Canoe I'ormkd by use of gores and panels 



The framework of most bark canoes depended upon 

 the gunwale structure to give longitudinal strength 

 to the hull; for this reason the structure was made 

 sufilciently large in cross-section to be rather stiff, 

 or was formed of more than one member. An inner 

 and outer gunwale construction was employed in 

 many bark canoes. The inner member was the 

 strength member and was sometimes square, or 

 nearly so, in cross-section. In some canoes bark was 

 brought up on the outside of this gunwale member, 

 lapped over the top, and lashed over it; in others the 

 bark was lashed to both inner and outer gunwales. 

 The outer gunwale, a rectangular-sectioned batten 

 Ijent narrow-edge up, was applied like a guard, out- 

 side the bark, and was secured by pegs, by the lashings 

 of the bark cover, or by widely spaced lashings. On 

 top of the large inner gunwale and usually extending 

 outward over the outer gunwale, a thin cap, pegged 

 or lashed in the same manner as the outer gunwale, 

 was sometimes added; this was intended to protect 

 the lashing of the bark to the gunwale rather than to 

 add longitudinal strength. 



The corners of the inner gunwale, or of the single 

 gunwale, were all rounded off to prevent them from 

 cutting the sewing and lashings. The bottom out- 

 board corner was sometimes rounded off more than 

 the other, or beveled, in order to form between the 

 outboard face of the gunwale and the bark a slot into 

 which the heads of the ribs could be forced. An 

 alternate method of accomplishing this was to notch 

 or drill holes in the gunwales for the heads of the ribs. 



The ends of the gunwales were fashioned in various 

 ways. In some canoes the gunwales were sheered 

 upward at the ends only slightly, the gunwale ends 



being secured to wide end boards in the stems or ex- 

 tended past them and secured to the stem-pieces. 

 The apparent sheer in the latter might be formed by 

 bending the outer gunwale, or outwale, and the cap 

 (if one existed) to the required curve and then securing 

 the ends to the stem-piece, or to the end boards, 

 as the form of end profile dictated. If either the 

 single gunwale or the outwale or both were sharply 

 sheered, they were split, to a point near the end 

 thwart, into two or four or even more laminations; 

 even the rail cap, which was perhaps half an inch 

 thick, might be split in the same manner to allow 

 a sharp upward sweep at the stems. After being 

 bent, the split members were temporarily wrapped 

 to hold the laminations together. In no bark canoes 

 did the ends of the gunwales curve back on them- 

 selves to form a hook just inboard of the bow and 





Gunwale Ends nailed and wrapped with 

 spruce roots. {Sketch by Adney.) 



stern, despite the numerous pictures that show this 

 feature. The gunwale ends sometimes projected 

 almost perpendicularly upward, slightly above the 

 top of the bow and stern, so that when the canoe was 

 upside down its weight came on these rather than on 

 the sewing of the ends of the craft. 



The gunwale ends in some canoes were fastened 

 together by means of one or more lashings, often 

 widely spaced. After being lashed together, a narrow 

 wedge was sometimes driven between the two gun- 

 wales from inboard to tighten the lashings. The ends 

 were sometimes beveled on their bearing surfaces so 

 as to make a neat appearance when joined. The 

 various ways in which the gunwale ends at stem and 



31 



