The Victorian Boat Ride

There are three couples trekking across the countryside when they come to a river that is too deep and to wide for them to swim across. On the near shore is a boat which they can use to cross the river, but there are some complications that keep them from crossing together.

First of all, the boat is only large enough to carry two people at a time.

Secondly, the couples, being Victorian, are very mindful of proper etiquette and it would be completely improper for a woman to be in the company of another man unless her husband is present.

How can all six people cross the river with a maximum of 2 people crossing at any one time and no woman being in the presence of a man unless her husband is also present?

A Cabbage, a Tiger, and a Goat

Here's an old one, but a good one--it's probably the first logic puzzle anyone ever posed to me:


In this logic puzzle, a man is traveling with a tiger, a goat, and a cabbage. No one ever provided a convincing explanation for why he would be travelling with such a strange assortment--perhaps he was French. At some point in his journey the man came to a river which was too deep to wade across, and too wide to swim across so he was in a quandary on how to continue. He noticed a small boat tied to the near shore, but the boat was too small to hold all his belongings, but was large enough that he could safely row across with one belonging at a time. The problem he faced was that if he rowed across with the tiger then the goat would eat the cabbage, and if he rowed across with the cabbage, the tiger would eat the goat.

How could the man cross the river safely with all his belongings intact?