If the rapid was not bad, they sat upright on the
deck, but this made the boats top-heavy, and as much of the oarsman's
work depended on swinging his weight from side to side, it was
important that no mistake should be made about this distribution of
weight. Often the bottom of a boat would show above the water as it
listed to one side. At such a time a person sitting on the raised deck
might get thrown overboard.
Before starting on this last trip we had thought it would be only
right to give our younger brother a ride in a rapid that would be sure
to give him a good ducking, as his experience was going to be short.
But the water and the wind, especially in the shadows, was so very
cold that we gave this plan up, and avoided the waves as much as
possible. He got a ducking this morning, however, in a place where we
least expected it. It was not a rapid, just smooth, very swift water,
while close to the right shore there was one submerged rock with a
foot of water shooting over it, in such a way that it made a "reverse
whirl" as they are called in Alaska--water rolling back upstream, and
from all sides as well, to fill the vacuum just below the rock. This
one was about twelve feet across; the water disappeared as though it
was being poured down a manhole.
The least care, or caution, would have taken me clear this place; but
the smooth water was so deceptive, and was so much stronger than I had
judged it to be, that I found myself caught sideways to the current,
hemmed in with waves on all sides of the boat, knocked back and forth,
and resisted in all my efforts to pull clear.
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