Intended only for
river navigation, propelled by a small screw like two fishtails set at
right angles, working horizontally; the vessel had but two cabins, one
on either side of the central part occupied by the machinery. The
stern apartment was appropriated to myself and my bride, the
forecastle, if I may so call it, to our companions, the boatmen having
berths in the corners of the machine-room. The vessel was
flat-bottomed, drawing about eighteen inches of water and rising about
five feet from the surface, leaving an interior height which obliged
me to be cautious in order not to strike my head against every
projection or support of the cabin roof. We spent the whole of the
day, however, on deck, and purposely slackened the speed of the boat,
which usually travels some thirty miles an hour, in order to enjoy the
effect and observe the details of the landscape. For the first few
miles our voyage lay through the open plain. Then we passed, on the
left as we ascended the stream, the mountain on whose summit I tried
with my binocular to discern the Astronaut, but unsuccessfully, the
trees on the lower slopes intercepting the view.
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