Along the canal, canallers traded coal for food such as cabbages, tomatoes, and bread, including bread baked by lock tenders’ wives. A person could become a captain as young as sixteen by proving the ability to slow and brake for lock operations, keep accurate cargo records based on miles hauled and coal tonnage delivered, and care for the mule team. A boat’s rig included mules, harness, tow lines, a feed box, a night hawker, a stove, and a bilge pump. Some captains owned their boats, but most rented them from the Lehigh Coal and Navigation Company, and the captain either hired a mule driver or used family members as crew. The Swampers of the Delaware Canal and the Lehigh Dutchmen of the Lehigh Canal 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. Lock tenders ended their day at 10:00 pm, and when canallers reached the next lock they stabled their mules for the night, made repairs, and rested until 4:00 am, when the lock tenders began work again and the boats moved on. Canal boats offered primitive living conditions, and a typical crew of two slept on deck or in an 8 x 10 foot cabin below. They cooked on a stove and supplemented stored supplies with food from lock tenders or general stores, eating bread, flitch, coffee, cured meats, eggs, fresh fruits, vegetables, and canned goods, while springs along the canal provided drinking water stored in wooden barrels on deck. Families often traveled aboard as well, with children as young as seven driving mules along the towpath and wives taking on cooking and sharing steering duties, so that during the warmer months the canals became their entire world.