the ancient canoe route along the Ottawa River 

 goods could reach the western posts on the Lakes and 

 be transported north early enough to reach the 

 northernmost posts before the first freeze-up occurred. 

 The use of sailing vessels on the Lakes did not enable 

 this to be accomplished, so that until the railroads 

 were built in western Canada, the canoe remained the 

 mode of transport for the fur trade in this area. Even 

 after the railways were built, canoe traffic remained 

 important, until well into the first half of the twentieth 

 century as part of the local system of transportation 

 in the northwestern country of Canada. 



The unsatisfactory illustrations accompanying early 

 published accounts have been mentioned. The ear- 

 liest recognizable canoe to be shown in an illustration 

 is the reasonably accurate drawing of a Micmac 

 canoe that appears in Bacqueville de la Poterie's 

 book, published in 1722. LaFiteau, another French- 

 man, in 1724 published a book that not only contains 

 recognizable drawings but points out reasons for 

 the variation in the appearance of bark canoes: 



The Abenacquis, for example, are less high in the sides, 

 less large, and more flat at the two ends; in a way they are 

 almost level for their whole extent; because those who travel 

 on their small rivers are sure to be troubled and struck by 

 the branches of trees that border and extend over the water. 



Canoe, 



Figure 4 



Lines of an Old Birch-Bark Canoe, probably Micmac, brought to 

 England in 1749 from New England. This canoe was not alike at both 

 ends, although apparently intended to be so by the builder. {From 

 Admiralty Collection oj Draughts, National Maritime Museum, Greenwich.) 



On the other hand, the Outaouacs [Ottawas] and the na- 

 tions of the upper country having to do their navigation on 

 the St. Lawrence River where there are many falls and 

 rapids, or especially on the Lakes where there is always a 

 very considerable swell, must have high ends. 



His illustrations show that his low-ended canoes 

 were of Micmac type but that his high-ended canoes 

 were not of the Ottawa River or Great Lakes types 

 but rather of the eastern Malecite of the lower St. 

 Lawrence valley. This Jesuit missionary also noted 

 that the canoes were alike at the ends and that the 

 paddles were of maple and about 5 feet long, with 

 blades 18 inches long and 6 wide. He observed 

 that bark canoes were unfitted for sailing. 



The early English settlers of New England and 

 New York were acquainted with the canoe forms of 

 eastern Indians such as the Micmac, Malecite, 

 Abnaki, and the Iroquois. Surviving records, 

 however, show no detailed description of these 

 canoes by an English writer and no illustration until 

 about 1750. At this time a bark canoe, apparently 

 Micmac, was brought from Portsmouth, New Hamp- 

 shire, to England and delivered to Lord Anson 

 who had it placed in the Boat House of the Chatham 

 Dockyard. There it was measured and a scale 

 drawing was made by Admiralty draftsmen; the 

 drawing is now in the Admiralty Collection of 

 Draughts, in the National Maritime Museum at 

 Greenwich. A redrawing of this plan appears oppo- 

 site. It probably represents a war 

 canoe, since a narrow, sharp-ended 

 canoe is shown. The bottom, neither 

 flat nor fully round, is a rounded V- 

 shape; this may indicate a canoe 

 intended for coastal waters. Other 

 drawings, of a later date, showing 

 crude plans of canoes, exist in Europe 

 but none yet found appear as carefully 

 drawn as the Admiralty plan, a scale 

 drawing, which seems to be both the 

 earliest and the most accurate 18th- 

 century representation of a tribal type 

 of American Indian bark canoe. 



Due to the rapid development of the 

 French fur trade, and the attendant 

 exploration, a great variety of canoe 

 types must have become known to the 

 French by 1750, yet little in the way of 

 drawings and no early scale plans have 

 been found. This is rather surprising, 

 not only because the opportunity for 



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