d technical criticisms. Oars
on a light paddling canoe are out of place; but are a most effective
power on a heavy cruising canoe, insuring a successful voyage.

CHAPTER VII.

PHILADELPHIA TO CAPE HENLOPEN.

DESCENT OF DELAWARE RIVER.--MY FIRST CAMP.--BOMBAY HOOK.--MURDERKILL
CREEK.--A STORM IN DELAWARE BAY.--CAPSIZING OF THE CANOE.--A SWIM FOR
LIFE.--THE PERSIMMON GROVE.--WILLOW GROVE INN.--THE LIGHTS OF CAPES MAY
AND HENLOPEN.

Monday, November 9, was a cold, wet day. Mr. Knight and the old,
enthusiastic gunsmith-naturalist of the city, Mr. John Krider, assisted
me to embark in my now decked, provisioned, and loaded canoe. The stock
of condensed food would easily last me a month, while the blankets and
other parts of the outfit were good for the hard usage of four or five
months. My friends shouted adieu as the little craft shot out from the
pier and rapidly descended the river with the strong ebb-tide which for
two hours was in her favor. The anchorage of the iron Monitor fleet at
League Island was soon passed, and the great city sank into the gloom
of its smoke and the clouds of rainy mist which enveloped it.

[Illustration: From New York City to Cape Henlopen, Delaware.

Route of Paper Canoe MARIA THERESA From New York City
to Lewes, Del. Via Arthur Kill, Del. & Raritan Canal Followed by
N. H. Bishop in 1874
_Copyright, 1878 by Lee & Shepard_]

This pull was an exceedingly dreary one. The storms of winter were
at hand, and even along the watercourses between Philadelphia and
Norfolk, Virginia, thin ice would soon be forming in the shallow coves
and creeks. It would be necessary to exert all my energies to get south
of Hatteras, which is located on the North Carolina coast in a region of
storms and local disturbances. The canoe, though heavily laden, behaved
well. I now enjoyed the advantages resulting from the possession of the
new canvas deck-cover, which, being fastened by buttons along each
gunwale of the canoe, securely covered the boat, so that the occasional
swash sent aboard by wicked tug-boats and large schooners did not annoy
me or wet my precious cargo.

By two o'clock P. M. the rain and wind caused me to seek shelter at
Mr. J. C. Beach's cottage, at Markus Hook, some twenty miles below
Philadelphia, and on the same side of the river. While Mr. Beach was
varnishing the little craft, crowds of people came to _feel_ of the
canoe, giving it the usual punching with their finger-nails, "to se