824 REPORT OF COMMISSIONER OF FISH AND FISHERIES. ~ 
frame, 18 inches high; crosspieces to the frame, 3 feet 5 inches apart; 
platform, 23 inches wide and 41 inches long, built out 18 inches on the 
outrigger side. Each canoe has 6 thwarts, 3 forward and 3 aft of the 
platform. Between the crosspieces which form the bed of the plat- 
form are 4 other pieces, and under these are 3 others running at right 
angles to the top ones and parallel with the canoe, forming a brace- 
work to the outrigger frame. We saw no built-up canoes; all that 
came under our observation were dugouts, but much lighter than any 
met with elsewhere. The model is fine and well proportioned. The 
bow commences to turn up abreast the end of the float, extending out 
gracefully, slightly flaring at the extreme end, but fairly sharp where 
it enters the water. The stern runs out in the same manner and forms 
what might be termed an overhang. Stripped of the outrigger and 
rigged with mast and sail these canoes would look very much like a 
small modern yacht. To add to this appearance they are painted with 
a native dye which gives the wood a decided mahogany color, the dye, 
or paint being put on very skillfully. 
The crosspieces and entire framework of the outrigger differ from 
those of any canoe previously seen. Heretofore the outrigger float had 
been joined to the frame by stanchions in the middle; in these canoes not 
only have they the middle stanchions, but also a set of three on each 
end. The end ones, however, instead of being fastened to the frame, 
are attached to a brace which projects from the side at either end. 
The braces start from the side of the canoe at a sharp angle, meeting 
in the center of the outboard end of the outrigger frame. The end 
stanchions are composed of withes, projecting out horizontally from 
the brace to a point directly over the float, then bent at right angle 
downward and fastened to the float. The middle stanchions are also 
withes 3 feet 5 inches apart, each set made of six small withes placed 
close together at the top and spread at the bottom. The outrigger, 
though light, is strong and durable. 
The platform which covers the middle of the canoe is braced and 
counterbraced, and, unlike the Marshall Island canoe, is set low. ‘The 
thwarts are flush with the gunwales, dovetailedin. -On different parts 
of the outrigger frame, particularly on the float where the stanchions 
join, are fancy cross-seizings of cocoanut-fiber thread. Some are to 
give additional strength, others are purely ornamental. Every part 
of the Ponapi canoe is well proportioned, and the workmanship would 
do credit to skilled mechanics. 
On the part of the island which we visited there is an absence of 
sailing canoes; we saw none fitted with masts or sails, neither did we 
see any sailboats. Usually, even in isolated islands, where the people 
have long mingled with civilization, modern sailboats are found. It 
is presumed that modern tools are used in building a class of canoes so 
nicely finished as these. 
