224 BULLETIN 127, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM. 



rude lanceolate-shaped paddles with very short handles, a harpoon 

 such as is used by the Fuegians, and a model of a grass basket which 

 is made by " half -hitching." 



Dimensions of canoe. — Length, 25 feet 6 inches; beam, 6 inches; 

 depth, 20 inches ; paddles, 7 feet 4 inches and 7 feet 10 inches long, 

 respectively. Scale of model, 1^ inches equal 1 foot. 

 Deposited by the Bureau of Fisheries. Cat. No. 76,091 U.S.N.M. 



South American bark canoe. 



A type of canoe used by the Indians on the rivers of northern 

 South America. It is made of thick bark from the trunk of a large 

 tree, the bark being brought together at the ends and kept apart in 

 the middle with wooden spreaders. The bark is rolled or folded 

 together at the ends while green and is held by lashings. This 

 gives shape to the canoe, making the ends sharp and raising them 

 sufficiently to be above the water when the boat is afloat. After the 

 bark dries the lashings are removed. If necessary, the openings at 

 the ends are filled with mud, which is allowed to bake in the sun. 



Diinensions of canoe. — Length, 18 feet; width, 2 feet; depth, 

 9 inches. 



No boat is more primitive than this. Canoes of similar construc- 

 tion and form are used by the native Australians. 



Cat. No. 160,359 U.S.N.M. 



Model of Peruvian grass boat, or balsa. 



This type of boat is made and used by the Amara Indians for fish- 

 ing and transportation on Lake Titicaca, Peru. Ordinarily it is 

 propelled by paddling. When rigged with a sail it is steered with 

 a short oar, the Indian sitting astride the after part of the balsa. 



A grass balsa made of four cigar-shaped bundles of dried reeds, 

 each firmly bound together and to each other; the two lower bun- 

 dles much the largest in diameter, with ends curved up; the upper 

 bundles laid horizontally on the outward upper sides of the bottom 

 ones, and so lashed as to leave a longitudinal hollow for the entire 

 length of the boat. Mast made of two pieces like a pair of shears, 

 with their upper ends lashed together, their lower ends divided, 

 resting on the top bundles of the balsa, and held by lashings. The 

 mast is supported or stayed by another pole, three-pronged at its 

 upper end, the foot of which rests near the stern of the boat, while 

 its upper end is seized to the spars, with which this brace stands at 

 an angle of about 45°. A lugsail with yard on top and bottom is. 

 carried. This is made by lashing together the ends of reeds, and 

 serves the purpose when going before the wind. 



Dimensions of halsa. — Length, 17 feet 2 inches; width, extreme, 

 4 feet 4 inches; depth, 2 feet 7 inches; mast, above top of balsa, 



