Nellie and all Listers: People going out of those landlocked ports walked a lot, took river boats when it was necessary. It takes a lot of guessing, with facts on geography and history at hand, to come up with a solutions. I'm sure you've already done that. When my Hausslis came from northern Switzerland in 1738-39, out of Rotterdam on the Jamaica Galley things must have been a lot different than they were a century later that we are hearing most about.Sounds like a black slavery ship, doesn't it. My contribution to these very interesting questions are included in my book: "A Stroll through Egypt and Paradise (S.Ill. and Ky.). Ernie Heltsley Ernie