CANOES 23 



very common in earlier days, is the decoration 

 of the outsides of both ends, which used to rise 

 with a sharp sheer, and sometimes actually 

 curved back. The usual decorations here 

 were totem signs, generally made of porcupine 

 quills, dyed in many colours, and serving the 

 original purpose of a coat of arms. 



The familiar shape has never been greatly 

 varied, though some canoes are built on finer 

 lines for speed, and others on fuller lines for 

 carrying cargo. But there has always been 

 plenty of variety in size and material. The 

 smallest canoe would hardly hold two persons, 

 and could be carried in one hand. The big 

 war canoes would hold more than twenty 

 well-armed paddlers and required four men 

 to carry them. The very biggest canoe pro- 

 bably did not exceed forty feet in length, six 

 in breadth, and two in depth amidships. 

 Fifty men or five tons of cargo could have 

 been carried in it. But perhaps one quite so 

 large was never built. When white cedar 

 and birch were not to be had, all sorts of 

 substitutes were used. Any roots with tough 

 fibres would do for the sewing, and any 

 light and tough wood served its turn as a more 

 or less efficient substitute for the white cedar 

 framing. But elm and other alternative barks 



