﻿40 BOATS, 1847. 



dressed hide with the hairy side outwards. Each 

 of these bags weighs 90 lbs. and obtains from the 

 Canadian voyagers the designation of "un taureau." 

 A superior pemican is produced by mixing finely 

 powdered meat, sifted from impurities, with marrow 

 fat, and the dried fruit of the Amelanchier. 



By order of the Admiralty, four boats were built ; 

 two of them in Portsmouth Dock Yard, and two 

 in Camper's Yard at Gosport. These boats, to fit 

 them for river navigation, were required to be of as 

 small a draught of water as was consistent with the 

 power of carrying a cargo of at least two tons ; to 

 have the head and stern equally sharp, like a 

 whale-boat, that they might be steered with a sweep 

 oar when running rapids ; and to be of as light a 

 weight as possible, for more easy transportation 

 across the numerous portages on the route, and es- 

 pecially the formidable one between Methy Lake 

 and Clear-water River. They were also to be as 

 good sea-boats as a compliance with the other re- 

 quisites would allow. It is manifest that the inven- 

 tion of a form of boat possessing such various and 

 in some respects antagonistic qualities would task 

 the skill of the constructor, and I felt much indebted 

 to William Rice, Esq., Assistant Master Builder 

 of Portsmouth Yard, for the care and skill with 

 which he worked out a successful result. The 

 Company's boats, or barges, as they term them, are 



