If my mother's visits to
her relatives extended as far as Schenectady, she made the journey in
one of these Swiftsure liners, perhaps the _Swallow_, or the
_Gleam_ or the _Alida_, usually accompanied by one or two of
us children; and a very pleasant journey it was to be sure in fair
weather. To glide smoothly along through the country on the deck of a
canal boat is a method of locomotion affording opportunities to view the
landscape o'er with much comfort and constant though not too rapid
changes of entertainment. Necessarily running as near the shore as
possible, a slight shift of the tiller by an obliging helmsman would
enable a small boy to effect a landing and take a quick look into the
canal blacksmith shop, or to walk a stretch with the youth driving the
horses, and then re-embark without attracting too much attention. In
this leisurely progress through towns and villages and farming
neighborhoods, something like a real acquaintance could be made with
persons and with places not otherwise to be formed except perhaps on a
tour afoot.
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