Figure 210 



Hickory-Bark Canoe Under Construction, showing the sling with which 

 the ends are elevated and the crimp which takes up the slack in the sides of the 

 bark. Excess bark above the gunwales to be trimmed off. Completed model 

 in The Mariners' Museum, Newport News, Va. 



im«i,|ii[i'iMli.«»,i».u,i.MUll««lll»WMh...im..,,...|,],..:.l 



Figure 211 



Detail of Thwart used in Malecite temporary 

 spruce-bark canoe. 



outw-ale, and reinforced by a lashing through the 

 crimp or by two lashings close to the sides of the fold. 

 The fold of the bark forced the outwale away from 

 the inwale, and although this was counteracted to 

 some extent by the lashings, the gunwales were unfair 

 at these points. The crimps were formed so that the 

 maximum fold in the bark took place at the gunwales; 

 below this the fold tapered away to nothing, ending 

 low in the side with an irregular bulge in the bark. 

 Such a bulge could only be avoided by goring, 

 which is impractical with elm, pine, chestnut, or 

 hickory barks. 



The ends of the canoe were closed, as has been 

 mentioned, by use of split-sapling battens on the out- 



side of the bark. The Iroquois and some other 

 builders also employed at the stems a thong or a 

 twisted cord made of the inner bark of some such tree 

 as the basswood; this was wrapped around the ends of 

 the bark cover abreast the headboard posts inside the 

 canoe, so that the lashing stood vertically. Then the 

 split battens were placed on each side of the bark 

 cover, just outboard of the cord, and the whole was 

 secured by a coarse spiral lashing of root or rawhide, 

 which passed inboard of the cord lashing and the 

 headboard post, as well as around them and the split 

 battens outside of the bark cover. Some builders 

 apparently added a split-root batten over the edges of 

 the bark cover, as a sort of stem-band ; this was secured 

 by the turns of the stem closure lashing, which passed 

 around them as well as the edges of the bark and the 

 split side battens. It can be seen that this closure 

 formed a strong stem structure. Watertightness was 

 insured by merely forcing clay into the stems from the 

 inside, or by forcing in a wad of the pounded inner 

 bark of a dead red elm which would swell when damp. 



217 



