Some suggestions to those who may wish to undertake these or similar river trips may be advisable. Traveling alone will be found too dreary. None but a hermit could enjoy those long stretches of waterway, where one may float for a day without seeing man or animal on the forest-bounded shores, and where the oppression of solitude is felt with such force that it requires but a slight stretch of imagination to carry one's self back in thought and feeling to the days when the black-robed members of the Company of Jesus first penetrated the gloomy wilderness. Upon the size of the party should depend the character of the preparations. If the plan is to spend the nights at farmhouses or village taverns, then a party of two will be as large as can secure comfortable quarters,—especially at a farmhouse, where but one spare bed can usually be found, while many are the country inns where the accommodations are equally limited. If it is intended to tent on the banks, then the party should be larger; for two persons unused to this experience would find it exceedingly lonesome after nightfall, when visions of river tramps, dissolute fishermen, and inquisitive hogs and bulls, pass in review, and the weakness of the little camp against such formidable odds comes to be fully recognized. Often, too, the camping-places are few and far between, and may involve a carry of luggage to higher lands beyond; on such occasions, the more assistance the merrier. But whatever the preparations for the night and breakfast, the mess-box must be relied upon for dinners and suppers, for there is no dining-car to be taken on along these water highways, and eating-stations are unknown. Unless there are several towns on the route, of over one thousand inhabitants, it would be well to carry sufficient provisions of a simple sort for the entire trip, for supplies are difficult to obtain at small villages, and the quality is apt to be poor. Farmhouses can generally be depended on for eggs, butter, and milk,—nothing more. For drinking-water, obtainable from farm-wells, carry an army canteen, if you can get one; if not, a stone jug will do. The river water is useful only for floating the canoe, and the offices of the bath. As to personal baggage, fly very light, as a draught of over six inches would at times work an estoppel to your progress on any of the three streams mentioned. In shipping your boat to any point at which you wish to embark upon a river, allow two or three days for freight-train delays.
Be prepared to find canoeing a rough sport. There is plenty of hard work about it, a good deal of sunburn and blister. You will be obliged to wear your old clothes, and may not be overpleased to meet critical friends in the river towns you visit. But if you have the true spirit of the canoeist, you will win for your pains an abundance of good air, good scenery, wholesome exercise, sound sleep, and something to think about all your life.
TABLE OF DISTANCES.—TOTAL, 607 MILES.
| THE ROCK RIVER. | |
| MILES. | |
| Madison to Stoughton | 22 |
| Stoughton to Janesville | 40 |
| Janesville to Beloit | 18 |
| Beloit to Rockford | 40 |
| Rockford to Byron | 18 |
| Byron to Oregon | 15 |
| Oregon to Dixon | 31 |
| Dixon to Sterling | 20 |
| Sterling to Como | 9 |
| Como to Lyndon | 14 |
| Lyndon to Prophetstown | 5 |
| Prophetstown to Erie Ferry | 10 |
| Erie Ferry to Coloma | 25 |
| Coloma to mouth of river | 14 |
| Mouth of river to Rock Island (up Mississippi River) | 6 |
| Total | 287 |
| THE WISCONSIN RIVER. | |
| MILES. | |
| Portage to Merrimac | 20 |
| Merrimac to Prairie du Sac | 10 |
| Prairie du Sac to Arena Ferry | 15 |
| Arena Ferry to Helena | 8 |
| Helena to Lone Rock Bridge | 14 |
| Lone Rock Bridge to Muscoda | 18 |
| Muscoda to Port Andrew | 9 |
| Port Andrew to Boscobel | 10 |
| Boscobel to Boydtown | 10 |
| Boydtown to Wauzeka (on Kickapoo) | 7 |
| Wauzeka to Wright's Ferry | 10 |
| Wright's Ferry to Bridgeport | 4 |
| Bridgeport to mouth of river | 7 |
| Mouth of river to Prairie du Chien(up Mississippi River) | 5 |
| Total | 145 |
Note.—The above table of distances by water is based upon the most reliable local estimates, verified, as far as practicable, by official surveys.
THE ROCK RIVER.
