor of the cockpit. The mizzen-mast could be
unshipped, the rudder raised out of the water or lowered below the keel;
the centre-board, which shut up like a fan into a long slot in the keel,
could be adjusted to any desirable depth; the hatches could be shipped
and unshipped, the canoe baled out, and all other necessary operations
of navigation performed with the greatest ease and rapidity. A
double-blade paddle 8 feet long, and jointed so that the blades could be
turned at right angles to each other, was to be depended upon for the
ordinary means of propulsion, but we anticipated using the sails as
often as wind, weather, and the run of the river would permit. When
paddling or sailing, the after-hatch of the cockpit was to be left on,
and a movable bulkhead, upon which the forward part of the hatch rested,
was intended to serve as a back-rest for the occupant, who also might
sit upon the hatch and thus change his position at discretion. The
length between the bulkheads was 8 feet, and on the cedar floor-boards
of this space we proposed to make our bed for the night, trigging the
canoe up on the shore for the purpose, and thus providing for ourselves
a dry, sheltered, and comfortable bed under all circumstances. A
box-tent of good duck was made to be slung between the masts and to
button securely along the gunwales. This was provided with flaps for
ventilation and entrance, and with mosquito-proof curtains. The
water-tight compartments fore and aft made excellent spaces for dry
storage, and during the day all articles for handy use were to be kept
behind the back-rest where they could be easily got at. The spare
paddle, unjointed for the sake of packing, the sketching apparatus, maps
and note-books, and the foot-steering gear and the fore-hatches, were to
be the only encumbrances of the cockpit proper. When we came to
experiment with our outfit we found that we had plenty of room and to
spare, and subsequent experience proved to us the accuracy of our first
plans for the stowage and arrangement of all our traps.
We naturally depended largely on the advice of the veteran cruiser of
the party for the selection of our outfit, and we two novices had a
consultation with him shortly after our expedition was decided upon.
Knowing nothing about the canoes, we asked him what we should take along
to make a bed with; whether we should carry an air-pillow or one of the
small cork mattresses we had seen advertised for such trips.
“Dear me, no!” he said. “You don’t need any blanket. Sleep in your
clothes!”
“But a pillow?” we urged.
“Just fold up your trousers for a pillow!”
“Then what do you cover yourself up with?”
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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