Duck River

“ The first “duck-under” occurs in a Ti Tree valley, and, marvelling at the wonder of the rippling streamlet so many yards wide and so few in length, with that deep, silent river for its source and estuary—we loitered in the pleasant forest glen, until Dan, coming on further proofs of a black fellow’s “second-sight” along the margins of the duck-under, he turned away in disgust, and as we followed him through the great forest he treated us to a lengthy discourse on thought-reading. ”

“ The Duckinmallard are the Same here with those of the U, States. they are abundant and are found on every part of the river below the mountains. they remain here all winter, but I believe they do not remain all winter above tide water.—a butifull Duck and one of the most delicious in the world is found in Considerable quantities in this neighbourhood dureing the Autumn and winter. this is the Same as that known in the Dilliwar, Susquehannah and Potomac by the name of the Canvisback and James River by that of Shell-Drake ”

“ And the occurrence of lost rocks (primitive boulders) , as Mr. B. happily termed them, which are first observed after passing the Blue Mound, becomes more frequent in this portion of the country, denoting our approach to the borders of the north-western primitive formation. This formation, we have now reason to conclude, extends in an angle, so far south as to embrace a part of Fox River, above Apukwa Lake.
Anticipated difficulties always appear magnified. This we verified in crossing Duck Creek, near its entrance into the Wisconsin. ”

“ In other parts of the city mixtures of blue clay with more recent deposits are found, including fresh-water forms from numerous creeks and rivulets which traversed what is now the city proper, and especially from the vicinity of Fourth and Market Streets, where there existed as late as the year 1700 a large pond known as the "Duck Pond" which was subject to tidal overflow from its outlet, Dock Creek. The river water at Philadelphia is not noticeably brackish, although the tide extends thirty miles above the city and, before the building of Fairmount Dam, to the Falls of the Schuylkill. ”

“ The Duck Pond is like a little world of its own with ducks for giants, and newts for dragons, and all the tiny folk and the little snails for ordinary citizens.
But though so many of the ordinary citizens are so small, it is quite easy to grow rather fond of them. We hardly ever leave the Pond without the Imp or the Elf saying beggingly, "Let's wait till we see just one more water boatman." And then, of course, we wait, and crane our necks over the pond, and take no heed of the quacking of the ducks, or even of the splash of a young frog as he flops into into the water. ”

“ Mrs. Floyd-Rosney and Mr. Ducie were left seated near each other amidst a cluster of vacant chairs. With that peculiar clarity of the twilight air when there is no mist every detail of this limited world was visible with special distinctness, as if there were no insufficiency of light, but one looked through amber glasses;—the slate-tinted lowering sky, the ceaseless silent flow of the vast murky river, the high bank so far above the water at this low stage that the grassy levee, an elevation of prominent emphasis in so level a country, was far withdrawn and invisible from this point of view. ”

“ Standing on tiptoe in the canoes, we could see nothing before or around us but a boundless meadow, with here and there a clump of pines, and before and behind the serpent-like creepings of the river. The only physical life to be seen was in the countless ducks, chiefly of the teal and mallard varieties, a few small birds and the fish—lake-trout, grass-bass, pickerel and sturgeon—constantly darting under and around us or poised motionless in water so clear that every fin and scale was seen at depths of six and eight feet. ”

“ At dawn, as I lay half-awake, I heard a sound that made me jump to my gun—the soft quacking of wild duck in the creek. Stealing cautiously down through the fringe of she-oaks, I came to a fine broad pool, in the centre of which was a small sandbank, whereon stood a black duck with a brood of seven half-fledged ducklings around her, dabbling merrily amongst the weed and débris of the margin. Of course, no one who thinks, unless impelled by sheer hunger, would shoot either an incubating or “just familied” duck, and I laid down my gun with an exclamation of disappointment. ”

“ The Tugalo is one of the most beautiful streams I ever beheld. Its banks are finely diversified with mountain scenery, generally in the distance; while the bottoms are in the highest state of cultivation—indeed, some of the finest plantations, and best built mansions in all the southern country, are on this river. At times, the water, which is always clear, runs smooth and deep, for some distance, when suddenly it is broken by shoals, miles and miles in length ”

“ It is plain that a stream having great declivity will be able to carry more sediment than one having little, and in a barren country would always be highly charged with sand, which would cut and scour the bed of the channel like a grindstone. As Dutton says, a river cuts, however, only its own width, the rest of a canyon being the “work of the forces of erosion, the wind, frost, and rain.” That is why we have canyons. The powers of erosion are far slower than those of corrasion, especially in an arid region, because they are intermittent. ”

“ Some small fresh streams enter the lake at the northern end; and on the favorable nights the Indians take the precaution to build fires and hang out cloths at the mouths of these streams, to prevent any of the ducks from entering the fresher water and thus
having the salty incrustation dissolved or washed off. During these favorable nights, also, the Indians collect on the southeastern shore of the lake and perform a duck-dance, in which they artistically imitate the motions, habits, and calls, of different kinds of water-fowl. ”

“ Its tributaries from the east flow through dense forests, those from the west wind through the vast sandy wastes of the Dakota Prairie, where trees are almost unknown. The plain through which Red River flows is fertile beyond description. At a little distance it looks one vast level plain through which the windings of the river are marked by a dark line of woods fringing the whole length of the stream--each tributary has also its line of forest--a line visible many miles away over the great sea of grass. As one travels on, there first rise above the prairie the summits of the trees ”

“ A common method of catching ducks is by fixing a net, about sixty yards in length, across a watercourse, a river, a swamp, or a lagoon—the lower part being three or four feet above the water. The ends of the net are either fixed to trees or held by natives stationed in trees. One man proceeds up the river or lagoon, and cautiously moves so as to cause the ducks to swim towards the net. When they are near enough, he frightens them, and they rise on the wing, and at the same time another native, near the net, throws up a piece of bark, shaped like a hawk, and utters the cry of that bird. ”

