196 THE CANADIAN NATURALIST. [Vol. vii. 



count be overlooked in the outfit of a prairie traveller. The 

 word is Indian, and I believe really signifies line, rope or cord of 

 any kind ; it is, however, commonly used by voyageurs to desig- 

 nate dressed and smoked moose-skin, which on the plains serves 

 for almost every purpose, for which, under ordinary circumstan- 

 ces, either string, cord, line, rope, nails, cloth or leather would be 

 used. Hobbles, tether-ropes, whip-thongs, boot-laces, and moc- 

 cassins are made of it ; harness, saddles, bridles, carts, tents and 

 clothes are repaired with it; and it may be regarded as the sine 

 qua noil of the voyageur, and only second in importance to pem- 

 mican itself. 



The sreneral use of the Red River cart for the inland trans- 

 port is, I believe, only of comparatively recent date, and even now 

 is confined to the open country bordering the great valleys of the 

 two Saskatchewaus, the Qu'Appelle and the Assiniboine Rivers. 

 Beyond these limits, in the mountains wiiere there are no navi- 

 gable waters, and in the thick woods where there are no cart 

 roads, everything is transported by pack animals. Formerly, be- 

 fore the opening up of the Red River and the Lake Superior 

 routes, and when the whole trade of the country was carried o» 

 by the Hudson's Bay Company, imports and exports of all kinds 

 were transported by water in canoes or boats via Hudson's Bay;, 

 the distributing and receiving depots being York for the western 

 district, and Albany, Moose and Fort Rupert on James' Bay for 

 the eastern districts. 



The boats in e;eneral use on all the laroe inland waters for 

 voyaging and freighting purposes are know^n as Hudson's Bay 

 batteaux, full and half size. The full sized batteau is a staunch 

 and commodious, though rather clumsy looking craft, of the fol- 

 lowing dimensions: keel, 30 ft; over all, 42 ft., giving an equal 

 shear to both ends, which are sharp as in a whale-boat; beam, 

 9-9J- feet, with a depth amidships of about 3 feet. For river 

 navigation they are steered by a long sweep-oar passed through a 

 ring bolted to the side of the projecting upper end of the stern 

 post, and are usually propelled by five, six or eight heavy pine 

 oars. When under sail a rudder is shipped, and they are rigged 

 with a large, nearly square lug-sail : they draw about two feet 

 when loaded. with from 2\ to 3 tons, besides crew and equipment. 

 Before the wind, they sail well and easily, and when properly 

 handled, going at a speed of from eight to ten miles an hour, sel- 

 dom take in water, even in very heavy seas, such as are fre- 



