Paddler

“ During the stroke bring your upper hand forward across your face or breast, and with the lower draw the blade through the water.
It is well to begin as bow paddler, for your duty there, in smooth water, is to watch for obstructions such as hidden rocks and submerged logs or snags, while the paddler at the stern must steer the canoe and keep it in a straight course.
At the beginning learn to paddle as well from one side as from the other. To be able to change sides is very restful and sometimes a quick change will prevent an accident. ”

“ The paddler was a tall, big-limbed man, with fair hair fringing out under his tweed cap, and a face burnt red rather than tanned by the weather. He was dressed roughly but well, and not as a woodsman, and he had a subtle air of being foreign to the backwoods. He knew how to handle his paddle, however, the 15 prow of his craft keeping true though his strokes were slow and powerful.
The child who sat facing him on a cushion in the bow was a little boy of four or five years, in a short scarlet jacket and blue knickers. ”

“ The African paddler readily responds to an appeal for a co-operative canoe journey, but he dislikes any such undertaking as a mere hired paddler. Make him part and parcel of the journey and a host of potential difficulties vanish. ”

“ He had previously complimented me on my paddling, saying that I paddled “just like anybody,” giving me an Indian name which meant “great paddler.” When off this stream he said to me, who sat in the bows, “Me teach you paddle.” So, turning toward the shore, he got out, came forward, and placed my hands as he wished. He placed one of them quite outside the boat, and the other parallel with the first, grasping the paddle near the end, not over the flat extremity, and told me to slide it back and forth on the side of the canoe. ”

“ The No. 1 paddler (team leader) is the observer. He is responsible for the storage and use of the bowline. The No. 2 paddler (RATELO) is responsible for setting the stroke. The No. 3 and No. 4 paddlers (observers) are responsible for paddling and flank and rear security. The navigator (observer) assists the coxswain; he does not paddle. a. Preparation of Personnel and Equipment. Each person puts on a work vest and a life preserver with harness unbuckled at the waist. The rifle is slung over the life preserver, opposite the inboard side, muzzle down. ”

“ Paddling is more easily controlled than winging in. Now to straighten the paddler, fix the foot on the leg that paddles, by cutting or rasping the inside of the foot from the inside toe back to the inside heel as low as possible, leaving the outside toe the highest or longest to leave the ground from. ”

“ The paddlers at once re-enact the scene, put imaginary guns to their shoulders give a loud bang and then describe circles with their hands to give a dumb show of the bird falling, laughing and shouting all the time. They are really just like young children and are easily pleased by trifles. After walking some distance the sergeant becomes wildly excited and clutches me violently by the arm but makes no noise. ”

“ From time to time the paddlers would delay their progress by well known means, so that they might not be carried on at too fast a pace, and find themselves in the surge of the rapids before their plans were fully matured. ”

“ In managing these canoes, at least in paddling them, they are very expert. In one I counted sixteen paddlers on a side, and never did men, I believe, keep better time with their strokes, driving on the boat with immense velocity. Their paddles are often ornamented with carving, the blade is of an oval shape pointed towards the bottom, broadest in the middle, and again sloping towards the handle, which is about four feet long, the whole being generally about six feet in length, more or less. In sailing they are not so expert ”

“ He and the 'steersman' then carry her over the portage, while the rest carry the cargo on their backs. A man's own weight is a fair load; but with a sling across their foreheads, and clasped hands behind their heads, strong men have carried twice as much and more. When a rapid has to be ascended the canoe is lightened as much as need be, the steel-shod poles are got out, and the bow and stern paddlers stand up to their work, balancing themselves as easily as other men would on dry land. ”

“ Quickly, but noiselessly, replacing the paddle in the bottom of the boat, the first officer, with his teeth set, and his eyes glaring, seized his steering-oar firmly, and hissed out his orders to the crew.
“Paddle ahead—every mother’s son of you! Spring! spring! my lads—softly, but heartily—spring! It’s a bull!” ”

