CANOEING ON THE DELAWARE 



Log of a Family Trip Down 200 Miles of Splendid Water 



Photographs by the Writer 

 By RALPH K. WING 



E took a Morris canoe 

 and launched it at 

 the confluence of the 

 Beaverkill and East 

 Branch, in Delaware 



and 



making it smooth, water-tight 

 easily kept clean. 



Three miles down the stream from 

 our starting point we made our first 

 camp, so that we might take ample time 

 County, New York, to get our paraphernalia in working or- 

 Twenty-five miles der. Hancock was reached the next 



day. Chehocton (Shehocing meaning 

 the union of streams) was formerly 

 the appropriate name of this place. 

 Hancock was the name of the tov/nship, 

 but now the old Indian name is lost 

 and we call the place Hancock. 



Thickly wooded mountains press the 

 river close on both sides. Numerous 



further down stream 

 the waters unite with 

 the West Branch and form the technical 

 source of the Delaware River. 



There was a jolly lot of city people 

 living at the boarding house when we 

 launched our canoe, and they were all 

 much interested in our preparations, 



and encouraged us by remarks such as small streams, many of them stocked 



"Waves as high as this room," "Rocks with trout, throw their contents into 



that will break your boat to kindling," the river. From the wild and 



"Murder and suicide combined to take walled-in character of the banks, falls 



your family down 

 that river." 



But we ran the 

 gauntlet, and, get- 

 ting away, received 

 the official blessing 

 of all the occupants 

 of the house at the 

 point of embarka- 

 tion, as we glided 

 out into the current. 

 When passing under 

 a railroad bridge, a 

 few hundred yards 

 beyond, we found 

 that our friends had 

 taken a short cut 

 and were there be- 

 fore us to make us 

 targets for showers 

 of rice and old shoes. 



The canoe was 18 

 feet long, 37 inches 

 wide and weighed 

 100 pounds. On the 

 inside the cedar was 

 ribbed and planked, 



BREAKING CAMP 

 389 



or abrupt descents 

 might be expected. 

 But, strange to say, 

 while always swift 

 and full of rapids, 

 the heavy and dan- 

 gerous runs on the 

 Delaware are fifty 

 miles or more from 

 our starting point, 

 thus giving the nov- 

 ice a chance to get 

 initiated. 



At Equinunk, Pa., 

 our next stop, 153^ 

 miles from New 

 York City, by Erie 

 R. R., we found 

 a hotel close to 

 the water. Here we 

 were reminded of 

 the day of the week 

 in time to go to 

 church. Next to 

 renewed health, the 

 most immediate ef- 

 fect of this moving 



