28 



The Canadian Field-Naturalist 



[Vol. XXXIII. 



lengthwise from end to end of the canoe, just high 

 enough along the sides to afford protection from 

 rocks, and are lashed together and to the thwarts by 

 continuous strands of cedar bark which are threaded 

 through perforations in their upper edges. 



Micmac canoes in the Victoria Museum have the 

 ends stuffed for a short distance with moss or shav- 

 ings, the purpose being to keep the bark from col- 

 lapsing or wrinkling where ribs are lacking. The 

 stuffing is held in place by thin partitions of cedar, 

 cut to shape and held in position at the bottom by 

 the end of one of the inside sheetmg strips. Slave 

 and Chipewyan canoes also exhibit stuffing. 



and navigation developed, with the exception that 

 the Eskimo to some extent use large sea-going kayaks 

 for hunting the whale and seal ; and also that the 

 Micmacs, like other coastal tribes, sometimes con- 

 struct large bark canoes for a similar purpose. The 

 sides of the Micmac canoe are up-curved and turned 

 in towards the centre to exclude heavy seas. 



The Eskimo kayak, for present purposes, may be 

 regarded as a highly specialized canoe, differing 

 from the Algonkian in the important, though not 

 essential, respect of having the framework so con- 

 structed that it is held together independently of the 

 cover; and in the superficial one that the covering 



^ 



^ 



/ 



V 



/. 2. 3. ^ .' 6. 7. 8. fl. 



SOME TYPICAL TADDLES. 

 1 and 4, West Coast paddles, exact locality unknown: 2 and 3, Tlingit (northern B.C.); 5, prob- 

 ably Haida (Queen Charlotte Islands): 6, Kootenay (southern B.C.); 7, Ojibwa: 9, Copper Eskimo: 

 8 and 10, Central Eskimo. (The last three are neighboring groups). 



In spite of its many excellent qualities and his- 

 toric associations, the birch-bark canoe is evidently 

 on the wane at present as a medium of travel. The 

 factory-made canoe, though modelled after the In- 

 dian article, has, in fact, so far eclipsed it that it is 

 seldom seen except among remote and backward 

 bands of Indians who employ it mainly from 

 economy or conservatism. 



ESKIMO CANOES. 



In only one region, the great insular area of the 

 North Pacific Coast, was a true seafaring culture 



is of skin instead of bark, to which we may add that 

 of being decked over so as to accommodate, in most 

 cases, but one person. 



The upper rim or frame of two pieces is made first, 

 with mortises for the insertion of ribs and thwarts and 

 holes for lashings. The thwarts are placed in pos- 

 ition and the upper part or deck practically com- 

 pleted, one of the last steps being the attachment of 

 a middle strip lengthwise along the top, except 

 where it is intersected by the opening or man-hole. 

 The whole affair is then turned top or face down- 



