Fur-Trade Canoes on the Missinaibi River, igoi. 

 Survey photo.) 



{Canadian Geological 



rum, brandy, wine, blue and red broadcloth, toma- 

 hawks or hatchets, tobacco, pipes, thread, vermillion 

 and paint, and false hair. 



The tarpaulins used to cover the cargo were 8 by 

 10 feet, hemmed and fitted with grommets around the 

 edges for lashings. The cloth was treated with ochre, 

 oil, and wax to give it a dull red color and to water- 

 proof it. One of the tarpaulins usually served as the 

 sail. The fur bales were each sacked, that is, wrapped 

 in a canvas cover that was sewed on and stenciled 

 with identification and ownership marks. 



The cargo manifests were not always the same. 

 Compare the previous list with this cargo, with which 

 two light canoes were each loaded: 3 cassettes, 1 

 travelling case, 2 baskets, 1 bag of bread, 1 bag of 

 biscuits, 2 kegs of spirits, 2 kegs of porter, 1 tin of beef, 

 1 bag of pemmican for officers and 2 for the crew, 2 

 tents for officers, cooking utensils, canoe equipment, 

 and 1 paclon for each of the 9 men in each canoe. 



The rate of travel varied a good deal, depending 

 upon the condition of the waterway and of the men. 

 Perhaps, as an average, 50 miles a day would be the 



common expectation during a 3-month run into the 

 northwest. Traveling fast with good conditions, an 

 express canoe might average as much as 75 or 80 miles 

 a day, but this was exceptional. 



The number of men required to man a fur-trade 

 canoe varied with the use required of the canoe, w'ith 

 its load, and its size. There were rare occasions in 

 which a maitre canot had 1 7 paddlers and a steersman, 

 but normally such a canoe was manned by between 7 

 and 1 5 men, depending upon how much space aboard 

 was required by cargo or passengers and upon the 

 difficulties of the route. An express canoe, traveling 

 light and at high speed, was manned by 4 to 6 pad- 

 dlers, one of whom acted as steersman or stern 

 paddler, and one as the equally important bowman 

 in river work. 



The most valuable information on the construction 

 methods of fur trade canoes was obtained in 1925 from 

 the late L. A. Christopherson, a retired Hudson's Bay 

 Company official. He had joined the Company in 

 1874 and retired in 1919, after 45 years service, 38 of 

 which he had spent in western Quebec at the posts on 



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