THE OOLUGIST. 



Some years ago the writer decided to 



I <jruise a considerable distance down the 

 -Connecticut River to make certain geo- 

 logical observation and to observe nat- 

 ural phenoniena in general. The sea- 

 son seciected was rather late for obser; 

 vations in Ocilogy, but numerous 

 species of birds were studied and elab- 



l orate notes taken. A few valuable 

 specimens were also secured. For this 

 cruise a boat capable of carrying one 

 j)erson and a small outfit, and also 

 light enough to be itself carried on the 

 -^holders for short distances, was neces- 

 sary. Such a craft was accordingly 



I planned and soon con.etructcd; and 

 since it proved to be so well suited to 

 the purpose and in every way desira- 

 ble and reliable, I shall brielly describe 

 how it was built. It very much resem- 

 bled in appearance an ordinary can- 

 •A'as canoe, only it was somewhat wider 

 and was provided with rowlocks and 

 light oars instead of the usual double- 

 bladed paddle. It was desirable to 

 have a boat that could be propelled bjf 

 •oars as well as paddle for this cruise, 

 but if any of my readers desire to build a 

 -canoe for paddling alone, it might be 

 well to make it somewhat shorter in 

 the beam than the one about to be des- 

 crilied; never the-less, as a riile, the 

 liroader the boat the steadier she will 

 l>e in the water. 



My boat was twelve feet long. The 

 first thing made was the frame-work 

 over which the canvas was stretched. 

 A cedar board ten inches wide, an inch 

 thick and eleven feet. six inches in 

 length, was taken as the bottom board 

 or keelson, and was marked oft' by two 

 transverse lines into three ecpial lengths. 

 Each outer third of the board was then 

 cut tapering toward its respective end 

 until it measured but one and a half 

 inch at the extremities, and the undci" 



I •edges were beveled off along its entire 

 length. Two cross- boards, or moulds, 

 were next sawed from a one-inch pine 

 plank. These were thirtj-six inches 



wide and thirteen inches high, and 

 were cut away in the center to avoid 

 useless weight. They were rounded at 

 their two lower corners and notches 

 one inch and a half deep were sawed in 

 the two upper corners of each to re- 

 ceive the gunwales. These moulds 

 were then fastened cross wise to the 

 keelson, on the transverse lines already 

 marked off, with long stout screws 

 pa.s.sed from l>elow upward— and when 

 so placed devided the keel.sou in three 

 equal parts. The stem and stern pieces 

 vvere then added. For these I .secured 

 two strips of green elm eighteen inches 

 long and an inch and a half square. 

 One end of each was cut off obliquely 

 so as to taper for a distance of about 

 two and a half inches, and by this end— 

 the oblique surface resting upon the 

 keelson and the square end pointing 

 straight out— one strip was firndy screw- 

 ed to each extremity of the bottom 

 board. Both were then bent over, with 

 their concave surfaces toward the mid- 

 dle of the board, until they formed 

 curved end pieces or "cut-waters." and 

 were secured in this position by means 

 of wires stretched from their fri'C ex- 

 tremities to nails driven into the i)ot- 

 tom-board /'keelson; near the moulds. 

 Elm was used for this purpose because 

 tough and not likely to break in bend, 

 ing aufl the green wood was taken be- 

 cau.se on diying it would retain, to a 

 consideral)le extent, the shape into 

 which it had been bent. The gun- 

 wales were next added. They consist- 

 ed of light strips of ash a little more 

 than twelve feet in length, an inch and 

 a half wide and half an inch thick. 

 They were fastened by n)eans of long 

 nails to the moulds and firn)ly secun'<l 

 to the end pieces with slim i»o|ls— the 

 end pieces being notched to make them 

 Hush. Everything was now ready for 

 the ribs, but before the.se were put on 

 two strips of wood similar to the gun- 

 wales were stretched from stem to 

 stern and ina<le a pass along the lower 



