> The book I'm working on is set in a river valley civilization, and the protagonist is traveling upstream from one city to another, so I had to do a little research into what travel method would make the most sense for her. ## Fun Facts - Canals allow beasts of burden to pull 50x as much weight as they could pull in a traditional cart on a road. - In the 1600s, travel by horseboat was widely considered reliable, comfortable and cheap. - A horseboat pulled along a canal towpath can go about 7 km/hr, faster than walking and smoother than a coach. - Railroads rendered horseboats largely obsolete, but some still exist as tourist attractions. - Bridges built over horseboat canals needed to be smooth and curved in order to avoid snagging towlines. ## No Stop, Only Go Because it is very difficult to stop a narrowboat loaded with cargo, canals built for horseboating often had strapping posts for boatmen to wrap towlines to slow down the boats. [[Read More](https://click.mailerlite.com/link/c/YT0xNTM1MzU0NDU4Njg5NTA4Nzk5JmM9azNzMCZiPTQzMzk2MTE0NiZkPWUxbTJnOW8=.khpCgRy8LY4GUcZDpi1biOVc-Xtf0rG95NMsdiCmNiY)] ## Horse Paddle In addition to towing narrowboats up and down canals, horses could be used to power the paddle boats that operated as ferries, the horses either circling a post and or walking a treadmill. [[Read More](https://click.mailerlite.com/link/c/YT0xNTM1MzU0NDU4Njg5NTA4Nzk5JmM9azNzMCZiPTQzMzk2MTE0OSZkPWQ2djV6MmM=.MzzhmfRuQnxlEchwIetXFvg7-MRptRWpEGABd2NI6Vw)] ## Upkeep Upriver Maintenance of canals is required for functional horseboating, including the cutting back of vegetation and dredging of relevant canals. [[Read More](https://click.mailerlite.com/link/c/YT0xNTM1MzU0NDU4Njg5NTA4Nzk5JmM9azNzMCZiPTQzMzk2MTE1MiZkPW4ydjhvM2M=.RlvGQLZzyZ3Db1PMFIC9FBfWlKvuNe6cXLPloIy_P6U)] ## Side Paddles The [Romans](app://obsidian.md/Roman) may have had ships yoking animals to wheels that moved paddles on the sides of boats in lieu of rowers, tho there's little hard evidence. [[Read More](https://click.mailerlite.com/link/c/YT0xNTM1MzU0NDU4Njg5NTA4Nzk5JmM9azNzMCZiPTQzMzk2MTE1NSZkPXQ4eThrOXA=.dPWaxKkZ67AoN8g-zPjkl35jT4N9IXZGFNaaarf8dYk)] --- If you found this article interesting, you may also enjoy [my newsletter about boating](https://eleanorkonik.com/boating/) %% ( [[2021-03-22 Boating]] ) %%.