The Canoe Birch 145 



When the Indian's dried meat gave out during 

 a long winter, the inner bark dried and pow- 

 dered supplied him with flour that lasted until 

 the next hunting season. Torches, too, were 

 made of birch bark, and dishes, pots, and pans 

 at a time when there were none of tin. 



But best of all from the birch came the Indian 

 canoe. Strips of the bark peeled from the tree in 

 spring, with the running of the sap, gave to the 

 Indian a boat both strong and light. The canoe 

 carried him near and far on hunt and chase, in 

 peace and on the war path, over the lonely 

 waters of wooded lake or stream. 



For a century and a half, the birch-bark canoe 

 of the red man was the craft of hunter and trap- 

 per, missionary, and explorer. It carried them 

 where no other boat could go, helping the work 

 of discovery and settlement and civilization in 

 the new country. 



STORY OF THE FOREST - 10 



