Horseboat

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]

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]

Upkeep Upriver

Maintenance of canals is required for functional horseboating, including the cutting back of vegetation and dredging of relevant canals. [Read More]

Side Paddles

The Romans 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]