The flatboats were generally provided with a large square mainsail and a topsail. When the wind was unfavorable the boats were propelled by poling. The poles were from twelve to twenty feet long and had a socket spike at the lower end. One spike-pole man on each side was sufficient for the smaller boats, but as many as three on a side were needed on the larger boats. The spiked end of the pole was thrust down to the river bottom, and the pole-man brought its upper end against his shoulder and walked along, shoving as he advanced. The captain stood at the stern and steered with a rudder on the larger boats, and a widebladed oar on the smaller ones. Cargoes of merchandise and the household goods of new settlers were brought up the river, and shingles, potash, and other products carried down. Passengers, too, were occasionally transported.

A canal around the South Hadley Falls was completed in 1795. This was the first canal in America for the improvement of river navigation. Its length was two and one half miles, much of the way through solid slate rock. Canals were made later around several of the other falls, and the river was a very busy thoroughfare. The landings along the shores became the favorite resorts for leisurely dwellers in their vicinity to see the boats come in.

Some of the later flatboats were seventy feet in length and fifteen feet across at the widest part. At the stern was a snug cabin, and the captain and crew lived on

board. The crews of the small boats boarded at waterside taverns and farmhouses. The boats usually

tied up to the bank at night, but might go on when the moon shone and the wind favored. Traffic on the river kept increasing until a railroad was built up the valley.

There were no bridges across the river until after the Revolution, and ferries were an important institution. Many of the early ferries had no larger craft than a canoe. If a mounted man wanted to cross, he sat at the back end of the canoe holding a leading rein, and let the horse swim along behind. A cart would either be towed over, or, if a stout skiff could be had, the cart

was taken to pieces so it could be loaded on the boat. At some ferries a raft was used. Later, flatboats became common, and such still go back and forth at the present day ferries. They are kept from floating down

A ferryboat. The ferryman is on the shore prying around the end of the boat to make a better landing for the load of hay

stream by a wire that slips through pulleys on the boat. The wire has its ends securely fastened on the banks, and it lies on the river bottom except as the passing boat brings it up.

Fish formerly abounded in the river and were a valuable source of food supply. Shad went up the stream as far as Bellows Falls, and the salmon were such powerful swimmers that they ascended these falls and continued their journey still farther north. No salmon

come to the river now, and the shad only make their way up about fifty miles.

Men used to go out with boats into the rocky rapids at South Hadley, anchor, and catch shad with scoop-nets. When a boat was full it would be brought to land and the shad taken out. Then it would return for more. Two men would in this way sometimes secure three thousand shad in a single day.

Shad are no longer plentiful anywhere in the river, but quite a number of fishermen still seek them down toward the river's mouth.

Bellows Falls, which the shad were not able to get up

An oxcart load of hay on a Vermont highway

The Development of Travel

WHEN the first Europeans came across the sea

there were no roads here. The Indians did not have wagons, horses, or cattle, and narrow footpaths, scarcely better than those made by the wild forest creatures, served all their needs. The only way that the