“ You are right on that rock, and (I don't care who you are) you will feel your heart jump into your mouth, and you will catch the side with a grip that leaves a mark on your fingers afterwards. No! With a shriek of command to the steersman, and a plunge of his paddle, the bowman wrenches the canoe out of its course. Another stroke or two, another plunge forward, and with a loud exulting yell from the bowman, who flourishes his paddle round his head, you pitch headlong down the final leap, and with a grunt of relief from the straining crew glide rapidly into still water. ”

“ They sat by twos on the narrow thwarts; and, with their faces to the prow, dipped their paddles simultaneously into the stream, with a regularity of movement not to be surpassed by the most experienced boat's crew of Europe. In the stern of each sat a chief guiding his bark with the same unpretending but skilful and efficient paddle, and behind him drooping in the breezeless air, and trailing in the silvery tide, was to be seen a long pendant, bearing the red cross of England. ”

“ Not a word is spoken, not a paddle blade allowed to click against the bone gun'els of the skiff. Double-bladed paddles are frequently used, so shift of paddle is made from side to side of the canoe without a change of hands. The skin shallops take to the water as noiselessly as the glide of a duck. Yonder, where the boulders lie mile on mile awash in the surf, kelp rafts—forests of seaweed—lift and fall with the rhythmical wash of the tide. Hither the otter hunters steer, silent as shadows. The circle widens, deploys, forms a cordon round the outermost rim of the kelp fields. ”

“ If the water was smooth and open, with no current, our twenty paddle men would sing as softly as the whispering of a summer breeze. But if there was a current they would sing louder. And the more difficult the paddling, the louder they would sing. In boiling rapids where it took every ounce of their strength and they had to take quick, short strokes to keep going, their voices arose to an almost howling crescendo. ”

“ I did so, and stood up, taking aim as if about to shoot, at which they ceased paddling, and after talking a little they turned the head of their canoe round, and made for the shore. We proceeded, as may be imagined, with all diligence. I laid down my bow and arrows and resumed my paddle, and in an hour we could no longer see our late pursuers. We continued our voyage, and for three days met with no further adventures, when about noon, on the fourth day, the sky became overcast, and there was every prospect of rough weather. ”

“ Never were better boatmen. The paddles dropped with agreeable precision, and no boatswain's rattan was needed to keep my fellows to their task. I, whose sight was long trained to darkness, could see a great distance round us, and so could prevent a trap, though once or twice we let our canoe drift with the tide, lest our paddles should be heard. I could not paddle long, I had so little strength. After the Isle of Orleans was passed, I drew a breath of relief, and played the part of captain and boatswain merely. ”

“ They were stark naked, save for a kind of breech-clout round the loins, and squatted in pairs along the bottom of the canoe, plying short broad-bladed paddles with which they seemed to be urging their craft at a pretty good pace through the water. A big, brawny, and most repulsive-looking savage, who was probably the captain of the craft, sat perched up in the stern, steering with a somewhat longer and broader-bladed paddle, and urging his crew to maintain their exertions by continually giving utterance to the most hair-raising shrieks and yells. ”

“ My paddle will lull you into rest. O! drowsy wind of the drowsy west, Sleep, sleep, By your mountain steep,15 Or down where the prairie grasses sweep! Now fold in slumber your laggard wings, For soft is the song my paddle sings.
August is laughing across the sky, Laughing while paddle, canoe, and I,20 Drift, drift, Where the hills uplift On either side of the current swift.
The river rolls in its rocky bed; My paddle is plying its way ahead25 Dip, dip, While the waters flip In foam as over their breast we slip. ”

“ A few sailors seized the keel of the upturned boat, but again and again they were dashed from their hold by the heavy breakers, others seized the oars, and the captain struck out for the shore, followed by a few of his men. On the beach the people were helpless; but, seeing the captain swimming towards them, some of the strongest men joined hands, and waded out into the sea to meet him. One brave man, famous for miles round on account of his great strength, threw off his coat, and, followed by several others, dashed into the surf, determined to rescue at least one of the perishing sailors. ”

“ The actual paddling is not difficult to learn, that is, the paddling required from an ordinary member of the crew. But the man in the bow and, still more, the man in the stern need the highest kind of skilful daring to take them safely through. Paddling by oneself also requires a special touch, only to be learnt by long practice. Even in dead water it takes some time before a novice can send the canoe straight ahead when paddling on one side only. As the paddle goes aft the bow naturally tends to turn towards the other side. ”

