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Show 353 From the narrow, swift riffle at the Sawyer place up to the Booth place was swift water. An island divided the river and it was impossible to take the boat through wither side of the island and the trip was abandoned there for fear of wrecking the propellor. On the return trip to Greenriver, shallow water was encountered and crossing the bar above the bridge was difficult. R. 909. " A. Mr. Blake, what is meant by the expression, crossing- bar"? A. I think that was coined by some of the Geological Survey; to me it seems apt. The bars start at the widest point on the inside of the curve of the river; the water here is slow; the outside of the curve, the water is always fast; and in this slow water the sediment is deepest, and as the river proceeds around the curve it starts in to the opposite direction to make a curve to the opposite side; the water is shallow from the widest point of the bend on one side of the river straight down to the widest point of the bend on the opposite side, and the river continually makes these bends. " Therefore, the bar crosses the river, and here is where we always find the difficulty in finding a channel if there is any; it may be a little deeper in places than others, but it is invariably more shallow than in any straight stretch of river." R. 909- 910 |