The Boatmen Appeared To Lead
An Easy And Contented Life, And We Thought That We Should Prefer
Their Employment Ourselves To Many Professions Which Are Much
More Sought After.
They suggested how few circumstances are
necessary to the well-being and serenity of man, how indifferent
all employments
Are, and that any may seem noble and poetic to
the eyes of men, if pursued with sufficient buoyancy and freedom.
With liberty and pleasant weather, the simplest occupation, any
unquestioned country mode of life which detains us in the open
air, is alluring. The man who picks peas steadily for a living
is more than respectable, he is even envied by his shop-worn
neighbors. We are as happy as the birds when our Good Genius
permits us to pursue any out-door work, without a sense of
dissipation. Our penknife glitters in the sun; our voice is
echoed by yonder wood; if an oar drops, we are fain to let it
drop again.
The canal-boat is of very simple construction, requiring but
little ship-timber, and, as we were told, costs about two hundred
dollars. They are managed by two men. In ascending the stream
they use poles fourteen or fifteen feet long, pointed with iron,
walking about one third the length of the boat from the forward
end. Going down, they commonly keep in the middle of the stream,
using an oar at each end; or if the wind is favorable they raise
their broad sail, and have only to steer.
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