A Thousand Miles in the Rob Roy Canoe on Rivers and Lakes of Europe by John MacGregor
Author:John MacGregor [MacGregor, John]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: DigiCat
Published: 2022-09-04T00:00:00+00:00
* * *
CHAPTER XI.
Table of Contents
Private concertâThundererâLa Hardt ForestâMulhouse CanalâRiver IllâReading storiesâMadame NicoâNight noisesâPetsâDuckingâVosgesâAdmirersâBoat on wheelsâNew wine.
Bâle is, in every sense, a turning-point on the Rhine. The course of the river here bends abruptly from west to north, and the character of the scenery beside it alters at once from high sloping banks to a widespread network of streams, all entangled in countless islands, and yet ever tending forward, northward, seaward through the great rich valley of the Rhine with mountain chains reared on each side like two everlasting barriers.
Here then we could start anew almost in any direction, and I had not settled yet what route to take, whether by the Saone and Doubs to paddle to the Rhone, and so descend to Marseilles, and coast by the Cornici road, and sell the boat at Genoa; orâand this second plan must be surely a better alternative, if by it we can avoid a sale of the Rob RoyâI could not part with her nowâso let us at once decide to go back through France.
We were yet on the river slowly paddling when this decision was arrived at, and the river carried me still, for I determined not to leave its pleasant easy current for a slow canal, until the last possible opportunity. A diligent study of new maps procured at Bâle, showed that a canal ran northward nearly parallel to the Rhine, and approached very near to the river at one particular spot, which indeed looked hard enough to find even on the map, but was far more dubious when we got into a maze of streamlets and little rivers circling among high osiers, so thick and close that even on shore it was impossible to see a few yards.
But the line of tall poplars along the canal was visible now and then, so I made a guesswork turn, and it was not far wrong, or at any rate we got so near the canal that by winding about for a little in a pretty limpid stream, I brought the Rob Roy at last within carrying distance.
A song or two (without words) and a variation of the music by whistling on the fingers would be sure to bring anybody out of the osiers who was within reach of the outlandish concert, and so it proved, for a woman's head soon peered over a break in the dense cover. She wished to help to carry the boat herself, but the skipper's gallantry had scruples as to this proposal, so she disappeared and soon fetched a man, and we bore the canoe with some trouble through hedges and bushes, and over dykes and ditches, and at last through deep grassy fields, till she was safely placed on the canal.
The man was delighted by a two-franc piece. He had been well paid for listening to bad music. As for the boat she lay still and resigned, awaiting my next move, and as for me I sighed to give a last look backward,
Download
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.
Astounding Stories, August, 1931 by Various Authors(198)
Historia Amoris by Edgar Saltus(182)
B-12's Moon Glow by Charles A. Stearns(180)
The Scottish Fairy Book by Elizabeth W. (Elizabeth Wilson) Grierson(144)
Euthenics, the science of controllable environment by Ellen H. (Ellen Henrietta) Richards(132)
Cottage Economy, to Which is Added The Poor Man's Friend by William Cobbett(123)
A History of Witchcraft in England from 1558 to 1718 by Wallace Notestein(123)
Humphrey, Duke of Gloucester: A Biography by Kenneth Hotham Vickers(116)
Marie Antoinette and the Downfall of Royalty by Imbert de Saint-Amand(115)
The Courtship of Morrice Buckler by A. E. W. Mason(115)
Memoirs of a Veteran: Personal Incidents, Experiences and Observations by Isaac Hermann(113)
The Black Douglas by S. R. Crockett(108)
Folk-Tales of the Khasis by Mrs. Rafy(107)
Working Women of Japan by Sidney Lewis Gulick(105)
Behind The Black Dome: An Advantage Player's Guide to Casino Surveillance by T. Dane(105)
Arsene Lupin vs. Herlock Sholmes by Maurice Leblanc(104)
Astounding Stories, August, 1931 by Various(100)
Love-Letters Between a Nobleman and His Sister by Aphra Behn(98)
The Dangerous Classes of New York, and Twenty Years' Work Among Them by Charles Loring Brace(95)