KTAADN. 
49 
Penobscot River, two or three feet at least. I could not 
sufficiently admire the skill and coolness with which they 
performed this feat, never speaking to each other. The 
bowman, not looking behind, but knowing exactly what 
the other is about, works as if he worked alone. Now 
sounding in vain for a bottom in fifteen feet of water, 
while the boat falls back several rods, held straight only 
with the greatest skill and exertion; or, while the stern- 
man obstinately holds his ground, like a turtle, the bow¬ 
man springs from side to side with wonderful suppleness 
and dexterity, scanning the rapids and the rocks with a 
thousand eyes; and now, having got a bite at last, with 
a lusty shove, which makes his pole bend and quiver, and 
the whole boat tremble, he gains a few feet upon the 
river. To add to the danger, the poles are liable at any 
time to be caught between the rocks, and wrenched out 
of their hands, leaving them at the mercy of the rapids, 
— the rocks, as it were, lying in wait, like so many alli¬ 
gators, to catch them in their teeth, and jerk them from 
your hands, before you have stolen an effectual shove 
against their palates. The pole is set close to the boat, 
and the prow' is made to overshoot, and just turn the 
corners of the rocks, in the very teeth of the rapids. 
Nothing but the length and lightness, and the slight 
draught of the batteau, enables them to make any head¬ 
way. The bowman must quickly choose his course; 
there is no time to deliberate. Frequently the boat is 
shoved between rocks where both sides touch, and the 
waters on either hand are a perfect maelstrom. 
Half a mile above this, two of us tried our hands at 
poling up a slight rapid; and we were just surmounting 
the last difficulty when an unlucky rock confounded our 
calculations; and while the batteau w'as sweeping round 
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