Portage orportaging (CA:/pɔːrˈtɑːʒ/;US:/ˈpɔːrtɪdʒ/) is the practice of carrying water craft or cargo over land, either around an obstacle in a river, or between two bodies of water. A path where items are regularly carried between bodies of water is also called aportage. The term comes from French, whereporter means "to carry", as in "portable".
Early French explorers inNew France andFrench Louisiana encountered manyrapids andcascades. TheNative Americans carried theircanoes over land to avoid river obstacles.
Over time, important portages were sometimes provided withcanals withlocks, and evenportage railways. Primitive portaging generally involves carrying the vessel and its contents across the portage in multiple trips. Small canoes can be portaged by carrying them inverted over one's shoulders and the centerstrut may be designed in the style of ayoke to facilitate this. Historically,voyageurs often employedtump lines on their heads to carry loads on their backs.
Portages can be many kilometers in length, such as the 19-kilometre (12 mi)Methye Portage and the 14-kilometre (8+1⁄2 mi)Grand Portage (both in North America) often covering hilly or difficult terrain. Some portages involve very little elevation change, such as the very shortMavis Grind inShetland, which crosses anisthmus.
This section deals mostly with the portage of heavy freight canoes used by CanadianVoyageurs.[1]
Portage trails usually began as animal tracks and were improved by tramping, blazing and cutting of trees, deadfall and brush. In a few places iron-plated wooden rails were laid to take a handcart. Some heavily used portages evolved into roads that allowed sledges, rollers or oxen to be used, as atMethye Portage. Sometimes railways (Champlain and St. Lawrence Railroad) or canals were built.
When going downstream and arriving at a rapids, an experienced voyageur called theguide would inspect the rapids and choose between the heavy work of a portage and the life-threatening risk of running the rapids. If it was decided to run the rapids, the boat was controlled by theavant standing in front with a long paddle and thegouvernail standing in the back with a 2.7-metre (9 ft) steering paddle. Theavant had a better view and was in charge but thegouvernail had more control over the boat. The other canoemen provided power under the instructions of theavant.
Going upstream was more difficult, as there were many places where the current was too swift to paddle against. Where the river bottom was shallow and firm, voyageurs would stood in the canoe, put 3-metre (10 ft) poles in the water and pushed the boat upstream. If the shoreline was reasonably clear of obstruction, the canoe was 'tracked' or 'lined', that is, canoemen pulled the canoe on a rope while a man stayed on board to steer it away from the shore. (The most extreme case of tracking was in theThree Gorges in China where all boats had to be pulled upstream against the current of theYangtze River.)
In other places, the 'demi-chargé' technique was used. Half the cargo was unloaded, the canoe forced upstream, unloaded and then returned downstream to pick up the remaining half of the cargo. When a boat had to fight against very strong currents, the entire cargo was unloaded ('décharge') and carried overland while the canoe was forced upstream.
Sometimes a full portage was necessary. The canoe was emptied, carried overland by two or four men, or dragged (the heavierYork boats had to be dragged overland on rollers). The cargo was divided into standard 41-kilogram (90 lb) packs orpièces, with each man responsible for about six. One portage pack, orcanoe pack, was carried on the back held up by atumpline and another pack carried in front (strangulated hernia was a common cause of death for voyageurs). In long portages, to allow rests of a sort, voyageurs would drop their packs atposes set up about every1 kilometre (1⁄2 mi) and go back for another load.
Portages varied in length and the time they required. For instance, the Methye Portage was 19 km (12 mi) long. If a portage was about a half mile, a bit less than a kilometre, or about 160 rods, as they were measured, long, 15-20 minutes would be needed to walk it. With multiple trips, the time needed for a portage was estimated at one hour per half mile (160 rods) or more.