“ The best man shifts his place from the stern to the bow, and stands ready with his long-handled paddle to twist the frail boat out of reach of hidden rocks. The men's faces glow with excitement. Quicker and quicker flows the stream, breaking into little rapids, foaming round rocks, and [Pg 107] rising in tumbling waves over the shallows. At a word from the bowman the crew redouble their efforts, the paddle shafts crash against the gunwale, the spray flies beneath the bending blades. The canoe shakes and quivers through all its fibres, leaping bodily at every stroke. ”

“ So many turns of the paddle are necessary before the bows answer. Perhaps the current meanwhile is sweeping you sideways, or a whirlpool jumps up under the boat, or you strike a back-eddy, or something strange happens to complicate the impetus and direction of the boat, and, lo! she does not answer to your stroke. You have to lift the huge paddle and strain every muscle again to repeat your stroke and bring her round. In the end she always comes round, but if a rock, or a bridge, or a rapid is close upon you, this loss of time is a serious matter! ”

“ Each boat has a crew of four men, beside the boatsteerer and officer, and carries two tubs of line, harpoons, lances, boat spade, hatchet, knives, keg with water, keg containing lantern, matches, candles, tobacco, pipes, bread, and a drug. Having now pretty closely analyzed our vessel and her cargo, we will glance over the inmates. The Captain, a large, powerful man, with a face apparently expressive of frankness and good nature. The chief mate, J. B. H., a young man of twenty-six, rather below the medium height, with an eye like a hawk, quick to think and quick to act—a first-rate officer. ”

“ The man standing at the bow is the commander, not the one that steers with his paddle at the stern, and it appeared to be their custom always to take the boat where the current was strongest and the water most turbulent. ”

“ The primitive wooden paddle, imitating the form and doing the work of the flat hand or foot, is well known to savages, who mostly use the single paddle with a blade or shovel end; the double-ended paddle, such as our canoeists have borrowed from the Esquimaux, is a peculiar improved form. The paddle used free-handed to dig or sweep at the water, is best suited to the narrow bark-canoe or hollowed trunk, but for larger craft it is a rude contrivance as compared with the civilized oar, which is a lever pulled against a fulcrum so as to use more of the rower’s force, and in a steadier pull. ”

“ Take care of yourself! We'll see you in the summer," called his father as the stalwart youth seized his paddle and gave the signal to start.
The five blades, driven by the toil-hardened backs and shoulders of the crew, churned the water in the wake of the brigade, and the long craft, followed by cries of "Bo'-jo'! Bo'-jo'!" from the little group of Crees on the shore, shot forward on its three-hundred-mile journey. ”

“ That lies in wait to make a silent rush,
And there was something in her like a thrush,
For she had paddle-wheels, each like a wing.
She had a long hornet stern that seemed to hold a sting.
Sometimes her paddles slowly turned,
For they kept steam up, waiting for a gale.
It seemed as if the slim boat chafed and yearned
To go hell-tearing under steam and sail.
The oily water churned
And made a slap-slap to the paddles' stroke ”

“ They seethe, and boil, and bound, and splash.
Be strong, O paddle! be brave, canoe!
The reckless waves you must plunge into.
Reel, reel.
On your trembling keel,
But never a fear my craft will feel.
We've raced the rapid, we're far ahead! ”

“ John’s musing exclamation was unfinished. With a swift stroke of the paddle Kingdom sent the canoe sweeping through the water with sudden liveliness and the lad who, under the name of “Little Paleface,” must answer to the charge of witchcraft, could only seize a paddle, also, to use as a rudder and likewise assist in hurrying the light bark craft onward. ”

“ Possessing a powerful physique and being an excellent swimmer, he stood by his Captain that day, the sole remaining hope, and seemed tireless in his efforts to find for the disheartened commander some evidence of the treasure, which the seamen swore existed only in the capsized brain of the man whom they could see out yonder under the broiling sun guiding the boat in and out of the channels, while the laughing, leaping waters tinkled against the bows and ran in gurgling, mocking glee along the side. ”