d 170
pounds,--he made up for his lighter weight by a quickness and strength
that often surprised me. He was always neat and clever in his method
of handling his boat, taking a great deal of pride in keeping it free
from marks, and avoiding rocks when making a landing. I had done very
little rowing before leaving Green River, so little that I had
difficulty in getting both oars in the water at the same time. Of
course it did not take me long to learn that; but I did not have the
knack of making clean landings, and bumped many rocks that my brother
missed. Still I was improving all the time and was anxious to get into
the rough water, feeling sure I would get through somehow, but doing
my best in the meantime to get the knack of handling the boat properly
before the rough water was reached.

An occasional rock would stick up above the surface; the swift water
would rush up on it, or drive past on either side. Instead of pulling
downstream with might and main, and depending on a steersman with a
sweep-oar to keep us clear of obstructions--the method usually adopted
on large rivers, and by the earlier parties on the Colorado--by our
method the single oarsman reversed his boat so that it was turned with
the stern downstream, giving the oarsman a view of what was ahead;
then by pulling upstream the boat was held in check. We allowed
ourselves to be carried in a direct line with the rocks ahead,
approaching them as closely as we dared; then, with a pull on one oar,
the boat was turned slightly at an angle to the current, and swung to
one side or the other; just as a ferry is headed into the current, the
water itself helping to force it across. The ferry is held by a cable;
the boat, by the oarsman; the results are quite similar.

The boats, too, were somewhat unusual in design, having been carefully
worked out by Galloway after much experience with the problem, and
after building many boats. He finally settled on the design furnished
us by Mr. Stone. The flat bottom, sloping up from the centre to either
end, placed the boats on a pivot one might say, so that they could be
turned very quickly, much more quickly than if they had had a keel.
There was a four foot skag or keel under the stern end of the boat,
but this was only used when in quiet water; and as it was never
replaced after being once removed we seldom refer to it. Being
flat-bottomed, they drew comparatively little water, a matter quite
important on low water such