A CEUISIIG VISIT 
TO SOME 
rwiTMvr a ~n~ battle-fields. 
By 
POULTNEY BIGELOW 
(Author of “ The German Struggle for Liberty (1806-1813.”) 
(A Lecture delivered at the Royal Artillery Institution, Woolwich, Thursday, 4th Feb., 1897.) 
Colonel C. C. Trench in the Chair. 
Mr. Poultney Bigelow —Colonel Trench, ladies and gentlemen, when 
I drew this picture on the wall, to which I must plead guilty, I was all 
alone in the room except my excellent friend Major Abdy, and I 
thought it w T as a very fine picture; but since coming back to it with, 
so many eyes upon it I am a little afraid of it—it looks explosive—but 
it will have to do duty this evening to enable me to explain the 
scientific lecture I am about to embark upon. I simply wish to 
illustrate by this sketch what a necessary article is a canoe in exploring 
the countries of Europe for purposes of history. My canoe “ Caribee,” 
which I have here tried to picture, is 15 feet long; it has a sleeping well 
7 feet long where one can sleep very comfortably by throwing down a 
coat or a blanket and wrapping up one’s boots for a pillow ; and there 
is a little tent which can be spread between the masts. I carry a 
spirit lamp and a few articles of stores which do not take up any more 
room than what goes into a soldier’s knapsack. The front compart¬ 
ment is watertight, and the other one also, to within 3^ feet of the 
stem and stern, and a little kindling wood is carried in the front com¬ 
partment in case of having to camp of a wet evening. In the after 
locker I keep the bedding and all things of that sort in case of a 
capsize. The little sails here are purely auxiliary. The little fan 
centerboard of brass takes up no room when it is folded up and 
it drops perhaps quicker below the keel. The whole boat only 
weighs 80 lbs., so that it is easily carried on one man’s back for short 
distances, the contents constituting a second load. This little boat 
9 . VOL. XXIV. 59 
