POINTED BARK CANOES. 537 



way for the cap piece along the middle. The top piece is neatly 

 chamfered and grooved to tit in place. There are four thwarts, two 

 near the ends of the hold, Avhich are merely lashings, the material 

 passing backward and forward two or three times and then closely 

 woolded, two solid pieces near the middle of the canoe serving as 

 spreaders. The ends of the thwarts are pierced and lashed to the gun- 

 wale at the ends of the cap pieces so as to hold all parts firmly together. 

 The Tungus canoe is wide and shallow and is an excellent freight boat. 



The Yakut pointed canoe (Plate 4) is also made in sections of birch 

 bark, of which, in the model here studied, there are four in number, 

 passing around from gunwale to gunwale, overlapping and stitched 

 together. The bottom is strengthened by adding broad strips of bark 

 from end to end and sewing them down at their edges. At the ends 

 the Yakut canoe is shaped like a snout, the line from bottom upward 

 being incurved. The joint at the ends is a very simple one, the edges 

 of the bark cut to shape and sewed together. The gunwale is formed 

 by a binding of bark turning over and hemmed down, the edges show- 

 ing on the outside and inside. Two thwarts are held in place by a 

 lashing which passes across parallel and on both sides of the thwart 

 and fastened through the bark sides. The canoe is held in shape by 

 means of flat, wide ribs, whose ends are concealed under the bark 

 binding of the gunwale. The Yakut canoe is a wide craft, better 

 suited to freight than speed. As the model here described is rougher 

 than the others shown, it is possible that the larger ones have better 

 elements of construction. 



The Goldi pointed canoe (Plate 5) more closely resembles that of the 

 Giliak and of the Kutenai. The hull of the model consists of a single 

 piece of bark (but in full-sized boats it may be in sections) and there is 

 no additional layer of bark on the bottom. The gunwale is formed by 

 clasping the edge of the bark between two strips of wood, forming 

 inwale and outwale, and there are no top strips as in the Kutenai 

 craft. The unique feature in the Goldi canoe is the insertion of a 

 wooden point at either end. This is curved upward gracefully. 

 Another noteworthy feature is the covering of a portion of the hold 

 at either end with a sheet of bark, forming a partial deck. One 

 thwart is shown in the model, though others must exist in the full-sized 

 canoes. Slats are laid along the inside lengthwise and over these are 

 neatly forced in flat-rib pieces at intervals. This is a dainty looking 

 craft, long and slender, and doubtless used for speed and fishing and not 

 for freight. In the middle of the inside a piece of hide affords a 

 kneeling place for the boatman. 



