portages

It was necessary for us to larn a few lessons so here we began to study. first we were taught how to bridle a boat. this is done by tieing a rope around the nose of the boat about one third the way aft. then we learned how to make what they call portages -- that is -- when you come to falls or rapids, relieve the boat of all contents and carry contents and boat around the rapids.

Black Beaver The Trapper George Edward Lewis

The portages were the most grueling part of the journey.

OVERBOARD ! MICHAEL J. TOUGIAS 2010

The portages were the most grueling part of the journey.

OVERBOARD ! MICHAEL J. TOUGIAS 2010

But when it comes to smugness, perhaps nobody can beat Mark Braun (or "Mr. B") of Ann Arbor, MI, who "portages" his piano by bicycle (as forwarded to me by yet another reader):

Appealing Package: What's New Is Old Again BikeSnobNYC 2010

a stream and is again carried overland by what are called portages to other streams or other branches of the same stream.

Jeremiah : Being The Baird Lecture for 1922 George Adam Smith 1899

These are the celebrated "portages" of Canadian history, from the French word

Pioneers in Canada Harry Hamilton Johnston 1892

Thence by a chain of lakes, rivers, and "portages" to York factory, and on northward to

Bruin The Grand Bear Hunt Mayne Reid 1850

It is at these places, called "portages," that the Canadian voyageur exhibits his most valuable qualities; carrying heavy burdens, and toiling to and fro, on land and in the water, over rocks and precipices, among brakes and brambles, not only without a murmur, but with the greatest cheerfulness and alacrity, joking and laughing and singing scraps of old French ditties.

Astoria, or, anecdotes of an enterprise beyond the Rocky Mountains Washington Irving 1821

"portages," that the Canadian voyageur exhibits his most valuable qualities; carrying heavy burdens, and toiling to and fro, on land and in the water, over rocks and precipices, among brakes and brambles, not only without a murmur, but with the greatest cheerfulness and alacrity, joking and laughing and singing scraps of old

Astoria, or Anecdotes of an Enterprise Beyond the Rocky Mountains 1836

For the next several days the pattern is of long spells of grueling, body-beating portages punctuated by moments of electrifying thrills running the huge standing waves.

Richard Bangs: The Pakistan Osama bin Laden Never Knew, Part 3 Richard Bangs 2011