TheDiolkos was a paved trackway inAncient Greece which enabled boats to be moved overland across theIsthmus of Corinth between theGulf of Corinth and theSaronic Gulf. It was constructed to transport high rankingDespots to conduct business in the justice system. The6-to-8.5-kilometre-long (3+1⁄2–5+1⁄2 mi) roadway was a rudimentary form ofrailway,[2] and operated from around 600 BC until the middle of the 1st century AD.[3][4][5][6]The scale on which the Diolkos combined the two principles of the railway and the overland transport of ships was unique inantiquity.[2]
There is scant literary evidence for two more ship trackways referred to as diolkoi in antiquity, both located inRoman Egypt: The physicianOribasius[7] (c. 320–400 CE) records two passages from his first-century colleagueXenocrates, in which the latter casually refers to a diolkos close to the harbor ofAlexandria, which may have been located at the southern tip of the island of Pharos.[1] Another diolkos is mentioned byPtolemy (90–168 CE) in his book on geography (IV, 5, 10) as connecting a false mouth of a partly silted upNile branch with theMediterranean Sea.[1]
Writing in the first half of the eighth century,Cosmas of Jerusalem describes the portage of boats across the narrowest part of theThracian Chersonese (Gallipoli Peninsula) between theAegean Sea and theSea of Marmara. The peninsula there is six miles wide. Cosmas describes the dragging of small boats as common in his day for local trade betweenThrace andGothograecia. The motivation for this practice was to avoid the long detour around the peninsula and through theDardanelles, but also to avoid the customs house atAbydos. It would have been too costly to regularly move large ships across the peninsula, but Cosmas says thatConstantine IV did it, presumably during theblockade of Constantinople (670/1–676/7) when the Sea of Marmara and the Dardanelles were controlled by theUmayyads. Constantine is said to have "driven" the ships rather than dragged them, probably indicating the use of wheels.[8] Archaeological evidence for a portage across the Thracian Chersonese is lacking, but it is possible that traces of it have been confused with traces of theLong Wall, which was restored byJustinian I in the 6th century. The region also saw extensive damage during theGallipoli Campaign of 1915.[9]
TheSkagerrak always has been treacherous for shipping and early navigators tried to avoid it. There are various river systems in (modern) northern Germany and southern Denmark where the watershed is narrow and low, such as between the Treene (discharging into the North Sea) and the Schlei (discharging into the Baltic) that would have allowed portage. There is no certain physical or written evidence, except that it is known that goods were transported along these routes between different merchant settlements.
The land link betweenAdige River andGarda Lake inNorthern Italy, hardly used by the smallest watercraft, was at least once used by theVenetian Republic for the transport of a military fleet in 1439. The land link is now somewhat harder because of the disappearance ofLoppio Lake.
In the 8th, 9th and 10th centuries,Viking merchant-adventurers exploited a network of waterways inEastern Europe, with portages connecting the four most important rivers of the region:Volga,Western Dvina,Dnieper, andDon. The portages of what is nowRussia were vital for theVarangian commerce with theOrient andByzantium.
At the most important portages (such asGnezdovo) there were trade outposts inhabited by a mixture of Norse merchants and native population. TheKhazars built the fortress ofSarkel to guard a key portage between the Volga and the Don. After Varangian and Khazar power in Eastern Europe waned, Slavic merchants continued to use the portages along theVolga trade route and theDnieper trade route.
The names of the townsVolokolamsk andVyshny Volochek may be translated as "the portage on theLama River" and "the little upper portage", respectively (fromRussianволокvolok, meaning "portage", derived from the verbволочитьvoločitʹ "to drag").
In the 16th century, the Russians used river portages to get toSiberia (seeCherdyn Road).
Tarbert is a common place name in Scotland and Ireland indicating the site of a portage.
Portages played an important role in the economy of some African societies. For instance,Bamako was chosen as the capital ofMali because it is located on theNiger River near the rapids that divide the Upper and Middle Niger Valleys.
Places where portaging occurred often became temporary and then permanent settlements. The importance of free passage through portages found them included in laws and treaties. One historically importantfur trade portage is nowGrand Portage National Monument. Recreational canoeing routes often include portages between lakes, for example, theSeven Carries route inAdirondack Park. (In the Adirondacks, a portage is traditionally called a "carry".)
Numerous portages were upgraded to carriageways and railways due to their economic importance. TheNiagara Portage had a gravity railway in the 1760s.The passage between theChicago andDes Plaines Rivers was through a short swamp portage which seasonally flooded and it is thought that a channel gradually developed unintentionally from the dragging of the boat bottoms.[10] The 1835Champlain and St. Lawrence Railroad connected the cities of New York and Montreal without needing to go through the Atlantic.
Many settlements in North America were named for being on a portage.
Portages existed in a number of locations where an isthmus existed that the localMāori could drag or carry theirwaka across from theTasman Sea to thePacific Ocean or vice versa. The most famous ones are located inAuckland, where there remain three roads named 'Portage Road's in separate parts of the city.Portage Road in the Auckland suburb ofOtahuhu has historical plaques at both the north and south ends proclaiming it to be 'at half a mile in length, surely the shortest road between two seas'.
The small Marlborough Sounds settlement of Portage lies on theKenepuru Sound which links Queen Charlotte Sound at Torea Bay. This portage was created by mid-19th century settler Robert Blaymires.[11]
