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Show TRA ELS IN THE UNITED STATES: from Bath downwards; but owing to the great drought that prevailed through every part of rh~; country this year, the depth of water in the creek was found infufti icnt to float even a canoe of the fmalldl: fiz~. Ha 1 it be n praB:icable, it was onr intention to have proceeded from Bath by ..,, at r; but finding that it was not, we once more fct off ou fo t, and purfue l our way along the banks of the 1 ivcr till w e<lme to :1 fn ;1l1 villJge of ei;h t or ten hon{( s, called Newtown, a out thirty miles di(bnt fro :n 13· t 1. Here we found the flream tokrably deep, and the people informed us, that excepting Jt one or t\\. o natTOW !hoals, tbcy were certain tlut in very part of it, low -r tbwn, there WJ.S fuf1icicnt '"' '1ter for c.u1oc.:s; accor lingly, determined to be our O\Vn w:.1t rmcn, being fi ·c i11 number including our ii·rvants, we pmchafed a couple of canoe[; from t\.\ o f.1• u' ·1 ~. \\'ho li\'ed on the banh of the river, and lJ:-t\. ing l.l!hcJ tl1cm togt.th ·r, in rdcr to render them more ficady and. £tl~, we put our hagg~ge on board, and boldly embarked. It \V~lS about t_ 11ce o'clock on a remarka l>ly lear though cold after .. n on th t we left the village, :1nd the current being flron g, we hoped to be able to reach bef.)rc night a tavern, fitua ed, :l.S we were told, Oil the l>anks of the river, about fix miles below Newtown. Fer the firfl: two miles we got on extremely well; but beyond this the river proving to be much fhallower th:-tn we had be n 1 cl to bclicv , we fcund it a matter of the utmofi: ditliculty to proee d. Our cane ·s repeatedly flruck upon the ihoals, and fo much time was confumed in fetting them again fr · c, that before we had accomplifhed more than two third:. of our voyage the day clofed. As night advanced a very fenfible change was obfcrvable in the weather; a hc~vy fhow r of hail came pouring down, and, involved in thick darkne.fi , whiHl: the moon was obfcuretl by a cloud, our canoes were drifted by the current, to which, being unable to fcc our way, we had configned them,. on a bank in the middle of the riv ·r. In endeavouring to cxtri ate ouridves we unfortunately, owing to the tLlrkndi, too~ .... a w 0113 dire .... l:ion, :md at th ... end of a few minutes found our canoes io fi mly wt:d:::,cd in the gravel that it was impofriblc to move them. ... T oth1ng now remain rl to be dcne but for every one of us to jump into ~he water, and to put his D10ulcler to the r<'noes. This \'C CA 0 E S S T R A N D E D. vvc accordingly Lid, ~nd h:lVit;; pr ,.·on .y u1 :. , 1t:d, i1; order to rer1- ckr th..:m mor.; mannr.;ca:>l ·, \\0 in a fhort time contrived to haul one of them in to deep \\'.tttr; h rc, howcvu·, th ~ r:~pidity oft 1~ current was fo great, that nctwith!L ulin~ all our endeavou rs to the contrary, the cano \ as forcibly fWL'pt aw1y from u~, and in the att rnpt to holtl it fafl we lud the n.isfortunc to fL:c it ncady filkd wit.1 w,t tc r. Deprived thus of nc of om canoe s, rnd of a great 1 :ut of our baggage in it, which, for ought we knew, W:ls irr< .'. CO \'cr:.~ bly loft, we determined to proceed 1r ore cautioufly with t lC remaining one; havinrr rcturnc.:d, there for~: , to the bank, we carried cv ry thing that was in the cancc n our {houldcrs to the fhorc, which was :tbout forty yards diflant . no very caly or :tgreeaLic taik, as the water reached up to our waills, and the current was fo firong that it was with the utmo.fl: difficulty we could keep our fc.:et . The canoe bei ng emptied, \'\'e brough t it, a nearly as we could guefs, to the fpot where the other one Jud be n [wept away from us, and one of the party then getting into it with a p::tddle, we committed it, purfuant to his defir , to the firc:1m, hoping that it would be c:1rried down after the other, and that thus we fhould be able to recover both it and the things which it contained . In a few feconds the fircam carr'ed the canot: out of our fight, for the moon £hone but faintly through the clouds, and b ·ing :-tll of us totally unacquainted with the river, \Vc could not but feel fome concern fo r the pcrfonal fafety of our companion . Defore many min utes, however, were elapfed, we had t 1c L1ti sf.1Ct.ion of hearing I is voice at a c ifl ,l 1c , and ·tviJ g mJc1c t!1e bdl: of our way at)J]g t 1.; (lJOr tot 1l~ fpot from whence the fo·111cl pr ..:ceded, \ •e lnd the J~1t i~h~lio n to fi 1d tlrlt h · h:--,•1 tJt:Cn carrj din f,lfcty ·loft. bcfid(; the canoe which lud b ·en lu:l:; we were not a little plc. kd al fo · at finding our portmanteaus at the bottom of the c:.~noe, thou•; 1 well foaked in water; but fuch of our clothes as we h ~ J taken off preparatory to going into the water, togcth r with fcvcr<\,llit;'1t articles, were all loll. It froze fo very harll now, that in a few minutes o11r portmanteaus, and fuch of our garments as had b en wetted, were covered with a coat of icc, and our limbs were quite benumbed, in confcquencc of our hav- 3 L z in.J: |
