But after the Revolution the needs of an awakening
empire led to the introduction of new types of craft, built to
afford a maximum of capacity and safety on a downward voyage,
without regard for the demands of a round trip. The most common
of these one-way vessels was the flatboat.
A flatboat trip down the great river was likely to be filled with
excitement. The sound of the steam-dredge had never been heard on
the western waters, and the streambed was as Nature had made it,
or rather was continually remaking it. Yearly floods washed out
new channels and formed new reefs and sand-bars, while logs and
brush borne from the heavily forested banks continually built new
obstructions. Consequently the sharpest lookout had to be
maintained, and the pilot was both skilful and lucky who
completed his trip without permitting his boat to be caught on a
"planter" (a log immovably fixed in the river bed), entangled in
the branches of overhanging trees, driven on an island, or dashed
on the bank at a bend. Navigation by night and on foggy days was
hazardous in the extreme and was avoided as far as possible.
Pages:
108
109
110
111
112
113
114
115
116
117
118
119
120
121
122
123
124
125
126
127
128
129
130
131
132