THE PAPER CANOE

 A Paper Canoe?
   Here is some rainy day writing for those who might require some rainy day reading. I will begin at "The Paper Canoe" which is located on the Currituck Sound in Duck, N.C. We were fortunate to recently have dinner there, but it was a busy night and I wasn't able to inquire about the name, "The Paper Canoe." 
   I was reminded of some notes I had about the book, The Voyage of the Paper Canoe: A Geographical Journey of 2500 Miles From Quebec to the Gulf of Mexico, During the Years 1874-5, by Nathaniel Holmes Bishop. I do not know if the name of the restaurant relates to the title of the book, but I do know that you will enjoy reading it.
   You will find The Voyage... for varying prices on Amazon where someone has printed it for you and you will find more on AbeBooks. The very expensive ones will be copies of the original, not knockoffs. Or, you can simply read the e-version quickly found on Gutenberg or the Internet Archive, which has a fine copy that is easily read and searched. But, if you prefer paper, live in London and have access to the Western Libraries, one will be found for you in storage.

The Paper Part
   Bishop began his voyage from Quebec in a very heavy wooden boat, but swapped it for a paper one on the upper Hudson River. You can learn more about it in Chapter V., "The American Paper Boat and English Canoes." This description is from the Introduction: Having proceeded about four hundred miles upon his voyage, the author reached Troy, on the Hudson River, New York state, where for several years E. Waters & Sons had been perfecting the construction of paper boats.  The advantages in using a boat of only fifty-eight pounds weight, the strength and durability of which had been well and satisfactorily tested, could not be questioned, and the author dismissed his assistant, and " paddled his own canoe " about two thousand miles to the end of the journey…..

An additional bit from the Introduction will help you determine if you want to search for the book or even buy it: 
   To an unknown wanderer among the creeks, rivers, and sounds of the coast, the courteous treatment of the Southern people was most gratifying. The author can only add to this expression an extract from his reply to the address of the Mayor of St. Mary's, Georgia, which city honored him with an ovation and presentation of flags after the completion of his voyage :
" Since my little paper canoe entered southern waters upon her geographical errand, — from the capes of the Delaware to your beautiful St. Mary's, — I have been deeply sensible of the value of Southern hospitality. The oystermen and fishermen living along the lonely beaches of the eastern shore of Maryland and Virginia ; the surfmen and lighthouse keepers of Albemarle, Pamplico, and Core sounds, in North Carolina ; the ground-nut planters who inhabit the uplands that skirt the network of creeks, marshes, ponds, and sounds from Bogue Inlet to Cape Fear ; the piny- woods people, lumbermen, and turpentine distillers on the little bluffs that jut into the fastnesses of the great swamps of the crooked Waccamaw River ; the representatives of the once powerful rice-planting aristocracy of the Santee and Peedee rivers ; the colored men of the beautiful sea-islands along the coast of Georgia ; the Floridians living between the St. Mary's River and the Suwanee — the wild river of song ; the islanders on the Gulf of Mexico where I terminated my long journey ; — all have contributed to make the * Voyage of the Paper Canoe' a success."

Chasing the Paper Canoe
   From the description above one notices that the 'Paper Canoe" travelled in the area of the restaurant, so there may be a connection. There is mention of the crooked Waccamaw River also found in the introduction and that was noticed by someone at Coastal Carolina University. ln 2012 faculty and students at Coastal Carolina traced the wake left by Bishop and identified places he mentioned. The result is the book, Chasing the Paper Canoe, which was published by Athenaeum Press at Coastal Carolina. To learn more about the project see, Chasing the Paper Canoe. If you look under "Bishop" you will learn more about him and the voyage of the "Paper Canoe." If you would rather just look at beautiful photos from the coastal Carolina area, click on "Gallery." The book can be purchased on Amazon, from which this description is taken:
  This inaugural publication from The Athenaeum Press reimagines Nathaniel Bishop’s journey down the Waccamaw River in a paper canoe more than a century ago. The book is the culmination of a year’s collaboration between students and faculty at Coastal Carolina University. Chasing the Paper Canoe portrays the culture, desolation and stoic beauty of the Waccamaw River. Within its pages, readers find the historic rice fields contrasted to bankside home construction; the weathered waterfront of Georgetown and portraits of modern fisherman. It is a true portrait of what Bishop described as that “most crooked waterway.” The project takes readers on a journey across history and form. Throughout the printed book, readers can see the stunning photographs come to life as streaming video through a feature called augmented reality. Both photographs and multimedia components were designed and produced by students in Coastal Carolina University’s pre-professional studio.

The Bonus:

    Nathaniel Bishop is an interesting fellow and was a very active one. Two more of his books are found in storage in the Western Libraries (for now, at least) and they can also be read online or purchased in print. 
Four Months in a Sneak-box: A Boat Voyage of 2600 Miles Down the Ohio and Mississippi Rivers, and Along the Gulf of Mexico, 1879:

"A 2,600 mile voyage in 1875 from Pittsburgh to Florida down the Ohio and Mississippi rivers in a 12 foot duck hunting boat called a "Barnegat Bay Sneak Box."This curious and staunch little craft, though only 12 feet in length, proved a most comfortable and serviceable home while the author rowed it more than 2,600 miles down the Ohio and Mississippi rivers, and along the coast of the Gulf of Mexico, until he reached the mouth of the wild Suwanee River."

If you prefer works about walking: 

The Pampas and Andes: A Thousand Miles' Walk Across South America, 1855:
"Bishop was a mere lad of 17 in 1855 when, with $45 in his pocket, he left Massachusetts bound for South America. Pursuing a love of natural history, he arrived in Buenos Aires, ascended the Plata and Parana Rivers, walked across the pampas and the Saline Desert, hiked over the Andes into Chile, and at Valparaiso caught a boat for home. Barely able to speak the language, he slips quietly through South America, eyes open. The ultimate boy's adventure."

For more from MM about long walks, see John Muir who took a Thousand Mile Walk to the Gulf  from Ontario.  To read more about things From Far Away and Long Ago, in South America see: "W.H. Hudson and the Hail Storm."
  If you are now feeling enthused and considering your own trek, see "The Trans Canada Trail."