It was of a
glistening, yellowish brown, with its fins all spread, and looking very
strange and startling, darting out so lifelike from the black water,
throwing itself fully into the bright sunshine, and then lost to sight
and to pursuit. I saw also a long, flat-bottomed boat go up the river,
with a brisk wind, and against a strong stream. Its sails were of
curious construction: a long mast, with two sails below, one on each side
of the boat, and a broader one surmounting them. The sails were colored
brown, and appeared like leather or skins, but were really cloth. At a
distance, the vessel looked like, or at least I compared it to, a
monstrous water-insect skimming along the river. If the sails had been
crimson or yellow, the resemblance would have been much closer. There
was a pretty spacious raised cabin in the after part of the boat. It
moved along lightly, and disappeared between the woody banks. These
boats have the two parallel sails attached to the same yard, and some
have two sails, one surmounting the other. They trade to Waterville and
thereabouts,--names, as "Paul Pry," on their sails.
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