Sometimes, in their anxiety to turn their wood into
money, they start a little too early, and being misled by an increase of
the current which is not maintained, they go aground after a few days'
navigation. I have seen one of these boats stuck fast on a bank almost in
mid-stream, with the rapids nearly breaking over it with a roar that could
be heard a mile away. The wood is cut in the forests, which stretch almost
without a break for many a league on both sides of the Upper Dordogne, and
is seasoned, dressed, and shaped for barrel-making before it is put afloat.
The boats, which are some thirty or forty feet long, are necessarily
flat-bottomed, and are so roughly built that there are usually gaping
spaces between the planks, which are caked with moss. They are good enough
for the voyage, which is their first and last. The men return, but
never the boats. These are sold as firewood at Libourne, when they have
discharged their cargoes. Where the water is deep and comparatively quiet
the speed is increased by rowing with very long oars; but where the current
is strong the boat has only to be steered. This, however, is work that
needs thorough knowledge of the river.
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