THE MIDDLE STONE AGE 
The canoe proper, made by hollowing out a log, largely 
with the aid of fire, developed early, perhaps suggested by 
the accidental use of a hollow tree trunk. Such a dis- 
covery might conceivably be made more than once, wher- 
ever trees grew near water; at least the well-nigh world- 
wide distribution of the dugout canoe suggests this. From 
C.W. Bishop ‘ 56% Apr 10, 1923. 
Sabet ras Draught, 8° 
= 4 = 
Fourteen Paddlers on each Side ! Total Crew, 3/ Men. 
Ms = Z y 2 ? ase = 
SS a SS = —-— es PEA EE PS PH = ae Se 
<-> sears FE w= 7; By eof) ye 22 Ge == ——— 
Fic. 69. Chinese dragon-boat today used only for ceremonial purposes, but 
employed in actual warfare in China, Burma, Siam, and neighboring regions 
until middle of 1gth century 
this improvement we can trace, step by step, the evolu- 
tion of larger and larger craft, until we reach such tri- 
umphs of the shipbuilder’s art as the ocean steamer and 
the battleship of the present day. 
We still have an intuitive feeling that boats and ships 
are living things with characters and personalities of their 
own. That is why we give them individual names. To 
early man this idea was very real. He felt that by carving 
the likenesses of a water monster’s head and tail at the bow 
and stern of his war canoe, he could impart to it magically 
the swiftness and ferocity of such creatures in a very real 
sense. The dragon’s head and tail that ornamented the 
extremities of the old Viking ships and of modern Chinese 
“dragon boats” have had this for their motive. 
To primitive folk in general, unfamiliar with the idea of 
traveling over the water, the sudden appearance of strange 
people, traders or enemies, skimming over the water in a 
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