16 MODE OF CONSTRUCTING 



leng-th. Even the Kowrareg-as have much finer 

 canoes than theii' neig"hbours on the mainland ', one 

 which I measured along-side the ship was fortj-fi^e 

 feet long- and three and a half in greatest T\ddth^ and 

 could carry with ease twenty-five people. The con- 

 struction of a canoe in the neig-hbourhood of Cape 

 York is still looked upon as a g-reat undertaking-, 

 althoug-h the labour has been much lessened by the 

 introduction of iron axes, \^'hich have completely 

 superseded those of stone formerly in use. A tree 

 of sufficient size free from limbs — usually a species 

 of Bonibax (silk-cotton tree) or Enjthrina — is 

 selected in the scrub, cut do^vn, hollowed out where 

 it falls, and drag-g-ed to the beach by means of long- 

 climbers used as ropes. The remaining- requisites 

 are now added ; tAvo stout poles, fourteen to twenty 

 feet in leng-th, are laid across the g-un^Aale, and 

 secured there from six to ten feet apart, and the pro- 

 jecting- ends are secm'ed by lashing- and wooden peg-s 

 to a long- float of lig-ht wood on each side, pointed, 

 and slig-htly turned up at the ends. A platform or 

 stag-e of small sticks laid across occupies the centre 

 of the canoe, extending- on each side several feet 

 be^^ond the g-unwale, and having- on the outside a sort 

 of double fence of upright sticks used for stowing- 

 away weapons and other g-ear. The paddles are five 

 feet long*, with a narrow rounded blade, and are 

 very clumsily made. The cable is made of twisted 

 climbers —often the Flagellaria Indica — and alarg-e 

 stone serves for an anchor. 



