Early Transportation on the Mississippi
“The Mississippi keel-boats developed into a form forty to sixty feet long and seven to ten feet wide… with flat bottoms, and drew only about two feet of water… In descending the river, the steersman plied a long oar which served as a rudder… the upward journey was a laborious one, progress being only about eight or ten miles per day…”
This is a short reading I contributed to a LibriVox “Coffee Break Collection” on Travel. The Coffee Break Collections are readings between 3 and 15 minutes in length, which are “great for study breaks, commutes, workouts, or any time you’d like to hear a whole story and only have a few minutes to devote to listening.” Themes in this series include humor, faith, nature, food and drink, autumn, and animals.
You might like Afloat on the Ohio by Ruben Gold Thwaites
