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Show CHAPTER II. }'ROM GREEN RIVER CITY TO FLAMING GORGE. May 24, 1869.-The good people of Green River City turn out to see us start. We raise our little flag, push the boats from shore, and the swift current carries us down. Our boats are four in number. Three are built of ·oak; stanch and firm; doubled-ribbed, with double stem and stern posts, and further strengthened by bulkheads, dividing each into three compartments. Two of these, the fore and aft, are decked, forming water-tight cabins. It is expected these will buoy the boats should the waves roll over them in rough water. The little vessels are twenty-one f~et long, and, taking out the cargoes, can be carried by four men. The fourth boat is made of pine, very light, but sixteen feet in length, with a sharp cut-water, and every way built for fast rowing, and divided into compartments as the others. We take with us rations deemed sufficient to last ten months; for we expect, when winter comes on and the river is filled with ice, to lie over at some point until spring arrives; so we take with us abundant supplies of clothing. We have also a large quantity of ammunition and two or three dozen traps. For the pu,rpose of building cabins, repairing boats, and meeting other exigencies, we are supplied with axes, hammers, saws, augers, and other tools, and a quantity of nails and screws. For scientific work, we have two sextants, four chronometers, a number of barometers, thermometers, compasses, and other instruments. The flour is divided into three equal parts; the meat and all other articles of ow· r~tions in the same way. Each of the larger boats has an ax, hammer, saw, auger, and other tools, so that all are loaded alike. We distribute the cargoes in this way, that we may not be entirely de~titute of some important article should any one of the boats be lost. In the small boat, we Figure 4.- The t1hut from Orcon Ri vor Stl\tion. |