/.T /4c/ney'/ re(o/7t/ruc/ion of a /S ff SeoZ/iuA" Conof 

 Aaj^cf orf ^/-ave /Tjoe^f/^ ane/ on o/c/ e/eJcripfiont, 



K/t?t?r Boards pr A 



i>o/^aJf, ana rrjiafy^ 

 J^cty/'ec^ Sy a ro/je 



Figure 87 



Hw.'jontaf /carp/j - 



Beothuk Canoe, Approximate Form and Construction 



shape, using hot water, and were either staked out 

 or tied to hold them in form until needed. 



The keel was then laid on the bed and a series 

 of stakes, perhaps 4)^ feet long, were driven into the 

 bed on each side of the piece in opposing pairs at 

 intervals of perhaps 2 or 3 feet. The stakes and keel 

 piece were then removed and the bark cover laid 

 over the bed. This may have been in two or three 

 lengths, with the edges overlapped so that the 

 outside edge of the lap faced away from what was to 

 be the stern. The keel was then placed on the bark 

 and weighted down with a few stones or lashed at 

 the stem heads to the end stakes; then the bark was 

 folded up on each side of the keel, and the stakes 

 slipped back into their holes in the bed and driven 

 solidly into place, perhaps with the tops angled slightly 

 outward. The heads were then tied together across 

 the work and battens placed along the stakes and the 

 outside of the bark to form a "trough" against which 

 the cover could be held with horizontal inside battens. 

 These were secured by "inside stakes" lashed to each 

 outside stake in the manner used in building eastern 

 Indian canoes (see p. 45). The bark cover now stood 



on the bed in a sharp V form, with the keel supported 

 on the bed, the ends of the bark supported by the end 

 stakes, and both held down by stones along the length 

 of the keel. An alternative would have been to fix 

 heavy stakes at the extreme bow and stern of the keel 

 and to lash the stem-heads firmly to these in order to 

 hold the keel down on the bark. 



Next the main gunwales, pre-bent to the required 

 form, were brought to the building bed and their 

 ends temporarily lashed to stem and stern. The bark 

 was brought up to these, trimmed, folded over their 

 tops, and secured by a few temporary lashings. Then 

 the outwales were placed outside the bark with their 

 ends temporarily secured, and a few pegs were driven 

 through outwale, bark, and main gunwales, or a few 

 permanent lashings were passed. The bark cover was 

 next securely lashed to the gunwales and outwales 

 combined, all along the sheer to a point near the 

 ends. The excess bark was then trimmed away at 

 bow and stern and the cover was laced to the end 

 pieces to form bow and stern. This lacing must 

 have passed through the laminations of the stem and 

 stern pieces in the usual manner, avoiding the spiral 



97 



