the river is ten feet lower now; and it's the bottom of a river that's dangerous, not the top."
Guiteras was the first in his canoe. "Here goes for Philadelphia!" he cried, as he pushed off. "Are there any rapids near us, down the river?"
"Listen!" and the teamster smiled.
We listened and heard one, the sound coming from the bend of the river half a mile below.
"It's only a little one," shouted the teamster, as we started. "Keep well to the left, and you'll find a channel. It is a smooth rift."
We were three, in three canoes,—Mr. Edward A. Moseley in a stout boat built by Partelow, of the Charles River; Dr. Ramon Guiteras, in a
determined not merely to run it, but to examine it carefully, and see if it is as dangerous as the natives think. We went through it without paddle, save for steering purposes, but losing no time from speed of actual current, and were just eleven minutes from the time we entered until we left the swift water. That we thought a quick run, considering the windings of the channel, following which the distance is fully three miles, though a straight line will measure nearly one-third less. The rift is very swift and crooked, whirling among many and such recklessly distributed boulders that the speed claimed by 'F. P. and E. P. D.' would have been sure death to both boats and men if it had been possible."
The official measurements of the Little and Great Foul Rifts are: Little Foul Rift, 768 ft.; Great Foul Rift, 4,620 ft.; distance from head of Little Rift to foot of Great Rift, 1¾ mile. These measurements are probably by the straight line, and not according to the windings of the channel.
