Our penknife glitters in the sun; our voice is
echoed by yonder wood; if an oar drops, we are fain to let it
drop again.
The canal-boat is of very simple construction, requiring but
little ship-timber, and, as we were told, costs about two hundred
dollars. They are managed by two men. In ascending the stream
they use poles fourteen or fifteen feet long, pointed with iron,
walking about one third the length of the boat from the forward
end. Going down, they commonly keep in the middle of the stream,
using an oar at each end; or if the wind is favorable they raise
their broad sail, and have only to steer. They commonly carry
down wood or bricks,--fifteen or sixteen cords of wood, and as
many thousand bricks, at a time,--and bring back stores for the
country, consuming two or three days each way between Concord and
Charlestown. They sometimes pile the wood so as to leave a
shelter in one part where they may retire from the rain. One can
hardly imagine a more healthful employment, or one more favorable
to contemplation and the observation of nature.
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