Canallers became captains as young as sixteen by proving their skill in slowing and braking for lock operations, keeping cargo records for pay based on miles hauled and coal tonnage delivered, and caring for mule teams. A boat’s rig included mules, harness, tow lines, a feed box, a night hawker, a stove, and a bilge pump. Although some captains owned their boats, most rented them from the Lehigh Coal and Navigation Company, and the captain hired a mule driver or used family members as crew. Delaware Canal captains and Lehigh Canal captains traveled the lengths of both canals, loading coal in Luzerne from 1838 to 1862 or in Carbon County, delivering it to Bristol, and returning to Seigfried, now Northampton, for their pay. Locktenders ended work at 10:00 p.m., and canallers reaching the next lock stabled their mules, made repairs, and rested until boats moved forward again at 4:00 a.m. Canal boats offered primitive living conditions, with a typical crew of two sleeping on deck or in an 8 x 10 foot cabin below, cooking on a stove, and supplementing stored food with bread, bacon, coffee, cured meats, eggs, fruits, vegetables, and canned goods obtained from locktenders or general stores. Springs along the canal supplied drinking water kept in wooden barrels on deck. Canal life often included whole families: children as young as seven drove mules along the towpath, wives cooked and shared steering, and in warmer months the canals became their entire world, with barter along the route exchanging coal for vegetables and bread.