236 THE HIVE OF THE BEE-HUNTER. 
habitant of the woods never dreams of a boat made of 
skins; he looks to the timber for a conveyance. Skilled 
in the knowledge of plants, he knows the exact time 
when the bark of the tree will most readily unwarp from 
its native trunk; and from this simple material he forms 
the most beautiful craft that sits upon the water. 
The rival clubs that sport their yachts upon the 
Thames, or ply them upon the harbor of Mannahatta, 
like things of life—formed as their boats are by the high 
scientific knowledge and perfect manual skill of the two 
great naval nations in the world, are thrown in the 
shade by the beautiful and simple bark canoe, made by 
the rude hatchet and knife of the red man. 
The American forest is filled with trees, whose bark 
can be appropriated to the making of canoes; the pecan, 
and all the hickories, with the birch, grow there in infinite 
profusion. 
A tree of one of these species that presents a trunk 
clear of limbs for fifteen or twenty feet, is first selected ; 
the artisan has nothing but a rude hunting knife and 
tomahawk for the instruments of his craft; with the lat- 
ter, he girdles the bark near the root of the tree—this 
done, he ascends to the proper height, and there makes 
another girdle; then taking his knife and cutting 
through the bark downwards, he separates it entirely 
from the trunk. 
Ascending the tree again, he inserts his knife-blade 
under the bark, and turning it up, soon forces it with 