“ Yet from the hills above Esthwaite you may, during winter, watch the birds rise when evening is falling, and flight away toward their great haunt and home. The woods fringing the lower part of the lake are used for the preserving of the “wild” duck. The sedges are haunted with these, and also with coot and waterhens. Sit still awhile and they will come into sight. Truly to the patient man nature is free with stories and secrets. In ten minutes the shyest brood of ducklings may paddle fearlessly within fifty feet of you, and often birds are daring enough to dive under and about your craft. ”

“ The descent from the Divide to the Colorado River is quite steep. The flood of waters rushes down the steps of the mesas and over the bare ground with terrific force. It quickly cuts channels in the low places down which are hurled sand, gravel, and bowlders. The cutting of the channel during the heavy rains is something extraordinary, partly because the stream has great volume and fall, and partly because the channel-bed is usually of soft rock and easily cut. In a few dozen years the arroyo of a mesa that carries off the water from the mountain-range has cut a river-bed many feet deep ”

“ And I grant them due forgiveness,
Let them rip it as they be—
For they dock their horses’ tails
To match the owner’s pedigree! THE GRAVE ON THE BLUFF The most beautiful of all beautiful rivers—bold-bluffed and crooked, darkening in shadow or shimmering in sunlight, and never yet desecrated by the touch of a wheel of commerce—is the Duck, rising among the foothills to the east and flowing through the blue limestone of this Niagara period, like the Hudson, to the Cumberland. It flows through middle Tennessee and past the town I call my home. ”

“ The river is not always allowed to spread over its whole bed,—which is as much as 30, and sometimes 40, yards wide,—but is split into three equal bodies of water, by stone dikes which throw the main volume, depth, and current, into the central one. In low water these neat narrow-edged dikes project four or five inches above the surface, like the comb of a submerged roof, but in high water they are overflowed. A hatful of rain makes high water in the Neckar, and a basketful produces an overflow. ”

“ These islanders are amphibious, brought up with "one foot on sea, one foot on shore." I doubt if half their lives are passed on terra firma.
Duck Island is for the sportsman. He will find there in proper season the canvas-back, mallard, teal, white-winged coot, sheldrake, etc. Few land, except gunners in pursuit of sea-fowl. I contented myself with sailing along its shores, watching the play of the surf and the gambols of a colony of small sea-gulls that seemed in peaceable possession. Duck Island proper has a cluster of wicked-looking ledges encircling it from south-west to south-east. ”

“ To hunters who are accustomed to glide through the forest observantly and with caution, most interesting little scenes of animal life are sometimes revealed. One day, in the snow-time, as I was roaming the woods close by a Canadian river, after wild-turkeys, I noticed a flock of mergansers,—thereabouts usually called saw-billed ducks, or sheldrakes,—swimming in a small air-hole that had remained open in the frozen surface of the river. There were four or five ducks, and the pool might have been about ten feet by six in size. ”

“ That Congress did not act arbitrarily in determining that 'for the purposes of navigation of said waters and the waters connected therewith,' the whole flow of the stream should be devoted exclusively to that end, is most evident when we consider the character of this stream and its relation to the whole problem of lake navigation. The river St. Marys is the only outlet for the waters of Lake Superior. The stretch of water called the falls and rapids of the river is about 3,000 feet long, and from bank to bank has a width of about 4,000 feet. ”

“ The height and thickness of dikes varies according to the elevation of the ground they enclose, the rise of the tides, the direction of the prevailing winds, and other special causes of exposure, but it may be said that they are, in general, raised from fifteen to twenty feet above ordinary high-water mark. The water-slopes of river-dikes are protected by plantations of willows or strong semi-aquatic shrubs or grasses, but as these will not grow upon banks exposed to salt-water, sea-dikes must be faced with stone, fascines, or some other revetement. ”

“ The Duck Mountain forms a very conspicuous object in the western quarter. The grey mists of morning were curling up its rugged sides when it first broke gratefully on our sight. At its base issue several saline springs, where the freemen manufacture salt, for sale to the Company at Norway-house. The oak region terminates here; but the shores of the lake are tolerably well clothed with elm, poplar, and a few ash, birch, and pine trees. This is particularly the case with Red Deer Island, which is large, and affords shelter to many of the fleet and graceful animals from which it derives its name. ”

“ But the money spent on dikes is the salvation of Holland. The entire country would be washed away in a few years, if they were suffered to decay."
"I see there are trees growing on the shore, farther up the river," added Paul.
"Those trees are willows; and wherever it is possible for them to thrive, they encourage their growth for two reasons: first, because the roots of the trees strengthen the dike; and, secondly, because the willow twigs are wanted in repairing and securing the embankment. The foundations of sea-dikes vary from a hundred and twenty to one hundred and fifty feet in width. ”

“ They even kept a hole open in the middle of the pond until the frost became altogether too severe. I have often seen the wild ducks flying from the Niagara River out across the ice into Lake Ontario, and have been told that they were going out to roost, or sleep, or whatever it is that ducks do on the open water. Probably our hand-raised ducks are acting in obedience to some ancestral instinct. ”

“ All that keeps the tide of the North Sea from flooding the country with from ten to a hundred feet of water every day are the dikes which man has built. Behind these huge embankments lies a country as flat as the flattest prairie in Kansas. A few sandhills and an occasional little rise of ground might stick out of the water if the dikes broke, but I doubt it. This “made” land has been fertilized and built up by the silt of the rivers, added to by the labor and science of man, until it is a vast market garden. The water of the rivers is diverted in every direction into canals. ”