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Show 4078 Sawyer- D 2099 of the expedition, of this expedition, -- Mr. Wimmer was the admiral -- I beg your pardon. BY MR. BLACKMAR: Q Just describe the progress of this flotilla down the river. A The scows, being the most awkward of the bunch, we led those off, and our trip, I think, took three or four days, somewhere in that neighborhood. We grounded many times on sandbars, the channels being a little difficult to pick out. One inetance, I remember, we were forced to pull the scows off of sandbars with a block and tackle that we had on board, but ordinarily by piling your freight and shoving and reversing the paddle wheel on the Marguerite we were able to get free and proceed. We had some difficulty several times below; the wide shallow places in the river, the bars would usually choke the water off and shoot it over against the bank at a bend, and there were occasionally rock banks there from twenty to fifty feet high, and it took a little work to get around those and fend the outfit off from the rocks. But we would gather all hands with all the poles and oars and things we could gather, and we would all place these things against the rocks and shows, and walk along the boat and got by those places. I think there were two such places that I distinctly remember. |
